High Tech Jigging

[acrowe]

I saw that boat at Wilby shoals yesterday, the trolling motor up front is not a setup I have seen a lot in salt water around here, so I remember it. I did not realize the pastel shirt was the key. I will have to make closer consideration of my fashion choices. There are certainly some decent schools of herring out there now. The only day I was really on them was last Friday when it was quite rough for my small boat.

 

[Steplift]

Got my jigs a few weeks ago I doctored them up with a little flash tape. All I could get was the glow white so all three are the same. Well almost the glow test revealed one was a dud and barely glows.

 

[ILHG]

Great evening jigging last night. Up near the green can. Bait pushed up shallow around 90'. Dropped the slow pitch jigs and got into them. The sealions are bad. They follow the guys jigging to get dinner. I ended up in a hand to hand combat with one and won. Even got my fish back.

 

[Original Riptetide]

Great evening jigging last night. Up near the green can. Bait pushed up shallow around 90'. Dropped the slow pitch jigs and got into them. The sealions are bad. They follow the guys jigging to get dinner. I ended up in a hand to hand combat with one and won. Even got my fish back.

I as well have been doing very well on the 4 oz jigs in that shallows. I went down to a 2 1/2 oz jig tonight as most of the bait seems to be the fire cracker herring now.

 

[RiverBoy]

I as well have been doing very well on the 4 oz jigs in that shallows. I went down to a 2 1/2 oz jig tonight as most of the bait seems to be the fire cracker herring now.

yes i was out trolling last nite ( swing and a miss )
was surrounded with bait jumping clear out of the water that were all around 2inches long. the humpback and sea lions and birds were gorging on the edge of the shallows

 

[ILHG]

I was out last night and got skunked. Had 2 solid hook ups while jigging but lost them both. One of them wrapped around a guy's downrigger and I was lucky to get my gear back.

Once the small herring were pushed into the shallows I couldn't buy a bite. Later the orcas went through and it was over.

Sucks getting skunked

 

[Old Blue]

Thanks again @Waterwolf2230 for the SK jigs. Can't wait to use them.

 

[sly_karma]

I've had a great couple of weeks using the Trevala/Ambassadeur C4 combo paired with 130 g and 160 g flat fall jigs. Caught chinooks, flounder/sole, lings and coho with this setup and found I preferred jigging to trolling with downriggers. With the Depth Hunter braid it is so easy to precisely drop just below a bait ball to where the salmon are.

I think the 130 g is minimum size for coastal BC due to the almost constant presence of wind or current. Back trolling on the kicker was often required just to keep the lines vertical, which is a must for the Shimano jigs. I think I had just two sessions where surface drift was sufficiently mild that the kicker wasn't needed. Could certainly see a MinnKota with virtual anchor setup being useful. About 0.4 mph of drift is about the max you'll get away with before the line angles too much for effective jig action.

The Trevala rod is sensational, everyone that tried it didn't want to give it back. The pool cue Ugly Stik with Torium 20 reel caught its share of fish but it's a blunt weapon compared to the light, elegant Trevala/C4. It was noticeably more fatiguing by comparison. I'll take the Trevala with me next month on the WH charter and see if I can hook and land some halibut.

 

[spring fever]

I thought I was coming along with the jigging-landed a few but yesterday I have never been so frustrated. Sentry shoals saw calm seas-some bait balls-chased them for 3 hours-1 bite. Another boat was slinging spinnows at them with spinning rods and was hooking up. Obviously I have to carry a spinning rod too with Spinnows-didn't want my free fall jiggs. I am missing something-I really would like to stay jigging but I like catching fish and I am way more successful trolling. Suggestions gladly accepted-- bait size maybe

 

[Old Blue]

I thought I was coming along with the jigging-landed a few but yesterday I have never been so frustrated. Sentry shoals saw calm seas-some bait balls-chased them for 3 hours-1 bite. Another boat was slinging spinnows at them with spinning rods and was hooking up. Obviously I have to carry a spinning rod too with Spinnows-didn't want my free fall jiggs. I am missing something-I really would like to stay jigging but I like catching fish and I am way more successful trolling. Suggestions gladly accepted-- bait size maybe

Practice your casting with your conventional reel or get a newer one like Penn Fathom that casts amazing and then just switch over to a Colt sniper and you can use it on the retrieve or straight jigging

 

[Dogbreath]

Did fairly well recently up in the Gwaii with the flat falls-lots of smaller Lings and the biggest Kelp Greenlings I ever saw all fishing shallow; killed very little though don't really need it and trolling produced all kinds of Coho all day long.

edit-also landed the two biggest Red Irish Lords I ever saw if I'd been in a killing mood I could have cleaned them up just to see WTH something that strange looking tastes like.

 

[sly_karma]

I thought I was coming along with the jigging-landed a few but yesterday I have never been so frustrated. Sentry shoals saw calm seas-some bait balls-chased them for 3 hours-1 bite. Another boat was slinging spinnows at them with spinning rods and was hooking up. Obviously I have to carry a spinning rod too with Spinnows-didn't want my free fall jiggs. I am missing something-I really would like to stay jigging but I like catching fish and I am way more successful trolling. Suggestions gladly accepted-- bait size maybe

The flat fall jigs need to have the line straight down in the water. Anything more than 10-15 degrees out of vertical and they don't produce the action they're designed to - no more reaction bites. If your Speed Over Ground on GPS is more than about 0.3 - 0.4 mph, the line will have too much angle.

Solutions:
- wait for a calm day
- wait for slack tide
- anchor over a bait ball and hope it stays put
- use heavier jigs
- use the kicker in reverse to back troll into the wind/current, may require shifting in and out of gear
- get a MinnKota electric trolling motor with 'virtual anchor' mode
- fish shallower (less time for boat drift to pull the line sideways)

I have some 5 oz and 6 oz Spinnows and found they fished better once I switched over to the double assist hook setup that the Shimano jigs use. The assist hooks are sold in pairs already rigged and ready to install on the jig of your choice, available in either 5/0 or 7/0.

 

[Rain City]

The flat fall jigs need to have the line straight down in the water. Anything more than 10-15 degrees out of vertical and they don't produce the action they're designed to - no more reaction bites. If your Speed Over Ground on GPS is more than about 0.3 - 0.4 mph, the line will have too much angle.

Solutions:
- wait for a calm day
- wait for slack tide
- anchor over a bait ball and hope it stays put
- use heavier jigs
- use the kicker in reverse to back troll into the wind/current, may require shifting in and out of gear
- get a MinnKota electric trolling motor with 'virtual anchor' mode
- fish shallower (less time for boat drift to pull the line sideways)

I have some 5 oz and 6 oz Spinnows and found they fished better once I switched over to the double assist hook setup that the Shimano jigs use. The assist hooks are sold in pairs already rigged and ready to install on the jig of your choice, available in either 5/0 or 7/0.

Who sells them like that? They come with braid?

 

[ChilliSpoons]

The flat fall jigs need to have the line straight down in the water. Anything more than 10-15 degrees out of vertical and they don't produce the action they're designed to - no more reaction bites. If your Speed Over Ground on GPS is more than about 0.3 - 0.4 mph, the line will have too much angle.

Solutions:
- wait for a calm day
- wait for slack tide
- anchor over a bait ball and hope it stays put
- use heavier jigs
- use the kicker in reverse to back troll into the wind/current, may require shifting in and out of gear
- get a MinnKota electric trolling motor with 'virtual anchor' mode
- fish shallower (less time for boat drift to pull the line sideways)

I have some 5 oz and 6 oz Spinnows and found they fished better once I switched over to the double assist hook setup that the Shimano jigs use. The assist hooks are sold in pairs already rigged and ready to install on the jig of your choice, available in either 5/0 or 7/0.

But if there’s no wind and your drifting with the tide won’t your jig essentially by hanging straight down? Or close to being straight down?

 

[sly_karma]

Who sells them like that? They come with braid?

https://www.harbourchandler.ca/shop...-jigs/shimano-butterfly-jig-replacement-hooks

All ready to go, just snap ring onto the jig.

 

[sly_karma]

But if there’s no wind and your drifting with the tide won’t your jig essentially by hanging straight down? Or close to being straight down?

You'd think, but the boat is heavier than the jig. One has less inertia and can therefore be moved more easily than the other. And it's not entirely bad to move gradually across an area to see where bait is. In low current you can just use the rod to drop near the bow and by the end of the jig your line is aft of the transom. Repeat, repeat.

I've been using the 130 and 160 gram sizes, most days you wouldn't want to go any lighter. The 60 and 80 gram jigs wouldn't see many days of usefulness in our waters. If the bait is deep, you'll want the 200 or 240 g sizes.

 

[Dogbreath]

I've been using the 130 and 160 gram sizes, most days you wouldn't want to go any lighter. The 60 and 80 gram jigs wouldn't see many days of usefulness in our waters. If the bait is deep, you'll want the 200 or 240 g sizes.

Can confirm -smaller sizes OK in shallow water which is easier to fish if you're solo.

 

[Northdogboy]

The flat fall jigs need to have the line straight down in the water. Anything more than 10-15 degrees out of vertical and they don't produce the action they're designed to - no more reaction bites. If your Speed Over Ground on GPS is more than about 0.3 - 0.4 mph, the line will have too much angle.

Solutions:
- wait for a calm day
- wait for slack tide
- anchor over a bait ball and hope it stays put
- use heavier jigs
- use the kicker in reverse to back troll into the wind/current, may require shifting in and out of gear
- get a MinnKota electric trolling motor with 'virtual anchor' mode
- fish shallower (less time for boat drift to pull the line sideways)

I have some 5 oz and 6 oz Spinnows and found they fished better once I switched over to the double assist hook setup that the Shimano jigs use. The assist hooks are sold in pairs already rigged and ready to install on the jig of your choice, available in either 5/0 or 7/0.

Do you put them off the top where you attach the line or off the bottom where the old treble is?

 

[sly_karma]

Not sure yet. I started with them as a direct replacement on the bottom, but I did switch one Spinnow to a top mount to see how it goes. Time will tell.

Most of the time though I reach for the Shimano flat falls. Nothing else I've seen has such lateral action on the drop, looks so realistic.

 

[spring fever]

finally success-bought a proper jigging rod-put all the tips together from Waterwolf and Original riptide and got into numerous small springs and then 2 -15 lbs What a thrill because these weren't random-they were targeted fish-bait was sporadic at Sentry but took a bit to find it but there were big ones there. So thanks guys for all the help-the quest continues to be a good consistent Jigger.