Has anyone done this? Ice is a ways off and I’m itching to get out before shoulder surgery next Tuesday. A bayou by my house is doing well on gills from what I have heard. I’m going to go light, 2-3 lb test and a teardrop with a waxie. The big question is this: do I vertically jig for them or do I cast and let it sit? I have never done this befo. I appreciate the help, good luck this season guys!
To get the “verticle jigging” action close to what I do for ice fishing, I’ve had luck using my ultra light setup (6’6″diawa presso/Abu cardinal sx10 w/4# maxima chameleon) with my largest tungsten jig, usually a fiskas, and a thill slip bobber. The jig needs to be heavy enough to pull line through the bobber hence why I use tungsten. I reel in the slack untill the line is as tight as it’s going to be without moving the bobber and then I push on the rod handle with my rod gripping index finger in a “trigger pulling” motion causing the slip bobber to start a controllable bounce all while keeping the line taught. You are only trying to move the tip of the rod here. It’s a quick, sharp, but subtle and direct technique. The bouncing is what’s jigging your bait. I can do this as fast or as slow as I need to. So it’s kind of like verticle jigging and letting it sit. You could also do this same thing with small jig heads (lead) If you don’t have tungsten or any tear drops heavy enough to pull line through the bobber. I do it all the time for gills and crappie here in central Michigan and it works pretty well. A good combo for me is the smallest heaviest solid white jig I have with a trigger x waxtail (natural color) with only the tail and the one ball it’s attached to or half a mustache worm in the same color. Slays em all day. A waxie would work just as well too. Don’t be shy to add split shot if necesarry to keep weight on your line if you are using a light jig. Have fun and good luck!
Thanks for the help! You too are feeling my pain. I’m in west Michigan. This weather is horrendous and I wish I had the money to head west. Good luck this year!
You’re welcome and Yes I am! I’m really hoping this cooler weather sticks around so we don’t have to wait until late January to get on some safe ice. Skim ice held all day today on some decent lakes for Clare county. If the weather holds, we “could” be on ice Christmas weekend but I don’t think I’ve been good enough this year for that to happen. Oh yeah…did you end up catching any gills?
People with access to a boat right now will have a great chance at some sumo gills from open water. Right now the fish are transitioning to the winter haunts and if you know where that is, you’ll find some of the largest fish there already. These would be very catchable fish so I’d urge people to release those chunks and if they want a few for the table to look at the 7-8″ers for that purpose. Be sure to bring a camera as many photo ops will likely come to you.
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