Ringworm/Paddle tail questions

Ok guys.. I’ve been fishing walleyes forever and a day, but I havent played aroun with the ringworms or paddle tails yet. I stopped in at Moores Bait today and stocked up on a selection of colors in each, and 1/8-3/16 heads which I know most often suits my fishing area properly.

Any suggestions for dragging these things would be helpful. Tips on tecniques will be appreciated. I have been throwing jigs forever, but I have never messed with a walleye plastic of this size, and I have never *dragged* a jig, only vertical jigging and live bait rigging.

With the exceptiopn of pitching jigs onto wingdams, where should I be focusing my effort on dragging?

To make a long story short, its a new lure and new tecnique to me. I have no doubt I will get the feel of them fast, but any tip from those who know is going to shorten my learning curve and reduce any improvising.

If I can catch walleyes on bullheads, I should be able to get a few on these plastics

Hey Dave, I used to drag but have not been mutch on p2 here. But when dragging its best to move down current just a tad faster than the flow is running. Works best on sandy bottoms naturally and the lighter you can go the better. I have dragged in main channel areas expecially where you have sand dunes(rollers) Usually 1/8 can get you there. Vertical jigging these is pretty easy too. Usually you want to get your jig to the bottom and give it a little snap and about a 5-20 second pause just a few inches of the bottom. They hit on the pause and you wont miss it. They usually inhale these when fished vertical!! use the same size wight jig for this that you would use to run a jig and minnow. Char-pepper, Purple w/char tail, Firecracker, and Capella orange are my favorite colors. Seem to cover most situations anyhow!!!

I’ve done a bit, I think I’m making a critical mistake when dragging, I think I’ve been going with too heavy of a jig and not letting the ringworm drift far enough back, so I’m too heavy and therefore fishing too close to my boat, it also probably kills a lot of action of the bait when they are not hoovering in the water as much because of jig weight. I see tencendies for people that do really well on them dragging, use lighter jigs and generally some distance away from the boat.

Ringworm wise I haven’t done real good vertically, I have better luck pitching them or shortening them up a bit if I di fish the verticle, superdoo and paddle tails I don’t seem to get bit short as often.

I certainly got to spend some more time working them, but I do have the confidense the do catch fish, and generally they catch larger fish from my experince.

Edited the first paragraph

I fish ringworms almost exclusively for walleye/sauger on the mississippi here in Iowa. As far as dragging I have had really good luck in areas between wingdams with sand and steep breaks. However I do not do a ton of dragging as I have had such great sucess pitching and vertical jigging with them.

As far as vertical jigging the ringies go I find the less movement the better. By that I mean find the bottom with the lightest jig you can use and still get down. Once you have found the bottom lift the rod tip just slightly. I mean a tiny bit. Move the bait maybe 3-4 inches off the bottom then just hold it there as still as possible. I have held it in the same place for as much as a minute but usually will lift and hold for 20-30 seconds then repeat the same process.

A precision jig head and ringworm from bfishn tackle have put lots of fish in my boat over the last couple years. If you put some time in with them I am sure they will do the same for you.

Ringworms; their not just for walleyes and saugers anymore. Last summer I had a blast fishing ringworms for smallmouth in Canada. Most of our success came in current areas, it just seems like this bait is made for this type of fishing. Also caught walleyes at the same time.

On my annual fishing trips to Canada ringworms are now my staple, especially with increased regulations bringing live bait accross the boarder/

Here is a great article that Jason wrote about this exact thing.

Dragging Jigs

Dave – here is a link to an article by Jason Halfen that is downright great. Dragging Article I tried dragging last week on p4 early in the morning for the first time, employed the knowledge I gained from this article, and nailed four fish right away in the first pass. All on ringworms and a 3/32 precision jig. It seemed like these fish just latched on versus the violent strike you get when you vertical jig them so a good hook set is key. Also, a softer rod than you would use for jigging is good thing to have.

The paddletails are often used for vertical jigging but there are a few cases where I have heard of them being pitched and dragged.

I am interested to know if anyone has used dragging on p2 before. If it works so effectively on p4, why not on p2? Any thoughts out there?

Does dragging work in areas with heavier current?
The article by Jason is great. It seems like an alternative to dragging crankbaits for those of us on a low fishing budget.

Jeff

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I am interested to know if anyone has used dragging on p2 before. If it works so effectively on p4, why not on p2? Any thoughts out there?

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Micah.. I fish Pools 1 & 2 98% of the time… This is where I will be spending most of my effors targeting walleyes this spring. I will likely try the 1st time this weds.

I usually dont have problems catching walleyes on pool 2. I figure it would be easiest o figureout a new presentation in an area I know like the back of my hand, and where fish are most likely to be already. Its easier to know if you are doing something wrong if you are confident you have the fish under you already.

There is no reason why dragging shouldnt work on pool 2. I know there are a few people that drag on 2. Spent a little time trying it last year but at this point Im still working it into my bag of tricks. Somedays it hard to change up what you are doing especially if you are all ready on fish.

Micah. That fish in my avatar might be a fish caught dragging on pool 2. Wasnt it you that took that photo for me? If I didnt catch that one dragging I know I took a few others in that same area dragging.

that one wasn’t me Mike…I think it was rootski or someone who hopped in before I did that last time. I think it would work as well, especially in the area up by the airport with all those little wingdams and structure spread out over that spot. I’ll have to give it a whirl.

Hey Mike and Micah do you guys think it would be worthwhile to drag that big flat on pool 2 just upstream and opposite side of the airport wingdams? I’m thinking it could be good. What do you guys think?

dd

My guess is the main channel just outside of them wingdams would offer the best dragging! there seemed to be plenty to hang up on up on the flat but I guess I have never tried there either. IMO dragging seemed to be a better tool to find the fish that were spread out and on the move in deeper areas 15-20 + fow where going vertical is your olny other option. But again I have never tried shallow and you never know till you try

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My guess is the main channel just outside of them wingdams would offer the best dragging! there seemed to be plenty to hang up on up on the flat but I guess I have never tried there either.

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This area you guys are referring to was good to me last fall dragging. There are a few good areas right downtown St. Paul as well as around the Lilydale area and north.

My best success has come with real clear water and slightly deeper water than I traditionally target when pitching. 12-20 feet has been the best for me depending on the structure you are fishing. With the clear water I typically let my real light jigs run higher off the bottom, sometimes 4-5 feet off the bottom. With the clear water, the fish seem to rise quite a bit to take this offering.
Both paddletaisl and ringworms have worked for me on both saugers and walleyes here on Pool 2. Now is a good time to start dragging as the pre-spawn walleyes seem to be on the move a bit already.

See you guys on the water real soon!

Looking foward to seeing you down there!! To be honest I am pretty sick of staring at a hole in the ice

Firecracker Chart. Tail PT’s are online at BFT…just now…no pic but there up there