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This year (2013) ,in June and then again in October and November  , I've tried tandem jig rigs a few times . With and without added spinners, they've  worked on Crappies ,Gills, Yellow and White Perch . With dropping temps in Fall,fish food is perhaps more scarce and yet the feeding activity level of the predators is still in high gear .This makes for a competitive feed and prime time for tandem rigs. Indeed, the only time I ever caught two fish at the same time on one lure was in October . Early one cold  morning, while the steam was rising off the water,two 12" Bass grabbed a 1/4 oz.  Bill Norman, Green Tennessee Shad  colored crankbait . After twitching the lure on top of the submerged weeds one of the bass grabbed it and swam away and then a most peculiar tugging war happened on the end of my line .It wasn't until I got the catch into the boat ,that I realized another bass  had got attached to the second available treble .Wish I knew enough to throw some tandem single hook rigs back then . Here's the rig and description of how I tie it .


 
 

1) Starting with  a 25" piece of 8#, 6# or 4#  line ,tie a barrel swivel to top end .This will later be attached to a snap swivel  coming from mainline after rig is complete and ready to use .  I like to hang the barrel swivel ,using a push pin, on a wall to keep the rig straight while making the ties. 2) Using a blood knot 6" down from the barrel swivel  ,attach a 2nd line ,to the 25" line. That will be used to attach the higher jig .Clip off excess on higher jig.3) Tie in two jigs of choice to the upper and lower lines. The jigs should be about 6-8"  apart. After tying four knots your rig is now complete. 
 4)Next , wind the tandem rigs around cardboard ,mark the line test on the card, and put each one  in a see through plastic bag and use them as needed .The rigs  can attach ,from the barrel swivel ,to a snap swivel from the main line so if you want to change to a plug, spinner or spoon there's no extra tying needed .I've tried green/chartreuse, Black/Blue and Red tube jigs as well as Buck tail or feather jigs with and without Twister tails ,and /or bait.  I've used the same idea while ice fishing  in the past but this is a swimming  horizontal tandem approach .
 Jig sizes for Panfish ,that I've had success with ,range from 24th oz. up to 16th ounce .By all means add shot or use heavier or lighter  jigs as needed .I swim these slow and steady and wrist pop them, raising  and lowering my rod tip ,trying to work as much of the column as I can to find consistent catches. The steady swimming retrieve to a break line is getting Perch and Crappie to hit .I'm assuming the wrist pops attract them visually. I've dragged bigger, single Tube Jigs on bottom and caught Bass ,Yellow Perch and Crappie in the past so I've got to remember to try that retrieve as well ,using the smaller pannie tandem setup .Try tandem Feather and Buck tail jigs baited and un tipped to see if the fish like them as much as these plastic tube baits. Also, I tie some  same size jigs on the upper and lower sections as well as a combo rig featuring a heavier/bigger jig on the bottom and lighter/smaller on top .


 Here's a report of a successful day using the Tandem rig: 11/4/13 :With wind chill the air temp ranged from low 30's to low 40's. Fished SE end of lake by dam facing the NE wind ,from 10am till 2:30pm .65 fish total ,4 species.
 SPOT ONE: Best Fish per species ,were 12 " and unbelievably wide Crappie(my favorite fish of the day),10.5" White Perch ,11" Yellow Perch and about an 8" Male Bluegill . Started off with Tandem white Buck tail jig
 rig. Immediately caught a Crappie around 11"and a few Yellow Perch .Fingers were cold so I put on mittens over fingerless gloves and searched the shore line for Mussels . Found a huge one .First time fishing with mussels ,worked great ! I tipped the Tandem rig jigs with Mussel bits .My first of three tandems was a Yellow Perch on the bottom jig and a White Perch on top . Got two other tandem Yellows later. Experimented, tipping both jigs, and just tipping bottom jig and got several fish on upper jig /untipped , as well as lower jig tipped . Caught 4 species ,Crappie ,Yellow Perch, White Perch and Bluegills .Switched over from white Btails to Chartreuse Btail with 1" Chartreuse twister tails .Kept catching . Switched to and caught a few on the float rig . One Yellow Perch kept for cut bait after no more mussels were found. Perch eye worked great on the float /Jig rig. In the meantime a few casts with a Rattlin' Rap scored zip.
 SPOT TWO: Mostly slip floating and the Crappie loved the Squirrel tail/chartreuse twister tail/Perch eye offering . Rip rap with a band of windblown leaves right up against the end of the lake was the ambush point for Crappie and Yellow Perch. Caught about 5 nice heavy and thick Crappie 11" - 13" and then it was all Yellow Perch besides perhaps another Crappie or two . Tried perch roe on tandem rig jigs and caught. the 3rd double  at spot two. A few fish caught on 10th oz. Thunderbolt spoon tipped with perch stomach or flesh. All fish released but I may regret that !

  Early to mid fall is a great  time for tandem swim jig rigs, and if the fish are bunching up and the bites hot this may be a quicker way to fill the stringer than the very effective slip float approach .One way to work a tandem rig is the slow steady swim with perhaps a few twitches of the rod tip now and again. A second alternative ,at times preferred by the fish ,is more of a lift drop drag bottom retrieve ,the way you might work a single jig or spoon.
http://bigbluegill.com/photo/1st-fish-on-tandem-rig?context=album&a...

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/bottom-tube-jig-was-catching?context=a...

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/bottom-tube-jig-was-catching/next?cont...3A427218

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/bottom-tube-jig-was-catching-1/next?co...3A427218

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/tandem-tube-rig?context=album&albu...

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/tandem-rig-and-slip-floating?context=a...

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Comment by John Sheehan on October 31, 2013 at 1:52pm

You got me beat here I'm not hooking into many big fish but when I do its bigger baits . Sounds like you need a reinforced Rapala knot lol or a thin diameter heavier test .

 

Comment by Leo Nguyen on October 31, 2013 at 1:37pm

You know, I've been looking for a good free knot like the Rapala, and double the loop like the Berkley/Trilene knot, and maintain the freedom of motion for the hook/jig. Any insights from your experience? My jigs/flies/hooks tend to break most of the time at the loop when I use Rapala knot when using 2lbs, 4lbs to fight monters in the 6lbs+ category or wrestling with the weedy subspecies.

Comment by John Sheehan on October 31, 2013 at 1:33pm

Ya know Leo ,I have a lot of plastic baits in my arsenal from past purchases but have gotten away from excessive uses due to not wanted to litter the lakes with them when they get beat up and fall off .I prefer using feathers and buck tails I tie myself .  A small tube bait swimming is a good pannie enticer never the less .but I may be using them less and less .Already found myself doing so.

Comment by John Sheehan on October 31, 2013 at 1:26pm

I 'm just using basic clinch knots on the jigs .Palomar or Rapala knot  is probably better though as you say .The Rapala knot  would make the jig move more freely I suppose .

Comment by Leo Nguyen on October 31, 2013 at 1:03pm

Curious John, have you try a one ultra long leader with palomar knot, and follow-up up any broken jig segment with a blood knot if needed?

Just wonder on the knot type you're using on the eye of those jigs, and if the palomar knot is sufficient to make things a bit more efficient.

Comment by John Sheehan on October 31, 2013 at 12:54pm

Sure thing Leo !Thanks for getting me motivated  to share this . I think those are 32nd oz, Jigs I have there and yes, by all means add shot or use heavier jigs as needed .I swim these slow and steady and wrist pop them lowering and raising my rod tip. ,trying to work as much of the column as I can . The steady retrieve to a break line is getting Perch to hit .I'm assuming the wrist pops attract them visually.

Comment by Leo Nguyen on October 31, 2013 at 12:35pm

Thanks John! This is going to be one interesting showdown with the fishes. May need to add additional weight as a hybridize dropshot method to get the jigs out into the migratory zone for certain water bodies from shore. Wife will love this rig on her kayak, while I'm on my float tube just trying to catch up.

Comment by John Sheehan on October 31, 2013 at 12:16pm

Thanks Leo and Jim for your interest .Hope to hear of catches by you guys using this tandem approach .

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