Ice Fishing
In the winter, a Slim Jig with a lip-hooked shiner minnow is great for aggressive walleye. Try a shiner hooked through the dorsal fin suspended 3 to 6 inches off bottom with a slip float or on a tip-up when fish are less active. The struggling action of the minnow, plus the colored attraction of the Slim Jig, will often generate strikes under the toughest conditions.
When jigging Slim Jigs for walleye always lower (backreel) the lure down, instead of letting it free-fall. Oftentimes walleye and lake trout will come up and swallow the lure on the initial drop down the hole, so it pays to keep a tight line. Once your Slim Jig is on bottom, a quick twitch will propel it into action. If fish are aggressive, use a minnow head and work it with quick one foot, jerk-pause motions, keeping the Slim Jig six inches to two feet off bottom.
Open Water
Fish it shallow or deep. The Slim Jig can be fished a variety of ways for all gamefish and big perch. Slim Jigs work great when cast out and slowly retrieved with a stop-and-go motion. Slim Jigs are very effective for smallmouth bass in clear and stained water when tipped with a leech or a half crawler. Slim Jigs can be flipped in heavy cover for bass and walleye and when using a large minnow, will become semi-weedless.
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