Salmon jigging techniques?
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Kildonan
Well-Known Member
I jig for salmon every summer around the mouth of the Big Qualicum River in August. These are my lure of choice.
http://www.supertackle.info/info/lilnib
The last hour before dark, on the bottom... Works great.
I have numerous pictures of fish my kid's caught using this technique. Here's her biggest one though. I love this pic. (Proud dad moment)
http://www.supertackle.info/info/lilnib
The last hour before dark, on the bottom... Works great.
I have numerous pictures of fish my kid's caught using this technique. Here's her biggest one though. I love this pic. (Proud dad moment)
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bigdogeh
Well-Known Member
have caught many salmon jigging with lures similar to what kildonan has shown. the colours white and green or blue work well. I can't emphasize enough that the harder you work the lure the better the results you should have. I drop the lure free-fall to the bottom, jig really hard pulling up quickly with the rod, and let it fall (drop the rod tip quickly to the water) a dozen times or so. then reel up quickly about 10'-15' and repeat. work it that way right to the surface and start over. try to jig hard every 10' or so of the water column. I seem to catch most on or near the bottom or within the top 50' of the water column. but you can catch them at any depth. the more erratic the action of the lure and the quicker it darts around, the more fish you'll catch.
bigdogeh
Well-Known Member
I've been in the same situation. we've killed them jigging when we and others couldn't scratch one up trolling. but have been in the opposite situation where trolling seemed to work best and jigging seemed futile. just have to try whatever seems to work and stick with it I've found. when it doesn't work anymore switch it up....
I think you can use trebles but make sure you crimp the barbs. check the regs though before taking my word for it.
I think you can use trebles but make sure you crimp the barbs. check the regs though before taking my word for it.
wishiniwasfishin1
Well-Known Member
What kind of rod are you guys using for jigging, and line? I find mono twists up pretty bad with a spinning or mooching rod.
bigdogeh
Well-Known Member
10'6 mooching rod works well for jigging. I often use a steelhead river rod with an ambassador (6500) reel just cause that's what I'm used to. and I can cast up-current so the jig is right beneath me when it hits bottom. (usually jig while drifting)
best to use a reel that has a free-fall (freewheel?) capability
mono or braid works well. braid gets the nod from me though, especially when fishing deeper. use a swivel 4' or so from the jig to help with line twist.... may want to use mono leader for the connection of the jig to the swivel, then braid for mainline....
best to use a reel that has a free-fall (freewheel?) capability
mono or braid works well. braid gets the nod from me though, especially when fishing deeper. use a swivel 4' or so from the jig to help with line twist.... may want to use mono leader for the connection of the jig to the swivel, then braid for mainline....
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Kildonan
Well-Known Member
Jigging can be good in Pedder, I've done okay there in the past. Also at Albert head, in the Spring, like May.
Many moons ago I used to jig at "the gap" in oak bay and did very well. Haven't tried that in literally decades though. 10 mile point could be good then too, also Sidney Spit.
For rods I've used spinning rods, short trolling rods, my 10' 6" steelhead rod. All of them work with 15 to 25lb mono.
I agree with drop it to the bottom, try there, slowly reeling up and trying every depth but I'd say 5 or ten turns of the reel up from the bottom has worked best.
When i troll, I always store the location I get fish at. This is a good way to find jigging locations. Same goes when you see other boats catch fish. I use a spinning reel with 20# spectra (power pro, etc) with a 4' or so 30# mono top-shot - heavier mono make the mono-to-braid knot stronger. The jigs i use tend to be in the 4-6 OZ range. I like the Mega Bait holographic jigs & so do the Springs!! I always ditch the treble & use a 5/0 Mustad 95170-SS Siwash hook. I usually cast "downstream"; the direction the boat is drifting in. How far i cast & whether or not i feed-out some slack after the cast depends on the depth I wanna jig at. If your lure has drifted much past being straight-down you will not get the proper fluttering action & you must reel-in & start over. Let the jig drop & jerk it 3-4 feet every 4-5 seconds. They usually hit on the drop. Watch your line at the rod tip; when they hit the line will stop before it should - strike hard. With the high retrieve rate of a spinning reel, I find a 7' or so rod is long enough to always be able to keep pressure on the fish - make jigging much easier.
As for colors, something with green is always a good choice. Although not a mega bait, i found a blue/pink/white 60z Point Wilson Dart Candlefish to be hot at the banks off Ucluelet/Tofino.
Since the strikes come on the downfall & your line must be slack for the jig to flutter, don't pull-up too far on your jerk.
The Canadian Princess boats out of Ucluelet (History now) had some good (and bad) techniques. They had great Furuno sounders & never bothered to stop unless they were marking Salmon. They always jigged at the same depth as the fish. These days the new CHIRP sonar's let the rest of us have great sounders.
As for colors, something with green is always a good choice. Although not a mega bait, i found a blue/pink/white 60z Point Wilson Dart Candlefish to be hot at the banks off Ucluelet/Tofino.
Since the strikes come on the downfall & your line must be slack for the jig to flutter, don't pull-up too far on your jerk.
The Canadian Princess boats out of Ucluelet (History now) had some good (and bad) techniques. They had great Furuno sounders & never bothered to stop unless they were marking Salmon. They always jigged at the same depth as the fish. These days the new CHIRP sonar's let the rest of us have great sounders.
Waterwolf2230
Well-Known Member
I jig probably 80% of the time that I fish for Springs. To have consistent success there are some things that you can do to really help yourself. First of all is to find the bait. Once you have an idea where and how big the bait ball is set yourself up to drift across them.
Gear is super important. If you are fishing deeper than 100' you will miss a ton of bites with a 10'6" mooching rod. They just don't have the backbone to properly set a hook. Especially if you happen to get a hit on the fall. Get yourself a Trevalla S jigging Rod which will handle up to 6oz lures. Shimano makes these rods specifically for their Butterfly Jigs. The system takes a bit to learn but you'll get the hang of it quick. The Rod tip loads extremely quick and flicks the jig.
I'm all about precision when jigging. If I'm in 300' of water but the bait is between 175-225 I'll cast it down current a ways using 40lb Power Pro Depth Hunter and will count down 9 colors. Depth Hunter changes color every 25' and has a 1" black mark every 5'. That puts me to the bottom of the bait ball. I use a slow Butterfly Jigging technique, not as aggressive as some YouTube videos. Reel up two colors to the top of the bait ball and repeat, ALWAYS watching and feeling your line. 70% of my strikes come on the fall.
Here is my exact setup:
Shimano Trevalla S (get the model that is the heaviest which lets you jig up to 6oz)
Shimano Trinidad 16NA which has a narrow spool for jigging
40lb Depth Hunter to a 3 barrel swivel where I tie 5' of 40lb fluorocarbon (Seagar Blue Label). Toughest line on the market. Stay away from jigging with straight mono. In 200', the amount of stretch in mono really inhibits the hook set. And keep your jigs sharp, I switch out the trebles on my laser minnows and PW Darts with Owner Cutting Points.
Lures in order from favorite:
1) Shimano Butterfly Flat Fall Jig - Blue Sardine - 160grams/5.60z (other colors are also good but this one has been the best.
2) Point Wilson Dart -Anchovy NOT the Candlefish. Candlefish is awesome for bottom fish but doesn't have the flutter action of the Anchovy. 4-6oz in blue/nickel with the pink stripe down the side. (Sons favorite lure).
3) P-Line Laser Minnow - blue holographic - 6oz. Slayed some beauties with this but the finish just doesn't last. Every fish takes finish off. My Shimano jigs cost maybe $5 more but I'm going on probably 20 fish and still looks virtually new.
4) Shimano Lucanus Jig. Blue or green both are awesome. I was so skeptical about these weird little things but after getting back to back 25/26lbers last summer they have a permanent place in my bag. It's takes a bit to wrap your head around using them but trust me...and big Ling slurp these up like candy. YouTube has cool videos on them.
If you need help tracking down any of this gear fire me a PM, be glad to help.
Cheers,
Curtis
Gear is super important. If you are fishing deeper than 100' you will miss a ton of bites with a 10'6" mooching rod. They just don't have the backbone to properly set a hook. Especially if you happen to get a hit on the fall. Get yourself a Trevalla S jigging Rod which will handle up to 6oz lures. Shimano makes these rods specifically for their Butterfly Jigs. The system takes a bit to learn but you'll get the hang of it quick. The Rod tip loads extremely quick and flicks the jig.
I'm all about precision when jigging. If I'm in 300' of water but the bait is between 175-225 I'll cast it down current a ways using 40lb Power Pro Depth Hunter and will count down 9 colors. Depth Hunter changes color every 25' and has a 1" black mark every 5'. That puts me to the bottom of the bait ball. I use a slow Butterfly Jigging technique, not as aggressive as some YouTube videos. Reel up two colors to the top of the bait ball and repeat, ALWAYS watching and feeling your line. 70% of my strikes come on the fall.
Here is my exact setup:
Shimano Trevalla S (get the model that is the heaviest which lets you jig up to 6oz)
Shimano Trinidad 16NA which has a narrow spool for jigging
40lb Depth Hunter to a 3 barrel swivel where I tie 5' of 40lb fluorocarbon (Seagar Blue Label). Toughest line on the market. Stay away from jigging with straight mono. In 200', the amount of stretch in mono really inhibits the hook set. And keep your jigs sharp, I switch out the trebles on my laser minnows and PW Darts with Owner Cutting Points.
Lures in order from favorite:
1) Shimano Butterfly Flat Fall Jig - Blue Sardine - 160grams/5.60z (other colors are also good but this one has been the best.
2) Point Wilson Dart -Anchovy NOT the Candlefish. Candlefish is awesome for bottom fish but doesn't have the flutter action of the Anchovy. 4-6oz in blue/nickel with the pink stripe down the side. (Sons favorite lure).
3) P-Line Laser Minnow - blue holographic - 6oz. Slayed some beauties with this but the finish just doesn't last. Every fish takes finish off. My Shimano jigs cost maybe $5 more but I'm going on probably 20 fish and still looks virtually new.
4) Shimano Lucanus Jig. Blue or green both are awesome. I was so skeptical about these weird little things but after getting back to back 25/26lbers last summer they have a permanent place in my bag. It's takes a bit to wrap your head around using them but trust me...and big Ling slurp these up like candy. YouTube has cool videos on them.
If you need help tracking down any of this gear fire me a PM, be glad to help.
Cheers,
Curtis
Hi Eastmon. I have never fished that area. As to fish being "channeled down to a tighter location", if you are in a terminal area where there are Salmon but no feed, you need a great sonar that will reliably pick-up Salmon in all water conditions, be fairly lucky, or troll til you hit fish & jig that location. Trolling covers a lot of area and in absence of a great sounder is the best way to locate fish. The feed fish are much easier to see on a less than great sonar. Another way of saying this is that if you wanna catch fish, you will be more successful if you find the fish versus them finding you. Or 10% of Fishers are catching 90% of the fish. Pick which group you wanna be in.
bigdogeh
Well-Known Member
zingers and buzzbombs work great!
aheny
Well-Known Member
You can't use trebles for salmon unless you're using bait. It's annoying but you have to cut the trebles off those jigs. I use 5/0
17 ft sea ranger
Active Member
I use trebles all the time for salmon.......as long as they don't have barbs you are fine.
TheBigGuy
Well-Known Member
I miss the rip tides too. They worked great. Funny after all these years no one's produced a knock off.
Trebles are perfectly acceptable for salmon fishing. Unless your in an area like the mouth of the cap, where there is a single hook with a size restriction. I guess there's some other areas like that, but I'm only familiar with the North Vancouver hook regulation..
Breaking_Shimanos
Member
No trebles by cap from aug 1st til end of dec
ryanb
Well-Known Member
I believe that reg has been removed. Now just standard barbless rules.
