Tungsten jigs are
definitely becoming the hot item to have in your
ice fishing arsenal these days
and the popularity is only growing. Being three times heavier than
lead, this material can be molded
with a small profile yet maintain a heavy weight for when you have
to get back down to fish quickly. It
easily drops through slush so you don’t have to be too finicky about
cleaning your hole and letting so
much light shine through, and, in my opinion, there is no better jig
to use with small or finesse plastics.
There are many ways to use tungsten jigs, but, as with every
fisherman out there, I have a few
tactics of my own that seem to work that I would love to share with
you.
First, I always tie my jigs, but especially my tungsten jigs with
either a loop knot, or a knot called
the “figure eight on the bite”. This is basically a standard loop
knot with one twist to the loop before you
route your jig through. This knot maximizes the strength of your
knot by reducing pinch point tolerances
adding 78% of your line strength throughout the knot.
I use this knot for my tungsten because with the semi- balanced
design of most tungsten jigs,
especially with a Pelkie design, the jig is more freed up to move
and still maintains a natural, horizontal
position while fishing it.
