TOPIC:

Launched at Portage and headed to Gary Light around 11:30 am, wind and waves coming more from the west than the south, so we took a little beating to get there.  Water on the lake was 32.7 degrees; water at the discharge was 48.5 degrees.  Casted 1/4oz jigs with 4" twister tails tipped with squid along with Cleo spoons, but unfortunately we couldn't keep them pinned like I normally expect to.  Landed 5 but had about 25 on between the three of us.  I'd say closer to the discharge was where the better the fishing was.  I've trolled many-a-times but casting for them with spot lock this early was new to me.  Overall, a nice day to be out for a shakedown.  

I'm thinking 1/4oz jigs may be too big for these guys but my past searches on this site recommended them over 1/8oz.  Anyone have any tips for keeping them pinned better?  We were using VMC jig heads so we didn't go cheap.  Thanks in advance.

You might try lead heads that feature Eagleclaw’s Pro Bend jig hook. They have the vee bend instead of the round bend. I have heard them called “barbarian styled” hooks. Seems the fish get stuck in the vee and don’t roll off the hook as easy. Good luck.

We always tie on a stinger hook  helps ALOT tie it right to ur jig head hook after you put ur twister on …. Add super glue to to jig head to keep twister on a little longer and it doesn’t slip down when you cast 

Your twister size is a bit off you should be using 3”, reason being is when you move up to the 4” the body of the twister is about 50 percent fatter and harder for them to choke down so they constantly are just nipping at the tail. Hope this helps. Fish on!!

Yep, downsizing is key.  A 14-16 coho mouth isn't that big, and while they can be aggressive, it's hard for them to get hooked with a 4 inch twister tail, especially if it has squid on it too

Sometimes downsizing to a 1 inch tube with waxworms is the key on the pier, even a nickle sized spawn bag or piece of skein doesn't lead to hookups

Open the gap and bend the point offset of center makes a big difference for me walleye fishing the river