straight-lining small jigs

I get quite a few questions on the best methods for catching late season panfish. Without a doubt, one of the most effective methods is letting a small jig hang straight down from the side of the boat. It puts the offering directly in front of the fish and even fish which are in a negative mood will probably bite if they don’t need to move far in order to get a meal.
Straight-lining can be thought of in terms of an ice-fishing presentation. You are not fishing horizontally, but vertically adjusting your depth until you find the fish. Using electronics to spot the fish and then putting your offering to that depth cuts out a lot of guess work, but remember that panfish often feed above themselves so you will usually want to keep your offering slightly above what you see on your electronics.
I also like to fish those light jigs under a bobber when the fish are 5 ft. or less deep and then you can cast to the fish instead of hovering over the top of them. Shallower fish tend to be a bit more easily spooked than deeper fish. Sometimes you may need to add a split shot weight about 6-12 inches above your jig in order to keep a light jig in front of deep fish.
Panfish are masters at inhaling a small jig and spitting it back out in a fraction of a second. The exact moment you feel a bite or even have an indication that there is some extra weight – set the hook! Don’t forget to bring some wax worms along to tip the jigs. You don’t need to always tip the jigs, but there are days when it makes a big difference.
Straight-lining is just another effective technique that should be given a try when the fish are in deeper water. Give it a try next time you are out!

Good Fishing,
Mike

I usually slow troll with the electric motor for panfish with a plain hook & bait, plain jig & bait, or jig and plastic with a bit of bait. I am almost always using an extra split shot to keep the presentation down. The reason I like slow trolling is that I can cover a lot of area while searching for scattered active fish. Slow trolling also allows me to get the presentation far away from the boat and by changing the speed or making turns, the presentation automatically rises and falls to different depths. I feel the boat spooks the larger fish so I let out a lot of line. Once I catch a nice one, I will circle the area for a while and vertical jig if there is a concentration of fish. I probably I don’t catch as many fish as some of the others but I do enjoy the slow trolling style of fishing.

If the fish are not scattered or active, then I will go vertical for targeting concentrated neutral fish. I guess I just like slow trolling more as I get to watch the changing bottom on the fish finder and find new places to fish. Isn’t it great that one can catch panfish using many different kinds of presentation!

Dave Gulczinski

Thanks Dave! That is certainly another great way to find and catch fish. What size jig and added split shot do you usually use?

Good Fishing,
Mike

Hi Mike,

I have been using 1/32 oz jigs as the small hook works well for both sunfish and the crappies just inhale the jig. I suspect I miss a few of the larger crappies because of the small hooks and plan on trying larger jigs and plastics for slabs. Any recommendations from HOF?

The sinkers I use are all different sizes depending on the speed I am slow trolling, line diameter, how much line is let out, and the depth. I like to start with the jig about half way down in whatever depth I am trolling. If you starting getting bites when slowing down or doing inside turns, then increase the weight as the fish are biting deeper. If they bite when speeding up then the fish are shallower, so decrease the weight.

The Lake Zumbro white bass often seem to be near the surface and many times I add extra weight just to get the jig under them. I do hate some of the reusable split shots as they spin while trolling and twist up everything.

Dave Gulczinski

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Hi Mike,

I have been using 1/32 oz jigs as the small hook works well for both sunfish and the crappies just inhale the jig. I suspect I miss a few of the larger crappies because of the small hooks and plan on trying larger jigs and plastics for slabs. Any recommendations from HOF?

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Hey Dave,

I’ve done a couple different things when having difficulty hooking up. You can either bend the small hook out a few degrees, or up size the jig to 1/16 or even 1/8 oz. for deep water crappies as these size jigs tend to have larger hooks. Your hooking percentage should increase rather well!

Good Fishing,
Mike

I like trolling the lake also as its a great way to check out the bottom of the lake and find different spots that have some cover of some sort. [could turn uinto new hot spots] This is a way of learning more about the bottom of the lake and getting to fish at the same time. Lately the fish Mike and I have been getting is in the straight line jigging style. This way you are straight vertical most of the time. Last time out we fished some cover in two different ways and both caught fish from the same cover. Mike held his jig [Mini-Mite] just over the cover and caught fish while I worked my jig [Mini-Mite] down into the cover and pulled fish out of there. Both ways worked great. The splitshot above the Mini-Mite kept the line straight so I could get my jig into the cover and pull fish out of there. The more techniques an angler knows the better the chances are of catching fish in different situations/conditions that the angler is faced with.
Thanks, Bill