A Few Bucktail Jigs Tied Up For the Jig Boxes

As you all know, from my wooly bugger jig post, my jig box is a bit low on jigs.  As a result I've been spending a bit of time tying jigs for the fall bite. By fall bite I mean the smallmouth and walleye bite on the local rivers. As well I'm tying for white bass fishing on one of the area lakes. To start I'm painting my jig heads in two tones: chartreuse and white, pink and white, blue and white, yellow and brown. These colors have produced for me in the past so I want to build up the colors that I know will produce before I start being creative.

The pink/white and chartreuse/white color combos have both been very good white bass, striped bass and hybrid bass patterns in the past.  As a result I'm tying those patterns up in jig sizes ranging from 1/16 oz to 3/8 oz. The chartreuse and white color combination has also been a very good river smallmouth pattern as well, depending on the water clarity.  Both color patterns will be used for vertical jigging for white bass and hopefully a few walleye this fall on a couple of the nearby lakes.

As for the other three colors shown in the picture above they're general patterns that will catch anything swimming.  However the yellow and brown pattern works exceptionally well for smallmouth and walleye.  In fact the yellow and brown is probably the most effective pattern for multispecies angling I've tied. I've caught everything on that color patter from perch to pike and can't wait to get break it out for the fall bite.

Thanks for reading everyone and tight lines! Below are a few more pictures of the bucktail jigs I tied up last night.

Tying a Bunny Bucktail Jig for the First Time

Lately I've been really taking some time to experiment and practice tying hair jigs.  I've been tying with different materials as well as different combinations of materials to see which give the best action and realism.  The bunny bucktail is one I tied for the first time this week and I'll definitely be tying more as well as putting together a tutorial post for you all.  So above is the first 1/4 oz bunny bucktail jig I've tied.

If you have any suggestions on color patterns you'd like to see in this patter please let me know.  Tight lines and thanks for reading.

Tied Up A Few Wooly Bugger Jigs For My Jig Box

I took a look in my tackle bag today so could do some organizing and cleaning.  However when I looked in it, I found that quite a few of my tackle boxes were unorganized and junky.  Not only that, but my jig box was looking quite empty at the moment. In fact I was completely out of wooly bugger jigs. Mostly because I had given several away when I was last out chasing smallmouth through the rocky shallows of a local river. As well the two I had left were attached to spinners making modified beetle spins.

So, I took to tying up a few bugger jigs in brown,  black and white. I ended up with four of each color in the box when done.  Which all will workout great for me when I'm out on some of the smaller rivers and streams around here.  The brown jigs will make great imitations of smaller crayfish.  The black jigs will imitate young crayfish as well as hellgrammites, which I still haven't come up with a better pattern for.  As for the white bugger jigs, I often attach those to single spinner blades making them into modified beetle spins.  These modified beetle spins do great for any minnow eating fish like bass, crappy and whtie bass.
In the coming days I'll be tying a few more colors and sharing them with you all.  So stay tuned and thanks for reading.

Special Delivery: Time To Tie Some Bucktail Jigs

Today my order of jigs came in from TJ's tackle. So I decided I'd show you all what I ordered earlier this week.  As well in a later post I'll take the time to walk you through the steps of powder painting them.

Let's start with the jigs I purchased. They're sizes 1/4 oz. and 3/8 oz in a walleye style which means they're fish heads with a triangular shape.  As well they come with either a thin or thick wire hook, depending on what you'd prefer.  Lastly they  have a collar thats gapped in front of the keeper point which makes them perfect for tying bucktail jigs.

This year is the first year I've been tying bucktails on this style of hook and I love them.  I haven't gotten hung up on rocks as much as I have with round head jigs.  Not only that but because they have the lead keeper point they make perfect jig heads for soft minnow baits like the gulp alive minnows.  In fact I'll be using 1/8 oz walley jigs combined with gulp alive minnows for crappie this summer and fall. Below are some images of the jig heads before and after powder paint has been applied.

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

They're Back! White Bass Are Officially Running In The Detroit River

I've been waiting on this day to come since the beginning of the year. What day,you may ask? It's not really a day, but more of a time... It's the beginning of the white bass run.  The white bass run starts right around Mother's Day and ends right after the Mayfly hatch in June. Yes, the stars have aligned, dogs and cats are in harmony across the world and the white bass are in the Detroit River by the thousands, eager to bite anything that looks like a minnow.

I couldn't wait to start chasing the white bass and today was a good beginning to the frenzy that is white bass fishing.  I got down to Elizabeth Park, in Trenton, Michigan just in time to see the sun coming up over Grosse Isle.  I was lucky enough to not have to be into work for a few hours and wanted to start the day off right.  Michigan Headhunter was already there with eight fish on the stringer and a big grin on his face as he was reeling in another.  Yes, white bass fishing brings out the child in all of us.

I wasted no time tying on a chartreuse and white 3/8th oz bucktail jig and casting into the current.  A five count to get the bait into the strike zon, a few twitches of the rod tip and "FISH ON!"  This fish was the beginning of me catching about 35 fish in 40 minutes, most of which I released.  not long after, I had a decent stringer full of fish and plenty of time to make it to work.  Needless to say, it was a perfect beginning to the white bass run.

Thanks for reading and tight lines...

Matching the Hatch: Elk Hair Caddis

For years fly fishermen and women have had one motto or truism when it comes to picking which fly to use next and that is "Match The Hatch".  In other words match your fly to what the trout are eating.  I've been thinking of this fact and wondering what I can do to make this statement come to life.  So I decided to make a Match the Hatch series of blog posts, possibly once a month, highlighting different baits, not just flies, and matching them to the bait species they imitate.  This way we can learn both how to fish said baits matching them to their real counter parts.

So with that in mind here is the first "Match the Hatch" post.  I first heard about caddis flies in particular the winter caddis when I lived in Connecticut and decided to learn how to fly fish.  The first question I asked that winter after learning how to casts a fly rod was which baits should I learn to tie first.  Well, the person working at Orvis, also a fly fishing guide, said I should start with the elk hair caddis fly but make sure I tied it in the winter caddis colors as that is what they were currently catching trout on the Farmington River with.  Which to me made no sense whatsoever because it was very much into the winter and from what I understood no bugs would be hatching or flying about in the winter.  Well I was wrong, caddis flies do hatch in colder months.  So a quick grab of the materials and I was off tying some not very artistic looking elk hairs with the hopes of catching a fish or two that winter. 

Needless to say I didn't get lucky enough to catch a trout on those flies that winter.  However what I did learn was that just about every fish in streams, ponds and lakes will gorge themselves on caddis flies during an evening hatch.  As that following spring I got lucky and experienced a hatch while casting wooly buggers for trout in a local lake.  So with a quick switch of baits I was landing way too many bluegill a couple of small bass and yes my first trout on an elk hair caddis, only on the tan color not the winter caddis pattern.  From that point forward I've always kept them in my fly box whenever I'm out fishing, which this year turned out to be another forgotten treasure as I learned pretty quickly that here in Michigan when the flying ants begin to hatch the elk hair makes a great imitation for them as well.

The materials needed to tie the elk hair caddis are:

• Sizes #12 - #18  dry fly hooks  (Mustad R50-94840)
• Elk Hair
• Saddle Hackle in brown, grizzly or black
• 6/0 Tying Thread
• Super fine copper wire for ribbing
• Dubbing your choice of color

The overall pattern is very easy to tie so it's perfect for someone learning, as we all are.  Below are  few videos with great examples and variations on this essential fly.

My Biggest Largemouth Bass To Date

Today was an exciting day for me. It started with me taking the time to explore Ford Lake, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on foot.  See, I've been thinking about hitting this lake on my float tube all summer long but haven't had time to do it.  In fact the only time I've had to fish it was this spring when I was chasing carp with corn. (I'll be sure to show you my set up for that another time.)
But today was my day to fish it on foot and hopefully if we get a few more of these 70 degree days I'll break out my float tube and fish some of the less pressured areas.  So I loaded up my book bag of newly tied hair jigs I'd been itching to try and a couple of other of my usual standbys.  Well to say the least I had a few chases on the sluggo that overall turned out nothing. Then finally when I'm headed out I decided to try out a jig I tied up last night in hopes of landing a few smallmouth bass.  Well, that got me a few follows from smallmouth but because the water was super clear as soon as the fish got sight of me they turned tail.

Well I finally was on my last little spot under a bridge where I eyed a smallmouth bass sitting under a rock ledge.  One pitch past the ledge and a few hops back up to it and the small mouth ran away from my jig. With the clear water conditions I could see it all and at the time the smallie spooked my jig was sucked under the ledge into a hole I couldn't see.  So with the feel of a bump I set the hook and all heck broke lose.  She took off like bat out of you know where going airborne then making an attempt at taking me under a bridge pile on.  Can you say, fun times on 6 lb test line and an ultra-light rod and reel.  About 4 minutes later I had her in hand, my biggest largemouth bass to date.  The fish measured out at just over 18 inches but I'm not sure what it weighed, I'm guessing around 4lbs, but it was worth almost getting skunked today and even more gratifying cause I caught it on a jig I tied myself.  Let me know what you guys think this bass weighs?
Here is the link to the bunny leech jig I used to catch this bass.  How To Tie The Bunny Leech Jig

Thanks for reading
Kwan Stafford