Panfish plastics

I’ve been using Custom Jigs Shrimpos and Ratsos for the last two years with alot of success ice fishing. I see ISG has a line of small plastics now, (Copepods, Shrimpys, Amoebas, and Leechettes). Has anyone used these plastics and if so how did you do on them?

I’ve used the leechettes and and have done well w/ them. I mostly use them late in the year. I find them a bait I can move around alot w/ and allow me to move from hole to hole. I work them from the bottom edge of the ice to the bottom itself. I have caught Crappie, perch and bluegill using them. When hooked correctly they mimic a falling worm. I have also found less is more when working them. I do not recommend working them excessively. Just enough to get a small vibration. Mostly, I use them on a small plain hook, but when need be I will use them on a jig or lead head. They rank right up there w/ the shrimpos, ratsos, and mini-mites.

Good luck fishing!

BIRDMAN, I AM NOT SURE IF I AM FAMILIAR WITH ISG? IS THERE MORE TO THE NAME AND WHERE DO I FIND THESE? I HAVE ALWAYS FAIRED EXTREMELY WELL WITHT THE CUSTOM SPINS AND JIGS. I WOULD BE HARD PRESSED TO SWITCH TO A DIFFERENT BRAND, BUT I ALSO AM INTERESTED IN IMPROVING MY CATCH. THANKS TBASS

T-Bass, ISG stands for Innovated Sport Group and their web site is http://www.isgfishing.com. They can be found at some tackle stores, I don’t know if Cabelas or the big box stores stock them. Their plastics are supposed to be salt impregnated. That’s why I was wondering if they were better than Customs line of panfish plastics. I too will find it hard to switch from Custom Jigs line of baits because of the success I have had with them.

Blue Fleck, your method of fishing the plastic without a jig is interesting. I’ve never tried it. Do you find that this works best when the fish are finicky and don’t want an aggresive presentation?

The spot I fish, gets hammered by people fishing redworms. So much so the fish get “conditioned” to the look and action of redworms. I have found by mimicing the fall of a redworm in water w/ the leechette I can catch fish in the entire water column. Granted this does not always work. But neither do redworms. That is when I go to the plastic. I will only drop the plastic down a hole twice and then move on w/out a bite. Many of the people that fish where I do fish w/ the bait on the bottom or very near it. As you can tell by fishing on the bottom there is not much room for aggressive fishing tatics. On those days where the fish are not feeding on the bottom I go to the jigging setup. Even then the fish are not hitting the bait aggressively. I can usually tell I have a bite by my line going slack on the drop. If you have any more questions please feel free to ask or send me a PM.

Good luck fishing!

Fleck, one last question, when using a plain hook how are you rigging the leechette? Do you use a split shot with it or just the weight of the hook to sink it? Saying less is more was very true last year. It seemed that it took very little movement to provoke strikes. Too much jigging many times turned the fish off.

Many times I will use a plain hook w/ no sinker. I do however use a standard size sunfish hook on my pole. I know some people like to downsize their gear for ice fishing. I don’t. There are times I use a small splitshot just above the hook. Maybe an inch or two. It is small enough to sink the bait faster, but not too big that it spooks the fish.
Lastly, I rig the leechette so it lays horizontal when vertical jigging. Only about a 1/4 of an inch of the bait is hooked. I start @ the head and work the bait on about a 1/4 of an inch and push it to the bottom bend of the hook. When you look @ the hook profile “J” the bait should come straight off the bottom bend. Coincidently, this is not too far from the concept of the Senko by Yamamoto. You want the lure to fall like a natural bait. Try this, if you have an ice house and fish in an area that is not too deep and has clean water where you can see down, drop a redworm(don’t hook it on any thing) down the hole and watch it fall. That is the action you want to imitate. If you want, keep me in mind late it the winter and PM me. We can try to hook up. I have a fantastic spot for huge sunfish where thie technique works. Lots of fun.