| The OZARKFISHING Connection |
A Little History
In 1976 original Mar-Lynn Company designed a small soft plastic lure primarily for Crappie.
They wanted a lure that would fall slower than other plastic lures of the same size and one
that would spiral as it fell, similar to a dying minnow. That lure was the Puddle Jumper.
The Puddle Jumper was so successful many anglers believe it is the best artificial crappie
lure every produced. It caught a lot of Crappie in 70's and 80's and still does so today. The
big secret is that it will catch about anything. We have many customers who use them for
Smallmouth Bass, Walleye and whatever.
We are proud to offer the Puddle Jumper in the 23 most popular colors and three sizes,
1-1/2 inch and 2 inch and 3 inch.
How Most Rig A Puddle Jumper
The most common way to rig a Puddle Jumper is to just put it on a jig head with the wings
flat. The action of the lure when falling is kind of like a dying minnow. The wings will cause
the lure to spiral as it falls. This spiraling down will sometimes bring on a strike.
The size of jig head is determined by how slow you want the lure to fall. For the 2 inch a
1/16 oz. works well. If you want a slower fall go to a 1/32 oz. or even the 1/64 oz. If you are
fishing deep and want to get down in a hurry you can use larger than 1/16 oz. As with most
crappie lures fishing slow is generally the best. If the crappie are real active, like in the
spring spawn, try a spin with them (see picture below). Putting a spin on the Puddle
Jumper makes it great bait for other fish such as small mouth, walleye and white bass.
Keep them Level !!
Perry Brunner, who fishes practically every day for crappie, says the secret to catching fish
is for the lure to lie perfectly flat in the water. I think he is right. The problem is the weight
of the rubber lure is generally a little heavier than the jig head. This will naturally cause
the lure to lie at an angle from front to back with the tail down. To achieve a level lure you
must tie the knot very tight to the jig eye and then move it around towards the hook point.
This puts pressure on the line to tip the rubber lure back up. Tie a few and look at them
and you will see what I mean. It is a little tough to keep the knot from wanting to work back
to center but well worth the effort. The picture below gives you some idea of what is
meant (in the water the tail will be more level). Jig on the left is a no-no. Jig on the right is
correct.
"Po" Boy Weed Guard
A fellow by the name of Dennis Hunt came by one day to pick up some Puddle Jumpers.
Dennis does a lot of crappie fishing. He asked me if I knew how to put a weed guard on a
jig head cheap and easy. Cheap and easy sounded good to me, so I had him show me how
to do them.
Go somewhere like a flower shop, Walmart or Hobby Lobby. You need some soft,
easy-to-bend, wire.
The picture below shows a 1/16 oz. jig with about 3-4 inches of wire. If you cut the wire a
little long it will be easier to work with. This would work on about any size jig. Big jigs
might need a little stiffer wire.
Wrap the wire around keeper a couple of turns (2) then up and around the eye. (3) Bring
the wire back to the hook point and (4) cut off to correct length.
You can still hang up but the weed guard helps a lot. The wire doesn't seem to bother the
action and bends easily when a fish bites. I make up some before I go fishing, so I won't
have to stop and make one when the fish are biting fast and furious on a Puddle Jumper.
In 1976 original Mar-Lynn Company designed a small soft plastic lure primarily for Crappie.
They wanted a lure that would fall slower than other plastic lures of the same size and one
that would spiral as it fell, similar to a dying minnow. That lure was the Puddle Jumper.
The Puddle Jumper was so successful many anglers believe it is the best artificial crappie
lure every produced. It caught a lot of Crappie in 70's and 80's and still does so today. The
big secret is that it will catch about anything. We have many customers who use them for
Smallmouth Bass, Walleye and whatever.
We are proud to offer the Puddle Jumper in the 23 most popular colors and three sizes,
1-1/2 inch and 2 inch and 3 inch.
How Most Rig A Puddle Jumper
The most common way to rig a Puddle Jumper is to just put it on a jig head with the wings
flat. The action of the lure when falling is kind of like a dying minnow. The wings will cause
the lure to spiral as it falls. This spiraling down will sometimes bring on a strike.
The size of jig head is determined by how slow you want the lure to fall. For the 2 inch a
1/16 oz. works well. If you want a slower fall go to a 1/32 oz. or even the 1/64 oz. If you are
fishing deep and want to get down in a hurry you can use larger than 1/16 oz. As with most
crappie lures fishing slow is generally the best. If the crappie are real active, like in the
spring spawn, try a spin with them (see picture below). Putting a spin on the Puddle
Jumper makes it great bait for other fish such as small mouth, walleye and white bass.
Keep them Level !!
Perry Brunner, who fishes practically every day for crappie, says the secret to catching fish
is for the lure to lie perfectly flat in the water. I think he is right. The problem is the weight
of the rubber lure is generally a little heavier than the jig head. This will naturally cause
the lure to lie at an angle from front to back with the tail down. To achieve a level lure you
must tie the knot very tight to the jig eye and then move it around towards the hook point.
This puts pressure on the line to tip the rubber lure back up. Tie a few and look at them
and you will see what I mean. It is a little tough to keep the knot from wanting to work back
to center but well worth the effort. The picture below gives you some idea of what is
meant (in the water the tail will be more level). Jig on the left is a no-no. Jig on the right is
correct.
"Po" Boy Weed Guard
A fellow by the name of Dennis Hunt came by one day to pick up some Puddle Jumpers.
Dennis does a lot of crappie fishing. He asked me if I knew how to put a weed guard on a
jig head cheap and easy. Cheap and easy sounded good to me, so I had him show me how
to do them.
Go somewhere like a flower shop, Walmart or Hobby Lobby. You need some soft,
easy-to-bend, wire.
The picture below shows a 1/16 oz. jig with about 3-4 inches of wire. If you cut the wire a
little long it will be easier to work with. This would work on about any size jig. Big jigs
might need a little stiffer wire.
Wrap the wire around keeper a couple of turns (2) then up and around the eye. (3) Bring
the wire back to the hook point and (4) cut off to correct length.
You can still hang up but the weed guard helps a lot. The wire doesn't seem to bother the
action and bends easily when a fish bites. I make up some before I go fishing, so I won't
have to stop and make one when the fish are biting fast and furious on a Puddle Jumper.
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Fishing under lights
I don't know if you have tried it but one of the best ways to "load the boat" is to fish under
lights after dark. Nothing beats going out on a nice warm evening, setting up over
crappie cover and putting out lights. Lights attach bugs, bugs attract minnows and
minnows attract fish. The action can get pretty fast and furious. Not only will you catch
crappie but be prepared for catching about anything. It is a great way to catch fish like
white bass, walleye, hybrids or stripers.
If you are interested in this type fishing click on Tom Payne's web site at
www.fishinglightsetc.com for a lot of good information about night fishing. He also sells
the best night lights available. Brighter the light, better the attracting power. He
contacted me some time ago and said that Puddle Jumpers were the best lures to use for
this technique. Since then I have had a number of people tell me the same thing.
I don't know if you have tried it but one of the best ways to "load the boat" is to fish under
lights after dark. Nothing beats going out on a nice warm evening, setting up over
crappie cover and putting out lights. Lights attach bugs, bugs attract minnows and
minnows attract fish. The action can get pretty fast and furious. Not only will you catch
crappie but be prepared for catching about anything. It is a great way to catch fish like
white bass, walleye, hybrids or stripers.
If you are interested in this type fishing click on Tom Payne's web site at
www.fishinglightsetc.com for a lot of good information about night fishing. He also sells
the best night lights available. Brighter the light, better the attracting power. He
contacted me some time ago and said that Puddle Jumpers were the best lures to use for
this technique. Since then I have had a number of people tell me the same thing.
Take a minute and click to see a
couple of great articles about
fishing history and techiques.
See a BIG CRAPPIE!
couple of great articles about
fishing history and techiques.
See a BIG CRAPPIE!
For colors of all lures click on Color page above
The Puddle Jumper has always been a good lure
to use with a spinner. Clip on spins are fine but
a true spinning bait works better. It will travel
straighter in the water and much less resistant to
hanging up in brush.
We are offering a 3" -3 count Puddle Jumper and
spinner (1/8 oz.) in selected colors.
These work especially well in streams and rivers.
We suggest you try them on schooling white
(sand) bass and hybrids. They make a great
looking lure.
(My 10 year twin grandsons caught about 15 bass
on them the other evening up Long Creek.)
to use with a spinner. Clip on spins are fine but
a true spinning bait works better. It will travel
straighter in the water and much less resistant to
hanging up in brush.
We are offering a 3" -3 count Puddle Jumper and
spinner (1/8 oz.) in selected colors.
These work especially well in streams and rivers.
We suggest you try them on schooling white
(sand) bass and hybrids. They make a great
looking lure.
(My 10 year twin grandsons caught about 15 bass
on them the other evening up Long Creek.)
PJ SPINNER
