I have been working hard this winter on developing a panfish jig that can fool even the toughest biters. So, yesterday when an envelope arrived in the mail, I was delighted to see a first run of what I thought would be the perfect panfish jig. With my new jigs in hand, I was off to a crystal clear local lake known for its big bluegills. However, my expectations were not to high, as the big gills in this lake are notorious for not biting in the winter!! As you can see, things would be different today.
I started the afternoon with my normal Genz worm & Marmooska routine tipped with a wax worm. After an hour of searching and only two small fish that would bite, I decided to switch to my new Red Glow Mini Mert. That is when the fun started. The first gill slammed the Mini Mert on the fall and ended up hooked in the bottom lip. That was a good sign!
The great action continued for the rest of the night. I was targeting 17ft of water with the fish 3ft off the bottom, as you can see in the picture to the right. The Mini Mert is a size 10, but has a very slow fall rate compared to other jigs its size. I believe it is the combination of color, size and fall rate that makes these jigs so effective.
Through the night I caught over 20 gills between 8-9.5 inches. These are typical fish for this lake, but not typical for winter. Of the 20 fish I caught, 5 were hooked in the bottom lip. Again, this is not very commom unless the fish slam the bait on the fall. I am very excited about this jig, as I am hoping eventually it will prove to be the one that can fool those 2lb South Dakota Bluegills!
I have had a design for the perfect panfish jig in my head for a long time, but I want to thank Dave Koonce from www.bfishntackle.com as he is the one that clued me into the Mini Mert. After I saw the Mini Merts on the BFishN Tackle website, I realized some of the work was already done. From there is was just a matter of tweeking the paint and colors a little to get what I was looking for.
The last picture is an up close of the jig in my hand from yesterday. The testing of this combination is far from done, but so far it looks very promising.
One more picture from the night. Dave I hope you made more than the couple you sent me
It it the eye location of the jig that makes the differance. Most horizontal ice jigs I have fished still seem to have the eye located towards the end.
Great report Scott!!
They are a great little jig! I can’t wait to try them on some picky Nebraska Bullgills!! 
I was catching 20 inch trout on Mini Merts on Christmas!!
I found that keeping the jig horizontal makes all the difference when fishing for pannies. Marmooskas are close, and with adjustment the Genz worms work well too. After seeing the Merts, I know they are going to be in the tackle box soon. I saw them earlier this year, but the report did me in. Thanks for the heads up.
Scott, whats with the LX-3 hiding in that nice LX-5 case?
Thanks for the report I am going to have to place another order with BfishN now…
Great report Scott! Have you tried fiskas yet for pannies? They are turning into my go to bait for tough sunnies..
Hey Scott !!
Great to hear were on the right track
# 8’s is what we have now in stock but by Monday I will have a full line of #10’s as well…keep your eyes peeled to the site here for the announcement !!
Great Job Scott
Thanks Scott great info.
Thanks Dave for all his work on perfecting the color
Scott or Dave (or anyone who knows),
Does anyone make a jig that has a hook on both ends? I’ve seen larger ones but I want a really small one for gills.
I can only think of the smallest jigging raps Wade.
Come on now, at the very least, with one hook you’re giving them ‘1/2 a chance’. Right?
Sounds like I might have to do some machining on one of the molds Wade, thats sounds like an EXCELLENT idea!!
My reason for asking is that I had a lot of gills suck the jigs in head first this weekend and they spit them out quickly and then gave the camera the “Holst”. I thought if I put a waxie on each end it’d increase my odds. It’d have to be VERY light though, lite enough for a gill to slurp it in on the first try. Maybe it’d never work, but I’d like to try it if anyone knows of one. The jiggin raps are too big.
Just kidding Wade. Prolly right about the raps being too big but I’ve caught plenty if big gills on the Forage minnows and Swedish pimples.
Wade have you tried the Fiska’s….they have something similar to what your looking for!!!
Fiskas!!!!
I saw some with 2 hooks at our local Fleet Farm-small enough for giller’s, I’ll go look after work and post what they are if I can find them. Thought it would be interesting to put a waxie or spike on one side and plastic on the other.
Jeremy
This one HERE might be the one Cal. It needs to be really small and light. It’s tough to tell the size of these online.
Koonce, We’ve got another project for BFT.
In the meantime, I’ll be ordering some mini merts from BFT!
very nice, those are excellent looking bluegills. The best for eating as well, better than walleye (in my opinion).
Just received my package of Mini Merts from Dave yesterday…THEY LOOK AWESOME !!!! I’ve already tied on some starter colors but all the colors look incredible, just a great job of painting these tiny jig bodies. And the service from B fishNTackle is just fantastic. I’ll post some results from using these after the weekend. Mike..Oh Mike…HOF Mike…get the tub of waxies ready, my last one is about exhausted.
Wade, the one in your picture would be perfect with a few adjustments. I like the idea!!! Watching those big gills suck in the head of the jig drives a guy nuts. Lets get working Dave
Yeah Dave, no GTG for you…you have to do some design on this and get it operational. I fished yesterday. I’ve never seen fish hit the wrong side of the jig so many times…It was very frustrating. The mini merts help though instead of using a tear drop.
I’m on it !!!
Looks like Fiska has what you are looking for, very small with hooks on each side. The new B-fish-n jig looks great, going to have to try that one.