Gettin Close

[BigWally]

only two months till purple hair jigs....gettin excited

[erieangler]

big wally, I have always fished the detroit or maumee rivers in the spring, and want to try the fishing on maumee bay this spring. Can ya help me out a little bit? what size jigs do you use and are the body and hair both purple? also how do you fish them? do you cast and retrieve or do you actually jig with them? have you tried blades baits? I hear alot of guys have been doing pretty good with them also.

[jiginitis69]

Erieangler. You are about to find a new obsession. The days of the river will be long gone from your dreams once you learn the lake. How nice it would be to catch every fish legal and do it in 15 minutes. You hear allot about Purplr Hair jigs and last year they were the hot item. The are actually Purple and Black w/ a stinger hook. And yes they are made of dyed hair. It is important to hook a shiner under the chin and through the cranium. If you cast dont use the shiner you will jig it off. We do jig. I use two poles and alternate the drop from one hand to the other. It is important to feel the drop because you will most your strikes on the drop (THUMP) or when you lift it (seems heavy) YANK! Vibe-ees, Heddon Sonars, Cicadas etc do work well. I make my own jigs and paint them myself. I alway have about 20lbs of jig heads (drift speed controls jig weight 3/8,1/2,5/8)and 10 different color tails. I buy the tails buy the 100 and use 3 1/2" Tails. If they short strike (steal my bait). I'll rig a stinger hook on my jig. I also use a drift sock to slow my drift on windy days. Be advised it is illegal to use a stinger upstream (Toledo Side)of the weather beacon in the Maumee Bay frieght channel. Watch the water clarity. If we get allot of precipitation it may be in your best interest to trailer to Davis Besse area and fish there. The water is usually cleaner. My choices of launch for the bay are: Luna Pier, Collins Park, Mienke Marina-Public Launch. For the Reefs you have Metzgers Marsh (Western most), Fenwick (My Preference for $5). Keep in mind--in my opinion they are not really hungry as much as they are protecting the spawn. Agitate them and have fun.

[jiginitis69]

Erieangler. You are about to find a new obsession. The days of the river will be long gone from your dreams once you learn the lake. How nice it would be to catch every fish legal and do it in 15 minutes. You hear allot about Purple Hair jigs and last year they were the hot item. They are actually Purple and Black w/ a stinger hook. And yes they are made of dyed hair. It is important to hook a shiner under the chin and through the cranium. If you cast dont use the shiner you will jig it off. We do jig. I use two poles and alternate the drop from one hand to the other. It is important to feel the drop because most of your strikes on the drop (THUMP) or when you lift it (seems heavy) YANK! Vibe-ees, Heddon Sonars, Cicadas etc do work well. I make my own jigs and paint them myself. I always have about 20lbs of jig heads (drift speed controls jig weight 3/8,1/2,5/8)and 10 different color tails. I buy the tails buy the 100 and use 3 1/2" Tails. If they short strike (steal my bait). I'll rig a stinger hook on my jig. I also use a drift sock to slow my drift on windy days. Be advised it is illegal to use a stinger upstream (Toledo Side)of the weather beacon in the Maumee Bay frieght channel. Watch the water clarity. If we get allot of precipitation it may be in your best interest to trailer to Davis Besse area and fish there. The water is usually cleaner. My choices of launch for the bay are: Luna Pier, Collins Park, Mienke Marina-Public Launch. For the Reefs you have Metzgers Marsh (Western most), Fenwick (My Preference for $5). Keep in mind--in my opinion they are not really hungry as much as they are protecting the spawn and the bed they made for the female. Agitate them and have fun.

[tkboylan3223]

I Am New To This Site, But The Information I Have Read Has Been Extremely Good And Extremely Accurate. It Is Very Refreshing To Read That There Are Still Good Fisherman Out There That Will Give Good And And Accurate Information To Help Make Another Person A Better Angler.
I Just Wanted To Ad That When Your Taking Your Boat That Good Electronics Are A Major Plus, But In The Spring When Your Fishing Anywhere From 8-20 Feet You Won't Alway's Mark Fish On The Bottom, Especially When Your Fishing East Of Maumee Bay. You May Just See All The Humps On The Bottom And Say To Yourself, I'm Not Marking Any Fish But The Bottom Will Be Stacked With Gators On The Bottom. Make Sure To Use Stinger's It Will Really Help Your Hook Up Ratio, And Troll Very Slow To Keep It Vertical. If There Is Wind And Your Have Problem's Staying On Your Mark, Use The Wind To Your Advantage And Use It To Drift Fish. One You Will Cover More Water, But The Presentation Should Match The Conditions Your In. If You Are Using The Wind To Drift Fish Over Those Humps Make You Marking Points With Depth And Mark It On You Electronics That Way You Can Drift Over It Again And Again. I Recommend Using A Tight Line With A Lift And Drop Of 6-12 Inches Off The Bottom And Lifting The Rod To 12 O'clock And Dropping To No More Than 8 O'clock It Reall Is Just Preference. But For Me The Fish More Than Not Will Hit It On The Drop, And In The Spring The Water Clarity Is Very Poor Depending On The Wind So They Have To See It To Hit It. But Use A Tight Line To Feel Every Single Little Thing That Way You Can Make A Pattern Of What Is On The Bottom And You Can Feel The Out Of The Ordinary That Usually Is A Gator. I Hope This Helped And Great Fishing To Everybody.

[erieangler]

hey guys, thanks for the info. I cant wait to get back out on the water, about two more months and they should be feeling the wrath of my filet knife :. If you see a light blue 22 ft SeaPro center console, dont be shy, give me a shout out. I will most likely be launching out of Luna Pier. Again thanks for the info.
Lou

[jiginitis69]

Lou, I run a white 20' Center Console Aquasport. I monitor channel 69. I also put in a Luna Pier, but remember you can come back with 6 ohio eyes into Michigan, but the boat cannot stop in Michigan waters. Not even to let a buddy relieve himself. FYI

[thehunter]

Just a note to let you know that Luna Pier Harbor Club's boat launch is not open until April 15th typically. The marina store may be open a few days a week prior to that, but the launch, docking, fuel, etc. is not. The City launch next to LPHC is open but you are supposed to have a Luna Pier resident sticker on your vehicle to use these ramps.
Also mentioned in another posting was Collins Park launch in Point Place/Toledo. The DOCKs at this public launch are not in early, never know when, maybe not until the end of April. This is shallow water until you get into the Maumee River. When using this ramp go out straight from the ramp almost half way across bay then 90 degress left to River. Don't try to cheat and cut earlier, especially withing 200 yards of the ramp !!
Just a heads up.......

[erieangler]

yeah, cullin park is pretty shallow. I have launched out of there in my 16ft duck hunting boat a couple of times, and had some depth problems. It looks like I will launch out of bolles untill luna pier opens up.

[walleye_catcher]

JIGINTIS69, I talked to the Michigan DNR last year and they advised me if I was fishing in Ohio and came back into michigan I could only have a michigan limit aboard...