Vertical Panfish

We’re about to drop the jig and here’s the play-by-play: It’s down five, it’s down ten, it dances to the side, it rolls out, shimmies, loops, glides, and spikes itself in the strike zone. Then it scores. Translation: Another swimming jig defied verticality and finally hit bottom. Then caught another fish.

Some panfish jigs and lures are designed to plane and glide off to the side when dropped straight down. We call ‘em swimmin’ jigs. Something that flirts with the horizontal when fished vertically. The most famous example would be the Jigging Rapala, which falls in a spiral that extends well past vertical—when balanced with the right line.

The Northland Air-Plane Jig, another famous example, lives up to its name, with wings that allow it to circle horizontally on the drop. The Lindy-Little Joe Flyer is a leadhead built around a spinnerblade, creating a cupped surface underneath that causes it to glide out when lifted off bottom or dropped. Aside from the obvious examples, a variety of jigheads today have swimming attributes, broadening the presentation horizon for panfishermen on ice.

Flat-sided jigs like the Comet Shiner spiral on the drop when matched with the right line—adding flash and slowing the presentation while mimicking one of nature’s most effective triggers—the fluttering spiral of a stunned or dying minnow. Adding the right plastics to plain jigs with an eye for detail can create the same critical effect. A light jighead inserted just so far into a tube is the most popular example, but few seem aware that a plain jig with a long, quivering plastic tail or a teardrop with a flicker blade can be made to dance in a circle almost 12 inches in diameter with the right rod movement. Spoons with a cupped shape take off at right angles when jigged and then let go, and the list goes on.

Losing Vertical Hold

One of the most innovative lures in this genre is the Salmo Mini Chubby Darter, a molded plastic European lure (not a jig). Lift the Chubby Darter, the way it’s balanced, and it swims forward, so it goes up and away. The tail vibrates like a bladebait when raised. On the drop, it glides off to the side in true baitfish fashion, producing lots of flash. On the lift it really beats its tail, and on the drop it falls in a horizontal position but glides away.

As with all swimming lures, it’s critical to use the right line. The Chubby Darter works best on a normal 4-pound line or a thinner 6-pound line. The thicker the line, the more resistance it creates against the water. A line too thick won’t allow these lures to get far enough from vertical to make much of a difference. But with heavier swimming jigs, like the Jigging Rapala, the resistance of thicker line keeps the bait from falling straight down, actually allowing it to circle on the drop. Line choice is a critical element in striking the perfect balance that will create the desired effect.

The Mini Chubby Darter opens up lots of room for developing triggers, because it does so many things. It extends the triggering range dramatically, from an area only inches in diameter to an area up to 6 feet in diameter. Extending an imaginary plumb bob to bottom from your rod tip, the Mini Chubby Darter will shoot 3 feet out from that line in free fall.