Jigging has been my life. For more than 40 years, jigs have played an important role in my walleye fishing success. Up until recently, I used night crawlers, leeches or minnows on jigs. That has changed! I’m now a firm proponent of Gulp!

Here is what an old live bait jigger learned. GULP! demands the angler be more aggressive. Don’t leave the jig and GULP! on the bottom. Swim it more. Most bites occur as soon as the action of the jig stops and it falls to the bottom.

I don’t let it sit on the bottom for more than a second. I immediately reel and twitch or shake the jig and GULP! in 6-inch spurts. Sort of like fishing a jerk bait. Doing this, my rod is usually at the 9 or 10 o’clock angle (sometimes lower) with the rod tip pointed at the jig. After three or four feet of twitching the jig, I drop it briefly to the bottom, and repeat during the retrieve.

This is sort of like a wounded bait fish or an easy meal.  I use a swimming jig, not a stand-up style jig.  I like the 6-inch GULP! Nightcrawler in the Natural color.  I break it in half, and use one end at a time.  They both work equally well.  In shallow water like on Wabigoon in the CAN-AM where I took a top 10 with this tactic, the 1/8^th ounce jig worked best, but when targeting deeper water, a 1/4^th ounce or even a 3/8^th ounce jig can be used.