05-30-2019, 04:32 PM
Jigging for small lake trout has always caught me more fish than any other way of fishing for them. One thing about Pups is they will show you exactly where they are on the sonar and will typically pile up from 40-80 feet on structure.
They act allot like Splake and Cutts. They like meat on the jig and they will typically take the jig on the fall or dead sticking right on the bottom or right next to cliff walls.
3 inch pearl tube jigs with 1/4 oz lead heads inside. I buy the bigger chubs and cut them into 1 inch chunks to tip the hook with. Sometime red sided shiners will work better than chub but it's soft and right after a hit you will need to reel up and check your bait. When hooking into the meat hook it on the end so the bait falls straight down instead of falling in circles. You will figure out what I mean.
Most important is to use a braid or super line with a 3-4 foot fluorocarbon leader, tie the line right to the jig. No swivels or clips. It's important because at that depth mono will stretch well beyond your hook setting ability and you will hook and lose fish one after the other from poor hook sets.
Technique:
Find fish piled up on structure.
Drop the jig right on top of them and watch the sonar and your jig falling. If you see fish rising up to see what it is, get ready. If the jig stops falling a fish has grabbed it and you want to set your bail, reel up slack fast, feel the weight of the fish by lifting slowly and if he is there set the hook. This all takes less than a second.
If the jig gets to the bottom reel up slack to the point the tip of your pole is 6 inches above the water and lift the jig 2-3 inches off the bottom. I like to wiggle the jig really quick and set it back down on the bottom. then lift and repeat.
If this doesn't work after a few minutes lift the rod to about 10 o'clock and drop it on a tight line. Like I said before the fish usually take the jig on the fall so if you get slack a fish has grabbed it. set the hook. Repeat this over and over and dead stick once in a while.
Sometimes dead sticking a jig is what the fish want. If a fish comes up and starts tapping on the jig slowly reel the jig up getting faster. This triggers a hit almost every time. If it doesn't grab the bait within the first ten feet stop and drop the bait to the bottom. Most the time the fish will take it on the fall so watch your line.
That's how I like to catch them.
Good luck on your catching.
fnf[cool]
[signature]
They act allot like Splake and Cutts. They like meat on the jig and they will typically take the jig on the fall or dead sticking right on the bottom or right next to cliff walls.
3 inch pearl tube jigs with 1/4 oz lead heads inside. I buy the bigger chubs and cut them into 1 inch chunks to tip the hook with. Sometime red sided shiners will work better than chub but it's soft and right after a hit you will need to reel up and check your bait. When hooking into the meat hook it on the end so the bait falls straight down instead of falling in circles. You will figure out what I mean.
Most important is to use a braid or super line with a 3-4 foot fluorocarbon leader, tie the line right to the jig. No swivels or clips. It's important because at that depth mono will stretch well beyond your hook setting ability and you will hook and lose fish one after the other from poor hook sets.
Technique:
Find fish piled up on structure.
Drop the jig right on top of them and watch the sonar and your jig falling. If you see fish rising up to see what it is, get ready. If the jig stops falling a fish has grabbed it and you want to set your bail, reel up slack fast, feel the weight of the fish by lifting slowly and if he is there set the hook. This all takes less than a second.
If the jig gets to the bottom reel up slack to the point the tip of your pole is 6 inches above the water and lift the jig 2-3 inches off the bottom. I like to wiggle the jig really quick and set it back down on the bottom. then lift and repeat.
If this doesn't work after a few minutes lift the rod to about 10 o'clock and drop it on a tight line. Like I said before the fish usually take the jig on the fall so if you get slack a fish has grabbed it. set the hook. Repeat this over and over and dead stick once in a while.
Sometimes dead sticking a jig is what the fish want. If a fish comes up and starts tapping on the jig slowly reel the jig up getting faster. This triggers a hit almost every time. If it doesn't grab the bait within the first ten feet stop and drop the bait to the bottom. Most the time the fish will take it on the fall so watch your line.
That's how I like to catch them.
Good luck on your catching.
fnf[cool]
[signature]