North Star Custom Baits "crappie" Jig Review With Picts

[rockchalk06]

A friend of mine has a killer pond that I get blessed with being a guest at every so often. I have been using every combo of swim jig I could find to mimic a bluegill. Not much luck. The last time we were able to get out there, we kept a few bass. I was surprised to see every bass we caught had crappie in the stomach, Some even had crappie sticking out of their throats!

 

That got me thinking,  I need a swim jig that mimicked a crappie. North Star had an original swim jig that was close, but wasn't what I wanted. I also don't use the original's I prefer the Flip N Swims. So on the way home from the pond, I called Chris with North Star, and explained what was going on. I couldn't get a bite on any color Flip N Swims that I had. I also went on to tell him that I needed one to look like a white crappie. Chris told me he had the jig I needed. It would be a custom jig so it would take a few weeks. After these arrived, it was worth every second it took to get here. Below is what I got!

 

 

 

Chris told me that all other jigs that imitated a crappie were just plane black and white with some speckle. If you look at a crappie in the water, you can see what looks like a purplish shimmer to it. You also see green shimmer as well. I had never seen anything like this before so I was very pleased when it arrived and looked just like I hoped it would. As you can see from the two pictures, there is a green and purplish shimmer to it.

 

For those of you that haven't tried this Flip n Swim jig yet, here are the specs on it. It has a 3x 30 degree round bend hook that is super sharp and really strong. I cannot flatten this hook out. My 65 pound braid breaks before the hook will flatten out. I have a "Mistake" color Flip n Swim that has caught about 60 fish total, and the hook is just as sharp as it was when the jig arrived. My jigs were 1/2 oz and these came with full length white weed guards. The pointed head allows this to be ripped through weeds and grass very easily. The bottom of the head is flat to allow it up stand up straight when it hits the bottom. Comes with 60 strand skirts and 3D eyes that are glued then epoxied over to last. I have never had an eye fall off yet.

 

I got 5 of these to use and see if they will work for me. These were your typical North Star quality jigs. I prefer wire tied jigs and all of North Stars are. The skirts are all aligned perfectly. No empty spots on the jigs. I like the detail on the Flip n Swim head. Life like eyes, great paint job and it has what looks like a gill pattern molded in. I have purchased around 150-200 or so jigs from North Star in the last year and half. Each one has had the exact same quality. Either I have been very lucky or Chris must have some OCD that blows mine out of the water.

 

The hardest part of working with a new jig is finding a good trailer to work with it. I went through just about every trailer online and in a few stores to find some that would work. I needed something that had a somewhat darker body with a salt and pepper colored tail to match the White Crappie around here. Here is what I found.

 

First was the Strike King Rage Tail Menage in Blue Gill color:

 

Next I found the Bass Pro Sassy Sally in Bad Shad:

 

Last one I got was the Zoom Fat Albert in Clear Silver Black:

 

I'm sure these are not the only ones that will work. I am still looking for something that will match up better. I think my favorite is the Rage Tail Blue Gill due to the darker tint in the tail and the green and black speckle.

 

Over all I can't say enough about this new jig. The color is nothing that I have seen before. The quality is 1st rate and it was really nice to be able to pick up the phone, call the owner of the company and have him be able to produce something for me. Hopefully we can get out these next days off and do some fishing. The last 4 days have been storms and more storms.

[iabass8]

Solid crappie color you got there. Gl with it.

[MrSwimJig]

Very nice looking....hope Chris makes it available soon.

[mnbassman23]

Well said man and great review! Like we talked about the past week this jig is a winner and if you have crappie in your area it's a great imitator. 

[rockchalk06]

Well said man and great review! Like we talked about the past week this jig is a winner and if you have crappie in your area it's a great imitator.

Yes sir! I'm going out tomorrow tornado or not.

[Vinny Chase]

Great review! That's a "custom" color, so throw with caution!

[MrSwimJig]

rockchalk06

Did you try a Havoc Subwoofer with it?

I tried some after you and Chris recommended it and they have performed amazing so far.

[roadwarrior]

Great review of  NorfthStar and their fantastic jigs!

 

Here are a few suggestions for trailers: 

Shell Cracker (Hard Candy), Menace and Single Tail Grub (Blue Glimmer Flake) .

My current favorite fooled my biggest bass so far this year: NorthStar Custom Baits

Original Swim Jig (Blue Gill)/ Rage Tail Shell Cracker (Green Pumpkin/  Purple/ Gold).

 

 

 

 

[rockchalk06]

rockchalk06

Did you try a Havoc Subwoofer with it?

I tried some after you and Chris recommended it and they have performed amazing so far.

Haven't been able to find one that matches perfectly. If was my first trailer I looked at

[rockchalk06]

Great review of NorfthStar and their fantastic jigs!

Here are a few suggestions for trailers:

Shell Cracker (Hard Candy), Menace and Single Tail Grub (Blue Glimmer Flake) .

My current favorite fooled my biggest bass so far this year: NorthStar Custom Baits

Original Swim Jig (Blue Gill)/ Rage Tail Shell Cracker (Green Pumpkin/ Purple/ Gold).

Thanks.

You don't think there is too much green in the shell cracker?

[Sam Fisher]

The biggest bass this year on my boat was with a northstar, to bad it was not my fish. My 14 year old nephew, and yes he reminds of it every time we go out. I had to buy my nephew his own rod/real setup and order him some jigs. Thanks a lot chris   lost my bet on biggest this year.....

[roadwarrior]

Thanks.

You don't think there is too much green in the shell cracker?

 

I don't know, but if you aren't comfortable with it, stick to the Menace or Single Tail Grub in Blue Glimmer.

[deep]

Sometimes a contrasting trailer gets me more bites; from the smaller more aggressive fish anyway. Experiment and see what the fish wants,

[rockchalk06]

Sometimes a contrasting trailer gets me more bites; from the smaller more aggressive fish anyway. Experiment and see what the fish wants,

That's good to know. I never really thought about that.

Thanks

[11justin22]

that bass pro trailer looks golden to me!!!!

[rockchalk06]

that bass pro trailer looks golden to me!!!!

It has ok action. It didn't seem like there was that much vibration with it the short time I was able to get out today. The Menace looked killer in the water.

I'm going to get out again tomorrow and see what it can do

[11justin22]

Ahhh, the best swimbaits for jigs are the ones that roll IMO. It makes the whole jig roll but there are not a lot of swimbaits out there that will do that at lower speeds. Some will at higher speeds but that's not what the fish always want. The color on that one still looks the beat though!

[River Rat316]

Lunker city salty shaker when you want that "roll"

[Nice_Bass]

The hardest part of working with a new jig is finding a good trailer to work with it. I went through just about every trailer online and in a few stores to find some that would work. I needed something that had a somewhat darker body with a salt and pepper colored tail to match the White Crappie around here. Here is what I found.

 

Not sure what size hook are on the swim jigs- but what I use in my parts for this exact same pattern you are trying to match is the Berkely Flatback Shad in "Rainbow" color.  May want to check it out as it sounds like what you may be looking for.   I use typically on a size 5 jig rigged through the horizontal portion and hook ups are great.  For smaller rigging- I go with the Berkley Beat Shad in smoke black purple or oyster shell gold- not a huge fan of smaller rigging anymore though...

[rockchalk06]

Thanks man. I will definatly check it out

[Nice_Bass]

No prob...Rainbow sounds off, but it is a very slight hue in the flat back series and works well.