[fishingmortgageman]

Hopefully Henry will chime in and share his wisdom as I am fairly new to the jigging for blackfish. Jigging for blackfish is like using the conventional method in that they want it presented in a different way just about every day. Some days they want the crab whole, the next day cut in half, and the next day legs on. You get the idea. This is what attracts many of us to blackfish. You have to figure them out each time you go out.

You can fish the jig straight up and down or your can cast around just like you would do fishing the conventional method. They bite the jig differently every day just like they normally do. The way that you feel the bite is very different, however. I think that it is very important to have a very sensitive spinning rod. I use a 7' medium light action with an extra fast tip. Fishing conventionally you usually wait until you feel some good tugs on your line. Most guys wait for the 2nd or 3rd good tug. Remember that the fish is pulling on your leader and that pull is being transmitted up your line. There is no leader for you to feel that tug. As I mentioned before the bite is different every day and you have to develop a feel for how they are chewing that day. Some days I hit them fairly quickly after the initial scratch. Other days I need to wait for them to chew a bit. Still other days they will pick up your crab and swim off, so you need to strike when you see the slack line. Sunday we had some aggressive fish and they would steal the crab on the way to the bottom. I would go to make my first bounce and I would know that the crab was gone without me feeling anything. I use a banana head jig and leave it unpainted. My reasoning is that blackfish are not bothered by your sinker sitting next to your crab bait so why would they be bothered by your unpainted jig head. I have not seen a day where the painted jig has proven to out fish the unpainted. I hope that this answers some of your questions Gerry. Please feel free to pm me or call me if you have any questions.