Gap Bend?

How many ice fishermen here modify their jigs? Do you think it helps increase your hooking percentage?

Pictured: Two new gill pill jigs- one with the way the hook came and one with a little modification to it.

I have been opening and bending all of my small ice fishing jigs for as long as I can remember- I really believe that modifying your hooks on all of your ice-fishing jigs will greatly improve your hook up ratio. Try it sometime and let me know if it helps you!

Luke, I have also been doing that for years, not just my ice jigs but on all of my jigs. I believe that the little twist adds another facet to my hooksets.

If you’re using a Gamakatsu hook you wouldn’t have to do that. To me bending that hook weakens it and if you hook a much bigger fish than you are targeting it’ll straighten out the hook or bend the hook enough to……set itself free…if you can bend the hook the fish can….line drives thoughts

i have really never thought about modifying my jigs but i guess it looks like it would increase the hook set… Thank a lot for the post!!!

I open up all my horizontal jigs just like in the picture. I used to use a lot of Genz worms and opening up the gap on those really helped. The Marmooska’s and diamond jigs are a much better design, but I still open them slightly also.

Works great in the open water season too. We use long shanked jigs with a full shiner on Winni in the spring and the hook usually gets buried right along the shiner’s back. Open that jig up a little and there is a sharp point exposed and ready to be buried in a walleye’s lip.

sometimes bending the point so it is offset from the eye helps too…..

I do that on every ice jig I fish. I’ve never had a problem with that slight bend weakening the hook in any way but it sure helps get the working end of the hook into the fish.

Excellent tip Mr. Haugland.

I also bend out all my jigs. Not as far you have in the picture, but enough that when I slide my finger from the eye of the jig across the hook my finger gets hooked. That is how I judge how much to bend them out.

The picture is for example, so it is exaggerated just a bit..
Those are tiny gill pills..

I will also do the same thing on open water with a straight hook and my jigs when taking kids fishing, they catch a lot more fish.

Luke…you keep showing me all of these secrets and you will be the one when I am putting you to shame on the ice… And paying up on that $9 dollar bet… Thanks. Great tip. A few more from you and WATCH OUT BABY!!!
Ted

So you increase the gap some and bend to the side slightly or just increase the gap? Sounds like I need to get out and experiment.

You can do a little of both, it just depends on what you have confidence in, and which way/ways help your hook-up ratio. I do both on some jigs, and on other jigs I only open the gap.

Gotta Love those gill pills Do you ever do this on the little mics?

I open it up also. As mentioned, on open water too. A 5″ K-grub can fill up a 3/32 oz jig pretty quick!

On the subject of modifying jigs for improving hooking percentage, do any of you guys bust off the bead or cut off that little plastic collar on your ice jigs? I guess depending on the situation, I usually do on most of mine but I see from the pics posted in this and the other thread on plastics that you guys leave them on?

Another note on a similar subject:

When fishing panfish and using smaller jigs or spoons using waxies, euro larva, Shrimp, etc… I like to pinch down the barb on the hook. Doing this provides easier hooking of the bait and helps the live bait live a little longer. The stretch in a 2# mono line doesn’t always allow the barb to hook in much on the fish anyway…

you guys are funny…ya ever hook a nice fish on the bent hook and have it get off….be a good test to see if more large fish are caught with the bend or without the bend…to me the bend is there to hook more fish…smaller ones that can’t eat the hook….it’s a kin to using a marmooska….easy for small size gills to get hooked on…i can’t bend the gami…..i seem to catch my largest fish….15 lb pike…..27 in eyes….19 inch bass on waxies while fishing gills…i fish 5lb pline too….nice to have a good hook…and no stretch line….assuming the line didn’t break most lost fish i believe while ice fishing are a result of a bent hook…and if you are willing to compromise your own lures strength to catch more smaller fish more power to you….fun discussion though….one guys 2 cents

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you guys are funny…ya ever hook a nice fish on the bent hook and have it get off….be a good test to see if more large fish are caught with the bend or without the bend…to me the bend is there to hook more fish…smaller ones that can’t eat the hook….it’s a kin to using a marmooska….easy for small size gills to get hooked on…i can’t bend the gami…..i seem to catch my largest fish….15 lb pike…..27 in eyes….19 inch bass on waxies while fishing gills…i fish 5lb pline too….nice to have a good hook…and no stretch line….assuming the line didn’t break most lost fish i believe while ice fishing are a result of a bent hook…and if you are willing to compromise your own lures strength to catch more smaller fish more power to you….fun discussion though….one guys 2 cents

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I’ve never, ever…. like NEVER had a panfish bend out a hook that was opened OR left stock out of the package.

You sure you haven’t been fighting the bottom of the ice hole?

Seriously though… each to their own. I have a ton of confidence that bending out the hook point slightly increases my hook up ratio. You like a nice stiff hook and you leave it stock out of the package.

You say potAto. I say potato. We both take them with butter and gravy.

There’s no wrong way to catch a fish.

Ive done the same for many years too. A pair of needlenoses and I tighten the gullet a little and then twist the barbed point out to the side, I started getting more hook ups right away. It works.