Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[tim3500]

WOW nice looking jigs are you sure those catch fish or fisherman just joking Iam sure they work . I have been using jigs for years and its my go to always tipped with a prawn and a Jensen egg to hold it on and basic colors Rod uses . I feel its the action of a jig more than color and some of the ugliest jigs caught fish my partners just shake there heads and so do I sometimes my jigs are not worthy of showing cause I cant tie worth a Damm but they work. I fish them till I loose them and tie on some other creation BAM fish on

[Spawn Sack]

Haha thanks tim3500 I'll be the first to admit those jigs are more fisherman catchers than anything. I've never tied up intruder style jigs before, normally just realy basic ones for chum, springs, etc. The main reason I tied these up is to give myself a bit of a confidence boost when fishing them for s/h as I've never caught a s/h on a jig.

Interesting idea using a jensen egg to hold the prawn chunk on! I'll have to give that a shot! Do you use raw or cooked prawn? Cured or just natural? IMO raw uncured prawn is the best, but it's downsides are it dosen't keep long and it falls off the hook easier than cooked and/or cured. I've heard of guys using spider thread to keep their prawn tail/chunk on better, although I have yet to try this.

Other things I'm going to try on my jigs this winter are:

-raw uncured squid tentacle trailing off the back like a rubber grub.
-small spawn sack (3-4 eggs) with water hardened eggs.
-chunk of raw or cured prawn.

[wonder]

Raw prawn cured in sea salt is best IMO keeps the prawn more firm doesn't fall apart as easy

[Spawn Sack]

I've never tried just raw prawn and salt. I imagine the prawns would keep a lot longer being semi-cured by the salt. Just a few inquiries wonder:

-Do you keep the salt cured prawns in the fridge? How long do you find they last cured this way?

-Why sea salt? How about coarse salt or pickling salt?

-Do you brush the salt off the prawns after, or leave them in the salt? Years back I tossed some prawns in salt and left them in the salt...after 10 days or so the prawns were super tough and IMO didn't have much scent left to them. I wasn't happy with this so I tossed them.

[zap brannigan]

i keep my prawns in the freezer and use coarse salt.

[Spawn Sack]

I keep mine in the freezer as well, however once I thaw them I do not re-freeze them. Z/B, if you thaw some prawns, salt them, but do not use them up over a day's fishing, what do you do with the leftovers? Re-freeze in salt? Keep in salt in the fridge?

My normal practise is take 6 or so out of the freezer, thaw, and use raw + unsalted. If any leftover I put in the fridge and try to use up before they go bad. If they go bad I toss in the garbage. Looking for a more pragmatic method, less wasting, etc. However I still want prawns with some good stink to them that are not all shriveled up.

For kicks try googling "curing prawns for steelhead fishing." Several good atricles by Patzuke, Pro-Cure, etc. Many seem like a lot of arsing around

[corgi]

just curious, where do u buy the raw prawns for steelhead? does a grocery store work and do i have to buy fresh, or would previously frozen work? 

Thx

[Spawn Sack]

Yeah man just the grocery store. I normally look at the fresh and frozen and get whatever seems to be the best deal, what's on sale, etc. I kind of like the frozen in a ziplock bag style as your can take out as needed. Sometimes I buy fresh, cook most up with dinner and keep a few raw for the next day's fishing

[zap brannigan]

Any leftover from the days fishing goes back in the freezer as is, they seem to keep well.

[mvelasco]

in regards to all the prawn talk I slightly cook them in partake nectar for  color and smell or brine them in the nectar liquid. brining makes them a little more pliable for when my fingers are half frozen.

[Spawn Sack]

Cool thanks guys So many different methods! I think I'll stick with what I like and have confidence in which is just straight up raw prawn. Although I may experiment a bit with salting them to toughen them up and keep them on the hook longer. Also will follow Z/B's advice and put unused ones back in the freezer instead of having them spoil in the fridge.

I can't recall if it was on this thread or another but someone gave me the idea of putting a Jensen egg on the jig hook after the prawn chunk to hold it on better. I plan to experiment with that idea as well as using spider thread.

[Floater]

In my opinion, Jigs are best in deep, clear, slow moving water: particularly canyon water.
Therefore, i life to use a long leader, do keep the weight farthest from the jig to allow it to really use its motion. This is how i have caught the majority of my steelhead on jigs.
From what I've seen, jigs are one of the few baits you do not want directly in front of the fish. I was always told 2/3 to 3/4 of the way down the water column. (7 feet down in 10 feet of water).

My favorite jigs are the beau-mac style, with two beads and a maribou tail, it gives the jig great action and looks as though it is swimming.

Finally, I tie a loop knot on to my jig in order to give it more motion and allow it to stay horizontal as it drifts through the run. For this reason, I do not tip my jigs with bait, as it interferes with the natural drift

Cheers

Couldent agree more, deep water longer leader to get that proper action. Yet twitching jigs is by far the most productive way to fish them if you can find deep and slow enough water.