Jig size

[Sidneyboy]

Hello all, Did some drifting this weekend but seemed to have a hard to staying near the bottom with a 3oz Gibbs. Had a line angle of what seemed over 45 degrees at times. It was only a 3 foot tide over 6.5 hrs. Wondering how many guys are using the 4 or 5oz jigs. We got 2 bites and lost a small Hali so might have been doing better than I thought. I have used the search function first but cant find much info.

Thanks

Sidneyboy

 

[Seafever]

Most times you are at the mercy of the wind and currents when it comes to jigs.

I've done lots of jigging.

The deeper you go, generally you have to go heavier jig . I'm often down about 130ft.....and the small jigs will just not stay down there due to current,wind, boat drift.

If the wind is blowing opposite to the current that makes it worse if your boat is drifting.

The jig design factors in too. Small buzzbombs flutter too much for deep use.
But often other deep jigs sacrifice action for the ability to get down there.

I use 50lb tuffline with a 6ft 30lb mono leader........I was using 80lb but even that can be affected by current.

Mono line you don't get the feel and responsiveness for bottom hits.
You go heavy line , you get too much current blowback.

For Lings and big Rockfish......it's ok to use a large jig.......often I just use a big Spinnow, 8 oz or bigger ....they will hit it no problem.

Sometimes small bait is good........but like you said, it's so dang hard to get a small jig down very deep in a current.

The days that you get those allday low,low tide drops are usually best for that.

I mostly use the small jigs inshore for GreenLing...when I only have to be down 30 to 50ft..

Spinnows seem to be better at getting to depth than Buzzbombs.

There's a guy in Port Alberni that makes a jig called the "Budzilda"

This jig flutters even more than a buzzbomb.....and it is a deadly jig......even works on Sockeye in the inlet when they are schooled up.

But it's too fluttery to get down deep in a current.......even in the bigger sizes.

For bottomfish...usually the response to jigs is a good indicator of how much bait is around.

If there is tons of small minnows and bait around.......I will have a slow day.
Because they are already gorged on real bait.
Some days I go out jigging for bottomfish in the hotspots and it's like a wasteland.

If not much bait around....they are hungry and you will get lots of hits before the jig has had time to hit bottom.

Strangely I often do better when there is a current running than on a dead slack tide or low current.

Salmon are pretty picky it seems......I've probably made at least 400 jigging trips over the years, in areas where there are salmon, using salmon jigs, in depths from 30ft to 240ft. off ECVI......
Caught tons of bottomfish legally......but the number of salmon we've ever caught on jigs:- 4

But then again the jigs were usually on the bottom....

A good way to jigfish for salmon is drop the jig through a baitball.

But honestly...if I had to rely on finding a baitball to fish...I probably would not have gotten anything......the baitballs are just no longer there in any significance where I fish......I can go 6 hour trips with the finder on and never see one.

This year there is more bait around though........but I have still yet to see the magical baitballs anywhere.

 

[Seafever]

I use these two for Lings.......for depths over 70ft.

The factory Spinnow in the pic is a Ling Cod killer......I'll fish that one all day long.

Big Rockies will hit it too.

On the bottom jig I cut one tine off.......easier to get the hook out on a "button-up" and hooks/sticks/holds just as good as 3 tines.......

 

[Rob H]

Salmonboy: I have jigged for both salmon and halibut for many years around the Victoria area as well as at Bamfield, Port Renfrew, Winter Harbour, and the Charlottes. These are my recommendations assuming you are using 25 lb. mono or ~50/65 lb. braided line. If you are using heavier lines you may have to increase the lure weights I am suggesting below.

Salmon: less than 80 ft. - match the bait size with your lure or go with a little larger lure.
: >100 ft. - I like a 3 oz. Pirken or Stingsilda (or equivalent) if the current allows and it is not too windy. If you have trouble staying near bottom go up to a 5 or 6 oz. lure (you will need a rod that can handle this weight or else you will get tired quickly).

Halibut: My favorite lure size is 5 oz or 6 oz. in a Pirken style or equivalent. With the right rod you can jig this lure weight all day without getting tired and the halibut love these sizes (from small chickens to barn doors). If you need to fish very deep or there is more current a heavier lure may be helpful, use the lure weight necessary to keep your line at 45 degrees or steeper if possible.

There are methods to keep your line angle steeper, backtrolling, use of a drift sock if it is windy, etc. which will help with line angle.

...Rob

 

[Fishing24/7]

Make sure you cast into the direction your drifting. The jig should hit bottom just before your boat is over the jig, reel up a few times, then jig until your line is on an annoying angle, reel up and repeat. The biggest mistake people make when jigging is leaving their jig out on a heavy angle for a long time, the jig wanders far from the bottom, and your just wasting time. In a drift reel up and reposition the jig often, i get most of my fish on the first few jigs after hitting bottom. Be prepared to "donate" alot of lures, dont feel guilty thinking you got big Oscar on, but only having bottom and loosing your lure, happens alot.

this is just the general idea for jigging the bottom.

Good Luck!!

 

[salty-dog]

Lil Nib has some great jigs. I have a few that I use almost exclusively when I am jigging. I usually attach one of Gold Coins to give light and rattle to the jig, no matter who's jig I am using. If the weather clears up for a day or two on the water, I will test a new style jig of our own and unlike others currently available.

When jigging, I allow the jig to hit bottom then taut the line while holding the rod level to the water. As waves move me up and down that same effect is transferred to the jig resulting in motion to match the what the fish feels. Beyond that, I will smack bottom hard every 2-3 minutes. I do quite well with rockfish and flounder like this. Salmon is almost never my target species.

 

[Fishing24/7]

I have a few that I use almost exclusively when I am jigging. If the weather clears up for a day or two on the water, I will test a new style jig of our own and unlike others currently available.

can't you tell us more? share pictures? I jig a lot always buzz bombs, zingers and spinows

 

[Seafever]

I find that when Jigging in wind and current sometimes you have less than two minutes to get the jig down to the spot and fish it before the current/wind has pulled you off the edge of a ledge or hump or whatever many times when it's gnarly conditions.

I'll use the cast method if it's a nice balmy day with minimal current/wind and I'm not too particular about where the jig is landing and I'm not too concerned about how fast it gets down there.

But on average: I come to a ledge,underwater hump, etc.etc. and that jig has got to get down there pronto!

I use a well oiled moocher reel, hold the rod over the side of the boat and down she goes as fast as possible.
Which is why I don't use buzzbombs much...they take forever to get down there.
Can't tell you how many times I've done this and the jig was smacked first time down,close to the bottom but hadn't quite made it there yet.

Many days the wind is blowing opposite direction to the current....so I have to try and hold the boat in place while wifey sends her jig down.


Does the way you fish the jig make a difference?

yes.

My wife has a different style than me....longer "up" pulls and slower movement and she is usually about 5 ft higher than me off the bottom.

I go shorter pulls.....half the time the jig is pounding the bottom and a lot of time I make the jig "dance" instead of
continual up/down repetition.

I catch more bottomfish than she does.

But she ALWAYS ends up with a biggie of some kind on the line......be it Lings, Rockies or the very occasional salmon.
I haven't caught a seal with a jig yet.......but she's had three on.

I get the volume....she gets the biggies 9 times out of 10.

 

[Seafever]

There are places where a raging current works wonders for Ling...

I've fished certain places on a slack and never got a hit....

Fished the same place with a snarling current and they slammed me like crazy.......

 

[sammyslabber]

Salmonboy ...Rob

Salmonboy? ...I believe it's Sydneyboy

p.s Rob, how about showing us some of your horny jigs

 

[Sidneyboy]

Thanks for the info guys. I will go buy some bigger jigs and be more proactive on keeping the line pointed down. The kids are pumped about going out again. If it seems like we are wasting our time then I may have to mount up the downriggers but holding off if possible cause I don't have a kicker and I do 2.5-3kts in gear!

Sidneyboy

 

[Seafever]

Sometimes spincasting smaller jigs can work.....

I can get quite a lengthy cast with a small jig on 12 to 15 lb test and a big spinning reel.

If I'm in say 300ft of water I will cast out and the cast itself is a 100ft or better (which it often is)....I just let the jig sink by itself. Often on the way down you will get a hit. When it has finished sinking ( and you can cast ahead of your drift direction so the lure goes down straighter while the boat is catching up with it) I start reeling in in stages.. bring up, twitch it, let it sink a bit and then reel up some more....this way you are working the vertical water column.


If you are in an area where the salmon aren't too deep or there are Coho around....it is often effective.


If you want target a specific depth on the way down (i.e.:- the Coho are at 60ft in 120ft of water).....a line-counter reel can get you in the zone a lot faster than guesstimating (as long as the line is vertical).

 

[Sidneyboy]

Well we went out jigging in the Sidney area today armed with 4oz P-Line Lazer Minnows and Murray tables and some info that you guys gave us here on this thread. Wow, what a difference, we hit the bottom, felt we had a little control of what we were doing and caught 12 fish. The only problem was they were all Dogfish...so does that mean we were doing something wrong or does it mean we were sort of in the game? At least the entire family had a blast even though we didn't catch dinner.

Thanks for the info,

Sidneyboy