The Phenomenon of the color PINK in Brackish Waters for Sunfish......

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

As an active member of Bigbluegill.com the last several years, I have learned a lot and shared many ideas that have proven successful for Sunfish in the waters I fish. Prior to becoming a member I had several secrets that remained in my pocket and only my closest fishing buddies had ever even shared in this success. This isn't to say others weren't fishing the same baits in a similar style and catching fish or using baits of their choice and finding similar success.  I was a young kid with numerous anglers in my extended family and I learned early from my grandpa Foster Abney, who always told me to listen when I got around fishermen and think about things that might help me or work where I was fishing.  I was fortunate to be pretty close with an Uncle on my mother's side of the family that lived one town over in Southeastern Louisiana. He grew up and lived near the banks of the Tcefuncte River in the small town of Madisonville, Louisiana and only fished two bodies of water during his eighty plus year life.  A fact that many folks close to him never knew is he fished live grass shrimp for some 60 to 70 years and I couldn't begin to tell you how many Bluegill, Shellcracker, Warmouth and Crappie that he caught over the years.   One Thanksgiving day in the early 1970s as our 100 member family assembled in Folsom, Louisiana for the best dinners we ever ate, Uncle Kenny walked out to an acre pond that was dug on the family farm to stock with fish for the 20 plus grandkids in the Sharp family.  I was there casting a beetle spin when he asked if I had a scoop net with me. I did and we went over to some grass beds near the shore and made a quick scoop and filled a bucket up with little crustaceans called Grass Shrimp. He said put a cork and a bream hook on there and let me show you something. I eagerly followed his instructions and a few moments later we were pulling out big bluegill one after another.  This went on for quite some time and my Uncle explained if you ever run out of Grass Shrimp "Jeffie" and can't find more, take a pink soft plastic jig and fish that in the same areas. He explained that I wouldn't be disappointed and don't be afraid to tip the hook with a worm, grasshopper or a cricket if you have some.  I went home armed with the advice and went through seven or eight tackle boxes my dad and I had but no pink in any of them. I couldn't believe it but surely I'll find some the next time at the bait shop.  A few short days later my dad and I visited the local bait shop and I rushed the fishing tackle, both shelves and found two packs of little curly tails that had a mix of white and pink, they were mine and I was excited to let Uncle Kenny know I had found some and was eager to try them as soon as I could. His only clue was Pink was the best match for live grass shrimp in our brackish waters. He explained saltwater anglers have realized it for some time but freshwater fishermen have failed to make the correlation and they are truly missing out. In the weeks ahead I will go into detail how I fish these jigs and hopefull answer many of the questions I have received about the mystery of pink.

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Will do Don......we definitely need a warm up for Coppernose gills........ice fishermen are catching gills up North but none of them are Coppernose which are my favorite......but no worries....February is here!

[carl hendrix]

all of these look great jeff!!  glad I;m not the one to decide what bait to use! gronaw;s river critter and leadhead;s auto jig;s have been proven to be extremely deadly as well as tooty;s cotton candy and silent stingers!!  should be fun deciding whice one to use;; as well as who is number one for the year!!  have fun deciding!!

[Allen Morgan]

Man, all those lures look great!

I can't wait to see which one starts catching fish (hopefully all of them!).  I really can't wait to see which one(s) catch the most!

I am humbled to be part of the collection of tyers that we have on this forum.  Just imagine what we can do, once we put our collective minds to it?

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

Dick Tabbert has created another masterpiece in the core color of pink......this one is called the Jelly Jig and is being refined as I write this comment.......can't wait to try the improved version in the weeks and months ahead......Pink has continued to produce numbers and quality on the dark waters of the Albemarle.......Way to go on this one Dick and I appreciate the opportunity to fish it......

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

What  a great looking jig Dick !!!!!! Bet ole Jeffrey can't wait to get some of these !!!!!!!!!

[Allen Morgan]

Just goes to show you that good tiers don't sit around doing the same-old same-old.  Good tiers are constantly experimenting, new materials, new colors, new techniques, etc.

[Leo Nguyen]

Ah, the original pink jelly..deadly just becomes deadlier.

[Donald Schmotzer]

  That's a great looking jig, wouldn't it work just as well without the cricket ??...........Don

[Jeffrey D. Abney]

It boils down to personal preference Don.....I have tipped since childhood when we caught hundreds of grass shrimp every day in South Louisiana and was taught by the best anglers I have ever fished with that the combination works great......appeals to all senses that fish have......

[Shawn Allison]

Don you can catch them with both but I will tell you that I have watched big bulls rise up to feed on a plain jig only to turn away but you put a dancing cricket on that same jig and the result is never good for the cricket!

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Uh oh, Don... You've reopened the tipped vs. intipped "can of worms."

[Tony Livingston]

Ha! here we go again! Never mind that silly question that asks which came first, the chicken or the egg........we need to know which is catching the fish....the jig or the cricket?? ;)