duck feather jigs

[waterdog101]

well mr. elnut, i made a trip to backwaters. and got me some duckfeather jigs, and yes they had the yellow hoss fly. mr. elnut when i read what you said about catching them smallies on the small jigs, i thought i would try fishing the way you said, the fnf. i've fished all my life, and never used that smaller bait. i catch smallmouth at cumberland and dale, and never use any size jig smaller than 1/2 oz. a big 3/4 oz. jig with a pork chunk makes a good size bait, but them smallmouth will take it and run. but you made the little duckfeather bait sound good. now that i have them, maybe i'll catch one over 4 pound. i've cought several of those but never any bigger. maybe i've been useing to larger jig. thanks elnut for the tip, hope the little duck works for me, like it has for you. ps. i ask the men in backwaters for the duckfeather jigs, and said a man called elnut told me you might have them, and they really spoke highly of you, said they new you and you were a fine man and that you catch a lot of fish.

[elnutsmalljaws]

well mr. elnut, i made a trip to backwaters. and got me some duckfeather jigs, and yes they had the yellow hoss fly. mr. elnut when i read what you said about catching them smallies on the small jigs, i thought i would try fishing the way you said, the fnf. i've fished all my life, and never used that smaller bait. i catch smallmouth at cumberland and dale, and never use any size jig smaller than 1/2 oz. a big 3/4 oz. jig with a pork chunk makes a good size bait, but them smallmouth will take it and run. but you made the little duckfeather bait sound good. now that i have them, maybe i'll catch one over 4 pound. i've cought several of those but never any bigger. maybe i've been useing to larger jig. thanks elnut for the tip, hope the little duck works for me, like it has for you. ps. i ask the men in backwaters for the duckfeather jigs, and said a man called elnut told me you might have them, and they really spoke highly of you, said they new you and you were a fine man and that you catch a lot of fish.

I appreciate the kind words and John Meyers and the boys at Backwaters are a class act. The FNF is my FAVORITE way of fishing, probably because I have caught more Smallmouth over 4lb than any other technique or lure. Once you learn it, you will love it. Some people think it is basically bobber fishing but there is a lot more that goes into it than people think. good luck and hope you catch all that you want.

PS - Stop calling me MR. I am old enough as it is and will get older on Friday the 13th, Yes Friday November 13th I turn 1 year older, I think that will make me somewhere around 96 years old, at least that is how old I feel, but please stop calling me Mr. I have a current wife, an ex wife, a soon to be 21 yr old daughter and another daughter that will be 19 on November 17th, so between these 4 girls I have been called every name in the book, good bad and indifferent, so please pick another name besides Mr. elnut.

[Hlleonard]

I won't call you Mr because I don't think its proper to address somebody so much younger than yourself in that fashion....I do have a dilemma though.....At some point in anchient history, I started fishing the jig and pork chunk and began catching fish on the thing and soon learned that it was expensive losing 4 or 5 jigs a day so I started making my own at maybe 25 cents a piece instead of the couple of bucks or so they cost in the tackle shop.....The other day in maybe three hours I lost three jigs...
At 2 dollars a pop that could get expensive, especially in a creek where the depth changes so radically....has anybody found any jigs that work as well (preferrable at Walmart) as the punisher jigs....it seems maribu jigs are cheap and plentiful but I haven't tried them yet.....not sure my un-nimble fingers could tie the things anymore..even if I could find the right stuff to make them out of.

[elnutsmalljaws]

You might look at the weekguard that you are using on your jigs and make sure it is stiff enough to not get hung up as bad but still let it bend when you get a bite to set the hook. Also, try some different ways to get your jig unhung when it happens. One of the best ways I ever was shown, again by Dave Stewart who showed me a LOT of different fishing stuff that I would not have known any other way, is the Bow and Arrow technique (at least this is what I call it), first when you think you are hung don't just start pulling and yanking on the jig because this will just set the hook further into whatever and if it is wood, good luck. I hold my thumb on my spool with one hand and make the line tight by raising my rod tip up in the air and then take my other hand and pull back the line between the reel and first eye on the rod like a bow and arrow pulling back the strings to launch the arrow and snap it a couple of times. This seems to spring the bait actually "backwards" and will get it loose. This has saved me no telling how many jigs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits and other lures. You could also invest in a lure retriever to help you save these jigs. I have one but never use it just because it takes too much time. I look at baits in fishing sort of like golf balls in playing golf. You are going to lose them from time to time and that is just part of the price we pay to play. You may consider the type of jig head you are pouring as well versus the cover you are fishing. I use football head jigs when fishing flats with not a lot of wood cover but has more rock, I use round head jigs when fishing around wood and a pointed jig head when fishing in grass. The best of these that I found to give you a sample to look at are the D&L Football, Last Cast Finesse Jigs (round head EXCELLENT weed guard) and Punisher jigs that have a more pointed head on them. Never poured my own and probably never will sort of why I don't tie my own FNF jigs or others. The only thing I "make" in regards to fishing is the FNF bobbers because they are so easy to do and I don't need any special molds or other stuff to get started. Hope this helps.

[Hlleonard]

Thanks....I never heard of the " bow n arrow " thingy...I'll give that a try.....
I had a retriver one time also and quit using it for same reason...just too much time and hastle....

[waterdog101]

I won't call you Mr because I don't think its proper to address somebody so much younger than yourself in that fashion....I do have a dilemma though.....At some point in anchient history, I started fishing the jig and pork chunk and began catching fish on the thing and soon learned that it was expensive losing 4 or 5 jigs a day so I started making my own at maybe 25 cents a piece instead of the couple of bucks or so they cost in the tackle shop.....The other day in maybe three hours I lost three jigs...
At 2 dollars a pop that could get expensive, especially in a creek where the depth changes so radically....has anybody found any jigs that work as well (preferrable at Walmart) as the punisher jigs....it seems maribu jigs are cheap and plentiful but I haven't tried them yet.....not sure my un-nimble fingers could tie the things anymore..even if I could find the right stuff to make them out of.

I to lose a lot of jigs, I do get most of my snags free, by troling in to the bank trying to get behind my jig, from the direction, i was fishing it. then stick the end of the rod down to the water and just shake it, comes loose most of the time.

[waterdog101]

I appreciate the kind words and John Meyers and the boys at Backwaters are a class act. The FNF is my FAVORITE way of fishing, probably because I have caught more Smallmouth over 4lb than any other technique or lure. Once you learn it, you will love it. Some people think it is basically bobber fishing but there is a lot more that goes into it than people think. good luck and hope you catch all that you want.

PS - Stop calling me MR. I am old enough as it is and will get older on Friday the 13th, Yes Friday November 13th I turn 1 year older, I think that will make me somewhere around 96 years old, at least that is how old I feel, but please stop calling me Mr. I have a current wife, an ex wife, a soon to be 21 yr old daughter and another daughter that will be 19 on November 17th, so between these 4 girls I have been called every name in the book, good bad and indifferent, so please pick another name besides Mr. elnut.

sorry, didn't mean to offend you. by calling you mr. i try to be nice to every one. if just plain elnut is good enough for you, it works for me. anyway happy birthday 5 days early. from what you said about the age of your children, I very well may be older than you. i have a daughter 29 years old. and growing old is kinda nice. I thank the good lord every morning of my life for letting me live another day. growing old is much better than dying young. some times when i'm fishing at night, and the water is like a sheet of glass. and it's really quiet, except for the night bugs singing, and i'm working my jig slowly back to the boat, while feeling every thing the jig touches, i'm looking up at the sky with all it's beauty. and thinking what it's all about. and i think, life don't get any better than this. and then that jerk on my line and the sound of the drag. then the glass top water is broken by a fighting smallmouth, trying to spit that jig out. then i know life does get a little better. and when i have my thumb in it's mouth holding her up, i say thank you lord.

[elnutsmalljaws]

sorry, didn't mean to offend you. by calling you mr. i try to be nice to every one. if just plain elnut is good enough for you, it works for me. anyway happy birthday 5 days early. from what you said about the age of your children, I very well may be older than you. i have a daughter 29 years old. and growing old is kinda nice. I thank the good lord every morning of my life for letting me live another day. growing old is much better than dying young. some times when i'm fishing at night, and the water is like a sheet of glass. and it's really quiet, except for the night bugs singing, and i'm working my jig slowly back to the boat, while feeling every thing the jig touches, i'm looking up at the sky with all it's beauty. and thinking what it's all about. and i think, life don't get any better than this. and then that jerk on my line and the sound of the drag. then the glass top water is broken by a fighting smallmouth, trying to spit that jig out. then i know life does get a little better. and when i have my thumb in it's mouth holding her up, i say thank you lord.

42 on Friday so unless you were 13 when your daughter was born, you have a few years on me. I do like your rendition of night fishing because we think a lot of like. Nothing like full moon, Dale Hollow lake, my favorite flat, big spinnerbait, slow rolling just off the bottom, looking and listening to all around me, thump-thump-thump-thump as the blade turns ever so slow and my G Loomis vibrates from the tip to my hands, the rod wedged in the crease between my upper thigh and stomache, just waiting for the MASSIVE strike that a not so happy smallmouth does to a big spinnerbait. Absolute most aggressive strike that you will ever feel in fishing, just hoping the strike is not violent enough to pull my rod overboard, where I have caught it in mid air 3 times as it was heading over. The other is as you describe, draggin my jig across the point or thru the deep grass bed feeling every little knock or tug of the grass for that split second waiting to determine if it pulls back or not. I don't use a blacklight so I am using all my senses and my flourocarbon line to let me know when I have a strike or not. Love it, just me, my rod and reel, my boat, the night and the anticipation of the smallmouth coming aboard to say hello.