Jigs are extremely effective for walleye fishing in moving water as well as still water situations, as most anglers well know. However, anglers often get interested in hard bodied minnow baits like crank and jerkbaits and tend to neglect jigs, because often times the plastic body on the end of the jig is a grub or creature that doesn’t look much like the forage walleye have access to.
The plastic bodies that can be put on jigheads offer a cheap, yet productive, alternative to expensive minnow baits that are reaching sky high prices. Anglers with boats may have no problem freeing six dollar crankbaits from gnarly snags, but the shore fisherman usually must part with his prized lure because it is just too impossible to get.
The beauty of fishing with jigs is that you can get a heavy lure for a relatively cheap price. If you want to fish deep , fast moving river current use 3/4oz to 1oz jigs. These jigs can be had for low prices, but don’t go into a big national discount store and expect to find them for rock bottom prices. Go online to look for great deals on jigheads and plastic baits to add to them, like grubs , hellgramites, leech imitations and paddle minnows.
The best place I have ever found for fishing tackle on the internet is Ebay. You will find amazing deals that exist nowhere else, and you can support fellow fisherman who pour lead jigheads and plastic baits in their spare time to make some extra money.
Just use the search tool to look for the jig heads and plastic bodies that you want. Don’t immediately buy the first bunch of jigheads that you see. The prices vary widely and some sellers will rip you off on the shipping if they can, so watch that shipping carefully. A good seller will be able to give you a very good price on jig heads because they can get flat rate envelopes from the post office and jam as many many jig heads as they want in there as long as it doesn’t exceed the size of the envelope or box. And when you ship lead this is a huge savings.
Go for bigger jigs too , as well as smaller ones. You can find 1oz jig heads for very reasonable prices on Ebay. These will help you get to the bottom fast in big rivers and the depths of the Great Lakes. A big jig provides a good profile to get winter walleye on the feed interested in your offering. Additionally, when fishing in windy conditions, big jigs allow you to feel your jig and the contact it makes with the bottom much better.
So, don’t forget the jigs when you go blow your paycheck next time, you’ll end up with much more lures as opposed to when you buy ridiculously priced hardbaits. And go on eBay to hunt down deals. Cheap lures makes fishing much more enjoyable and successful. If you’re not afraid to lose lures you can really get into the snag infested places that walleye love to hide.