By Brian Waldman and Rick Vogelbacher
Everyone has a favorite bait. For some it's a special crankbait. For others, maybe a topwater. But for me, it's a jig. A search through my catch records over the past 5 years revealed this fact to me recently. Of the hundreds of keeper fish I'd caught from my home lake, a jig accounted for over half of those fish. And while there are lots of jigs to choose from on the market today, a Mango jig is usually one of the first baits you'll see tied onto my line.
The Mango jig is the creation of Greg Mangus, a northern Indiana fisherman with an impeccable tournament record throughout the Tri State area. The jig is currently being produced by Nichol's under the same name and the line is being expanded. But more on that part later.
So what is special about the Mango jig and under what applications does it excel?
First is its unique design. The jig head is actually shaped like a bullet weight commonly used for Texas-rigging worms. The line tie comes out the nose (pointed end) with the fat end forming the base where the skirt is attached. This makes for a very streamlined and weedless package. This leads to one of my favorite applications for this bait - WEEDS. That streamlined shape slides right through all forms of weeds allowing for a very efficient presentation. Whether it's milfoil, coontail, cabbage or water willow, the Mango works. I like to pitch the smaller sizes to shoreline weeds and use the heavier sizes along the deeper weedline.
A closer look at the bait in clear water will reveal a vertical drop action. This is due to the bullet shape of the leadhead and the straight-line pull of the line tie. Which leads to the second application - OPEN WATER. It's easy to bang a jig through wood and weeds and make it resemble something edible, but what about when you're fishing open gravel banks and points? That 180-degree range of motion makes for a very realistic and evasive action. Swim this jig along the bottom with short pumps of the rod tip and then kill it. The jig heads straight for the bottom triggering a reaction strike. Using this retrieve you can actually cover quite a bit of water. Or go more vertical in deeper water and get a real exaggerated 'wave' from the bait.
Place a little trailer on this bait like a small salty chunk or #11 frog and you'll see the next application - CLEAR WATER. This jig is very compact and subsequently works well on those waters where a big, bulky standard jig would look out of place. Clear water presentations, especially under sunny or post-frontal conditions usually call for a downsized bait. The Mango jig fits these conditions great. Anytime I'm fishing clear natural lakes or highland type impoundments, this is my jig of choice. When teamed with some form of a pumpkin or watermelon type skirt, this jig spells trouble for our clear water friends.
Finally, its compact nature lends to a couple other applications: COLD WATER and
SMALLMOUTH. Every one is familiar with the general rule of thumb that states you
should downsize your baits in cold water. Once again the Mango jig is a perfect fit for the conditions. It's the last rubber jig I'll throw before switching to hair in these cold Northern climates. Of course, whenever you're comparing size to a hair jig you open up the window to smallmouth. They're called "small mouths" for a reason and that compact size lends itself well to good hookups. With its needle point Gamakatsu hook, a brown/orange glitter Mango is deadly on river smallmouth, especially in the smaller 1/8-ounce sizes.
At the start of this article, I mentioned that the Mango line was being expanded. They have recently introduced the Impact Flipping Mango jig. But I'll let Rick tell you about that one.
Thanks for the lead in Brian. I use the Mango jig for a lot of the same reasons as Brian mentioned. However, I've become particularly fond of Nichols new Impact Flipping Mango Jig. It supports the same style head with a larger 5/0 Gamakatsu hook. With this application I prefer to use a Zoom Big Salty Chunk, or a #11 Uncle Josh Pork trailer. This gives the jig a larger profile in the water without adding unnecessary weight that would give it a unnatural look in the water. Slower fall often means more strikes on the initial entry of the water. I use the larger Impact Flipping Mango Jig on a 7 ½ foot flipping rod with 20 to 30 lb. Power Pro Braid as line. This provides the leverage needed to turn the bass's head to get them out of tight cover. Also with the low stretch braid you can see your line better which helps detect bites on the initial fall. When fishing the larger Impact Flipping Jig I will use 3 different techniques. In heavy cover twitching or shaking the jig in place often causes vicious strikes. Open water or over weeds I prefer to give it a slight twitch then two short hops. The last, and often over-looked technique is the swimming technique. In open clear water it is best to keep your lure moving as not to give the bass a good look at it. Therefore reeling slowly and pumping your rod in 2 or 3 beats brings the lure to life on the retrieve. Often these jigs are considered to mimic living crayfish. Which I agree they do to some extent, but often overlooked prey they resemble is the common frog. With the pork or plastic trailer swimming through the water resembles. Bass often prey upon bull frogs found in grass and weed covered lakes.
Why use the larger jig? Hookup and landing percentage is increased due to the larger hook. Wider gap in the hook allows penetration into a Big Bass's bony jaw. Often a big bass will prefer the larger profile lure as opposed to the smaller size.
Reasons to Go Big:
- Draws more attention by displacing more water in murky and low light conditions
- Warm water bass are more active looking for larger prey to satisfy their hunger
- Larger hook increases hookup and landing percentage
- You can fish with heavier tackle and land big fish easier
- Gives you better feel during night fishing outings
The smaller 1/8 Mango Jig also provides unique advantages. Before I get into those, here's how I prefer to use them. Large spinning reel on a 7 foot medium heavy action rod with 10 to 12 pound Silver Thread AN40 Green. I use several different trailers on these jigs, but my favorite is Zoom Small Salty Chunk. Here in N.E. Indiana and Southern Michigan we have mostly natural lakes. Which are typically weedy and very clear water conditions. So under bright blue skies when the fishing conditions are in the bass's favor. You need to pull out that secret weapon (1/8 Mango Jig). I prefer to match my Jig's trailer and skirt color to the weeds and bottom that I'm fishing. So if I'm fishing dark mud bottoms I will use dark browns, black & blue, or dark pumpkin browns. Grass or coontail calls for different variations of greens. I will use different variations of pumpkin in the milfoil and dying weeds. With heavy weed cover you often snag a normal jig in the clumps of weeds. The small Mango Jig will slide across the tops and fall into the small gaps in the weeds. With the pointed head it provides the Angler an opportunity to fish where few other lures can go. So when your faced with ultra clear water and weedy conditions. Break out the small mango jig to catch a limit or just get more fish in the boat. Summing up the reasons to go small.
Reasons to Go Small:
- Ultra clear water
- Bright sunny days
- Massive weed flats
- Heavy fishing pressure
- Cold water conditions
Brian and I hope that these tips on Mango Jigs give you a better opportunity to catch more and bigger fish.
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