I threw the whole box at them over the course of the trip. PW-darts (3 different sizes), coltsiper in a couple difft colors in 60 and 90g, shimano flat falls, etc. I varied my action a lot. I tried different scents. This is no anomaly. It's not like "oh, they just don't want it like that today". Those Barkley Robertson fish virtually NEVER want it jigged when they hit the sound. Like friggin never.
I am also a hybrid fisherman as you say. Probably the last 7-8 yrs I troll, and if I find something that is "jiggable", I'll convert over to vertical presentations, because it's more fun. When I say "jiggable", it's not always bait. Sometimes it is a current structure, or a hard topographical feature that is holding fish in one spot. Sometimes it is a wad of feed. Sometimes it is just a school of salmon. I never jig "blind". I usually troll to find em, and them convert. A lot of the time I do well jigging. In some areas (I fish all over the place) jigging is more successful than trolling.
It gets even more fun if you have 1500 bux burning a hole in your pocket and get Panoptix, to see how fish respond to your stuff. It can be very demoralizing when you see how salmon respond to your trolled offering (like more than 95% don't bite, even when the bite is on!). Very interesting to see how they respond to your jig in real time. I've learned a lot about fish behavior using it. Anyways, I cannot solve the riddle of the Robertson springs when they hit the sound, they gotta have it trolled for some reason.
I have talked with a friend who reports the same about these Robertson fish. He has a lot more experience there than me, and he's one of the best fishermen I know. I speculated that maybe a well mooched herring would solve the riddle, but he said he went through all the same thoughts, and came to the same conclusion through experience, that these fish gotta have it trolled. This is one of those riddles that makes fishing what it is for me. I guess that's a good thing.
Sorry for the long post,
fb