Blackfish Jigging

[Inoffshoremikey]

Originally Posted by Chrisper4694

I've been thinking of using a low profile bait caster on a bass flipping rod. basically what i'd use to punch thick weeds and winch bass through lbs of weeds....it'd be sensitive (not as much as a light spinner, but i could easily hold the line with my finger and let out line with one hand) it'd have more backbone than a light spinner and the reel would have a lot more cranking power than a spinner.

Anyone ever tried this? I just need to make sure one of my good baitcasters can handle saltwater well and i'm going to give it a try this year.

Hey I have tried it extensively with many different reels and rods setups. The power to weight ratio on the bc's vs spinners is debateble of course, but I do use both. My bc's setups are stronger and lighter than my spinning setups oz for oz. The spinners are super comfortable for me to fish also. I have used Quantum exo's and tour mgs, Daiwa's lexas, Abu Revo Toro hs 61 and nacl51 (lefty) successfully. Problems with other bait casters were drag power and gear ratios. I found (imho) that the ones rated below 14lbs of drag had trouble with getting larger tog out of structure. In not so sticky spots, yes I can use lighter drag bc's. I had Abu's, Lew's, Shimano's, Daiwa's and other nice freshwater bc's for punching mats fail on big tog in sticky spots. I now buy only bc's rated above 18lbs max drag and have not had any trouble on larger fish, say 8lbs+.

Also, you have to watch out for bc's gear ratios. Any burner types of 7.1:1 or higher are not good either imo because on larger fish, I have experienced failure due to not enough cranking power (torque) in structure that is sticky. I have moved away from anything over 6.5:1 and prefer 5.** :1 as my favorite gear ratio to have enough power to get the larger fish out of their holes. I have fished the Abu Revo Toro hs61 since 2008 and that has 6.3:1 I believe. I have caught fish up to 11lbs without problems with the hs61 but it is way heavier than an exo300 which is ultra light, around 8 Oz's spooled with 22lbs max drag.

Grab a nice long throw power handle off eBay for the bc of your choice and your all set. Those little paddle handles for largemouth are not the best for tog imo. Good luck because it becomes very tog-dicting.

[EddieG]

Great post... I have two opinions about this, first is I think people get confused when we say jigging for blackfish cause in all reality with a “jig” your hooking the crab on the jig much like a “bait rig” then letting it hit the bottom and you may move it around a bit to find some structure then your leaving it there unlike traditional jigging. Secondly I think it just takes time to learn how to jig mentally. What I mean is my whole life fishing for blackfish was a poolstick rod matched with a heavy sinker and at minimum 60 lb mono and floro ... so to go from that to 20 lb braid and 30lb top shot using at most a fluke buck tailing rod is hard for people to overcome.. it takes time but I have never caught more and bigger fish in the jig. Good luck!

[sbalewitz74]

I recently got into making and painting my own jigs. I have had pretty good luck using them.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Bumping this one up given it tis the season...

A few revisions here after more experience with Jigging....

- At least for my taste, 1 to 2 ounce jigs are about the limit, anything more then that and I use a rig... The heavier jigs just don't have the same feel/sensitivity as the lighter ones at least for my style of fishing...

- After you cast out and let line out to get to the bottom, make sure to remove any excess scope in the line. What happens is you think your line is tight to the jig but it's not... The jig drops down to the bottom but the current peels more line off your reel then needed and you have a big bow in your line. One you see the line stop peeling off the reel, reel in the slack and lift your pole tip up and drop it back down until you'll feel the thump of the jig hit the bottom... Now you're fishing with no scope and can feel strikes better.

- Another reason to keep jigs on the lighter side is so you can feel if you still have bait or not after a strike. With a lighter jig you can lift your rod and feel the extra weight of the bait and when you do just drop it back down. With heavier jigs you can't which forces you to bring your jig up and check it and you're out of the game.

- Seems to me the best time to jig is when the fish aren't committing to baits and you have that really soft scratchy bite..Jigging allows for a much more sensitive feel in these situations and you'll catch more fish..

- Time and time again, the biggest fish almost every day we're out comes on the rig, not the jig... If the conditions allows for the jig or the rig and you're fishing for a trophy, you're better off with the rig. Yes you may get more bites and fish on the jig but when you're fishing for the Pig, you need to be patient and wait for the right bite... Having 8 or 10 ounces of sinker on the bottom you'll know when you have the right bite but on the jig you'll want to swing on everything.

PS - Don't tell Dustin this ^^ because pictured below, he caught the biggest Tog I've ever seen in NJ on a jig, not a rig

[Gerry Zagorski]

Bringing this one up top again. A lot more people
Jigging these days. Anyone have anything to add?

[260SEAVEE]

One thing I found to be very beneficial and very simple to add, have the tip of your rod wrapped with a very small band of visible metallic thread if your favorite stick doesn't have it! Doesn't matter red, chartreuse, yellow, orange whatever you'll react faster to the bite seeing it before you feel it.
Some of the rods in the racks today have it, but if I'd add it if it doesn't.
Tight lines all.

[Ol Pedro]

Originally Posted by Gerry Zagorski

Bringing this one up top again. A lot more people
Jigging these days. Anyone have anything to add?

Great thread ! This may be a little off topic but I have only fished rigs but with one difference. I fish clams! I have caught so much grief from Tog Purists for using them. They complain that it draws the dogs. My biggest fish and all but 2 keepers have been on clam. The one time I got dogged up I switched to crab and got 2 keepers. Does anyone use mussels? What about hermits or conch? A hermit on a jig would probably be deadly. I have caught California Sheepshead (Togs Cousin) on scampy jigs with a little mussel.

[Gerry Zagorski]

I’ve seen people fish hermits but I think it would be really difficult to fish them on a jig. They’re just too soft and it’s difficult enough trying to keep a crab on a jig. You’re right about the clam some people fish them first thing in the Spring when the fish are a bit more lethargic until the water warms up. If you break the clams out any other time around serious toggers you’ll get an earful.

[JMo1986]

"One you see the line stop peeling off the reel, reel in the slack and lift your pole tip up and drop it back down until you'll feel the thump of the jig hit the bottom..."

This is a good add Gerry. This has helped me very much when I learned it.

I also started making my own jigs and have been experimenting with different brighter colors. No solid evidence on colors working better than others yet. I tend to gravitate towards the "more natural" green, black, orange belly, or white/gold if using white crabs. Trying to match the hatch.

I have gotten fish up to 8# on the jig and no issues with being undergunned. Sometimes you gotta grab the spool a bit when they make the first burst, but you can break off a big one doing this if you are not careful so use extreme caution doing this!

Also, somewhat surprised that no one brought up using a "stinger hook" on jigs. You can snell a traditional rig hook (I use 4/0 Owner SSV) and tie some 30+lb fluoro onto the eye of the jig and this allows you to use bigger baits, multiple baits, or just put two hooks in the same piece of crab if you want. You will lose some hooks but you can also catch multiple fish too.

Started swinging less (or trying to swing less) to wait for better bites on the jigs too. I think it works.

[GetANet]

GREAT POST! Thanks to everyone for their input!