That ‘why no jigs at Mille Lacs?’ question

Last Sunday evening, after weekend downpours swelled streams, raised lake levels, flooded fields and woods, and either discouraged or drenched anglers across much of Minnesota, I listened to KTLK-FM’s Outdoor Talk, with Tim Lesmeister and Outdoor News editor Rob Drieslein. Tim, Rob, and several guests touched diverse topics, including walleye-catching at Leech, Winnie, and elsewhere—often on jig-minnow combos. However, good-catching at Mille Lacs wasn’t linked to jigs. So the Outdoor Talkers brought up (but didn’t answer) a fun question: Why are jigs, so popular at most state walleye-fishing meccas, mainly absent at big Mille Lacs, Minnesota’s “premier” walleye lake?

I’ve got the answer. But first, know that “jigs” here mean leadhead jigs heavy enough to cast, drift, troll, vertical-fish, and variously work with different actions and retrieves. Sure, if we counted the small 1/32-ounce jigs used under slip-bobbers, Mille Lacs would be a jig-fishing capitol. But survey 500 angler boats on Mille Lacs and we’d possibly find nobody, or maybe a scarce handful, using the heavier jigs and jig-minnow combos so common elsewhere.

Here’s some background. When jigs took off in Minnesota, in the 1950s and 1960s, Mille Lacs was at the heart of it. Consider popular jigs of that period—like Upperman’s Bucktail, Thompson’s Doll Fly, Barracuda Super Dude, Gapen’s Ugly Bug, Little Joe’s Canadian Jig Flies, Maynard’s, and others. Surely Mille Lacs anglers bought more jigs than did any other group in the state. Tons of Mille Lacs walleyes hit those jigs, tipped and untipped. 

In the early 1960s, Missouri-based Virgil Ward, famed for his Bass Buster Lure Co. and “Virgil Ward’s Championship Fishing” TV show, brought Bass Buster jigs (with maribou tails) to Mille Lacs. Virgil Ward’s group really beat up on Garrison Reef walleyes, reportedly landing about 200 fish, all on jigs. (Incidentally, Virgil Ward, who passed away in 2004, would have been 100 years old this week.

Leeches, Rigs, hot bites, news

Mille Lacs walleyes never formally said no to jigs. And fishing gods never ordered anglers to abandon jigs. However, the mid 1970s brought an abrupt fall-off in jig use at Mille Lacs—not because they fizzled, but because several forces converged to eclipse them: 1. Leeches. New for most anglers and much in the news, leeches became commonly available in 1973. 2. The Lindy Rig, manufactured and promoted in nearby Brainerd, meant small hook, light mono, and no-feel slip-sinker—a major presentation advance for “average anglers” used to cruder terminal tackle. 3. Bobber ‘n leech, day and night. Mille Lacs had a long history of “still fishing” with minnows, so bobbering with leeches was a natural. 4. Great timing. Several good walleye seasons in a row, including an extraordinary 1975, coincided with the coming of leeches, Lindy Rigs, new-wave bobbering, and refined crawler-spinner methods. 

Also, slow-drifting or slow-trolling with slip-sinker rigs was easy. Ditto for anchoring-up and bobbering. Thus, hot mid-‘70s spring bites midst news about new (non-jig) approaches helped woo Mille Lacs anglers away from jigs, and, in many cases, from minnows too. Somehow this has all stuck—for several decades now. Another anti-jig distraction: more crankbait-trolling, in all seasons and in all depths. Of course, none of this makes 21^st century Mille Lacs walleyes allergic to jigs, or to minnows. 

Courtesy of Joe Fellegy, Outdoor News — May 26, 2011