jigging sea bass

[chuckieb]

After years of using clams, with and without Gulp, I got persuaded to try jigging. Used AVA 27 and sand eel imitation teaser. Results were great. Was fishing on a moderately crowded party boat and surrounded by guys using clams on various types of rigs. I was casting out, going to bottom, and slow retrieve. after several cranks, go to bottom again, etc. I had more action and caught more (and bigger) keepers, by a wide margin, than the clammers. Interested to hear from experienced jiggers whether this method outfishes clams most of the time or just under some conditions. PS: the party boat I was on was anchored; seems like jigging should work when drifting--opinion?

[hammer4reel]

Jigging is the way to go.
Catches better fish .
And IMO is more fun

[Capt. Lou]

Yup !

[Uncle Nicky]

I always fished with clams/squid, because that is what I was taught.

I fished on a small PB yesterday, all but a couple of us were jigging. Those jigging outfished us for sure, boat was drifting all day, it only got difficult once the wind picked up. Most were putting a small piece of squid or clam on the jig. Time to up the game for me I think and get a handle on jigging.

[porgylber]

Jigging is the way to go.
Catches better fish .
And IMO is more fun

Totally agree with this.

[bulletbob]

Sorry guys,, I have been out for sea bass plenty of times where if you used a jig you went fishless.. last time it happened?.. About 10 days ago on a 6 pack/open trip.. Saw maybe 2 fish caught all day on a jig despite a lot of guys trying, myself included. captain said "take the jigs off", "bait up"
I never got a hit with an Ava and teaser. Actually,, I did catch a few with a jig, by baiting it and the teaser and letting it lay on bottom, until I could get my bottom rig out there..

now, thats NOT always the case, we all know that.. Some days jigging is the best choice, but for me personally, I have yet to be in on that great "jig bite' for sea bass in over 55 years of fishing.. Yes I have caught plenty on jigs, but was never on that hot jig bite with big keepers being common on jigs and rare on clams.. Typically, on my trips it has been the opposite.. More fish caught on bait, with the jiggers catching a lot of shorts with some keepers mixed in.. Last year i went out and one day really caught a LOT of sea bass on jigs, and yes that day the jigs outfished bait,, however the keeper rate was probably 25-1, and the keepers needed a good stretching to legally be placed in the cooler.. I got 7 barely keepers, and the bait guys caught as many or more, and all bigger.

Sea Bass hit jigs of course, and at times we have all seen them spit out gobs of small sand eels, NOT clams, crabs , squid or anything else, so you know jigs should be the best bet.. I hope to get out again this week, and maybe this time I'll be on a hot jig bite, but I have my doubts.. I KNOW it happens, but besides smaller fish, i still have not been in on it personally.

About 2 -3 years ago i actually had a captain reprimand me for using a jig for sea bass.. Right as he told me I needed to forget the jig and use bait, I hung a big strong fish, and was just dying to make him eat his words.. Then I saw that massive undulating 4 foot long Silver Eel... I switched to bait,,lol....

I dunno, I may get on a boat one day where jigs outfish bait, but it still hasn't happened, and at my age, time is running out... bob

[bulletbob]

I always fished with clams/squid, because that is what I was taught.

I fished on a small PB yesterday, all but a couple of us were jigging. Those jigging outfished us for sure, boat was drifting all day, it only got difficult once the wind picked up. Most were putting a small piece of squid or clam on the jig. Time to up the game for me I think and get a handle on jigging.

Jigs with Squid/Clams??..Thats bait fishing...
The jig was just a sinker in that case, if they were baiting the hooks.. The reason those guys were outfishing you was most likely because the schools of sea bass were suspended and not relating to bottom structure.. It happens a LOT.. They suspend and relate to moving shoals of baitfish, typically sand eels in our area, and are often only 20 feet below the boat even in say 60 FOW...In that type of scenario, bottom bouncing is often not the most productive option. The guys with jigs on were probably in the zone where the most fish were located,, OFF the sea floor.... bob

[Chrisper4694]

lures almost always out fish plain bait rigs in most situations that i've seen, fresh and salt.... especially if you're tipping your jig with bait or using a teaser with plain bait (which you should usually anyway imo).

I tie a dropper loop above my jig for seabass and if they aren't aggressive on the jig i'll just let it sit on the bottom and basically turn it into a bait rig for a few seconds. see what they prefer any given day... this way the jig rig can double as a bait rig if needed. you can't attract fish in with a bait rig like that ;)

[Chrisper4694]

Jigs with Squid/Clams??..Thats bait fishing...
The jig was just a sinker in that case, if they were baiting the hooks.. The reason those guys were outfishing you was most likely because the schools of sea bass were suspended and not relating to bottom structure.. It happens a LOT.. They suspend and relate to moving shoals of baitfish, typically sand eels in our area, and are often only 20 feet below the boat even in say 60 FOW...In that type of scenario, bottom bouncing is often not the most productive option. The guys with jigs on were probably in the zone where the most fish were located,, OFF the sea floor.... bob

well the point is, you can use a jig rig as a bait rig if the fish are not aggressive by just holding it or pausing it...you can't use a bait rig as a jig rig and attract fish the same way.

If the goal is to catch as many keepers and big fish as possible, i'm only going with a straight bait rig if the current won't allow me to feel bottom with my jigs, but that's never as much fun either haha

[Uncle Nicky]

Jigs with Squid/Clams??..Thats bait fishing...
The jig was just a sinker in that case, if they were baiting the hooks.. The reason those guys were outfishing you was most likely because the schools of sea bass were suspended and not relating to bottom structure.. It happens a LOT.. They suspend and relate to moving shoals of baitfish, typically sand eels in our area, and are often only 20 feet below the boat even in say 60 FOW...In that type of scenario, bottom bouncing is often not the most productive option. The guys with jigs on were probably in the zone where the most fish were located,, OFF the sea floor.... bob

Maybe, I usually try fishing a few or even numerous feet off the bottom when things are slow to see if that makes a difference...wasn't helping yesterday. I guess I'm more interested in how to hook bigger and more fish than the semantics of the whole thing.

[Capt. Lou]

It’s not always a typical jig movement that is successful , sometimes long sweeps n drops work other times squidding is king ! Other time casting out and letting it sink slowly they take on drop !
Experiment method wise one style generally will work !

[bunker dunker]

every year is different.when we have sand eels,like this year and last.the jigs will out fish bait.i have been out 12 times since the sea bass season opened and every time the jigs out fished the bait.

[Harpoon]

Yesterday on the mohawk, the guys jigging very small sand eel teasers (zman plastic black/grey) on a 2 hook limited well before the clammers. I had a larger sand eel teaser that wasn't getting that much love....changed it up and game on keepers immediately on a very slow (almost falling asleep) retrieve along the bottom. If the retrieve was too fast they didn't seem to whack it. I believe its up to the angler to look around and pay attention to whats going on and adjust if something is working better than what they are doing....specially on a head boat.


The clammers still put a lot of meat on deck though.

[tropics]

We used buck tails on Sat. didn't keep anything under 18"
Limited the boat
Richie

[Ismellfishy]

If the fish are feeding on sand eels then hands down there is no need to even think about bait. Last year was out on a trip after a few prior great trips jigging, we stopped I dropped down the jigs a d got NOTHING while others were catching one after another on bait, so I made the switch. Shortly thereafter we moved. Got to next drop, send down my bait and reel up a fish that pukes up sand eels. Immediately dropped down jig and GAME ON. earlier this year had a good trip on the OE but all fish were on bait, not a touch on a jig. Last stop my buddy reels one up and it throws up sandeels, drops down jig and GAME ON. if they're not feeding on sandeels, might as well drop down bare hooks. This past Saturday the jigs were non stop on fire, so good a teaser would get torn up and just drop down with a bare hook and even that caught fish.

[Solemate]

Like most fisheries it is dependant on what they are feeding on that day. Last week we only jigged no bait all day and had a boat limit. Near the end of the day I stopped using the jig and went with a high low rig with red gulp and caught just as many with that as I was catching in the jug. Go figure

[chuckieb]

A significant upside of jigging is not having to mess with clams.

[bunker dunker]

i hate the clum!!!!!!

[AndyS]

Sea bass will eat anything, just like largemouth bass. Love watching guys getting snagged on the bottom with jigs.

[kurtisb]

I watch the fish finder. If the fish are tight to the bottom, bait works best. If the fish are off the bottom, jigs work best. IMHO