[LEFT]When I saw that fish USA had Mister Twister floating jigs on sale for 80% off, I thought I’d take a chance and see if I could do anything with them that would work well for bass. Here’s what I came up with on my first pass. It has a very slight buoyancy with the materials tied on, but slowly floats to the top with the tail pointed at about a 60-degree angle. It looks just like a dying fish gasping its last breath as it floats back to the surface. Another simple tie. I give the head a slight squeeze with needle-nose pliers to flatten spaces to mount the 3D eyes. Then I use a marker and sparkly nail polish to give it some color and give it all a coat of UV Epoxy to lock the eyes in place. I tie in a bit of fur for the tail, wrap a dubbing brush for the body, and wrap a red-dyed hackle for the collar. It weighs next to nothing so it should cast fine even with a four-weight. That said, I suspect that it will draw some strikes from good-sized bass, so a heavier rod might be a good idea. It’s just a dressed-up Mister Twister floating jig head, but I just thought I’d share so folks starting to get cabin fever might want to tie some up for spring and summer season.
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I understand the floating up Jim, but how do you get it to sink in the first place?
That’s a cool idea. They’ll certainly work for bass, I’d say.
Because it is just slightly buoyant, it drops down 2-3 inches when you strip it on the retrieve and then slowly rises to the top. If fishing on a sink-tip line, it will stay up off the bottom and slowly rise as high as the leader allows it to. I usually use floating line, but I have an extra spool with sink-tip line and as soon as it warms a bit (it’s 36 degrees now), I’ll give it a try on the sink tip and let you know how it does.
Jim
36 degrees! Man, Jim, you must be freezing down there! A lusty 23 here in coastal Maine.
What size are those jig heads? I need to sure some cabin fever!
Mike
36 degrees Jim, you must be freezing! A lusty 23 here in coastal Maine.
I just went to the site. 100 would last a long time~!
Thanks,
Mike
Mike,
Beleive it or not, we occasionally get some cold weather down here in Georgia. The coldest I’ve experienced was 11 degrees and we actually had one snow storm that was a real blizzard with 12-14 inches of snow with 40+ MPH winds. That said, those conditions usually only happen once every decade or so and even then it’s back into the 40s and 50s with a week or so. You’re right, 100 floating jigs will last a while, but it gives me lots to play with. I’m in the process of adding a lip for diving and will post a photo when I get it done. p.s. I’m not sure what a “lusty 23 degress” actually means unless you REALLY love cold weather.
That’s a nice looking fly, Jim. I may have to try crappie fishing since I moved from Dahlonega to Rome. Lake Weiss is known for its big crappie.
