Floating Jigheads Issues and Fixes

Ok, so this is a issue that has bugged me for awhile ever since I noticed it. Conventional floating jigheads have the hookpoint and eye on the same side, now when you have weight above the jighead on the line under the water that is pulling the eye down. Therefor holding the eye and hookpoint towards the bottom. Now when you rig a minnow through the head typically you insert the hookpoint through the bottom lip and out the top, so that the minnows dorsal fin is on the same side as the hook point. Which means, and this is the issue I noticed while setting this style rig in shallow water to observe how it looked in water, your minnow is held upside down and has to fight the weight to be upside right. Now I have not yet found a floating jighead that has the eye on the opposite side as the hook point, so that a minnow will be upside right. The closest thing I have found, is the floating jigheads that Apex makes which have the eye slightly at an angle down on the front of the jighead.

I have attached my attempts at explanatory pictures below, hopefully they help clarify, but does anybody else notice this issue and find a way to fix it, or find floaters that don’t have this issue?

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I use gum drop floaters and have far more pleased with them over the traditional style.

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Dave to the rescue! Yessir, gum drop floater will keep it in line and solve your issue. Booyah!

I have tried those but was not as satisfied as I would like, I definitely pick them over conventional but does anybody know any that have the eye and hook point on total opposite sides?

insert the hook from the top of the minnow’s jaw, not from underneath and it will hang upright

Cabelas makes these…not sure it that’s exactly what you’re looking for though.

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I’m curious if many guys have luck with floaters and minnows?

Mine are typically reserved for leeches and crawlers, never liked the idea of a minnow fighting against the floater, seemed unnatural. If needed more distance from bottom would opt out for a 3way with a long lead or some rig floats to keep the hook more “free” for the minnow to play around.

But then again if Im marking them that far off bottom, it tells me they’re active and probably opt out for some other technique.

Gum drop floater with minnows hooked from the head down.

Did you ever think that a minnow fighting to stay right side up is a dinner bell to a fish.?? … …rrr

Nic Barker wrote:

Now when you rig a minnow through the head typically you insert the hookpoint through the bottom lip and out the top, so that the minnows dorsal fin is on the same side as the hook point.

So if the hook point is going to be pointing downward, have you tried hooking from the top down thru the bottom lip of the minnow? That way the jig rides as designed and the minnow rides upright in a natural position. I don’t know how or if this would affect hooking percentage on fish caught.

You’re over-thinking this Nick. Go fishing.

There was a floating jig head made with a reversed eye.
We used the heads when Lindy rigging with a slip sinker.
I have not seen the heads on the market for over twenty years.
I would like to get a few of the heads again.

As I said I have not seen the floaters with a reversed eye for some years and would like to get a few.
I did some experimenting today using a 5/16 x 11/16 inch rig float and a #1 aberdeen hook. The float was reamed to accept the #1 hook. A slot was cut in the front of the float to accept the eye of the hook. The hook was inserted through float then bent at a 70 degree angle( tried 90 degrees and broke two hooks) and positioned into the cut slot. The hook was then epoxied in place.

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Regardless of the hook position, once a walleye inhales it, you have no clue or control how that hook is sitting in its mouth….. I think you are trying to come up with a solution where there is no problem.

Bob/MN wrote:

As I said I have not seen the floaters with a reversed eye for some years and would like to get a few.
I did some experimenting today using a 5/16 x 11/16 inch rig float and a #1 aberdeen hook. The float was reamed to accept the #1 hook. A slot was cut in the front of the float to accept the eye of the hook. The hook was inserted through float then bent at a 70 degree angle( tried 90 degrees and broke two hooks) and positioned into the cut slot. The hook was then epoxied in place.

Might have to try that as well.

Regardless if it’s trivial or not, it just seems like something that should be on the market. Every other style of jigheads when fished has the hook point facing towards the surface. So maybe it is over thinking it, but it gives me something to think about and it makes sense.

river rat randy wrote:

Did you ever think that a minnow fighting to stay right side up is a dinner bell to a fish.?? … …rrr

So I should stop using the ded minnows BK sells me for cheap?

Timmy wrote:

Regardless of the hook position, once a walleye inhales it, you have no clue or control how that hook is sitting in its mouth….. I think you are trying to come up with a solution where there is no problem.

As I stated it has been quite a few years since we used the floaters. As I recall we had way more hook-ups and less lost fish with the rigs. The majority of fish were hooked in the roof of the mouth. This could be due to the hook position and a wider hook gap.
We used the floaters tipped with a leech,3 to 6 foot snells and a bottom walking weight. When a take was detected we would drop the rod tip back a foot or two and stick the fish. This way we would get very few gut hook fish.
<BTW> We were fishing a mud/silt lake bottom thus the need for the floaters.

How about one of those little styro floats that are cylindrical? the ones I have are maybe 1/2 to 3/4″ long and maybe 1/4″ dia. One of those in front of the hook of your choice may make for a cheap, easy fix? The same float in your pic a few posts back….just thread it on the line and use a shorter hook (Gamakatsu finesse wide gaps are awesome for this)

Timmy wrote:

How about one of those little styro floats that are cylindrical? the ones I have are maybe 1/2 to 3/4″ long and maybe 1/4″ dia. One of those in front of the hook of your choice may make for a cheap, easy fix? The same float in your pic a few posts back….just thread it on the line and use a shorter hook (Gamakatsu finesse wide gaps are awesome for this)

Have done that as well, and it works, sometimes though I just feel like having the color and hook all in one, but yes I have used them. I always put one of those small rubber bobber/weight stops about an inch above the top of the float just to keep it close enough to make sure it’s floating the bait and not just the line.

stuart wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>river rat randy wrote:</div>
Did you ever think that a minnow fighting to stay right side up is a dinner bell to a fish.?? … …rrr

So I should stop using the ded minnows BK sells me for cheap?

…Hey Stuart you sure can use those dead ones. But Butt remember BK thinks you are going cat fishun…When I am dead sticking a lot of time I will hook the minnows so they have fight to stay right side up. They stick out in a crowd… …rrr

Timmy wrote:

How about one of those little styro floats that are cylindrical? the ones I have are maybe 1/2 to 3/4″ long and maybe 1/4″ dia. One of those in front of the hook of your choice may make for a cheap, easy fix? The same float in your pic a few posts back….just thread it on the line and use a shorter hook (Gamakatsu finesse wide gaps are awesome for this)

We also used the floats in front of a eagle claw #84 bronze hook with a nose hooked crawler. The down side of this presentation is a lot of gut hooked fish. To keep the mortality rate down we would cut the line and not try to remove the hook. The disadvantage of this rig is that the hook can be in any position and you have to delay the hook set. The advantage is the air injected crawler along with the float will ride high above the silt haze on the bottom.
<BTW> I would imagine with a live nose hooked minnow the hook would ride in the up position. Minnow hooked from the bottom lips to the top lips.