good stuff so far!

i like jigging from deep water and casting into the shallows. i like rubber worm styles (with a little twisty tail) for stuff up to 15 ft deep and then deeper i go with a fluke style plastic. twisty tail grubs work also. i cast out a bit and then let the jig slowly glide to the bottom. with worms, less is more when it comes to action. you want it to wiggle and squirm. flukes im a little more erratic and exaggerated in the movement. i also use monofiliment and when dealing with water more than 15 ft deep with mono, you have line stretch so i figure my rod only imparts about 1/2 of the action on the lure that the tip shows. i use spinning gear. i use my finger on the line as MT advises. i rarely ever go above 1/8 oz jigs. i modify the plastic size to change the fall rate. flukes fall fastest, bigger ribbon tails slower. on rare occasions i use 1/4 oz jigs, but thats only on the baitcaster with braid. too heavy for spinning gear for my taste.

you can do it with a baitcaster too, and i do, when its a heavier jig/bigger lure. i palm the reel and put my pointer finger out over the line and give it a slight bend.

and confidence is a huge part of jigging. a common mistake is trying too hard. start with just a few plastics. i like worms. my brothers swear by twister tail grubs. get a couple confidence colors, white and chartreuse come to mind.

Kerry wrote on Oct 22^nd, 2013 at 8:04pm:

Jigging while drifting is my favorite. I normally employ a spinner on a 1/4 oz with a twister or another type who's name I forget type tail.

Depending on the speed/direction/structure you are dealing with... A slow drift means you reel in less. A stronger wind means you .. just jig. The movement of the canoe replaces reeling in. That's optimal as far as I'm concerned.

An even stronger wind means bigger motion with a lower aspect with time to let it drop 4,5 6 feet per second at whatever depth.

Near the bottom is the rule of thumb. I count and imagine what the bottom looks like to my jig. Whoop! Ahhhh. Whoop woop! Ahhhh. Walleyes do indeed like the Ahhh moments and if I get a few short hit misses I'll add a treble stinger but normally they just commit and I react. Or maybe I commit and they react. I forget.

A few additional thoughts concerning jig spinners......

White curly tail grubs and silver blades will catch lots of fish......but I am partial to copper or gold colored blades. I also like to remove the cheap swivels and replace them with ball bearing swivels.......they spin much freer.

Also be sure to check your knots. You are tying to a double wire and the physics are not so good. Light line is a no-no unless you first add my favorite light line connection, a fas snap.

As per weight.....if they are shallow and in the weeds 1/8 works well....15 ft use a 1/4 and 3/8 or 1/2 if searching the deep. If the wind is up and your drifting don't be afraid of a little heavier set up. I like a 45 degree angle while drifting. More than that and its time to go heavier. Less than that then go lighter. You should be able to lift and drop and have some slack line (indicating your lure is on bottom) rather easily. Your target window is 12" to 18" off bottom.

I am also a big fan of underspin type jigs. Buckeye brand offers premium hooks and ball bearing swivels.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

How do you know where your jig is? Critical question. Partly experience. Partly feel. Partly analysis. The experience part you'll have to get yourself.

Feel. If you never tick the bottom and feel the jig bump, you probably are not close to the bottom. Slow down. Use a heavier jig. Use lighter line. Or some combination.

Analysis: A little high school geometry. What angle does your line enter the water? How deep is the canoe (I never carry a depth finder in the backcountry, so an educated guess is needed here)? With those combinations, how much line do you need to hit the bottom? When you cast, the jig hits the water and you tighten the line between the rod tip and the water, the jig will swing back toward the canoe rather than drop straight down. If you think the jig is directly below where it landed and it did not sink on a loose line, you're wrong. This is where your finger on the line is important as fish often hit on the initial fall, but you can feel a strike with pretty slack line -- if you are paying attention.

Using the guidelines above, you should have a good idea where your jig is, how close to the bottom it is, whether casting from deep to shallow or drifting along.

Many tournament bass anglers fish jigs on bait casting equipment all the time.

@MT, you're in my head! we think too much alike sometimes

before this past years trip i stumbled along a heap of mismarked jigs at scheels. i felt dirty as i paid $12 for a normally $60 pile of northland jigs, but i couldnt help it.

i brought with me on the trip 2 jigs that were somewhat new to me. the northland whistler jig and the northland thumper.

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

the whistlers worked really well for jigging for walleyes and the thumpers seemed to be pike magnets. i used flukes on the thumpers as they were a bit heavier and jigged them off of a deep ledge from shore mainly.

i too carry safety pin spinners for a couple reasons. 1st, they are nice search tools as they are quite difficult to snag. 2nd, they are great for areas with pike as they tend to be highly resistant to bite offs.

spinners can also be used to slow the drop of your jig. a colorado blade (wider and cupped more) has a lot of drag whereas a willow blade (thinner more streamlined) has less. so if you find yourself out of lighter jigs and ones you have seem too heavy, tie on a colorado spinner and a bit larger plastic.

as much as i love silver, pike love it more. i carry gold spinners, just like MT.

i find drop rate to be the most important part of jigging. im partial to a gliding drop. i dont like fast fall rates. id rather it fall slow and flutter than dart to the bottom.