Pro’s Pointer #6 - hair jig

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - In this week’s Pro’s Pointer, Johnnie Candle is talking about a comeback.

It’s a lure that was popular when he was a kid and it is finding its way back into tackle boxes because of its versatility.

Johnnie Candle, MWC World Walleye Champion & N.D. Fishing Hall of Fame, said: “Growing up as a youngster learning to fish with my grandfather, it seems like we had two choices. We had jigs with a curly tail or jigs with hair on them. We all know what happened with soft plastics over the years, they exploded to give us thousands of choices, but that bucktail jig seemed to fade into nothing. In the last few years, we’ve seen a resurgence in the hair jig and it’s the hair that is the key. It looks like it breathes underwater. Now, don’t think that the hair jig is just a walleye lure. You can downsize for panfish like crappie and white bass. Again, a great walleye, smallmouth, largemouth presentation and larger versions for northern pike and maybe muskie. You can fish these with live bait or tip them with an artificial. They can be jigged vertically, cast and retrieved, or even trolled or rip-jigged around structure. So, it only makes sense when you stop and think about all of the things we just talked about, why this old classic has made a comeback.”

Next week, Johnnie will show us an easy way to modify a bottom bouncer.

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