|
Jigging for trout
|
08-25-2003, 01:19 PM
I've read a little here about jigging for trout. i'm going to the upper stillwater for laborday weekend I usally just fish the river but i was thinking of taking my float tube and hiking up to the res. The boat ramp has been closed for the last two years at least so it hasn't been geting fished much. any suggestions?
[signature]
08-25-2003, 02:05 PM
Jigging for trout can be highly effective. I would suggest you hit the float tube forum and ask the same question. TubeDude is a pro when it comes to jigging, and he is always happy to share some good info with you. Good luck when you head out.
[signature] 
08-25-2003, 02:43 PM
[cool]Man...I don't know about "EXPERT", but I do use jigs more than anything else. And, I know there are a lot of other folks on the forum here who should have some good input for you too.
Not familiar with the Stillwater, but there are some generalities that should hold true. When it comes to jig fishing, trout are trout. The first generality is that you should try to imitate what the main food base might be...minnows, crawdads, aquatic insects or?????? Since all but the most finicky and selective dry fly munchers are pretty opportunistic, you can go through a short list of offerings and count on having some kind of success. The two basic kinds of jigs are plastics and dressed jigs...feathers, hair or synthetics. Small twisters and tubes have been "secret weapons" for big trout for years. The smaller sizes...from 1 1/2" to as large as 3"...are better for more fish. However, if you are after macks or big cutts, break out the 4" or 5" tubes or shad bodies. If you only go with one size...stay with about a 2" plastic. Colors? Natural bait colors of crawdad (greens, browns & oranges), nymphs (greens, browns, blacks), and minnows (silvers, golds, whites, clear sparkle, smoke sparkle) are the best places to start. However, trout often smack the heck out of bright attractor colors, like chartreuse, hot pink and hot orange. Take an assortment, and start with dark colors in the early light and work your way up to the whites and silvers when the sun is high and the water is clear. For casting and swimming jigs, in shallower water, use the lightest head you can cast and maintain "touch". A slow natural fall will get you lots of hits while the jig is settling to the bottom. Tight line the lure with the bail closed after the cast...in anticipation of a "pop on the drop". By counting down, and making note at what count you got hit, you know where the fish are suspending or feeding. It is not unusual to find the fish holding 15 feet down in 30 feet or more of water. Once you find the magic depth, begin a slow retrieve at that depth on your next cast. Or, start reeling just before it gets there. Trout will rise to take a lure above them, but seldom go down to pick one up below them. For the light plastics and dressed jigs, in shallower water, I prefer size six or four hooks, on 1/32 or 1/16 oz. heads. If you want to cast farther, retrieve faster or fish deeper...or in wind...go up to 1/8 oz. Only when fishing larger jigs right off the bottom in deeper water will you want to go heavier. Some lures are what you might call "idiot proof". Any fool can chuck and wind them and their natural action will entice some strikes. Jigs are truly a lure that is only as good as the fisherman fishing them. There is a world of difference in the presentation and action you can impart to jigs. And, on any given day, a very minor difference in the action of the jig can make a whole lot of difference in the results. I fish jigs in several basic ways...with a lot of creative variations, depending on mood...mine and the fishies. The standard cast and slow swimming retrieve will work well with an action tail twister or shad body. With a tube jig, you may want to raise and lower the rod tip...slowly or with a jerk or two...to activate the strands of the tail. An effective method, when fishing from a tube, is to cast out, let the jig settle to the bottom and then slowly kick and reel at the same time, bringing the lure up through the water column in search of a stupid fish. Other good techniques from a tube are slowly bottom bouncing the jig, while flutter kicking every few seconds. A key here is to not let too much line out behind you...expecially in snaggy bottom. The shorter the angle on your line, the less likely you are to drag your jig into some rocks or stickups. And if you do snag, you don;t have to kick back as far to try to work it loose. Then, there is vertical jigging. It is just like ice fishing. Use your sonar (if you have it) to locate fish on or near the bottom, and then work that depth and visible fish with a slow vertical jigging motion...pausing to let the jig sit absolutely motionless at times...and being ever ready for the light tick or rubber band feel of a neutral or negative mode bite. Of course, when the fish are actively feeding, they may haul you right out of your tube. I fish mostly "dressed" jigs, rather than plastics. If you have access to them, get some marabou jigs on 1/16 oz. heads. Most trout will hit the old standards...blacks, browns, olives, whites and chartreuse. I tie my own and I tie them "wooly bugger" style, with a hackle feather palmer wrapped up the length of the jig body. I have taken some monster cutts and bows from Strawberry on one with an olive body with brown marabou tail. This is quicklly turning into a TubeDude epic. Hope you get the idea. If you want a copy of the 55 pages I put together on jig fishing last year, for my good friend Kent Jasperson, shoot me an email and I will forward it. It is about 280 KB of Word doc and the BFT PM system will only allow 250. If you wanna check us out in Float Tube Fantasy Land, here is the link: [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?jump=forum%3D81"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?jump=forum%3D81[/url] [signature]
08-25-2003, 03:22 PM
I wouldn't recommend fishing Upper Stillwater. The DWR quit stocking it a few years ago because the rainbows were not growing. The only decent fishing is at the inflow, and that is an almost impossible kick from the ramp. You should fish the ponds on Rock Creek near the Forest Service boundry below the dam. There are lots of rainbows and some huge browns. Good Luck.
Good Fishing, Kayote [signature]
08-25-2003, 04:09 PM
I will be out in the Uintah Basin over Labor day and might spend some time on Moon Lake!!! If anyone else will be out there, would love to meet up!!!!
[signature] |
|
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
|
