Best Hair Jig?

[Cody28]

I am very new to smallie fishing. Mostly have chased their green counterparts around all my life, so I have never looked at hair jigs until now. Just curious where I should start with weights, colors, brands, etc. What are the best hair jigs on the market? Also what conditions are best for this application. Would my 7'0" MLF St. Croix Premier do the trick for this application or should I use something else? Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated. 

[A-Jay]

I use the Outkast Tackle Feider Fly Marabou Jig 

Just two sizes for me the 3/32 and the 1/8 oz. 

Black, Brown & Shad cover most deals for me up this way.

Not sure if it's the best but they get bites ~

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Outkast_Tackle_Feider_Fly_Marabou_Jig_2pk/descpage-OTFFMJ.html

 

As for a rod - I use ML also - just prefer a bit longer blank at 7'6".

Helps get the bait away from the boat.

Finally this video made me a much more successful Hair Jig user.

Hope it helps

Good Luck & Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

 

[Chris Catignani]

A lot of hair jigs are bucktail and even horse hair.

You can swim that jig like in the video that @A-Jay posted.

But what we do hear (in the winter) is fish it on a bobber (float-N-fly)  for suspended fish...or you can fish it on the bottom (no float).

You either sit way off a point and fish it down...or you can sit shallow on a point and fish it up.

The key is to slow it down. 

[WRB]

Marabou isn’t hair it’s feathers. Good looking jig AJ.

most “hair” jigs today are made with artificial craft hair.

ML rod I wouldn’t go over 3/16 oz with size 1/0 lighter wire hook in lieu of standard wire hooks.

Spro Phat Fly and Punisher lures make Craft hair jigs.

If you go up to 1/4-5/16 oz then use your LMB Medium-MH Rods with 8 lb to 10lb line. Don Iovino makes a good 2” hand poured trailer.

I use my custom 7/16 oz bucktail hair jig with Gamakatsu 5/0 hook year around for big bass. Smallmouth where I fish prefer Shad ( dark green- chartreuse- white hair) and Fritz ( brown-chartreuse- Red hair. LMB prefer Anywhere Anytime (black-purple-redfish brown hair).

Hair jigs work year around.

Tom

[Bdnoble84]

Search Jimmy D river bugs. He has some really nice work. Personally, for smallmouth I stay 1/8 oz and smaller unless its a craft fur bass jig. I ussually tie those on 1/4oz and pair it with a small beaver trailer.

[Black Hawk Basser]

Most people fish hair jigs in early spring and then again in fall.  I find that they work all year, although many other things will work as well or better when the water is warmer.  I like bucktail and arctic fox tail hair.

 

For weight, go lighter than 1/8 if you can help it.  3/32 seems to be about perfect for me.  Black or brown are really all you need for colors.  I don't go any longer than about 2.5" with a smallmouth hair jig.  I also don't like a jig with hair that's too dense, especially with bucktail.  There's just not enough movement when it's packed on too heavily.

 

In my experience, less rod movement with a hair jig works better for smallmouth.  Where I fish my hair jigs, when I get really 'snappy' with them, I catch more walleye and less brown bass.

 

There are a lot of guys out there that make a good hair jig.  The prior post mentioned a really good one.

 

jensenjigs.com has some crazy (and spendy) ones.  Looks like he uses a lot of ties with rabbit strips, which have kind of a cool undulating action on a steady retrieve.

[FryDog62]

1 hour ago, Bdnoble84 said:

Search Jimmy D river bugs. He has some really nice work. Personally, for smallmouth I stay 1/8 oz and smaller unless its a craft fur bass jig. I ussually tie those on 1/4oz and pair it with a small beaver trailer.

This.

 

Check out Jimmy Dezurik for sure...

[Zachh Nute]

On 11/1/2021 at 11:31 AM, Cody28 said:

I am very new to smallie fishing. Mostly have chased their green counterparts around all my life, so I have never looked at hair jigs until now. Just curious where I should start with weights, colors, brands, etc. What are the best hair jigs on the market? Also what conditions are best for this application. Would my 7'0" MLF St. Croix Premier do the trick for this application or should I use something else? Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated. 

I have a friend who makes them for me. I only use Black or Black and purple. Not sure why, but those colors are always producers for me. 

 

The thing with hair jigs is that you want to go with the lightest weight you possibly can. I fish a highly pressured lake and when the wind isn't blowing I'm fishing an 1/8oz hair jig in 25' - 30'. If the wind is blowing I will throw a 1/4oz. I will never go over that 1/4oz. Not to say the fish wont eat it, but that's what I do personally.

 

I find that hair jigs are usually best when the water is cold (below 48 degrees). and you want to just crawl it along the bottom. If you aren't getting stuck, you wont catch fish. 

 

I use a Megabass Levante Shakeyhead rod. I think this gives you the backbone you need to penetrate the mouth of the fish in deep water and it also provides a sensitive tip to feel the bites. Most of your bites will just be weight. You wont actually feel the fish thrash. 

[PaulVE64]

talking about a subtle bite.

Yesterday I was throwing a sexy shad pattern I make with chartreuse rabbit, flash and white bucktail on a 1/16th oz crappie jig. it darn near suspends.

 

I watched a 10" creek smallie take that jig from behind and thrash a few times. The only thing I felt was the line go slack.

 

I guess I need to swing more often.

 

[Munkin]

We fish them around here in cold water 33 to 40 degrees during the winter. While I have used a lot of different stuff nothing works as well as bear hair. The ones I use a local guy ties for me but if you're looking for some contact smalljaw67 on here. He is a master with hair jigs and has several YouTube videos on tying them. 

 

Allen 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Munkin said:

We fish them around here in cold water 33 to 40 degrees during the winter. While I have used a lot of different stuff nothing works as well as bear hair. The ones I use a local guy ties for me but if you're looking for some contact smalljaw67 on here. He is a master with hair jigs and has several YouTube videos on tying them. 

 

Allen 

Must be because the bear fur comes with its own natural Shad wax on it! Haha

[Munkin]

9 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Must be because the bear fur comes with its own natural Shad wax on it! Haha

 

So I did an experiment like 15 years ago with hair jigs. It was freezing cold in January and I had cabin fever. I took a couple different jigs down to fish off the bank at a place that always holds fish no matter what. Water temp was 36 degrees and ultra clear where I was at so I could see what the jigs looked like in the water. Marabou and bucktail just went to a point which had zero action to it. The bear hair however kept its form and the individual strands of hair barely moved. To me it looked like something alive that was very cold and not trying to expend any energy. I can't explain it exactly but it looked so natural I then understood why it worked. Add a pork chunk to it and it completed the package. The closest thing I have found to bear is the stuff Punisher sells but it still does not compare IMO. Now if I could only find some polar bear hair that I could dye green pumkin I would be set. Black bear isn't that hard to find but brown and polar have been tough. Hell I would even try some panda if I could get a hold of some.

 

Allen

[Munkin]

On 11/1/2021 at 12:12 PM, A-Jay said:

I use the Outkast Tackle Feider Fly Marabou Jig 

Just two sizes for me the 3/32 and the 1/8 oz. 

Black, Brown & Shad cover most deals for me up this way.

Not sure if it's the best but they get bites ~

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Outkast_Tackle_Feider_Fly_Marabou_Jig_2pk/descpage-OTFFMJ.html

 

As for a rod - I use ML also - just prefer a bit longer blank at 7'6".

Helps get the bait away from the boat.

Finally this video made me a much more successful Hair Jig user.

Hope it helps

Good Luck & Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

 

 

I have like 50 of those jigheads in my garage in 1/8oz. Someone sent me one and asked if I could make a bunch before I knew what they were. Its a simple design that I can see why it works for that application and at $10 for 2 they are mighty proud of them.

 

Allen

[bowhunter63]

Jimmy Ds River bugs except he is 8 weeks behind. Smallie killers for sure 

[Bdnoble84]

5 hours ago, Munkin said:

 

I have like 50 of those jigheads in my garage in 1/8oz. Someone sent me one and asked if I could make a bunch before I knew what they were. Its a simple design that I can see why it works for that application and at $10 for 2 they are mighty proud of them.

 

Allen

I could probably tie 40-50 of those for 10$ in cost and they are about the easiest jig to tie

[desmobob]

Polar bear hair was always well-loved by fly tyers... there's nothing like it!  It's very expensive and hard to find today.  Somebody should start a polar bear ranch...

[A-Jay]

9 hours ago, Munkin said:

 

I have like 50 of those jigheads in my garage in 1/8oz. Someone sent me one and asked if I could make a bunch before I knew what they were. Its a simple design that I can see why it works for that application and at $10 for 2 they are mighty proud of them.

 

Allen

 

4 hours ago, Bdnoble84 said:

I could probably tie 40-50 of those for 10$ in cost and they are about the easiest jig to tie

OK ~ Tie some up and fish them.

And when they score a few of these,

I'll gladly pay you the $10.

A-Jay

[Bdnoble84]

I really came across wrong on that, im not saying i could do a great job and not trying to diminish time of work. Just that that prices seems extremely high for what they are. Great for them they can get people to buy them.

[WRB]

15 hours ago, desmobob said:

Polar bear hair was always well-loved by fly tyers... there's nothing like it!  It's very expensive and hard to find today.  Somebody should start a polar bear ranch...

Polar bear hair has been illegal to sell since 1972.

You must prove the Polar Bear hair pre dates 1972 or it’s the grey bar hotel.

Back side of buck tail hair works good, legal and available in serval dyed colors.

Tom

[smalljaw67]

On 11/6/2021 at 4:56 AM, Bdnoble84 said:

I could probably tie 40-50 of those for 10$ in cost and they are about the easiest jig to tie

 

Those jigs have a lot of marabou on them. I buy a lot of marabou and to tie 40 of those jigs you'll need more than $10 worth of marabou. I agree, they are a little high in price but not unreasonable. Kalin's makes a cheap marabou jig and take a look at the difference. When you factor in overhead and time and still try to make a profit, they probably couldn't sell them for much less. I know if I was tying those for retail sale and with the prices of material right now, they would be around $4 per jig. Now if you aren't looking to make money and just want to tie some yourself with that amount of marabou I'd say it would be about $1 per jig but I'm also factoring in hook, lead, thread, and of course the marabou. 

[Bdnoble84]

44 minutes ago, smalljaw67 said:

 

Those jigs have a lot of marabou on them. I buy a lot of marabou and to tie 40 of those jigs you'll need more than $10 worth of marabou. I agree, they are a little high in price but not unreasonable. Kalin's makes a cheap marabou jig and take a look at the difference. When you factor in overhead and time and still try to make a profit, they probably couldn't sell them for much less. I know if I was tying those for retail sale and with the prices of material right now, they would be around $4 per jig. Now if you aren't looking to make money and just want to tie some yourself with that amount of marabou I'd say it would be about $1 per jig but I'm also factoring in hook, lead, thread, and of course the marabou. 

Yeah, dumb foot in mouth comment, I wasnt really thinking when I said that. Realized it when I re-read it last night.

[Junk Fisherman]

3 hours ago, smalljaw67 said:

 

Those jigs have a lot of marabou on them. I buy a lot of marabou and to tie 40 of those jigs you'll need more than $10 worth of marabou. I agree, they are a little high in price but not unreasonable. Kalin's makes a cheap marabou jig and take a look at the difference. When you factor in overhead and time and still try to make a profit, they probably couldn't sell them for much less. I know if I was tying those for retail sale and with the prices of material right now, they would be around $4 per jig. Now if you aren't looking to make money and just want to tie some yourself with that amount of marabou I'd say it would be about $1 per jig but I'm also factoring in hook, lead, thread, and of course the marabou. 

 

I'm gonna have to figure out how to tie some of these on a Midwest Finesse jig that I already make.  

[desmobob]

22 hours ago, WRB said:

Polar bear hair has been illegal to sell since 1972.

You must prove the Polar Bear hair pre dates 1972 or it’s the grey bar hotel.

Back side of buck tail hair works good, legal and available in serval dyed colors.

Tom

 

Yikes!  I thought it was one of those deals where if one was killed by a vehicle, killed for management or safety reasons by proper authorities etc., it could be documented as such and sold.  

 

I still have a tiny piece left from a fly tying kit my mother gave me as a birthday gift when I was around 10 years old.  That would have been in 1971... don't call the Feds on me!  ?

 

[Munkin]

On 11/6/2021 at 4:56 AM, Bdnoble84 said:

I could probably tie 40-50 of those for 10$ in cost and they are about the easiest jig to tie

 

Going to send you some heads, tie me some of the gray over white ones, green pumkin, and some solid black.

 

Allen

[smalljaw67]

20 hours ago, Junk Fisherman said:

 

I'm gonna have to figure out how to tie some of these on a Midwest Finesse jig that I already make.  

 

Here is one I tie on the Midwest finesse jig.