If you had just 1

Hey rivereyes good post

I thought about it pretty hard. I just can not imagine not having jig. I have had some of my best weights pulling 3-ways. But there are alot more places that I can fish a jig than I can a 3-way. Most places that I can fish a 3-way I can fish a jig. But it don’t work as good the other way around. Sallow rip rap for example. If they make me choose just one,it is still the all versatile jig. Bucktail,. Plastic, Crawler, Minnow, Craw……………..

Two pieces of corn,half a worm and a fish eye on a #4 mustad. If sweetcorn or worms are not availiable fresh, try the new lipless crankbait version…….B

Hmmm….ok….for those who said 3ways over jigs….could you please elaborate as to specifically why you prefer 3way rigging? Just curious as to what you believe are the reasons behind the effectiveness of 3way’ing. In other words, what is it that you are able to do with 3way rigging that you feel you aren’t able to do with jigging, hence making you choose 3 way rigging? Also, what conditions will make you switch to jigging vs the 3ways?

Thanks,

Jenn

I’m a trolling guy myself so I’d have to say 3-ways with either a floater and live bait or a crank behind it. Bill

I will go the other way. For numbers and size I have would say the lindy rig. It easy to use. Cast it, troll it, drag it. A person can run floaters, plain hooks, and even small stick baits. It can be adjusted to verious lengths. And the way it looks, it is something diferent.

Hey Jigger2001,

Do you use a lindy rig much on pool 4? Whenever I have tried it, I tend to get snagged up a lot. That is why I go with 3-ways. How do you keep you lindy rigs from getting hung up?

Dave Gulczinski

Hey Dave…

Have you tried the Lindy No Snagg weights yet….they work great… they seriously don’t snag if you run them correctly (45 degree angle). I was using them in shallow water (up to 5 feet in the Menominee River by MI/WI and after getting hung up and ticked off a bunch of times, I’d follow my line down to see what actually was getting hung up. I saw it was my lead, not the weight…and so adjusted as necessary and did away with that problem. One difference with using these and your typical three way set up is going to be that you’re fishing this system tighter to the bottom, so that is a consideration to be made when deciding which technique to use. My only negative comment about the Lindy No Snaggs is that Lindy doesn’t make them in heavier weights than what they currently offer! I seriously like them a lot. I know that some people argue that they’re a bit costly; but after having often used them and had success with them, I’ll stick to using them in many situations.

Good luck!

Jenn

Dave,

Lindy rigging is no diffrent than jigging, cranking, or 3-ways. As an old river rat once told me( if your not losing your lures on the river your probly in the wrong spot). But just like jigging I go with the lightest weight that I can get away with. With pool 4 lindy rigging is just as important to have in one’s gear to getting the fish to the boat.

Good luck

This is my experience with 3-ways vs Lindy rigs in the river where I fish. When using one rod with a .5 oz slip sinker Lindy rig, and another rod with a 3-way (3″ dropper) and a .5 oz bell sinker. Each set up has about 3-4 foot of line to a hook and live bait. Keep the lines at 45 degrees while slowly moving around. For me, the Lindy rig will hang up much more frequently than the 3-way. Note: I do tend to fish in snaggy water a lot. It is also interesting how the fish are sometimes very responsive to different dropper lengths on the 3-way.

I have not tried the Lindy “no-snags” but will give them a similar comparison test when I have some extra time.

Dave Gulczinski

Why 3-ways? 12 month a year fish catching machines. Easy to fish in conditions that reduce jig fishing to a futile waste of time. The tendency to catch well about average sized fish… even in the summer when the jig bite is slow to dead. Versatility…. I can pull cranks, bait, floaters, fish them deep, shallow, on sand, rocks, and through weeds…. on wingdams. I can put them in the hands of a novice and with some solid boat control, put them on nice fish.

I couldn’t guide w/o 3-ways in my arsenal. No way possible as still be anywhere near as consistent as I need to be.

Now, if you ask me what method I prefer to use…. well that’s a jig. I despise vertical jigging… but give me the option to cast… and I’m a very happy man!

But I WON’T choose just one…. because I don’t have to…LOL

And yes Predator2, I do feel the need to be a bit different…. but it works for me…LOL

what sorts of areas should I guy target for fishing 3 ways. I fish mainly Pool 2 and have only tried fishing 3 ways a few times since fishing them w/ James in the fall. I have had no luck whatsoever. For reference-Pool 2 above the confluence w/ the MN averages 10-14′ w/ a few holes of 16-20+ and the current is typically stronger than Pool 4. What time of year should I be fishing current breaks, holes, runs, etc w/ 3 ways to start producing fish?

What you talkin about a little……lol

Uh oh… greg hit his head again or was out in the sun wearing his bunny hat and cooked his noggin.

What cha’ talking ’bout ReedRunner?!

not trying to be a smart axe here… but for pool 2 (or anywhere) using 3-ways you target the same areas you catch fish using other methods… just use 3 ways…. Ive not fished 3-ways much in pool 2… but there should be a lot of good places to use them… I would pull them on the channel edges and current breaks… and that area up by the dam along the current break behind the island should be good too….

these questions about limiting yourself to just ONE technique… in some ways I dont think its quite the RIGHT question.. what everyone is really wanting to know is what is considered to your number one bread and butter technique…. but the way the question is worded leaves quite a bit of “wiggle” room… like notice how James says he prefers casting jigs for HIS enjoyment… but he is a PRO.. so to make money he pulls 3-ways… this is because its HIS skill thats catching the fish, he does NOT have to rely on his clients ability, its a really easy no muss no fuss technique that is effective in MANY situations… In fact Im almost embarrassed to admit when I went out with him we pulled 3-ways!.. hopefully it was NOT because Im so pathetic that he had to put the bait in the fish’s mouth for me… (and even then I had some problems hooking them!! lol)… but you never know… all I know was THAT day it was hands down the MOST effective technique going… and it pretty much remained that way all year until cold weather kicked in and jigs started to catch fish again…. I think Ive really got to get in touch with casting jigs for walleyes… if James thinks its a hoot there HAS to be a good reason for it… I USED to do that a lot in lakes… and in smaller rivers… but I have NOT tried it much on the Mississippi… but on the Croix.. there have been days I gave up vertical jiggin and went casting for whatever I could catch.. and that usually resulted in a limit of nice walleye… along with plenty of OTHER fish… like Smallmouth, white bass, Northern, Musky, Crappie.. things like that!! bummer huh? I remember on day I jigged till I could NOT take it any more… only caught maybe 5-6 LITTLE eyes…. (less than 10″ fish)….. then I started tossing a rattletrap at the nearby shoreline and had a BLAST!! just tossing rip rap!! it was a warm day early in the year and the fish were in that warmer water along shore….. NOT in the deeper water where I was jiggin….. oh well… enough rambling!

hey rivereyes….you made it seem like 3ways are a good technique when talent/ good fishing skills are not present….almost a no brainer for those conditions…. there are certain places and times when highly competitive anglers will choose 3ways in tournament conditions because it is the most effective technique..not because it’s an easier technique to use… this includes situations in the mwc when we’ve done that and also in the pwt….your comment about being embarrassed about pulling 3ways with james just kind of put that response into my head…so, i guess this just was an added thought…

i guess there’s a best time for certain techniques and i think having all of them in your arsenal, along with having the knowledge of knowing when to use which, will make the most successful anglers…

jenn

Hi Jenn!!…

well that was a bit tongue and cheek… sadly I have a streak of “joker” in me…… I admit that this is a very versatile technique that has its use at any and every level of fishing…. maybe Im wrong but I think boat control plays a LARGE part of the effectiveness.. certainly not ALL of it…. but I have sat in a group of 3-way guys in my OWN boat.. pulling (as far as I can tell the SAME rig) and got my rump kicked good….. all I can guess is that their boat control was just THAT much better than mine! I would sure welcome other answers to that!! even funny ones!! lol……

and Im sorry if it looked like I was making fun of the technique… I was making fun of myself….!

Boat control, apart from the basic set-up of the rig which consist of its component parts and leader and dropper lengths, is the key to being successful fishing 3-ways. The boat directs the baits, provides the proper speed, imparts the correct action. Anybody can throw together a 3-way rig. That doesn’t mean you’ll set the world a-fire when you first give it a go. And yes, the guys that do it well, and do it alot, make it look so easy…. and catch some many fish when other techniques result in few or no fish… it is almost comical. But only if you’re in the boat making it look easy!…LOL

But I don’t choose 3-ways to compensate for inexperienced anglers. When I choose that technique its because it is the right method at the given time. If the best method going is pitching light jigs into tangles of trees…. then its my job to teach and demonstrate until my partners for the day have a handle on it.

Versatility. If you roll out of bed every morning and know what you’ll be doing every day, all day, before you hit the water, you’re success level will drastically suffer.

Very true H2O….Very True

My most favorite Technique…

Tossing small jigs hands down my most favorite..

Now I’m not saying thats all I do..But that is my most favorite, there is just something about that tic,,,,that gets my blood flowing……..and my ears flapping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I remember that day we fished 3-ways last summer… it DID seem comically funny how easy it was… but I guess that other guy working the same spot trolling cranks and catching nothing was NOT laughing…..

so day to day, month to month and season to season nothing holds up better than 3-ways…. and looked at like that I Im going to have to agree… after seeing how effective it was in the late summer when NOTHING else was working….. jigs fade pretty bad in the summer….. and for sure would not be my first choice (more likely my LAST choice! Ive had good luck on jigs until the middle of July… then pretty much nothing after that until late september)… though 9 months of the year they are pretty effective….

well even an old dog can learn new tricks… it just takes them longer…. I think Im learning and this year I AM expanding my trolling rods… Im building two 8 footers right now…. which will give me a total of 3… just enough for a Wisconsin guy! though if the fish bite like they did that day James and I were out… I WONT be able to keep 3 in the water!! and more than 2 seems pretty greedy anyhow…….