Entering the Micro-Jigging field with tungsten.

[Slip Sinker]

No easier way to enter the Micro-Jigging Methodology of panfishing then with tungsten… it’s heavy and compact nearly twice the weight of lead describe your technique and setups using tungsten. Pro's and Con's etc...

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

have to get me some

[Slip Sinker]

was a Gheenoe?

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

The boat I have?
Yeah a Gheenoe knock off.
One of a kind really, as I doubt they made many and I've never seen another.
Its more than I can handle happily, though, without some power... which is a big part of why it has been sitting.
Its a big 16' fiberglass beast, and is a bitch to paddle around solo.

Plus, I got going good on a real job since I got the boat and it doesn't leave me a lot of energy.

Then there's the trailer. It needs upright side guide-ons, so I can see the trailer when it drops down the ramp.

A trailer that cant be seen on the ramp is nearly useless.
Money needs be spent and things are tight for that.

Fishing vertically from boats seems not to be in the cards, at least for this year. But as fishing is a series of perpetual reasons for hope, there is always next season. 
I hope! :)

[Allen Morgan]

I've got just a few of those teardrop tungsten ice-fishing jigs.  I've done some tungsten bead-head flies that will also work.  Only fished the jigs a couple times, never actually caught a fish.  Had a few bites.  Didn't have an ice-fishing sonar at the time.  I have one now, just waiting for Safe Ice.

I want to start painting my own tungsten jigs.  I know I can get unpainted jigs from a few different sources.  I'm waiting on some stuff to come in so I can assemble a smaller version of the clamping system I use to powder-paint lead jigs.

[Slip Sinker]

I have been using these jigs all year round vertically jigging as well as long-casting… they are amazing (Waxie tipped)… especially on the deeper water presentations.

Cant wait to see your results ice-fishing with the sonar! I wont go out on the ice without it! Good luck this season!!

I noticed some offerings on EBAY also presenting different hook sizes on the smaller heads…certainly got my attention! I am very interested in making a purchase

Looking forward to seeing your paint results!... do you have an on-line store?

[Allen Morgan]

Not at this time.  I'm not a legit business, so I haven't been advertising anything.  I can tell you my painting are rudimentary, at best.  Once I get a couple hundred tungsten jigs under my belt, that may change.  I do know there is a HUGE market for custom-painted tungsten jigs here in the ice belt.  That could turn into a very lucrative second income source.

[Slip Sinker]

A few fisherman have mentioned the tungsten jig when fishing for B.Gill on this site as well as other media outlets… one comment really resonated well with me was when Tony Livingston commented ”One word....Tungsten.” on led heads photo. Now we all know tony to be very explanative on the B.Gill… for him to make such a short profound statement was meant to emphasize that method… then he goes on to state…

• All the naysayers owe it to themselves to try tungsten....certainly it isn't a cure-all for stubborn fish, because nothing is. But, when the goal is to catch fish 12 months out of the year, under darn near any possible circumstance, tungsten absolutely has a spot in my jig box. And a pretty large spot at that.
• Tungsten allows one to do things that are difficult, if not impossible, with lead. I don't buy it because some guy in a magazine told me too....I use it because I've experienced it's benefits firsthand. When the water cools and those big gills head deep, you need to get down there to em'. Trouble is, as their metabolism slows, oftentimes so does their desire to slam big baits. How then, do you present a smaller offering while maintaining the weight needed to get down to the strike zone?
• Sure, you could pile on lead weights, or upsize your offering. And you're most likely going to catch a few fish that way too. But what if switching to a smaller, heavier, tungsten offering allowed you to catch twice as many fish in the same time frame???
• Catching bluegills in the spring and summer is easy...fall and winter are another story altogether. Yes, tungsten is expensive. So are brand name rods, fancy reels, and state of the art fishing lines. None of that is necessary to catch bluegills now and then. But I submit that all of it, either when used together or individually, can help you catch more bluegills, bigger bluegills, and have more fun doing it.

Tony states pretty much how downsizing the bait pkg will tag more fish fall and winter… yes it is common widespread knowledge that cold water period B.Gills prefer a downsized offering. It is why we northern tier states fishermen find productivity with the tiny tipped jigs. Tungsten is weightier allowing to downsize the bait even further then a normal lead offering still allowing solid weight contact to the pole for sensitivity and bait quick descent.

I have found productivity with this method in open water fishing vertically as ice fishing below my transducer mount on my boat open water fishing. Great way to add bonus fish to the fish tally.

Taking it a step further I started long casting them finding astounding success with the Master Angler tags and lunker fish totals. Draw dropping, Eye widening results!

Now given the avg pan fisherman still uses monofilament line with four lb being avg for line size. Impossible to throw micro sized jigs and offering any credible, effective distance. So the initial and common Band-Aid is usually adding a sort of float or strike indicator to get the casting distance… very old school and limiting on productivity by inefficiently covering water columns. Replacing the bait with a tungsten jig circumvents these problems as if you were casting the thinnest slickest super lines with distance. Of course mono will never come close to the benefits of no-stretch super lines.

Since the advent of the slick superlines allowing downsizing my presentation I am finding tiny baits is an all year presentation… my results on the water proves it. Tony also states the benefit of tungsten presentations all year round.

So yes the avg Joe pan fisherman fishing old school techniques can finally get in the game of Micro-Jigging. Step up your game with sensitive rods, reels and a slick super line will exponentially increase your successes with the Lepomis.

[Slip Sinker]

Tungsten Ice Jigs are expensive!!

Ive paid up 2.80/jig for these baits… I check my local retailers in the spring for clearance and have saved up to a buck each in the past. Two years ago I bought a card of 10 different styles for 18.00 at my local hardware and still have most of them thru 1 ice season and 2 open water seasons losing 2 or 3 of them to n.pikes or walleye.

They are expensive I know… they catch tons of fish and the longer ya hold on to them the better as well as economically. The secret to my economic success with them is that I use 8# Gliss (2# mono Dia.equivalent) on 2 of my Long-casting set-ups and 6# Nano on the other and have caught 10# plus C.Cats/6# LMB/32" N.Pikes, many lunker SMB's and 30" class Dog Fish with out loss of any fishes. I would have lost many of these past lunkers on 2# mono.

The Gliss also outcasts the 2# monofilament in equivalent tests… it is also going on its fourth open water season without maintenance or hiccup.

The math is simple switch to a thinner stronger superline (Nano or Gliss) and hold onto your baits as well as land the trophies.

[Slip Sinker]

Con…Not Much selection of Hook Sizes!!

What ive noticed the past few seaons when buying these jigs is that there is not a selection of hook sizes for the sizes of jigs… using the smallest tungsten (my favorite) I have lost a couple sizable fish tearing off from the small hooks… just recently I stumbled on a maker that offered a couple different hook styles per sized jig head. That is great marketing. Lost the link but still looking. The small hook size is more reliable when vertically jigging (fish is fighting vertically) than the long-cast where the fish is pulling at a more horizontal level with a better chance of pulling free.

[Allen Morgan]

All these tungsten jigs are made in China, I believe.  It's not like pouring a lead-head jig.  Tungsten's melting point is higher than the melting point of steel, and probably aluminum as well.  So, pouring molten tungsten isn't possible (not to mention the cost of the furnace and the fuel to fire that beast).  How those jigs are made is the "head" is poured and/or forged.  Somehow, there is a small groove on one side of the "head".  The hook is placed into that groove, and is soldered together.

Now, if someone could find a source of the tungsten "heads" before they are soldered to the hook, THEN, you could start offering tungsten jigs with customized hooks.

[Slip Sinker]

Skandia Tungsten Ice Jigs i have used lately for the Long-Cast/Micro-Jig Method

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[Allen Morgan]

These are the kind that I want to start doing.  I've got a lot of powder paint, some of which are glow colors.  I know how to do the eyes, and I have a couple small paint brushes to do things like the stripes.  I know what paints to use to do basecoat, fine details, and then a protective clear topcoat.  I may have to get an airbrush setup and teach myself how to use it to do the two-tone light and dark.

I finally found some of the parts of I was looking for, now I just need to get off this tying binge I'm on and make up a pan to cure any tungsten jigs.