Hair Today, Tinsel Tomorrow
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Northland® Fishing Tackle’s refined & retuned blasts from the past that boat tons of fish
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BEMIDJI, Minn. (April 29, 2024) – Although new walleye fishing techniques are being developed all the time, savvy anglers are keen on digging through the past, rediscovering effective baits and methods that may have fallen out of the limelight.
Like hair and tinsel jigs. Going back to World War II, a hair jig was included in most military survival kits. Why? They catch fish when you’d need it most, stranded and starving, waiting for rescue. That says a lot.
Hair – either bucktail, marabou, or other fluff – has been used for decades upon decades of walleye runs, too. Same thing for tinsel.
And guess what? They still catch fish today, something Northland wants to share with the walleye fishing public. Yes, everything old is new again – in the case of the Northland Deep-Vee Bucktail Jig and Deep-Vee Flashtail Jig – refined and retuned to catch even more fish than antique versions.
We talked with some serious walleye sticks, and here are their thoughts on hair and flash for spring walleyes.
Veteran Minnesota fishing guide, Brian “Bro” Brosdahl, offers: “Going way back, I’ve always been a fan of both hair and tinsel and have been catching a lot of fish in both clear and dirty water on the new Northland jigs. They have a slow fall and pull walleyes away from cover. Talking tinsel, I typically pitch the Deep-Vee Flashtail and work it on a slow retrieve with subtle twitches to create little flashes in different directions that look like minnows reflecting light.”
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Bro: How To Work A Hair Jig
“The whole thing is the fall with hair and tinsel jigs,” says Bro. “There’s bulk to the bait so fish know it’s there, and the hairs and tinsel spread out in the water, and draw the fish in.”
On rivers, Bro says, you want to carry some 3/8, ½, and even heavier jigs to deal with the current.
“Cast out and hit the edge of a current seam and pull it in slowly. Upstream at 45 degrees gives you a great drop and drift down, and then the swing around downstream is a lot of times where you get bit.”
Bro also likes to pitch shallower river riprap with lighter jigs, catching walleyes anywhere from right next to the bank to six feet of water.
“I like fishing the Northland Deep-Vee Bucktail Jig and Deep-Vee Flashtail around wingdams, too,” says Bro. “A ¼- to 3/8-oz. is typical, and I’m focusing on odd structure where barges may have hit, or ice moved rock around. They’re walleye magnets. It’s not just the wingdam tip. You can catch them on top, the corners near shore, the tip, really all over. My Side Imaging and 360 help dial them in.”
In terms of cadence around wingdams, Bro lets the jig fall, then makes short reel handle cranks, moving the rod only slightly.
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“After it hits bottom, I give it a little pop, then reel and pause. Wingdam walleyes will hit it super hard. Works anytime walleyes are relating to wingdams.”
Bro also likes to work both river and lake shorelines with the new jigs, orienting his boat parallel to the shore, and pitching up and down with the shoreline edge, distancing the jig at different depths – from right up close to deeper water nearby.
“Again, I make an initial pop after the jig hits bottom, then work it upstream in the river. You can also slip the current instead of spot-locking or using Talons/Raptors. The deal is to get the hairs swimming and pulsing. Walleyes love willow cats (tadpole madtom) which are clumsy swimmers; they kind of move and flip side to side.”
Looking forward to fishing lakes this MN Fishing Opener on May 11, Bro doesn’t always fish a plain Tungsten Jig and minnow. “A Deep-Vee Bucktail Jig or Flashtail tipped with a fathead or rainbow can be great for working flats and covering water around opener. You can pitch it right up to shore and around those walleye spawn and shiner run areas with current and catch a ton of fish. Gravel and weed transitions, too, as fish disperse toward the first breakline.”
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Hair Jig Color
Does hair jig color matter? Some say yes, others say no. But know this: walleye vision is superb with their eyes containing retinal cells called tapedum lucidum that are optimized for telling them ‘is this something I want to eat?’ – even in lowlight situations.
So, depending on how quickly you’re fishing a bait, color may indeed come into play. Obviously, matching predominant forage is always a good idea, but sometimes the silhouette created by a black, purple, or dark-colored hair jig is the ticket, too – not to mention darker colors can replicate willow cats, bullheads, and other bottom-dwellers walleyes eat. And combinations of colors, too, are always good to provide contrast, just like real minnows and young-of-the-year walleyes (yes, they’re cannibals), perch, etc.
“I try different colors to see what works,” says Brosdahl. “I’ve always been kind of a blue & white, green & white, and Parrot kind of guy, but I’m loving purple, too. With zebra mussels, we have a lot of clear lakes now – and for whatever reason, purple has been hot.”
BRO’S SET-UP
- St. Croix AVID Walleye 7’ Medium Power, Extra Fast Action
- 2500 Size SEVVIN Spinning Reel
- 10-pound Sunline Braid
- 10-pound Sunline FC Sniper Fluoro Leader
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ABOUT Northland® Fishing Tackle
In 1975, a young Northwoods fishing guide named John Peterson started pouring jigs and tying tackle for his clients in a small remote cabin in northern Minnesota. The lures were innovative, made with high quality components, and most importantly, were catching fish when no other baits were working! Word spread like wildfire, the phone started ringing… and the Northland Fishing Tackle® brand was in hot demand! For 40 years now, John and the Northland® team have been designing, testing and perfecting an exclusive line of products that catch fish like no other brand on the market today. Manufactured in the heart of Minnesota’s finest fishing waters, Northland® is one of the country’s leading producers of premium quality jigs, live bait rigs, spinnerbaits and spoons for crappies, bluegills, perch, walleyes, bass, trout, northern pike and muskies.
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ABOUT Bagley Bait Company
The personality of any company comes from its founder. Jim Bagley was an inventive, fun-loving, passionate fisherman who became one the most respected legends in the fishing tackle industry. In late 2010, Jarmo Rapala and a group of investors bought Bagley Bait Company. As an admirer of Jim Bagley for his attention to quality and of his product ingenuity and innovation, Jarmo initiated significant changes in operations, enhanced production processes and quality control. Now in 2020, Northland® Fishing Tackle, along with Jarmo as its Chief Lure Designer, maintain the legacy of creating premium balsa crankbaits and topwater lures, as well as jigs and spoons for both freshwater and saltwater anglers.
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