WU-209: Get Comfortable Jigging - Part 1

by Sheldon Meidinger & Dave Truett

Practice Makes Perfect - Walleyes spend most of their time on the bottom.  A lead-head jig sinks to the bottom, pulling the artificial twister tails or natural bait down along with it.   Now you’re in the strike zone!  However, with any technique “Practice Makes Perfect”.

You can read every article ever printed, watch every video and still not know all of the mechanical details that make so much difference out on the water.    Knowing your equipment and using it almost subconsciously, means freeing up more concentration time for the finer details.

Nowhere is this concentration more important then when jigging for walleyes in cold water.  Why does this winter and early season fishing take so much concentration?  So often we need to present bait in front of a reluctant fish’s nose very precisely and slowly.  Combine lethargic fish with snow, rain and wind along with high current flows, and an angler really has to concentrate to keep a jig in front of fish.  Current so often narrows down fish location to minute locations.  When fish won’t come out and move far, then boat control, concentration and making the most of your time on each drift or pass, means the difference between hooking fish and scratching your head.

The first step to upping the odds in your favor is knowing your equipment.  Get a feel for how your boat tracks and slips in current or wind.  Get a feel for what setting you have to use on your electric trolling motor, where you can just hover in position.  Sounds like simple, fundamental stuff, but anglers so often want to skip the basic knowledge it takes to position a boat and can waste a day out on the water worrying about details that are way down the line in the list of importance. 

Get comfortable enough so that you can put your boat almost anywhere without having to use all of your concentration watching the trolling motor.  Get to the point where you can scoot backward, forward, right or left without having to stare at your foot or the trolling motor.  When your foot or hand works almost separately from the rest of your body as you fight for position, your eyes are freed up to pay attention to the most important piece of equipment on your boat – your depth finder.

Ideally all of an angler’s concentration should be focused on the electronics and rod.  It helps by mounting the electronics where this equipment lines up with where you usually hold your rod tip.  Having to glance back or to the side, taking your concentration away from your rod or depth finder is going to cost you fish.  Keep everything that is important in front of your line of sight, which means your depth finder, GPS and rod tips.

Questions and Answers

1. What means the difference between hooking fish and scratching your head?  When fish won’t come out and move far, then boat control, concentration and making the most of your time on each drift or pass, will make the difference.
2. What important steps do anglers often skip?  Knowing your equipment, getting a feel for how your boat tracks and slips in current and wind, and getting a feel for settings on your electric trolling motor are often overlooked.
3. Ideally, where should all of the angler’s concentration be focused?  An angler’s concentration should be focused on the electronics and the rods.
4. Where should your depth finder, GPS and rod tips be positioned on your boat?  Keep everything that is important in your line of sight.