We hit the reservoir yesterday, later than we would've liked, but the result were still good. We did some vertical jigging in the Jarvies area and totaled 13 lake trout (up to 22 inches), 3 bows, 2 kokes, and 2 smallies. We were using 3/8oz. jigheads in combination with Berkley Gulp minnows in 60-100ft of water. Fish were found on the graph, suspended off points and cliff faces. The bites were hard and we moved around quite a bit to find active fish. It was a hot one yesterday, afternoon temps in the mid-90s, and the surface temps are in the upper-60s.
Hope it helps, Ryno
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We were also up there for three days and came home on the 23rd. We fished near the pipeline area, Linwood, Horseshoe, Sheep Creek, and Hideout area. We jigged up some lake trout similar in size to what you got in Sheep Creek area. I lost several nicer ones. We kept picking up nice rainbows at about every depth we tried. I picked up a nice 5-6 pound rainbow jigging for macs at 80 feet. The big bows were full of crawdads. We picked up limits of kokanie but saw very few people around us getting them. We picked up more Kokanie jigging than we did trolling. We picked them up right off the rock walls where no one else seemed to want to come. Jigging was difficult on Saturday because of all the boat waves.
It was a good thing we caught plenty of fish to make up for the full tank of gas in my truck that somehow vanished while it was parked for the two nights.
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Thanks for the report Ryan. I started using those Berkley Gulp minnows this year and they are killer, I won't be without them from now on, when it comes to jigging.
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How do you rig the Gulp minnows with jig heads? Do you start the hook at the head of the minnow and thread it through the body? Tube jigs are easy enough; just feed the jig head up through the tube body. I'm just not educated enough to know how to make that work with a solid body like the Gulps. Anyway, if you don't mind sharing. Thanks.
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You said,"[#4040ff] Do you start the hook at the head of the minnow and thread it through the body?[/#4040ff] ", yes that is just how you put them on a jig. I like to use the jigs that have the little ridges, because they help hold the minnow in place better. I hope that answers your question.
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Do you bury the jig head into the body or leave it protruding? Thanks again for the info. It is very helpful.
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No, the minnow just goes up to the head, like I said, the ridges hold the minnow in place. There are several different colored jig heads that will work depending on the lake, the depth and the fish you are after. We used white at the Berry, at Willard and several other lakes I use red. You will need to ask Ryno to find out what color works at the Gorge though.
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Exactly. Just rig it like a grub, sliding the head of the plastic up to the head of the jighead. Poke the hook out about 3/4 through the plastic so it's mounted on the jig straight and the tail has good action. Good luck, Ryno
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I've been using the rainbow trout, smelt, and shad colors and haven't noticed any difference in success. The only thing I don't like about them is they dry up quick, sometimes even while boating from one spot to another. They also seem to only last for a fish or two, so you may want to have a couple of bags of them on hand, if the catching is good. I guess it's the price you pay for an effective bait!
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I didn't know jig heads came in rainbow trout, smelt, and shad colors[:/]? I figured you were using red or white.
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Whoops, I thought you were wanting to know colors of the Gulp minnows. Actually on the heads I've been using just silvers and blacks, and more recently some glow heads I acquired from Tubedude.
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Yea, I guess when your jigging in 60 to 100 ft of water bright colors don't really help but I bet those glow jigs do.
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