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One of my favorite ice fishing jig setups is something I call the Banana Split. Usually on a white glow jighead (the ice cream), with a wax worm (the banana), tipped with 1 or 2 salmon eggs (the cherries). This has been very effective for rainbows, cuts, and a few tigers. Don’t remember how I came with that mix or the name, but it has been good for me at Scofield, Rockport, Deer Creek, and to a lesser extent at Strawberry.
I just picked up some Lost Creek craws in Mossy Pumpkin that I want to try at Strawberry. One of my sons in law caught a 24-inch cutthroat up there a couple of winters ago and it had been eating small crawdads about the size of my little finger. Will try tipping with a small piece of chub or night crawler. One more thing to try!
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Thanks for sharing. I hope more members will chime in with things that work for them. I think that sometimes we assume that "everybody knows that" but we have anglers at every level so giving tips is much appreciated.
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I have used rubber crayfish from Sportsmans at a lake to remain undisclosed.Just let it freefall and they follow it down and pick it up right off the bottom. I have caught some beauties this way.
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A staple for me every place except the big boys at the Gorge is a Swedish Pimple (color withheld) and a tipped ratfinkie below it.
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Thanks hogstalker. I was planning to work them off the bottom, maybe stir up a little silt. At Strawberry, the hogs seem to respond to a little bottom bouncing. I like your freefall idea (maybe I'll put some Tom Petty on...)!
I also wasn't sure how to rig it with a tube jig, so ended up with as shown in the attached photo. Thoughts on rigging?
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I've done well with the RatFinkee/waxworm below a split shot. I bought the Swedish Pimple but am not sure how you rig it or how is best to fish it. Can you help me out?
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I use that same rig, I use the #3 white glo.
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Yes with the craw you want the hook coming out of the head just like your picture then tip it with a little bait for flavoring.they love it !
As far as Sweedish pimples go , I have used them as the main lure at the end of the line or as an attractor with a dropper 1 to 2 feet below tip with wax worm or Pautskes green label salmon eggs (they are the only kind that work) Be safe and catch lots!
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I've always been suspicious of the dropper below the spoon rigging. I suspect that we miss an awful lot of bites because the fish swims up a bit when mouthing the dropper - and of course we never feel that because all we feel is the weight of the spoon.
I started tying in the "dropper" above the spoon drop-shot style and immediately began detecting many, many more bites.
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Smart....good idea thanks for sharing
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[#0000FF]Yeah, verily. You always have better "feel" when you have a direct connect to the lure being munched. But from past experience I can attest to the potential effectiveness of the jig below the flasher rig. However, I have never liked it as much because of the frequent tangles on the drop. The light jig gets wrapped around the line above the flasher.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Over the years I have observed quite a few dedicated ice anglers using modified versions of the "dropshot" rig. Some...as you have suggested...use a flashy lure on the bottom with a small jig tied in above...either with a Palomar knot or on a short dropper. Others simply use a sinker on the bottom with one or two small jigs spaced above.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I am attaching a couple of diagrams I recently made to show fliggers how to use those little things dropshot style. It will work for any small jig or unweighted ice fly.
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[#0000FF]As most of us know, from watching sonar screens, fish like perch often hug the bottom. But they will rise up off the bottom to intercept falling jigs...or to investigate potential food items above the bottom. And as a general rule, if you can get them to come up a bit they will usually bite.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]There are also a lot of species...like crappies...that routinely suspend at some point off the bottom. And a lot of these fish tend to look upwards for their food...seldom if ever looking down or moving down to feed. So having your offerings either right in the suspend zone or slightly above will get more hits. Always a good idea to watch the sonar and if you can see both the fish and your jigs reel up until your stuff is in the target area. A fun video game.[/#0000FF]
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BTW, I tie the small jig on with a uni knot, but not the usual way. I leave the hook on the loop of the uni, make three or four turns with a long tail of line, and then snug up. This creates a nice linear path of line with the small jig/hook standing straight out, dropshot style. LOTS easier than trying to get a double line through a microscopic ice lure hook eye.
I wish I knew how to make and post a drawing of that.
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I will be honest, I don't get caught up in all the variations of jig heads. I buy a bunch of different colors varying from 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, and 1/64 oz round jig heads off ebay. I tip them with wax worms for perch, berkley minnows for crappie, a variation of fresh water basic plastics for trout tipped with worm. For the smaller jigs I tie a northland buckshot about 2 feet above it. Obviously I remove the hook from the northland buckshot lure and use it only as an attractor. Bigger fish, bigger oz jig. Smaller fish, smaller oz jig. Hope this helps. [fishon]
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I like your "flig" setups, and will probably try it for ice fishing.
I have always used the attractor, like a small kastmaster, above the dropper with ice jig of some type and size, below it. Yes, I get some tangles on the descent, but I shortened up the leader a bit, usually not more than 12 inches. Also, I use a little heavier leader for the dropper and still catch fish.
My question is about the "action" that you envision or maybe tested and found out, for the drop shot kind of setup for ice fishing.
Besides shaking the lure, which is what I usually do when using an open water drop shot for bass, do you think you get the same action as a lure at the bottom of the rig that is free to fall, flutter, a short distance when you raise and drop during ice jigging? I think this flutter during the fall triggers a lot of bites, if not just drawing the fish in.
Not being critical, just trying to think how each reacts down at the business end of the line. I'll probably try the drop shot type on a second pole, and use both types this season, since I have some confidence in my old setup.
That's the nice thing about the two pole allowance.[  ]
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[#0000FF]As most of us usually find out for ourselves. There just ain't any universal setup that catches fish on all waters on every trip. Besides all the different species involved, there are variables in depth, visibility, oxygen levels in the water, impending spawning mode, primary food sources and a bunch of other factors that can affect how active the fish are and how likely they are to want one presentation over another.
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[#0000FF]As I mentioned, I too have had trips when using a flasher with a small jig below turned out to be the hot ticket for that day. And yes, the few tangles are worth the additional action you get when it goes down right.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]In the two diagrams I posted, the one with having a jig below the smaller jig/flig adds size, color and action to help attract the fish...and the flig/jig dances merrily above. When a fish comes in, it has a choice of big meal or small meal...if you bait the big jig/spoon as well. And yes, the action of the bigger lure really does seem to pull fish in from a distance...and is often the one to get bit.
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[#0000FF]When you use a sinker, rather than a jig, you have an ideal rig for fishing a second pole. Rest the sinker on the bottom...with one or two jigs/fligs up above. Fish them deadstick (no action), but you can occasionally reach over and give them a little wiggle to attract anything swimming by.
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[#0000FF]Did not intend to imply these rigs were always better. Just a good alternative to have in your bag of tricks for conditions that might make them work.
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I just wonder -- if a fish sucks in your jig while it's fluttering on a totally slack line...how do you know?
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Thanks for the explanation Tubedude..
As I said, I am certainly going to try the setups you diagramed.
Have to admit, I am normally resistant to changing my fishing setups that have worked, probably to my detriment.
Thanks again
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You are right, I probably don't know until the line is taut again.
I will say that most of the time when fishing this rig, I like to jig with small quick movements, then once in a while raise it 2 or more feet and let it back down fairly quickly. What has happened is it comes to rest at the original depth (I use a bobber), then either immediately, or after a few seconds pause, the fish bites.
At my age, I don't do much "feel" ice fishing without a strike indicator, like a bobber. When my hands are cold, etc.., I would miss a lot of light bites.
With the bobber, you see the slightest bite, even ones where they are mouthing it and not moving. I have had the bobber move slightly on the surface without being pulled down, or just barely dimple the water surface to microscopically pull it down slightly. I have set the hook with these bites and usually find the hook in the roof of the mouth very close or right at the lips. If fish have lips.
So yes, I don't know, so it is probably a negative for the jig at the bottom the rig setup. Good observation![bobhappy]
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As the wise TD points out, nothing is foolproof. I'm enough of a fool to prove it!
With the jig above, I have often detected a bite when the rod tip/indicator rises rather than dips. That tells me that the fish lifted the bait.
The line can only move three ways at a bite: down, sideways - or up. Dropshot style rigging detects all three... providing the fish will take the lure that way, that day.
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As mentioned, no setup is foolproof. For me, the best setup is the one catching fish! [bobhappy]
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