Jig Weights

I read all these posts where guys are using 1/8 or 1/16 oz jig heads and it really confuses me.

Maybe I’m just fishing in fast current but my go to jig is a 3/4 oz bug eyed Lindy with a fathead on it.

Am I missing some technique here or do you need to go heavier in fast current water?

Many that use those weight jigs are either dragging jigs or pitching trying to imitate a natural drift presentation. We are also factoring low to virtually no current areas for the most active & quality fish.
Stage & flow will have a huge impact on jig weights. The flow will typically 50% less on Pool 4 as compared to the southern pools in the Genoa area.

I have never even held a 3/4oz jig head. My normal jig head is 1/8oz but if I’m fishing below the dam in the tailwaters I’ll up to 1/4 and rarely a 3/8 if we move into the real fast water. But I have never fished over 3/8oz. Our pools are pretty slow down here though, only flow at around 60,000cfs normally and I try to stay at the edges.

The biggest jig I ever use is 3/8, and that’s only in super high flow. I use more 1/8 to 3/16th than anything else. Like Dean said, find the current seams away from that kind of flow and you’ll catch more fish and better fish on average.

If you compare a 3/4 oz to a quarter it’s not so big LOL

This is a good learning experience, right now I’m just tossing the jig out and smashing it off the bottom. Next time out I’ll lighten up a bit and try the eddy’s instead of smack in the middle of the current.

You will be surprised at how much harder your strikes will be with the lightest jig you can get by with. I would venture to guess with using 3/4 oz jigs as a mainstay there has been a few bites you never evn had a chance to feel. As my kid likes to say ” I just want to feel that thump” .

Those three quarter oz. jigs must be easy to cast. I have been using one sixteenth ozers. They get good bites but are not given to long distance casts.
I can see where heavier would be better for bottom dragging.
Being new at jigging, I am trying to learn the art of jigging myself.
Good to see the feedback here.

Roger

I hook on a fathead and toss it over the side and let it sink.

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Those three quarter oz. jigs must be easy to cast. I have been using one sixteenth ozers. They get good bites but are not given to long distance casts.
I can see where heavier would be better for bottom dragging.
Being new at jigging, I am trying to learn the art of jigging myself.
Good to see the feedback here.

Roger

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btw the quarter in the photo is priceless, it’s the biggest fish quarter from Grandpa after last time out.

If you need 3/4oz to stay vertical, time to find a new place to fish. The big fish wont stay in that current, takes too much energy out of them. They will hang in the ends or sides of the currents. Use just enough weight to keep your jig down on the bottom. Doesnt have to be 100% vertical, but you dont want it way behind the boat either.

Like I said, I fish right below the dams here with 1/4 most of the time. I see guys fishing heavy jigs (1/2, 3/4, 1oz) all the time and they rarely even catch a fish. I assume its because the fish hitting the jig feels the weight and spits it long before they even feel it.

I’ve set my rod down with a 1/8 jig head before and came back to find it in the stomach of a walleye. Literally swallowed the whole jig head. I had to extract it later that evening

JohnnyG105,

When I first joined this website, all I knew about walleye fishing was to lindy rig or jig with really big jigs. It has taken time and patience to slowly move to smaller jigs and other techniques other than lindying.

If you want to shorten your learning curve, jump in with both feet and do what people here preach. 7-8 years ago, I’d never imagined fishing walleyes without bait (plastics only) or fishing for them with pike lures (cranks) using things like three ways or lead core. I also would never have fished walleye in less than 15′ of water and now that is 90% of where I fish walleye.

Jump!!!