Legendary fishing guide and larger-than-life personality Dick Gryzwinski has forgotten more about fishing than most of us will ever know. And to say that he knows the Mississippi River like the back of his hand is an understatement; the guy can read water with his eyes shut. Whether it’s finding fish or sensing the most subtle pick-up of his bait, the father of “rip jigging” just has the feel.
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| "The Griz" Boats Another Big 'Eye On A Hair Jig |
The Griz’ advice for catching more walleyes? Ditch the plastic for hair and feathers.
The proof is in the livewell: old school jigs flat-out catch fish. Especially in bodies of water with highly-pressured and conditioned fish, everything old is new again.
Does this mean you need to raid grandpa’s tackle box—or spend your weekends scouring garage sales for classic tackle? Absolutely not.
Hearing from pros, guides and mean sticks across the country that retro baits are seriously catching fish, a whole slew of companies are once again manufacturing quality hair and feather jigs.
And here’s the good news: These new jigs are a step-up from grandpa’s. They feature state-of-the-art hooks, come in various weights, and are available in every forage-mimicking and attention-getting color and profile combination you can imagine.
I’m a big fan of Northland Tackle jigs, including the
Buck-A-Roo and
Bug-A-Boo, probably the best
commercially-available hair and marabou jigs available.
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| Mimic The Forage-Base: Northland Tackle Buck-A-Roo Jigs |
The guys at
Insane Tackle are also tying some great color combos that look like jaw-spreaders.
Walleye DIY
A small upfront investment in jig molds, a vice, bobbins, thread, hair and marabou can yield some pretty great results at a fraction of the cost of continually replacing store-bought jigs. Here’s a
jig-tying video to get you started.
Not sure where to get materials? Check out
Do-It Molds.
Kick Some Bass
Bass fishermen can also benefit from giving plastics a break. And while there are a bunch of hair and marabou jigs on the market, I suggest you check out
Big Smallie Tackle.
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| The Swimbait Hair Jig From Big Smallie Jigs ... |
Big Smallie Tackle’s handcrafted jigs are available in numerous head designs for swimming, flipping and finesse applications. Their feather and hair combinations push a ton of water and undulate in way that plastic just can’t replicate ... not to mention their slightly different-than-plastic fall rates, which can drive bass crazy. For fish that haven’t seen anything like them … well, it’s game over.
Slack is evil; tight lines,
-- Jim