Gill Pill Question

After hearing some great reports about this jig, I went to Thorne Bros. on Xmas eve and picked up a few packs. Needless to say there has been one tied on atleast one of my ice rods ever since. These jigs flat out catch fish. Perch, crappies, bluegills, tulibees, and even a few walleys. Everytime out I always have one problem though. The fish seem to have lock jaw if the jig is hanging vertically. If I don’t pull the knot back toward the hook, I can’t get bit. I do it everytime the line comes up, but sometiimes I miss fish, the knot slides back to the front, and I want to keep my jig down in the fishes face. Unfortunately I can only get lookers after that, so I have to reel up and adjust the knot. The Mini Merts and diamond jigs seem to stay somewhat horizontal if the knot slides forward, but the Pill always ends up perfectly vertical for me. Most of the time I’m using a number 12 or 14 tied on 2lb. P-Line. I’m just throwing this out there to see if anyone out there has noticed the same thing. I’m also wondering if theres any way Custom Jigs & Spins could move the eyelet of the jig to prevent this from happening. I would think moving the eyelet back to the top of the jig would help.

I like them to hang not verticle or horizontal but just inbetween. Since fish usually feed up and from the side I have found that a true horizontal presentation usually results in the fish hitting the wrong end of the jig. A true verticle presentation is not near as attractive to mature fish. I like them to hang just inbetween verticle and horizontal and usually the Gill Pill does that without adjusting the knot.

I do occasionally change the position of the knot depending on the mood of the fish but for the most part I like it exactly where it is. I would suggest if they move the eye, then change the name of the jig and keep the Gill Pill just the way it is

I use a surgens knot when using small panfish sized jigs. it really aloows the jig to dance and move with out jigging the rod much at all. With bait on the jig it hangs slightly down and not completely horizontal. I put a slight bend in all of my jigs so the hook is not centered with the jig head. I put the line through the jig then pass the jig and all through an over hand loop knot twice and pull tight. trim off the excess and wha la!Here is a link knot

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I like them to hang not verticle or horizontal but just inbetween. Since fish usually feed up and from the side I have found that a true horizontal presentation usually results in the fish hitting the wrong end of the jig. A true verticle presentation is not near as attractive to mature fish. I like them to hang just inbetween verticle and horizontal and usually the Gill Pill does that without adjusting the knot.

I do occasionally change the position of the knot depending on the mood of the fish but for the most part I like it exactly where it is. I would suggest if they move the eye, then change the name of the jig and keep the Gill Pill just the way it is

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I agree

I agree too. I guess I didn’t mean horizontal, but atleast a 45 degree angle. It just seems to me that the jig hangs completly verticle if the knot is pulled toward the front of the hook. The Diamond jig seems to keep an angle even when the knot is pulled forward on the eye, so I was just thinking there might be a way to replicate that but still keep the gill pill design. I don’t know maybe I’m just too picky , but I’ve always prided myself on getting fish to bite even if they are in a “negative mood.” The gill pill is the answer when it is hanging at an angle, but once it goes verticle I can’t catch them. I’m done whining. I just wanted to see if anyone else shared the same thoughts.

I’ve not tried this with light line in an ice fishing application so I’m not sure how it would work… but here goes. How about a tiny dab of fishing glue (super glue) to hold the knot where you want it? You’d want to be awful careful to not fill up the eyelet.

Just a suggestion. Again, I have no experience trying this.

Fife, you can use a needle-nose and tweek the eye forward a little bit if you want less angle. Also, you can remove the plastic ring, that will give it less angle. Doing both will make it significanly more horizontal than out of the box.