04-12-2018, 12:32 PM
[quote Optimizer]Hi TD, hope you don't mind more questions.
1) What size FLIGs were you using on this trip?
2) Did you always have them tipped with minnow on this trip or were some cats caught with just FLIGS?
3) I saw some lines with drop weights and some with the hanger wire. When do you choose to use the hanger wire over the drop sinker? Was the wire tied on the line or slip capable?
4) Some FLIGS had tails. What kind of tails did they have?
5) How do you jig them? Do you just let them glide along the bottom while you kick around or do you actively jig them?
Thx.[/quote]
[#0000FF]1. I caught fish on 3 sizes and models. Best were size 1/0 hooks with a 3/8" diameter floating head. But a smaller model...size 2 hook with 1/4" head...also caught a few.
2. While fish will smack an "unsweetened" flig, they are designed (and work best) with some kind of bait or plastic attached. On this trip I tried crawler for a while but got no love. Virtually all the fish were on minnows. And I used two sizes...3" and 2". Both worked.
3. I am still experimenting with weights. But I always rig them to slide on the line. I like the drop shot style weights for fishing clean bottom with no rocks or weeds. The "hanger-shot" wire sinkers are great when fishing over irregular (rocky) bottom or when there are any weeds. It glides over the rocks without hanging up and pulls through the weeds. Great at Starvation. I used both because I already had one rod rigged with the hanger from fishing rocky area at Utah Lake.
4. I put tails on some of smaller models to change the profile and add some extra flash and color. The material for the tails is usually Krystal Flash or Flashabou. See the attached writeup on "Tailed Fligs". I make them mostly for fishing smaller species...like perch, white bass and crappies. But the bigger fish often do not read the instructions and they eat them too. In fact, last fall we did better for bigger fish with smaller fligs and baits.
5. How you fish them is very flexible. But the way you fish them can be more important than the color or the bait you use. When the fish are slow...in cold or murky water...you will do better by just moving around slowly...starting and stopping. When they are more active you can actually fish them like a walleye bottom bouncer rig...but slowly. One of the things I like to do while fishing from my float tube, with two flig rods...one out each side...is to use my fins to make little twists and turns. That gives some forward motion to the fligs and makes them dive and float back up. But a lot of the hits come while they are not moving at all. That's when your choice of "sweeteners" can help seal the deal.
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1) What size FLIGs were you using on this trip?
2) Did you always have them tipped with minnow on this trip or were some cats caught with just FLIGS?
3) I saw some lines with drop weights and some with the hanger wire. When do you choose to use the hanger wire over the drop sinker? Was the wire tied on the line or slip capable?
4) Some FLIGS had tails. What kind of tails did they have?
5) How do you jig them? Do you just let them glide along the bottom while you kick around or do you actively jig them?
Thx.[/quote]
[#0000FF]1. I caught fish on 3 sizes and models. Best were size 1/0 hooks with a 3/8" diameter floating head. But a smaller model...size 2 hook with 1/4" head...also caught a few.
2. While fish will smack an "unsweetened" flig, they are designed (and work best) with some kind of bait or plastic attached. On this trip I tried crawler for a while but got no love. Virtually all the fish were on minnows. And I used two sizes...3" and 2". Both worked.
3. I am still experimenting with weights. But I always rig them to slide on the line. I like the drop shot style weights for fishing clean bottom with no rocks or weeds. The "hanger-shot" wire sinkers are great when fishing over irregular (rocky) bottom or when there are any weeds. It glides over the rocks without hanging up and pulls through the weeds. Great at Starvation. I used both because I already had one rod rigged with the hanger from fishing rocky area at Utah Lake.
4. I put tails on some of smaller models to change the profile and add some extra flash and color. The material for the tails is usually Krystal Flash or Flashabou. See the attached writeup on "Tailed Fligs". I make them mostly for fishing smaller species...like perch, white bass and crappies. But the bigger fish often do not read the instructions and they eat them too. In fact, last fall we did better for bigger fish with smaller fligs and baits.
5. How you fish them is very flexible. But the way you fish them can be more important than the color or the bait you use. When the fish are slow...in cold or murky water...you will do better by just moving around slowly...starting and stopping. When they are more active you can actually fish them like a walleye bottom bouncer rig...but slowly. One of the things I like to do while fishing from my float tube, with two flig rods...one out each side...is to use my fins to make little twists and turns. That gives some forward motion to the fligs and makes them dive and float back up. But a lot of the hits come while they are not moving at all. That's when your choice of "sweeteners" can help seal the deal.
[/#0000FF]
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