Hair Jigging Walleye Video: Al and Dan Lindner discuss the history of an essential walleye bait—the venerable hair jig—and share invaluable tips to catch more fish hair jigging walleye.
Hair jigging walleye has made an enormous comeback — and this time, the jig designs and way we fish them are so much more effective than in the history of hair jigs.
I think it was Bob Dylan who sang the times they are a-changing boy was that ever the truth, and it still holds true whether you’re talking about a trend or a fad, the thing is what comes around goes around. Bell bottoms, trucker caps, winter hats with the beanie, even fanny packs —all seem to make a resurgence now and again.
The same thing goes for fishing. What is hot this year may die off and not be famous for another ten years. And that has certainly been the case when it comes to hair jigs making a massive resurgence with walleye anglers.
From Jack Crawford’s jigs to the Doll Fly, today’s hottest jigs, like the VMC Bucktail Jig, learn about this history and advancements in hair jigs that could quickly evolve into your confidence category of baits.
The number-one confidence lure for many is the jig. “I love jig fishing,” Al Lindner stated.
“Why?”
“I can catch walleyes on jigs in the heart of walleye country twelve months out of the year. Spring, summer, fall, and winter, jigs do the job almost all the time.
A hair jig today offers a new excitement that hasn’t been seen in a long time. “When I started getting intrigued about using hair jigs again, I got to thinking about the triggering effect of a hair. What if we started fishing them like we did snap jigging Jigging Raps or snap-jigging plastics on a Moon Eye Jig —which is so deadly. We tried it and refined the tactic, which has become a fundamental tool for my in my arsenal.”
“You got to realize there was a time when there were no big-box retailers, and almost all tackle was sold through what we would term independent dealers; these little mom-and-pop shops spread throughout walleye country in this region to doll fly was the first of its kind a bucktail jig used for catching walleyes next was Jack Crawford jig which had the most diverse line of what we term hair jigs then came to caps jig out of Northern Iowa this was all before any mass-produced soft plastics and then up popped a Mr. Twister and a soft bait revolution started — and hair jig well it got lost in the shuffle.”
The fact is hair jigging never stopped being effective. Many older anglers forgot how effective it was, and many new anglers, well, they don’t know how good it can be.
Fish hair aggressive is the key — and we mean real aggressive snap jigging. Pop-pop-pop. It’s all about cadence. In 6 to 12 foot, under most weather conditions, a quarter-ounce jig is about perfect. Snap jig hair the same way you would a Jigging Rapala or a jig and plastic. The swimming, falling, and darting action is a real trigger for most walleyes. Pop it, pop it, pop it, and watch for the strike during the brief pauses.
My combo of choice is a St. Croix Eyecon 6-foot 8-inch medium-power/extra fast action teamed with a Daiwa Fuego 2500 LT along with an 8-pound Sufix Advance mono. You could use braid if you’re comfortable with braid or fluorocarbon if gin-clear water is a variable.
Lots happening in the world of walleye fishing and hair is going to be part of it in the future.
