[jaid]

Matinc's thread got me wondering a bit more about J-Plugs. I didnt want to hijack his thread, so I started a new one.

Do you guys do well on the J-Plugs all year long, or do you primarily use them late in the year? Also, can someone describe how they actually run in the water? I thought about picking a couple up this year, but never did, mainly due to ignorance. Is there anything special to know about them? You normally run them off leadcore/dipsys/riggers?

Someone put me 'in the know' on these things please!

 

[Brian S]

jaid, I think most people use them later in the season. They run in an erratic wobble and can also drift to the sides so you need a little room between them.

All of my salmon fishing is done close to shore as they stage for their run up the rivers. I have no down riggers so I use two dipsey divers with flasher/flies in the middle and then a couple j-plugs on slide divers off to the sides. I consider them a "must have" for late season. As far as colors, the wonderbread produced more fish for me last fall then all other methods (flies or plugs) combined. Other good colors are the green glow and the chrome with red head.

 

[jaid]

Cool, thanks for the info. Maybe we'll drag a few around next year.

 

[CAPT HEAVY]

Jaid, I run J-Plugs on Lake Huron as soon as we get Kings in fishable numbers. They are not used as a primary presentation but more along lines of " lets try something that no one else is running". Sponns, flies, etc are my day in and day out stuff, but you would be surprized the number of fish plugs take when everything else is slow. The erratic action of the plug draws really hard strikes.
A good combo last year was 5 colors of lead with a #4 Blu/chrome plug.

 

[Beave]

They're ALL OVER THE PLACE! Don't run them off the downriggers unless you want some massive tangles.

I second the blue/chrome J. That and wonderbread are great. Normally green is my best color, but in J's I like the blue/chrome better.

 

[ausable_steelhead]

Don't forget green/glo-black ladder back, that's a hot one! As well as the medium-sized jointed J's in firetiger.

 

[Worm Dunker]

I never use them before the second week of Augest and from then till I pull the boat in Sept I usually will have at least one on some place in the spread. I use alot of the glow the big(sometime if the bites on will run on all six riggers) aggressive kings really jump on them before daylight. I due run them on a full core if the kings are in the 45/55 ft. of water It's the one lure I don't use on Dipsys. I use wire and they usually slam them so hard they break something so not worth the few I land for what it costs in tackle.

 

[HuRon]

jaid ,
I usually tie mine directly to the chain swivel that comes on them , especially if I'm fishing the harbor . If I snag bottom or get broke off on something or somebody , the hooks stay behind , but my plug floats to the surface . If you use a snap it won't pass through the chain hole . You'd be surprised how many times I've saved a plug that way . Saves a little cash & some favorite plugs , too . Black plug with raspberry or glow ladderback is good in the harbor , too .

 

[mrymar]

HuRon brought up an important point. I always tie my plugs on too. That plug will do its best to slid up the line when there is a fish on it. When running them with snaps, I have actually seen it when a plug will get pushed up over the snap and open the snap up.

I too start to use plugs around the second weekend of August.

 

[Jason Adam]

I run plugs late in the year. Chrome with red head off full core down the chute is usually good for a few bonus fish, more so on the west side of the state. Don't use swivels. Tie up directly so the plug can slide up your line.

 

[vanwagm]

My best luck comes on a white / glow. This plug came w/ a little glow stick that would go in the back end, and was held in place by a screw in cap. The cap is long gone, but this thing still catches fish. I only bought one, and cannot find them anywhere now.

 

[Worm Dunker]

Vanwagm that is a north port nailer plug they still make them seen them in Meijer the other day. I have a pearl black lader back and a peal with red spots both when hot are hot but there not a hot every time out plug.

 

[STEINFISHSKI]

I like the #3 mother pearl best, followed by #4 green glow, chrome/red, and #3 green glow. I even have a few #2 that do well.

Here is a link to some great info.

http://www.luhrjensen.com/techreports/10 J-Plug Trolling.pdf

 

[awfulpotent]

I have caught fish on J Plugs all summer but the only time we use them is on the trip in when the water is very rough and you can only run 4-5 mph about a 100ft back on the outer riggers try it you might just be suprised

 

[Seacat]

I start using "J-plugs" in early July -- whenever we start to see schools of Kings.

Off riggers (10-40' leads) and with Dipsy Divers. Do need to keep rigger at least 10' appart vertically to keep from tangling.

I quoted J-plug above because although the Jensen J-Plug does work, my preference is for Silver Hoarde plugs, Grizzly plugs (hard to find now days), and Lucky Louie plugs (also hard to find).

The Lucky Louie is a bigger plug (fatter) and in the #5 size lime green is my number 1 big fish lure. Trolled slow (~2.0 mph) with a 40'+ lead off the rigger it is deadly for big (25#+) Kings from late July on.

The Silver Hoarde plugs have a better action than the "J" plug and their mylar flash finish in green, blue, and gold are very effective.

The Grizzly plug in silver/chrome is great in #4 size. It does not have the bead chain hook harness but rather a fixed trebble more like other body baits. Little tighter action than the other plugs.

When salmon are staging off river mouths, I always have 1/3 of the baits running plugs.

This past season 9 of our 16 25#+ Kings came on these plug type lures with the LL taking 5 of them. 4 were on FishCatcher/ Flies, and the other 3 came on spoons.

If you want big fish, plugs are a real good presentation.

Ryan

 

[STEINFISHSKI]

Thanks for the tip Seacat, I'll give the slower speeds a try sometime with the larger plugs.

For the most part speed is the key to running these plugs. The 4's and 5's from my experience need to be run faster than most spoons allow. I'll run a plug and flasher spread 3 mph + when searching for active fish.

At spoon speeds I like the #3's in the mix. They have great slower speed action which can be varied with the length of the lead. Shorter lead faster action.

I caught my biggest king ever 28# on a mother pearl #2 in Door County WI. They do not seem to work as well around MI waters.

 

[pikeslime]

Jaid,
you may want to pick up a few Lymans. They are a wood plug that looks exactly like a J-Plug. They are made in Canada. We started running them in Lake Ontario when all the locals were cleaning house, and we were getting skunked with J-Plugs. They can be run a little slower than J-Plugs and they actually have a more eratic action. We don't have any problems with tangles, but we only run 4-6 rods.
We still run J-Plugs now and then, but i really prefer a Lyman.

 

[DonP]

Ok...

A little secret....

For those of you that get the opportunity to do a little "Combat Fishing" when the skams are near the piers in St. Joe... try the #3 gold w/ orange back J-plug on the rigger or off a dipsy.

You will be glad you did!

 

[REG]

A big second of the motion to what pikeslime said. I like Lyman's also, as he alluded to, the speed tolerance is great. You can they run fine when mixing it in with a spread of dodgers and spoons.
I like the pearl and pearl black spot ones. I also much prefer the ones with a single Siwash on the bottom as opposed to the two trebles. Very hard to find now, in fact, where do you find them, pikeslime?

 

[Coldwater Charters]

DonP,,,,shhhhhhaaaaaa,,,,quiet