Three of us fished the Mississippi River backwaters near Wabasha yesterday and Custom Jig and Spins products made a major splash.
One person got stuck on a purple Ratso, no additions, and managed probaby fish totals near the century mark. Another one of this trio was switching between the same purple Ratso, a Diamond Jig with a custom paint job [purple over gold with a glow dot up front] and a Gill Pill in one of the factory colors. He too was way up there in fish numbers. Myself, I stood solid on the Gill Pill, one in glow red and the other a custom color of purple over gold. I went way past the 100 fish mark. Nothing over a size 12 was fished in the heavy jigs.
No doubt we had some dink fish hit, but as for keeper sized bluegills we could have kept perhaps 75. 15 were kept for one of the guys to serve up on Christmas Eve, as requested by a family member. Everything else went back.
Shallow water provided the best fish. By concentrating our fishing along an edge where deeper water met the very shallow we were able to stay very busy. In one area I actually got bored with a “fish per drop” catch rate.
Moving was what worked best for me. I cut just one hole to get into one area where some activity was happening, but I simple went from un-used hole to un-used hole and did my damage. It seemed that as soon as a couple of good fish came to the ice [usually the first in the hole] smaller fish got attracted to the commotion and then the bite went small. Hit a different hole and bang….better fish right off, then the dink barrage set in. I stayed in moving mode and did really well.
The purple custom painted Gill Pill was set up with a purple Ratso tail with the first two of the body segments removed. The rat tail ended just past the end of the hook. This color pattern accounted for maybe 75% of my fish. The red glow unit was fished with a red spike. The addition of bait seemed to call smaller fish. Actually, I only used three spikes yesterday…..all day…..and literally had to peel the last bits off the jig when we quit fishing.
Crappies were being watched by those with cameras and they were rewarded with nothing but frustration as the crappies simply watched back at the boys up top….gotta love it 
. I did tie on a 1/32 red over glow JBLures Gem-N-Eye and hung a Nuggie on it in an attempt to coax a slab or two. Such just was not to be.
This was my first go at the Gill Pills and I did have some reservations about potential spinning problems. The good news is that I saw none. I fished the Pills on Fireline Crystal, 1 pound; I fished them on gold Stren Ice, 2 pound; I fished them on 2 pound XL; and I fished them on my favored sewing machine quilting thread. I jigged them hard. I worked them slow. Nothing in the form of twist came to light. The Pill has passed the test nicely for me and is now a solid part of my “go to” section. All of these Custom products are great tools.