Looking for advice from some of you avid jig fisherman. What types of jigs are your favorites for winter run and what colors do you prefer under different conditions (ie, clear water, muddy water, green, etc.)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I've been exclusivly fishing jigs for a couple years now and I absolutly love them. My best advise for colors is think of shades. For example in clear water if you like pink use a light soft shade of pink. In more colored water use a brighter hotter pink. Some colors I'd recommend in order of my favorite are pink, blue, white, red and black. Stick with pink, white, and blue and you should score with jigs.

I've done very well with a pink and green John's Jig.

Jigs are definitly a technique for good water conditions and don't work well in muddy water. A top color for winter hatchery fish is white. It fish's as good or better than other colors for hatchery fish though jigs with some color in them work better for natives. For winter fish I would stick with a few colors....White, pink/white, Nightmare(pearl white head, red chenille body with a black tail) and a cerise jig. I would also carry some jigheads for fishing pink worms. Those colors will get you fish in the winter.

I know I've listed this before but...Blood Red is #1 for me, followed by any other color you want. I tie my own so I've got a lot to choose from, but if we're talkin' about the Sky then Orange, Orange/White, Black, Black/White, Dirty White, and Pink, Pink/White should keep you into fish.

all maribou? chenille body/maribou tail? beaders? yarnys? 1/8oz?, 1/16oz?, Is ant of this kind of stuff important? I know, I know. Just fish it. Okay.

Does anybody use blue with any effectiveness, and if so, in what kind of water. I've hooked steelhead on blue-colored vibraxes and plugs, but haven't had any luck with blue jigs. Also, has anyone had any luck with natural browns or greens for steelhead jigs?

It looks like we might have a little more water to deal with this year for winters, in which case I prefer using eggs, but I want to do some more experimentation with jigs- just got a small sample from first cast and silent approach.

HT

I have had great success with blue jigs. I use the all marabou pattern. I guess blue is a great color because it's visible in many different water conditions and isn't too bright to spook fish in clear water. If you read that jig fishing book it talks about what colors work best.

If the water has reasonable clarity I like black jigs. Solid black, white eyes. My other top colors are black and orange, peach and black/chartruse. Black/ red is also a favorite and occasionally black/white. Do I sence a theme here?

Since we just about covered every color in spectrum, the conclusion is just fish.

I have one that works in all conditions but its a secret. Other than that I like Black/purple, Purple/fushia, Black/fushia, Cerise/black, Blue/fushia, Cerise/purple. I mix all these colors about every which way with all different collored heads. I like the jigs in slow water and low clear conditions. Dont like to fish them much in normal to high flows but they do have there place in all conditionsl.

jjs,

Using just marabou or shallapen feathers on a jig is productive. But also consider the bead bodied jigs. With a chrome (First Cast) or pink (Rainbow, Silent Approach, BeaMac) head, 2 or 3 egg colored beads, and a pink/white combo tail you have one of the most versatile and productive jigs there is - for both steelhead and salmon. As for blue colors, I need to start using them too. I watched Mark Anderson of First Cast Jigs land a bright 35 lb. chinook buck on a 1/4 oz. chrome headed jig with just bright blue shallapen feathers, with no shrimp tail or scent, in the Wilson river recently. It's the first one I've seen caught on the blue color, but I haven't been trying it either; so I am going to be now. And Mike is right about the effectiveness of the pink worm presented on a jighead hook!

RT

In the past few years I've had good success with blue as my Jig,
Normally it's a color I don't use till later in the season.Too busy fishing others colors and patterns I guess
It seams to be river issue i.e. I have one river in mind that the fish there just dig those blue ones......tight lines.......Os

In the past few years I've had good success with blue as my Jig,
Normally it's a color I don't use till later in the season.Too busy fishing others colors and patterns I guess
It seams to be river issue i.e. I have one river in mind that the fish there just dig those blue ones......tight lines.......Os

Many years ago we were fishing for spring steelhead on Alaska's Situk river. It was slow as the water was very low. A local highly-regarded guide (Frank Deveraux) walked past my room and saw me playing with a mountain of tackle and came in. He spied a bunch of blue pearly corkies and went nuts. Said he hadn't been able to get any in Yakutat, and he offered me money or even a free guided trip if he could have them. He said that in low water the blue pearly color is the absolute best. I would think that a pale blue and white schlappen jig like Mark's blue FirstCast jig would therefore be the ticket for low water conditions.

Note to self: Take lots of blue corkies to Yakitat in May....and tie up some blue jigs....