Epic night of jigging...

Waterwolf2230

Waterwolf2230

Well-Known Member
Man what a crazy night tonight. We went out tonight simply to drop some prawn traps and poke around to see if we could find some decent bait. We dropped our traps near Francisco Point off Quadra Island and made our way back to the Wilby Shoals.

It took us all of about 200 yards to his a bait ball that was 80' thick...panic sets in as I was completely unprepared to drop a jig. I frantically tie on a few butterfly jigs...I can see some big arches tickling the top of the bait ball so I tell my buddy, drop 3 colors (3 colors equals 75' on Depth Hunter line). I'm watching my lure fall on the screen and at about 60' WHAM! Fish on. Nice 10lb spring.

We readjust and park on top of the bait, this time I drop and about 40' down my line starts screaming off...I flip lock the spool and landed this really spunky 5lb hatchery coho.

We readjust and drop, this time the bait was so thick, I had us just drop 1 color (25') and I hook up with a screamer, it's peeling off line, I'm yelling at my buddy to give me a hand...BAM, he hooks up with another screamer. It was mayhem to say the least. This fashion continued until near dark. We landed 8 springs and 1 coho between 10-20lbs in about 2 hours. When we started we were alone but the hooting and hollering definitely brought some activity our way lol. Guys were trolling laps through the bait but we were the only ones consistently hooking up.

There was a really nice family jigging nearby that was jigging with tube jigs and what looked like larger Kastmaster jigs. He asked what I was using as he could see that we were repeatedly hooking up and they were fishing the same bait and never hooked up. I have never done this but before but I paid it forward, I had him pull up to my boat and gave him a 130g Chartreuse Butterfly Jig. Gave him the readers digest on using it and sent him on his way. I had hoped to stay around but it was nearing dark. I hope that he got into a few in the last bit of light.

Anyway the moral of the story is if you haven't tried or don't know how to jig, ask questions and give it a try. When the conditions are just right like they were tonight, there is nothing more fun OR more productive.

Tight lines,

WW
 

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Waterwolf2230 said:
Man what a crazy night tonight. We went out tonight simply to drop some prawn traps and poke around to see if we could find some decent bait. We dropped our traps near Francisco Point off Quadra Island and made our way back to the Wilby Shoals.

It took us all of about 200 yards to his a bait ball that was 80' thick...panic sets in as I was completely unprepared to drop a jig. I frantically tie on a few butterfly jigs...I can see some big arches tickling the top of the bait ball so I tell gging like you did last night. I use mostly 91 gram nickel plated Perkins that I make myself. I also cat
We readjust and park on top of the bait, this time I drop and about 40' down my line starts screaming off...I flip lock the spool and landed this really spunky 5lb hatchery coho.

We readjust and drop, this time the bait was so thick, I had us just drop 1 color (25') and I hook up with a screamer, it's peeling off line, I'm yelling at my buddy to give me a hand...BAM, he hooks up with another screamer. It was mayhem to say the least. This fashion continued until near dark. We landed 8 springs and 1 coho between 10-20lbs in about 2 hours. When we started we were alone but the hooting and hollering definitely brought some activity our way lol. Guys were trolling laps through the bait but we were the only ones consistently hooking up.

There was a really nice family jigging nearby that was jigging with tube jigs and what looked like larger Kastmaster jigs. He asked what I was using as he could see that we were repeatedly hooking up and they were fishing the same bait and never hooked up. I have never done this but before but I paid it forward, I had him pull up to my boat and gave him a 130g Chartreuse Butterfly Jig. Gave him the readers digest on using it and sent him on his way. I had hoped to stay around but it was nearing dark. I hope that he got into a few in the last bit of light.

Anyway the moral of the story is if you haven't tried or don't know how to jig, ask questions and give it a try. When the conditions are just right like they were tonight, there is nothing more fun OR more productive.

Tight lines,

WW
Click to expand...
 
No more fun than a good bite while jigging for good sized springs. Used to jig lots in Pedder Bay years ago in the evenings and had many nights like you had last night. I used to use 91 gram nickel plated Perkins that I made myself. I will do some jigging soon for springs as well as for halibut and lings. I will also use 145 gram Perkins (homemade) to jig if going deeper than 100 feet.
...Rob
 
Nice story and thumbs up on giving the jig to the family with a quick how to. I really haven't been doing much in the way of trolling been just jigging at my local reefs and doing well on the springs. It's an excellent way to fish with the added bonus of the peace and quiet of no motor and light gear with no flasher.
 
Can’t wait to see what you can post about an even MORE epic night last night? :D

I can’t believe how much fun it is to land a great fish on a butterfly jig.
 
Prairie Locked said:
Can’t wait to see what you can post about an even MORE epic night last night? :D

I can’t believe how much fun it is to land a great fish on a butterfly jig.
Click to expand...
Bet you guys didn’t catch any fish in the last 24 hours ;)
 
And tonight, it was a bit gross out, trolled around in the whitecaps for 2hrs, not a sniff...drop a jig on a juicy bait ball and bam, 19lber..I’m starting to lose confidence I my trolling skills lol.
 
Prawn Star said:
Way to go WW. I guess the fishing is better when the "dark cloud" is not in the boat.
Click to expand...
We just had some bad luck that morning...I"m back on the 28th, we'll go out again, I'll get your # from George. We'll go out while he's working so we can rub it in a bit haha.
 
Waterwolf2230 said:
Man what a crazy night tonight. We went out tonight simply to drop some prawn traps and poke around to see if we could find some decent bait. We dropped our traps near Francisco Point off Quadra Island and made our way back to the Wilby Shoals.


There was a really nice family jigging nearby that was jigging with tube jigs and what looked like larger Kastmaster jigs. He asked what I was using as he could see that we were repeatedly hooking up and they were fishing the same bait and never hooked up. I have never done this but before but I paid it forward, I had him pull up to my boat and gave him a 130g Chartreuse Butterfly Jig. Gave him the readers digest on using it and sent him on his way. I had hoped to stay around but it was nearing dark. I hope that he got into a few in the last bit of light.

Anyway the moral of the story is if you haven't tried or don't know how to jig, ask questions and give it a try. When the conditions are just right like they were tonight, there is nothing more fun OR more productive.

Tight lines,

WW
Click to expand...

Its a great feeling when you help someone young or adult . Its a big ocean and what works today may not tomorrow. Kudos
 
My uncles and I used to do this exclusively off my old 18' Maxum bowrider. Jigging was the only way I knew how to fish for salmon as of 5 years ago. We'd head out from Burrard at first light and drive around the pink apartment until we saw bubbling then just go drop in right on top of it. Usually triple headers and would be limited out in minutes. 4 oz green glow Zinger was always the ticket for us. My uncle would paint a bigger red eye on them with nail polish. I still go and try once in a while when I just feel like drifting but it feels like the numbers aren't there anymore. You need thick fish for this to work. It's sad that in my 7-8 years of fishing experience I've witnessed a big change in the numbers of fish in West Van.
 
Rain City said:
My uncles and I used to do this exclusively off my old 18' Maxum bowrider. Jigging was the only way I knew how to fish for salmon as of 5 years ago. We'd head out from Burrard at first light and drive around the pink apartment until we saw bubbling then just go drop in right on top of it. Usually triple headers and would be limited out in minutes. 4 oz green glow Zinger was always the ticket for us. My uncle would paint a bigger red eye on them with nail polish. I still go and try once in a while when I just feel like drifting but it feels like the numbers aren't there anymore. You need thick fish for this to work. It's sad that in my 7-8 years of fishing experience I've witnessed a big change in the numbers of fish in West Van.
Click to expand...

The Coho are going to be think this year off West Van i think, The Coho fishing off south Bowen was some of the best coho fishing i have ever experienced. I put a naked X-RAP out the back and coho were smashing it on the surface. Will see but my guess is with this warm weather coming up that in a week, guys will be limiting in the harbor on early AM fishing.
 
Rain City said:
My uncles and I used to do this exclusively off my old 18' Maxum bowrider. Jigging was the only way I knew how to fish for salmon as of 5 years ago. We'd head out from Burrard at first light and drive around the pink apartment until we saw bubbling then just go drop in right on top of it. Usually triple headers and would be limited out in minutes. 4 oz green glow Zinger was always the ticket for us. My uncle would paint a bigger red eye on them with nail polish. I still go and try once in a while when I just feel like drifting but it feels like the numbers aren't there anymore. You need thick fish for this to work. It's sad that in my 7-8 years of fishing experience I've witnessed a big change in the numbers of fish in West Van.
Click to expand...

Zingers were my favorite. I liked the perch pattern which is similar to the green glow I think. I always had some in the tackle box for fishing off Tofino when the bait was pushed in tight and close to the kelp beds. Also worked great if you spotted some jumping coho, used a level wind and cast them out. Coho would hit them on the retrieve. As you say need numbers, which are harder to find now. If there are lots of coho as Wildman says may be able to jig for them this year. As long as it doesn't rain early and they all go up the cap.
 
hambone said:
Are you pretty confident in the assist hooks?

They seem to be less popular here in BC than elsewhere in the world.
Click to expand...
100%, i whorls have taken the time to photograph @Prairie Locked fish. 22-23lbs, has one assist in the upper jaw, one in the lower jaw essentially giving him lock-jaw. I bought assist line and change them when they start to get frayed. The hooks Shimano uses are ridiculously sharp. I haven’t had to sharpen them yet. I personally find the hookup rate vs trebles to be way higher. I even swap out my smaller Coltsniper jigs with 3/0 assist hooks.
 
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