Northland Fishing Tackle’s new Tungsten Jig brings a new level of sensitivity to the live bait and soft plastics game
Introduced last November to much acclaim, Northland’s big brother to the Short-Shank Tungsten is the longer-shanked Tungsten Jig – and they’re back in stock. The cleverly-crafted jig features a narrow, keel-shaped, aspirin-style head that cuts through current and wind and casts like a rocket—besides getting down to the strike zone quickly.
While many anglers have found success fishing larger minnows on the new Tungsten Jig, it’s also perfect for baits like the Northland Impulse Smelt Minnow, Impulse Paddle Minnow, or Impulse Swim’N Grub—all great multispecies plastics.
Of course, you can also fish it with your favorite paddle-tail, fluke-style minnow, ringworm, grub, or a hybrid thereof. The Tungsten Jig is built for any plastic you can imagine—and works on a host of species.
The Benefits of Tungsten Over Lead
Made from eco-friendly heavyweight tungsten, the jig is 30% denser than traditional lead jigs, subsequently, smaller in size for weight equivalency. Tungsten jigs are a ¼-ounce smaller in volume compared to lead jigs. Especially for neutral- to negative fish, this can be a big deal.
“Where you might be fishing a 3/8th-ounce lead jig, you can now fish a 1/4-ounce Tungsten Jig; or, where you’re fishing a ¼-ounce jig, you can size down to a 1/8-ounce Tungsten Jig,” says Northland pro staffer and veteran fishing guide, Tom Neustrom.
Given tungsten’s density, the second benefit of tungsten is it offers a sensitivity that far surpasses lead. Tungsten jigs telegraph every bottom nuance and the slightest nudge or bite from fish, especially when coupled with braid, fluorocarbon leader, and a fast to extra-fast action graphite/carbon blank spinning rod.
The tungsten jig becomes a fish-finder—an indicator to the angler whether fishing hard or soft bottom, weeds, rocks, or sand, but one that you hold in your hand. The benefits over lead are unique and immediately felt when fished.
Many anglers fear losing tungsten jigs while working on rocky bottoms.
“Thing is,” says Northland Pro Staffer and Mille Lacs Lake guide Brad Hawthorne, “you lose far fewer tungsten jigs when working rocks. The tungsten telegraphs the hard bottom ten times better than lead, and you know that you must lift your jig up a bit. So, I lose far fewer tungsten jigs than fishing lead.”
Lastly, given the material density and streamlined head design, Northland Tungsten Jigs get to the strike zone quicker. That equates to an improved bite percentage.
Construction is the Cornerstone
Unlike lead—which can be molded in vast quantities easily and quickly—each one of Northland’s Tungsten Jigs starts out as three components—the premium sticky-sharp and practically unbendable Mustad Ultra Point hook, and two separate jig sections that are pressed together and secured for long life.
Once you discover the sensitivity and fast-fishing of these jigs, you may never go back to lead. It happened in the hardwater realm over a decade ago after the Russians and Finns introduced us to the benefits of tungsten on-the-ice.
Tournament bass anglers are also tungsten-savvy and more everyday largemouth and smallmouth anglers have made the switch—from weights to jigheads and grass, flippin’, football, and swim jigs made from the unique material. Tungsten just provides a better feel and today’s tungsten tackle options are smaller and more compact, a big deal when faced with pressured fish.
The same thing will eventually happen in walleye fishing.
Features: Northland Tungsten Jig
Starting with the business end, the Northland Tungsten Jig features a virtually unbendable and sticky-sharp Premium Mustad Ultra Point hook and dual hook keepers that lock on soft plastics or live bait.
“The hook was specially-designed with Mustad to be just the right size for larger minnows and soft plastics, ultra-sharp for immediate hook-sets, and unbendable to handle big fish boatside,” says Northland Pro Staff Manager, Charlie Peterson.
Brad Hawthorne interjects: “The hook is the bread and butter of jig. It’s razor sharp, you can slide it easily through a shiner minnow, and you can hook tons of fish on a Tungsten Jig before it needs to be sharpened. It’s a premium jig with a premium hook. If you have to put an edge back on it, it holds a re-sharp really well.”
Red “T” eyes top off the design and easily identify the jig as tungsten and draw in visual feeders like walleyes, perch, and bass.
Back in stock for early-season opportunities, the Tungsten Jig is available in three sizes and nine colors—1/8-, ¼-, and 3/8-ounce with size 1/0, 2/0, and 3/0 hooks respectively.
Proven, fish-catching patterns include Glo Watermelon, Bubblegum, Gold Shiner, Parakeet, Sunrise, Parrot, Glo Moonlight, Black, and Firetiger—with rumors of more color options on-the-way. The jigs are available in packs of two with an MSRP between $7.99 and $9.99.
Expert Input: Various Situations Where Tungsten Excels
Northland’s Charlie Peterson has been fishing the jig for a couple years through various design iterations. One of his favorite ways to fish the Tungsten Jig is “power-corking” walleyes with forward-facing sonar.
“The Tungsten Jig works well under a bobber for pitching to walleyes I see a distance in front of the boat with forward-facing sonar. I dress it with a soft plastic or live bait under the slip bobber at the precise depth I show the fish on the screen, barely above their heads. We’ve caught a lot of fish this way. One thing about the Tungsten Jig is it provides a much better sonar return on forward-facing sonar than lead—and at a farther distance away,” offers Peterson.
Peterson adds: “While it’s generally about keeping the jig still, I will pull my bobber a few inches to a foot forward to provide a little movement to get the walleye (or walleyes) to respond. Without a bobber, I’ll just cast the jig to fish on the screen, stop it just above them, and make small twitches.”
Without the cork—but a similar approach—Mille Lacs guide, Brad Hawthorne, refers to his Mille Lacs Lake walleye-catching method as “power jigging.”
“I’m locating pods of six to eight fish on my MEGA Live at 80 feet,” says Hawthorne. “Let’s say they’re on the top edge of a mud flat in 22 feet of water. I cast the Tungsten Jig and shiner right through them or right above them. With forward-facing sonar, you can maintain a safe distance from the fish without spooking them, but still throw a jig and shiner at ‘em and work it 20 feet down. We knocked the snot out of the fish doing this last year.”
Hawthorne continues: “Tungsten is extremely sonar-reflective. You put the Tungsten Jig and a minnow together and you can see everything. You can literally watch your jig from the time it hits the water all the way back to the boat and you can sharp-shoot fish by maintaining visual contact with your jig.”
Not fishing with forward-facing sonar as much as younger walleye anglers like Peterson, Neustrom has substituted the new Northland Tungsten Jig into time-proven walleye routines that don’t necessarily rely on the latest technology.
Neustrom adds: “For decades, walleye jigheads have been round. With the keel-shaped, aspirin head design of the Tungsten Jig, you can get away with much smaller and lighter jighead. With the density and shape of the Northland Tungsten Jig—especially pitching plastics or larger minnows on the jigs—it’s easier to fish in the wind. But I’m also drifting and slowly forward-trolling in the wind, which has shown me how superior tungsten is to lead for keeping baits in the strike zone near bottom.”
With regards to the Premium Mustad Ultra Point hook itself, Neustrom adds: “The hooks on both the Northland Short-Shank Jig and Tungsten Jig are the best I’ve ever fished on a jig. They’re stiff, there’s no bend-out even with big fish, and they’re super sharp.”
Hawthorne concludes: “With the Northland Tungsten Jig you get compact size, a far better sonar return, and you can sharp-shoot fish. It brings accuracy back into the game. If there’s a walleye 50 feet away, cast on ‘em, and whack! That’s what this jig was designed to do.
Whether you’re fishing larger minnows or soft plastics, you’re going to find that Northland’s new Tungsten Jig shows up clearly on today’s electronics, telegraphs every subtle bottom nuance, and transfers the slightest fish bite or nudge back into your hand for hooksets often missed with fishing standard lead jigs.
The end result? More fish in the livewell, something we’re all after, no matter how often we fish.
