Conference wahoo::fishing

Steve,

The term "jig 'n pig" has pretty much become a generic term.  Although the 
"pig" originally referred to a hunk of pork hung off as a trailer, today it 
essentially is referred to as any type of jig with almost any type of 
trailer.  Jigs can be any size, color or weight; made of hair, rubber or 
plastic; and can have pork or plastic trailers.  In almost all cases, it is 
intended to imitate a crawdad.

Although I have yet to gain a lot of experience fishing the "jig 'n pig," it 
is widely recognized as a top producer of big bass, especially in the colder 
months when the bass have gone deep.  It is, however, also used in shallow 
waters around structure such as docks, pads and stumps.  Technique here is 
often flipping.

I don't know if I'd suggest starting out on this type of lure as a novice as 
I believe it requires a little bit of finesse.  It's not one of my 
confidence lures (yet), but I intend to use it a lot more this year to learn 
how to fish it.

Hope this helps.

-Joe-

    Steve,
    	I have used a lot of jigs for my bass fishing in the past, usually
    the ones with the living rubber skirts.  There are three types of
    weedless jigs that I know of.
    	The first has a Y type weedguard which extends from the jighead
    over the point of the hook.  This is a very weedless lure yet I believe
    that it can sometimes be too stiff and cause lost strikes.
    	The second is a "brush" weedguard which has about ten stiff
    bristles "like a toothbrush" which extend from the jighead over the
    point of the hook.  This is also a very weedless lure but renders the
    same results as the "Y" weed guard in that I believe you lose a lot of
    fish due to the stiffness of the bristles.
    	The third type has a barbed post extending from the jighead which
    the head of a rubber worm, ect. can be pushed into while the back of
    the worm is embedded into the point of the hook creating a very
    weedless yet undetectable jig.  This is the type of jig that I use
    most of the time and is made by Mister Twister lures.  I have caught
    some of my biggest bass on this lure.  
    	My favarite colors for jigs are black living rubber for largemouths
    and brown hair jigs for smallies.
    
    Good Luck
    Steve
    

    Saturday morning I pulled in a 19" 3 lb bass on a Gitzit. It being my
    second weekend of fishing in 25 years I was pleased. I probably
    woke some people up on shore with the noise I was making, and then
    watched a couple of other guys work over to my way. 
    
    Friday night, I went down to the bait & tackle shop in Hudson, MA 
    and asked what jig & pig setup I should be using. The women who 
    was minding the shop told me what her husband was using. What I
    picked up was a bristle type weedless skirt jig and a bottle
    of pork frogs.
    
    After I got the 3# bass I decided to experiment with the jig & pig.
    I did hook up with something probably on the large side. I say
    probably because the way it was moving the line around quite a bit
    like the other one which I had gotten an hour before 
    as I brought it near the boat, but I never saw it. I did lose it
    even though I had set the hook, so I wonder if the hunk of pork 
    on the hook actually hindered the hook being set well. There wasn't
    much hook showing after putting the pork frog on it. 
    
    Did I use the wrong size hook for this type of pork? I don't know
    what size hook was on this jig, but there was perhaps 3/16" of a
    gap running the length of the hook along the pork.
    
    There is a pond on some state land behind my house that I hear
    from a lot of people is good for large bass and pickeral (anyone
    ever hear of the Delaney on the Stow, Bolton and Harvard borders).
    
    The pond reall overgrows with lilly pads and algae in the summer
    and if that isn't bad enough, it loaded with stumps. Anyway, 
    is there any suggestion on what would be good for the pickeral?
    
    I picked up a lot of suggestions from this notes file for catching 
    bass under the circumstances that you have to fish in there, like the 
    Moss Boss and frogs across the lilly pads. Do pickeral have the same
    interests in the lures as bass?
    
    
    	thanks again, Steve
                                            
                                                                       

    >>Anyway, is there any suggestion on what would be good
    >>for the pickeral?
      
    Here's my Dad's column from the Worcester Sunday Telegram, 7/9,
    reprinted here with his permission:
    
    ***Fishing for Pickerel the Old Way***
        by Frank Woolner
                                       
    An old friend who wishes to remain anonymous since people might
    think he's pushing 100 instead of a tough 75, declares that he plans
    to go skittering for pickerel just as this was done more than half
    a century ago.  It is an art all but forgotten by modern anglers,
    yet it worked - and will still work.
    
    The idea awakened memories, but I lifted an impolite eyebrow to
    ask: "Where, in these days. are you going to get an ultra-long Burma
    or Calcutta cane pole?  Do you plan to use a spinning outfit like
    everybody else in our new world?"
    
    He glared at me as though I had suddenly gone wacko.  "You know
    very well that spinning, bait casting and the fly rod are not really
    practical in skittering.  You've got to have a long pole and these
    are still available.  If I can't buy one I can always fit together
    a few sections of tubular Fiberglas.  Why ask stupid questions?"
    
    _A Streamlined Coaxer_
    Right on - and I hope to be there to film the adventure.  We still
    have lots of pickerel and yellow perch, the last used as bait. 
    You catch perch first on plebian angleworms, trim them carefully
    to obtain a streamlined coaxer, bright silver inside with scarlet
    fins.
    
    I haven't the foggiest idea why pickerel love these things, but
    they do.  Always the rest of the perch is skinned out and used as
    a breakfast dish.  Nothing is wasted.  Old Yankees always chanted
    "Waste not, want not."  Indeed many sportsmen feel that this particular
    bait is better eating than the warriors it catches.
    
    Our forefathers wanted fish for the table.  Pickerel are sweet-fleshed
    but full of small bones so they were often brined in alternate layers
    of potato slices, onions, fish - and lots of salt.  The stuff was
    stored in crocks and allowed to simmer for a while.  The pickerel
    bones then became soft.
    
    No expensive speed boats back yonder; it was either oars or paddles,
    correct for a stealthy approach to pad beds.  One had to be fairly
    close to succeed.
    
    _Get the Longest_
    Tackle was primitive: the longest cane pole you could acquire. 
    No reel, just a short length of linen or heavy cotton line secured
    to the pole's tip.  No leader, either, simply a long-shanked hook
    tied to the end of the line.  Standing in his flat-bottomed rowboat
    or canoe, the angler put his perch belly right into pad beds and
    then skittered it.
    
    Pickerel lie under the shade of such natural cover where they wait
    to attack minnows or uneducated frogs.  A perch belly seems to drive
    them berserk and they swirl up in a spray of white water to attack.
    There was no nonsense about playing a prize.  It was immediately
    swung aboard.
    
    The business may seem Stone Age now, yet it was a challenge, and
    relaxing in midsummer when the air is fragrant with blooming water
    lilies and shoreside frogs chunking.  Having boated as many of the
    green and gold gladiators as needed, you could turn to a few of
    the floating islands, which offer high bush blueberries galore.
    They are better than any cultured fruit bought in a marketplace.
    
    _Never that Efficient_
    Certainly the game is worthy of attention with modern spinning,
    bait casting or fly rod tackle, yet not as much as with the ancient
    outfit.  My vintage friend agrees, and he has caught nearly everything
    with fins in fresh and salt water.
    
    No more silly questions!  Why not spend a blissful high summer morning
    or afternoon doing precisely what our ancestors did?  Bring home,
    in addition to the gleaming fishes, a slithery wealth of white water
    lilies to perfume a household.  I can think of worse ways to enjoy
    a few hours of leisure time.
    
              ******************************
    
    Steve, I hope this is useful for you (his column certainly was
    timely!).  When interrogated about exactly how to "trim [perch bellies]
    carefully", he said to leave the fins on and make sure the silvery
    lining shows; shape it like a minnow.  (Or an uneducated frog?!)
    
    Regards, Leslie      
    

    	Howdy,
    
    	The real jig 'n pig is any leadhead jig with any piece of pork
    rind hung on the hook.  The usual setup is a brown or black bucktail
    (as in deer tail) jig with a white pork frog trailer.  All this
    other stuff you guys are talkin' about are different breeds altogether.
    
    Re:.3  Don't be shy about using your Moss Boss for Pickeral, they'll
    tear it up.  It is the deadliest weed lure in any of my many
    tackleboxes.
    
    	Basser Bourgeois
    

    >The third type has a barbed post extending from the jighead which
    >the head of a rubber worm, ect. can be pushed into while the back of
    >the worm is embedded into the point of the hook creating a very
    >weedless yet undetectable jig.  This is the type of jig that I use
    >most of the time and is made by Mister Twister lures.  I have caught
    >some of my biggest bass on this lure.  
    
    How do you fish this (or the other soft-plastic-on-jig combos)?  Do 
    you use a standard "jigging" motion?
    
    Thanks,
    Dave

    A 'standard' jig-n-pig (according to yours truly) is a 3/8 ounce bass
    jig (fiber weed guard, rubber skirt) with a Uncle Josh #11 pork frog
    hung on the  back.  Usually dark colors for both pork ang jig.  A bass
    jig has plenty of  hook for the fish and the pork.  As for jig names,
    Stanley and Uncle Bucks are common.  Fish a jig with with a
    med-heavy/heavy action rod (I like a sensitive heavy action rod
    myself.  Fish it like a worm, slowly.  Toss it or pitch it around wood
    and rocks, or weeds that aren't *too* thick.  You can flip it into
    pockets of the thick stuff, but by crawling it back thru the thick soft 
    stuff you'll be dragging salad.  
    
    donmac

re:.6
	This is the procedure that I use when fishing a jig.

1.  Cast out lure.  If using a spinning reel wind up slack line as quickly as
    possible so as to have good tension on the jig.  This allows you to easily
    see and/or feel a strike while the jig plummets to the bottom.  Try to
    hold the rod tip close to the water so if a strike occurs you will have a 
    lot more leverage to set the hook with.  Most strikes occur as the jig is
    falling, from the surface of the water to the lake bottom is a good amount
    of fall time; therefore, a good chance of getting a strike.  
        If I know about how deep the water is where I am casting I will 
    countdown the lure (1 foot for every second - 1 BIGBASS, 2 BIGBASS, ect).
    If the tension on the lure stops before you think the lure has bottomed out
    set the hook.

2.  When the jig hits bottom the line will slacken a little.  At this point it
    never hurts to give the lure a quick twitch.  This is done by lifting the
    rod tip until tension is regained, then quickly lift it another 6" or so
    yet never releasing tension, remember the tension is you only connection
    to what is happening with the lure.  As the lure is falling again pay close
    attention for a strike.

3.  When the line goes slack again the lure has hit the bottom.  At this point
    I would lift the rod tip about two feet and let the jig fall until it 
    reaches the bottom (slack line or line drops) and continue this process 
    until retrieved in.  
        When reeling in line to lower rod tip always keep just enough tension
    on the jig to feel it but not reel it forward.  Always use the rod to move
    the jig.  I try not to ever have the rod higher than 11 o'clock so as to
    have plenty of distance to set the hook if a strike occurs.
     
    Any kind of jig, rubber worm, or Gitzit requires a lot of concentration and
patience.  Most importantly try to imagine what the lure is doing under water
and what your are trying to imitate with the jig.  Don't be afraid to 
experiment with different retrieves.  Nothing feels better than trying your
own though up retrieve and snarfing up a big bass, besides when I experiment
I seem to pay closer attention to what the lure is doing.

Hope this helps
Steve