Midwest finesse tackle: lures

by Ned Kehde • January 23, 2012 • 7 comments

Anglers have requested more details about and  photographs of the soft-plastic  lures that Midwest finesse anglers employ throughout the year.

The three photographs below focus on the 10  soft-plastic lures and the four jigs that I and many fellow finesse anglers use while plying the small flatland reservoirs of northeastern Kansas. These baits also work well at several of  the natural lakes in Minnesota that we have fished across the years.

Names of the baits and jigs, as well as other details,  appear in the captions under each photograph.

 

All of our baits are affixed to a jig, and across the top of this photograph are three of the four jigs we use. They are Gopher Tackle's 3/32-, 1/16-ounce and 1/32-ounce Original Mushroom Jig Head. The soft-plastic baits are Z-Man Fishing Products' green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ, green-pumpkin Rain MinnowZ, PB&J Rain MinnowZ, Junebug 2 1/2-inch ZinkerZ and green-pumpkin 3.75-inch StreakerZ. The StreakerZ was added to our repertoire in 2011, but we rarely used it. In 2012, we are planning to spend a lot of time experimenting with it. Besides the green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ, we use the Junebug, purple-haze, PB&J, black-and-blue, black-neon and watermelon/red Finesse WormZ. We also use the Rain MinnowZ in green-pumpkin and pearl. For more details about the colors of the Z-Man's ZinkerZs that we use, see our Jan. 16 blog. Z-Man makes the Finesse Worm and Zero for Strike King Lure Company, and they are the same bait as the Finesse WormZ and ZinkerZ

Z-Man's 3.75-inch StreakerZ was featured in the first photograph. Since it is a new bait in our repertoire, we though that we should include some additional colors and information. The colors of these two are shiner and pearl. Midwest finesse anglers who plied waterways that are graced with significant populations of threadfin shad, rainbow smelt and small gizzard shad in 2011 found these two colors to be very fruitful. In northeastern Kansas in 2011, however, we caught only a few bass on these two colors, but we used the 3.75 StreakerZ only a few times. The gizzard shad populations in most reservoirs in northeastern Kansas are rather paltry, which is why didn't use the these StreakerZs. As 2012 unfolds, we hope that finesse anglers will send us reports about their experiences with the 3.75-inch StreakerZ.

The bait on the left is a watermelon-red-flake four-inch grub, the second is Gene Larew Lures' Junebug 3 1/2-inch Long John Minnow, the third is Larew's green-pumpkin three-inch Baby Hoodaddy, the fourth is Zoom Bait Company's green-pumpkin four-inch Mini Lizard, and the fifth is Strike King Lure Company's black-and-blue Bitsy Tube. Above the Bitsy Tube is a 1/16-ounce jig that slips inside the tube. Besides a watermelon-red-flake four-inch grub, we use green-pumpkin ones, pearl ones, various smoke hues and a salt-and-pepper ones. We also use a pearl-white/blue-back Long John Minnow. We also use green-pumpkin, red neon and smoke-red-and-black tubes.

Besides the lures photographed  above, some of us use a variety of hair and marabou jigs. To see photographs of a few of those jigs, please examine the three blogs that were posted in December. Here are the links to those three blogs:  http://www.in-fisherman.com/2011/11/18/the-manifold-virtues-of-the-small-hair-jig-according-to-brian-waldman-an-update/;   http://www.in-fisherman.com/2011/11/17/the-manifold-virtues-of-the-small-hair-jig-according-to-brian-waldman/;  http://www.in-fisherman.com/2011/12/18/cold-water-smallmouth-bass/.

In a few days we will post a blog that describes some of the spinning rods, spinning reels, lines and leaders that Midwest finesse anglers employ.

Related posts:

  1. More Midwest Finesse
  2. Finesse News Network: an update on lures
  3. Midwest finesse retrieves: an update
  4. Midwest finesse retrieves
  5. A review of our 2011 finesse endeavors
In BLOGS, Kehde's Blog

7 Responses

  1. Jeremy S

    The Mushroom Head jigs in the 1/16 and 3/32 oz sizes are offered in a variety of hook sizes; which hook size(s) do you use in these two size jigs?

    On January 23, 2012 at 4:08 pm • Reply
    • Ned Kehde

      Jeremy:
      Thanks for posting your question.
      I am a small hook angler. Thus, I prefer the No. 4 hook in the 1/16-ounce Mushroom and the No. 2 in the 3/32-ounce Mushroom.
      But there are a goodly number of Midwest finesse anglers who opt for the No. 2 in the 1/16-ounce jig and the No. 1 in the 3/32-ounce Mushroom.
      Therefore you might want to test both sizes and see which size you like.
      When using small hooks, we do not set the hook with the rod. Instead we merely reel at a fast pace.
      Please keep in touch and tell us which hook sizes you prefer, and also tell us what you think about the effectiveness of the Gopher's Mushroom jig compared to other style jigs.
      Best wishes,
      Ned

      On January 26, 2012 at 11:48 am • Reply
  2. Jeremy S

    The Gopher tackle site indicates that the 1/16 and 3/32 oz mushroom head jigs are available with several different hooks sizes; which hook size(s) do you typically use?

    On January 23, 2012 at 5:43 pm • Reply
  3. Steve Craven

    Wanted to share: took what I have learned in your finesse lessons and modified them two ways, one up and one down. I tried to go even smaller in the basic bait categories; 4" sticks cut in half to create 2" baits, 3" kalins grubs and 4" cut tail worms. Used same retrieves, same basic approach; 2'-8' depth, small jigs, looking for numbers over size. Did well, about the same as "standard" Midwest style. Also upped all the sizes; 6" sticks cut into 3" baits, 6" zoom trick worms and 5" kalins grubs. Again, still using all the basic tenants of midwest finesse; same retrieves, upped all the mushroom jigs by one hook size but same weights 1/16, 3/32, 1/8. Had INCREDIBLE days with the larger baits but lacked reliability for multiple outings per month. Had a day in April, 2011: 8lb, 7lb,5lb, 5lb, 3lb, 3lb and scores of 8"-15" largemouths, all on upsized baits. All in 700 acre community lake from kayak. All good, but for day-to-day reliability smaller baits ruled as far as continuous action goes. Have had 40 fish days when almost all other boats told me how poor the day was. Would be interested in your thoughts Ned , on my modifications. Thanks for the excellent articles, please keep them coming. The devil is in the details.
    Finesse devotee, Steve Craven

    On January 28, 2012 at 11:39 pm • Reply
  4. Daniel Fisher

    After reading a column by Ned in In Fisherman, I went to the store and bought a pack of 1/32 and 1/16 ounce crappie jigs with four and six hooks. These hooks were the gold, light wire type and I really like them for fishing around brush and wood. The small hooks don't get hung up often, but when they do a steady pull on the line will spring them a bit and allow them to pull free. I have also tried the Gopher heads and find that the hooks on those little jigs are heavier and will not straiten or spring to pull out of snags, so I use the Gopher heads in weeds and on clean bottoms.
    One might think that the tiny hooks in these jigs wouldn't hold a big fish, but I've caught a lot of bass on them and they stay stuck in fish surprisingly well. Even the little gold, light wire hooks hold well and will not straiten when fighting a fish. I've caught bass up to 4 1/2 pounds and drum up to 10 pounds on them and they've held well.
    I generally throw a four inch strait tailed worm on my little jigs.
    Good Fishing,
    Dan

    On April 9, 2012 at 2:52 am • Reply
    • Ned Kehde

      Dan:
      Thanks for posting your comments about using No. 4 and No. 6 hooks on your 1/32-ounce and 1/16-ounce jigs. My work with small hooks parallels your findings.
      Please keep in touch and report any new insights that you uncover with your finesse-fishing endeavors.
      Ned

      On April 10, 2012 at 11:39 pm • Reply
  5. Tom Warren

    I mostly fish on weedy lakes. I have tried to fish this bait before but could catch nothing but weeds. Any suggestions for fishing this bait in/around weeds or should I go to other techniques?

    On May 22, 2012 at 3:31 am • Reply