The Jig And Eel , History Of Jig Trailers

[scaleface]

Who remembers the jig and Uncle Josh pork eel as a trailer?  When I first got into bass fishing that was the hot combo . Then the pork frog got popular . I used the Uncle Josh Water dog also , it was a big fish lure . The first plastic's I used were the mister twister black double tails . Now all one hear about are short squat trailers that resemble crawdads . I still use worms for trailers occasionally to give the old jig and eel profile .

[the reel ess]

Taking me back to the Virgil Ward days.

[scaleface]

I think the jig n eel may have originated in the Ozarks. Virgil Ward use to use it a lot on the shows. Probably where I first saw it. If I remember correctly Bill Ward use to use pork eels as trailers on scorpion spinnerbaits .

[Catt]

Bass Fishing Archives

http://bassfishingarchives.com/eastern/jigs-before-there-were-jigs

[badhatharry]

Still use them.

[scaleface]

Still use them.

I didnt know they were still made , havent seen any in so long . I Googled it and there they are .

[scaleface]

When I got into bass fishing seriously in the mid 70's I read as much as I could and watched all those television shows like Virgil Ward , Roland Martin , Bill Dance , Jimmy houston ...   The jig and pork was always labeled as a cold water bait . In the summer plastic worms were the lures to use.  My best friend and I were fishing in the same club tournament at the Lake of the Ozarks. It was summer time and I was fishing plastic worms around docks. I caught a lot of fish but only two keepers. My friend shows up to  the weigh in with a limit of four lb plus bass and easily wins the tourney. We were fishing the same way in the same area but he was using a jig and pig . So much for jigs and pork being a cold water technique .

[stkbassn]

I like using pork all year round.

[badhatharry]

I didnt know they were still made , havent seen any in so long . I Googled it and there they are .

I had a pretty good supply of them when I quit fishing 15 years ago.  I use to drain off about 1/2 the liquid they were packed in and replaced it with anise oil.  When I dug 'em out last week they were still as good as new.....and smelled good too!  Back then they had many more colors and sizes.  In particular they had a twin tail about 4" long in chartreuse that I used to love to flip with.  Their new double tail isn't as thick and meaty as they were then.

[WRB]

Thank you for the link Catt!

We sold 1/8 to 3/8 oz Doll Flies at the boat landing I work at in the 50's and was my introduction to jigs, however back then we didn't use a trailer. Jason Lucas wrote a article on using pork strips on hair jigs, we had bass strips used on weedless spoons back in the late 50's, so why not use that on the Doll Fly, it worked great.

In the early 60's we used Shannon twin spins, a hair skirt spinner bait, with Uncle Josh a 9" Black Widow eel as a trailer. In the mid 60's a local tackle shop start selling 5/8 oz football head jigs with a wire weed gaurd and vynl skirts, using the eel was a logical combination. Pedigo pork rinds came out with their 3" & 4" lizards, basic straight twin tail shape 1" wide and that became the pork trailer design I still use to this day.

Tom

[scaleface]

Thanks for the history lesson WRB . . I wish I could have fished some of the reservoirs back then. I have been lucky enough  to fish virgin structure and it is not even comparable to todays public honey holes. I cant imagine what those lakes were like before the bass fishing explosion .

 

When I was a boy I ust to ride my bike to the Mississippi river and walk along the banks poking a white or yellow " Doll Fly " around every piece of cover I could. I did not cast them just jiged them and caught lots of diiferent spieces that way.

[scaleface]

I did not know that doll flys were originally made out of Polar bear fur. I wonder how he acquired  the polar bear fur to make millions of jigs .

[smalljaw67]

I still have a jar of Uncle Josh Spin Strips with 3 left, I don't use them in warm water, for me they are perfect on the back of a 1/8oz hair jig.

[bowhunter63]

I used to have a Uncle josh pork box,It held 6 jars and place for jigs.Great times back then.

[Bluebasser86]

I wish Strike King still made the Pork O. That was a great big fish trailer to add to a jig.  I still opt for pork trailers when I'm targeting big largemouth. It just seems like the big largemouth just prefer them for some reason. 

[scaleface]

I wish Strike King still made the Pork O. That was a great big fish trailer to add to a jig.  I still opt for pork trailers when I'm targeting big largemouth. It just seems like the big largemouth just prefer them for some reason. 

I had a bottle of white Pork o's but only used them as a jerk bait. I didnt catch much that way .

[A-Jay]

I wish Strike King still made the Pork O. That was a great big fish trailer to add to a jig.  I still opt for pork trailers when I'm targeting big largemouth. It just seems like the big largemouth just prefer them for some reason. 

 

X2

 

Tell me about it.

 

A-Jay

 

[scaleface]

I dont know if this link will work but heres an excerpt from Roland Martins 101 Secrets about jigs and the jig and eel. Its a pretty good read .

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=M7ctAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT90&lpg=PT90&dq=jig+and+eel&source=bl&ots=VhY5bqZ6pT&sig=4nYAcs9mQ6oIWeHqkaf7pH8WLRs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDUQ6AEwA2oVChMI4OOh-bjixwIVxe0eCh2_PQ6R#v=onepage&q=jig%20and%20eel&f=false