Crappie Fishing

How to make your own Mini Jigs and Micro Jigs

Crappie fishing with mini jigs and micro jigs
has a long, productive history. Although thought
of simply as crappie jigs, they’re also effective
on white bass, yellow perch, and many other panfish.
No need to buy them, though. They’re easy -- and
inexpensive -- to make.

We’d set out on a spur of the moment trip after Northern pike. As an afterthought, we’d told the bait man to throw in a dozen flathead minnows along with the suckers.

If we’d have been smarter, we’d have skipped the suckers altogether and stocked up on the flatheads. The Northerns wanted nothing to do with us that morning. But the crappie were sure on the prowl. A dozen minnows doesn’t go very far, though, when you’re crappie fishing and the fish are on the bite.

The rest of the day was spent crappie fishing via drifting casts of three mini jigs over brush piles. And the slabs went wild. Crappie from palm sized to 11 inches couldn’t resist the yellow and white lead heads. As an experiment, I tied on standard jigs in the same colors, but couldn’t buy a hit. Switching back to the mini jigs also switched the fish back on.

Micro jigs and mini jigs (there’s no precise definition) are tailor made for crappie fishing, since these fish have a penchant for small baits. Thousands of slab papermouths have been taken on them. They’re also popular for perch, bluegill, white bass, and other panfish. And for good reason: these diminutive jigs, fished on light line, are real panfish killers. But at as much a $2.79 a throw, the price for mini jigs can be a real killer, too. With the light lines used, it’s easy to break off, and using up a dozen or so of these lures in a couple of hours crappie fishing brush piles isn’t very hard.

The solution is to make your own for mere pennies and a small investment of time. They’re quick and easy to make, and do not require fooling around with hot lead.

To make your own mini jigs you’ll need regular or long-shank hooks in sizes 8, 10, and 12; split shot in various sizes; webby saddle hackles; contact cement; and model airplane enamels. All of these materials are available from larger sporting goods stores, or you can mail order them.

If you order the hackles, buy the loose or so called “strung” feathers. This is less expensive than buying capes or saddles, and you are likely to get more of the webby part you want as well.

Match split shot to hook sizes. You might try BB size for starters, matched to #10 hooks. Crimp the shot to the hook with pliers, flattening it slightly. For different effects, flatten some of the split shot horizontal to the hook axis and some of them vertical to it. In either case, both the hook itself and the eye should be facing upwards.

You can order special jig hooks for this, but it isn’t really necessary---not for these size jigs. The offset of a turned-down eye is more than enough to make the jig ride upright in the water.

After crimping in place, paint the split shot whatever colors you want. The most effective colors, for crappie fishing at least, are solid yellow, solid white, and solid black. The fluff from a grizzly hackle dyed yellow also is effective, with either a yellow or black head.

These same colors work with perch and bluegill. For white bass you can expand your color choices to green, red and white, and even bubble gum pink.

Your best bet is to make all the heads at one time, paint them, and then tie the tails at once. First tarnish the lead by letting it soak in vinegar or lemon juice for a few minutes. This makes the paint stick better. When thoroughly dry, give each head two coats of enamel.

This can be done by dipping, spraying, or with a brush. The first two methods are faster, but result in painted hook eyes as well as lead heads. If you dip or spray, first spread petroleum jelly on the eye to prevent paint from clogging it.

Most commercially made mini jigs have eyes painted on. I used to think that was an affectation, designed more to hook fishermen than fish. But I’ve since changed my viewpoint.

Easiest way to paint eyes is with finishing nails of different sizes. Dip a nail head in paint and touch it to the head. When that’s dry, use a smaller nail head to paint a contrasting pupil in place.

Now you’re ready to tie the tails in place. Attach tying thread to the hook just behind the head and build up a shoulder about a quarter inch long and half as thick as the split shot. Tie the thread off close to the head, and cut it off, leaving about four inches of excess thread for the final step. Coat the thread shoulder with a thin layer of contact cement and let it dry.

While the shoulders are drying, prepare the hackle feathers. Choose a webby feather the same color as the head. The base, with its marabou-like fibers, is the part you want. Ironically, this is precisely the part fly tyers usually discard, so, if you know any fly tyers you may be able to do a deal and save even more money. If not, cut off the feather above the webby part and discard it. Brush contact cement along the stem of the webby section, allowing it to spread slightly onto the fibers on each side. You might want to do this step on a piece of wax paper. Let the cement dry.

You’ll be able to make two mini jigs from each of these webby feather sections. Using a razor knife on a hard surface, cut the fibers off one side of the feather, close to the stem. Scissors will not work for this. Wrap the cemented edge of the web around the shoulder of the jig. The contact cement on the feather and shoulder will stick to itself, holding the feather in place.

Finally, tie down the feather to the shoulder with the remaining thread. I usually use red tying thread, which leaves a red collar behind the head, simulating gills.

Making these mini jigs is a great winter project. By the time crappie fishing is live and white bass runs start in the spring, you’ll have a box full of them in assorted colors and sizes.