Canandaigua 5/19

[Fishin'Fool]

I'll preface this by telling you I'm kind of new to fishing for lakers, so any help would be appreciated. Fished just north of the pump house in about 70 FOW. I was jigging a tube and had 5 lookers that would just look, hang, and then head back down. Is there something I should be doing to trigger the strike or are the fish just not "on" yet?

[FLXTroutman]

I know some guys like the white zoom flukes and a 3/4 oz.- 1 oz. white jig head.

If you can see them on your sonar streaking and looking you are doing something right

but the temp on the top is still warming. Give it a little more time, also you could put some scent on your jig and tube.

When I have jigged for lakers, I let it go to the bottom and reel up a couple feet then jig, then reel pause, reel, pause back up to the boat. Don't be surprised if they follow it all the way to the surface. Also you could shorten the tube or add a stinger hook if the tube is trailing your jig too much. Have fun.

[W.W.IV.]

5-20 Canandaigua this morning,set up in 130fow, my partner likes to do sawbellies.I like to jig.He got the bait on the bottom and fish on,maybe 20" laker. About 30min. later fish on, about 6lbs nice clean fish.It was all over by 8:30. I never had a hit on jigs. Great day on the lake.

[Fishin'Fool]

Thanks for the tips. I'll have to try them next time I go out.

[cr3]

Use a 1 oz crippled herring jig in pearl, chrome, or rainbow trout on braided line using a levelwind reel.

Change the single hook to a treble hook for better hookups if the bite is light.

Add a chunk of sawbelly to one point of the treble hook.

If you do not add the chunk of sawbelly you might as well stay home.

Lower the jig to the bottom and reel up a foot.

Jig 6 inches to 12 inches to attract fish then hold the jig steady.

Most hits come when the jig is not moving.

Use a rod with a long handle you can tuck under your arm, or you may lose it overboard when a big one takes.

[chowder]

It is really never too early to jig for lakers, (browns might be tough at this point in the season). In March,April and into May you sometimes need to use a 1.5 oz. jig to hit the lakers who spend the winter deep w/ the alewives, but we are moving away from that time frame pretty fast. In general You want to be setup w/ a 7' MH rod, decent quality baitcasting reel w/ 20lb super braid to 6' of 12lb floro . Tie w/ an Albright knot. Tie the floro leader directly to the jig. I like the 1oz gamma ball jig heads from Schuberts & Laketown . I like to use Zoom super flukes and also Gander Mtn's black & silver fat tail. Biggest mistake people make jigging is to drop the jig and jig it up & down a few feet 'off the bottom' a whole bunch of times. To consistently draw strikes you need to; 1. Find fish w/ the sonar, preferably in 45-75' FOW. 2. Make a drop to bottom. 3. Jig a few times by never losing contact w/ the jig (i.e. move the rod up & down w/ your whole arm, 'feeling' it hit each time. 3. After only a few jigging motions as described above steadily retrieve the bait at a pretty good clip. Strikes very often come on the way up, even 15' from the surface. Strikes vary in nature from; a.) "how come that jig is taking so long to get to the bottom" to b.) Holy S#**, I got one! and EVERYTHING in between. Strikes when jigging the bait may be only 'ticks' and require a lightning fast strike- that's why you need the super braid, a sharp hook, and a rod w/ good backbone. When the fish are active, many will strike as 'chasers' on the way up and sometimes these are swipes which a fast strike will hook. Don't let the fish get a real good look at the jig - this technique only works when you can trigger reaction strikes from the fish.

[FLXTroutman]

thanks chowder, very good description