What dressing material(s) to use on larger jigs?

Hi guys,

It has been a long time since I’ve tied up any river jigs. All I’ve used in the past has been dyed bucktail and some marabou for dressing my jigs. I’m wanting to dress up some 3/4 and 1 ounce river jigs for vertical jigging. Thinking for color choices, purple, white, flo-yellow, flo-orange, flo-green.

Looking at all the available material options is a bit confusing with all the new synthetics. What are some of the materials you are using and just as important, why are you using that particular material? price?, ease of use? action in the water? color availability? etc.

Also no one in my area stocks any of these supplies. An online source for your choice of materials would be helpful as well.

Thanks for your suggestions.

I don’t tie a lot of jigs but I do tie a lot of flies. And I use a lot of bucktail. The new synthetics look really cool and come in every color imaginable, but they do have their drawbacks. In the river there will always be current, so the tail materials will always be moving around. The soft stuff like Flashabou, EP Fibers, Zonker Strip can wrap around the hook point and foul the hook. Bucktail moves, but the fibers are stiff enough to stay away from the hook point. A lot of fly patterns (Murdich Minnow, Hang Time, etc.) use Bucktail and then other materials are layered on top, again with the idea that Bucktail will hold it’s shape.

S.R.

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I dress my jigs with a fathead, rainbow, spot tail shiner, creek chub or sucker minnow. In the mouth, out the gill, through the back. Why? I’m too old and stubborn to change my ways and I always out fish my buddies who swear by jigging with all the latest and greatest rubbers and plastics…

Steve Root wrote:

A lot of fly patterns (Murdich Minnow, Hang Time, etc.) use Bucktail and then other materials are layered on top, again with the idea that Bucktail will hold it’s shape.

Steve, I had not considered layering different materials. I’ll have to give that some thought. A couple of jigs I purchased the other day were tied with dyed Marabou and did not seem too bad about hook fouling during use. I do understand what your saying tho, as at times, the material would seem to be a matted mess. On the other hand I did like the way the material would undulate while in the water.

Eyefishwalleye,

Thanks for your input. I usually keep a Plano tray full of fully dressed jigs and a fishing pole in my vehicle at all times. Just curious; How do you store your dressed jigs when your not fishing? Do you have to un-dress them before storing? Do you have to re-dress them when catching multiple fish? Any problems transporting your dressed jigs across state lines?

Lets leave the “live bait versus artificial” debate for another thread, please.

Been using bunny strips in lieu of livebait in fall. Decent success for smallies and crappies. No eyes yet. I just tie it on halfa$$ to trumars hair jigs and call it good.

Black/white has been most successful for me.

I tie flies and jigs as a job, I usually use just bucktail and marabou like you said (for good reason, they work great) Like Mr.Beads said you could try some bunny strips, if you leave a good bit hanging they look great in the water like a fluttering leech or something. You could also try adding a bit of flashabou, that really makes them stand out. I suggest getting some of the tougher saltwater stuff, it lasts forever and doesn’t get wrecked by pike and walleye teeth as much.

Huntindave, I have tied and sold 100’s of river jigs for around 19 years,I have tied from 1/16 to 1.5 oz and have always used Buck Tails not saying you cant use something but my jigs have produced well over the years for MANY a people !

My targeted species is Walleye/Sauger

I tie loads of hair jigs for the Mississippi river for the spring and fall walleye fest. I most commonly use dyed bucktail but fantasy fur or craft fur is also an option. I think the fur is easier to tie but the bucktail has better action in the water. Of course I like purple black,blue, and green. But mostly purple. Add some tinsel and some eyes along with that red thread and you have yourself a work of art. It pays off and feels good when you pound fish on your own poured, painted, and tied jigs. I also make stinger hooks for these jigs too.

Thanks guys for all your input. I picked up some bucktail and a couple packages of craft fur just to try it out. I’ll tie up the jigs I have on hand ( from a pour done probably 30 years ago using a borrowed mold) and see just how many I go thru in a period of time before possibly investing in a mold. I probably don’t use 3/4 and 1 ounce jigs often enough to produce my own.
Thanks again for your responses.

Well, I picked up a variety of supplies. Couple bucktails, some craft fur along with supplies I had on hand. Dressed these up last night. I think they look good, hope the fish approve. These in the photo are about half of what I made up. I didn’t take a photo of the other batch, which are in a different color scheme.
Most of them are a mix of bucktail, craft fur and either Krystal Flash or hackle feathers.

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They look great, especially the proportions. And the colors look good. I have a theory on that, it seems to me that almost nothing in nature is one solid color. Therefore the flies I tie (and occasional jig) always uses more than one color. Now let’s see what the fish think

S.R.

I’ll just add that the synthetic stuff matts up real bad and can be a mess to untangle…frustrating stuff. I always have a soft terry towel with me and when using bucktails I give them a good pat down on the towel when finished fishing a color or for the day, then I set them out to dry when I get home. When dry they go back in the box for the next trip. I like keeping individual jigs in their own zip lock in the box to avoid issues with tangling and they hold their shape much better stored this way..

Tom,
I too like to take good care of my stuff however,,,,,,,,,, most of the time I’m fishing areas which claim my jigs before I get a chance to put any of them back into a tackle box. If it happens too quickly, I switch over to a painted jig dressed with plastic. Not as painful that way.