Fishing with jigs is nothing new, the technique has been around for many years. Thanks to a multitude of YouTube and FaceBook videos in recent years, the technique has become extremely popular.
Where To Start
You have probably watched a few of these videos. Crystal clear 4k footage set to some perfectly timed background music. Showing a young group of lads heading out to some far-off isolated patch of ground in expensive sports boats. Loaded up with even more expensive fishing gear. Finding fish with sounders that have screens larger than your TV screen at home. Dropping the latest jig release from an exotic brand down into the depths, sometimes hundreds of metres. Then watching the angler put themselves through a workout that Arnie Schwarzenegger himself would be proud of.
This is all before a fish is even hooked, which inevitably happens. The video then ends with a massive fish resting on the knees of the exhausted angler. Who poses for a perfectly framed photo while sculling a beer and making a hand gesture which I must admit is like a foreign language to me.
It is entertaining to watch, and I suspect, for many anglers out there, a trip like this, is probably on that lifetime fishing trip ‘bucket list’.
Do You Need All That Gear?
The truth is you do not need to travel to far off patches of isolated water in a expensive sports boat. Loaded up with specialised and expensive jigging gear. Nor do you need the huge screened sounder to simply enjoy jigging to catch a feed of fish. Unless of course, you are on that ‘bucket list’ fishing trip. In which case you are probably going to do battle with something determined to rip you out of your boat. So, you probably need to equip yourself with something a little better than the $3 rod and reel combo from K-mart.
As mentioned in the opening sentence, jigging is a fishing technique which has been around for many years, decades even. It is an extremely effective technique. Which you can employ within your own local waterway and even in relatively shallow water. For any dedicated lure fisherman out there, the technique is a must to learn. Especially if you find yourself having no luck with your favourite soft plastic or hardbody lure. Dropping a jig down might just be the spark to get those stubborn fish to bite on that day. Be warned however, it is a lot of fun and can become quite addictive.
Where To Begin
As with most things fishing, talking to the staff at your local tackle store is a great place to start. So, to is getting online and reading local fishing blogs along with magazine articles. There are also loads of videos on YouTube and FaceBook.
However, probably one of the best places to start, often overlooked due to cost. Is with your local fishing charter operator. Let us face it, if you are prepared to lay down a few hundred dollars on fishing gear every few months. Then booking a charter with someone who can not only teach you the technique. But, can also show you firsthand the gear to purchase and the sort of locations you can fish with jigs in your local waterways, is a solid investment.
Tackle
The fishing tackle market is full of specialised jigging gear. So much so, that it can be confusing, and a lot of people probably feel they need to mortgage their house to afford getting into jigging. Never fear, it need not be expensive. Do your homework, get some advice, and match the gear you need to the species and areas you will be jigging.
Rod weight rating, reel drag capacity and fishing line breaking strain are important considerations. You will need to balance all three of these measurements to achieve a good jigging outfit. If anything is going to break during jigging. You want it to be the line, preferably the main line to leader knot. Not your expensive reel exploding or your expensive rod snapping.
Reels
If you do watch a few of those ‘bucket list’ fishing trip videos. You may notice a lot of anglers use what look to be overhead reels for their jigging. Most of the time these are specialised overhead jigging reels which offer a high gear ratio. A narrower spool and narrower overall profile. This provides the angler with several benefits. The narrower reel profile helps to reduce reel wobble. Effectively reducing the amount of sideways movement of the reel which can happen when fighting a large fish.
It also means the spool itself is quite narrow which has been found to assist braid to lay on the spool more evenly. On wider spools, when a lot of drag tension is applied, braid can tend to bunch up or overlap causing tangles. The narrower profile also helps to reduce weight. The higher gear ratio is all about helping to stay in contact with the jig. Staying in contact with the jig allows the angler to move the jig in a more controlled fashion, presenting to the target species a wounded and/or fleeing bait fish.
More recently, modern spinning reels are proving popular for jigging. Spinning reels suitable for jigging offer far more power and drag capacity for the angler.
Your Choice
I think the choice of using an overhead versus a spinning reel really does come down to personal preference. For myself, I prefer to use spinning reels. The main reasons for this are because I am more comfortable using them. I also like how they gather line quicker than an overhead reel and find this useful in Hervey Bay waters where at times sharks can be a problem and I want to get my fish to the boat quicker.
My advice is to use what you know and what you are comfortable with. If you are just starting out with jigging, reel choice is an area where you can save a little money. If you already own a good quality reel with a suitable drag capacity, then there is no reason why you cannot use this reel until you are ready to get into the more specialised gear.
Rods
If you are simply looking to use jigs in your local waterways every now and again then there really is no reason why you cannot use a suitable 5 to 6-foot rod which you already own. It may not be perfect, but it will get the job done.
However, if you really do want to jig properly and feel what all the fuss is about. Then equipping yourself with a purpose made, light weight yet powerful jigging rod is the way to go. When you first lay eyes on a jigging rod at your local tackle store you maybe a little shocked at how light weight and skinny some jigging rods are. Most jigging rods are around 6 foot in length and are incredibly powerful in the butt section of the rod.
Jigging rods have what is known as a parabolic action, which when you first see in action will have you convinced that the rod is about to snap under load. Used correctly however these skinny but powerful rods offer enormous power to lift fish from the deep.
My Tip
Probably the number one thing to look for is the weight rating for the rod. It will be provided on the rod as a PE rating or as a suitable jig weight rating and sometimes as a deadlift rating.
Basically, you need to ensure the complete system; Reel, rod, and line work together and are balanced with regards to weight ratings. There is simply no point in having a reel with a huge amount of drag capacity locked up on a rod which is only rated for half or less of that weight. Or be using a line class which is 5 times stronger than the weight rating of the rod or reel.
The second thing to look for with a jigging rod is the rod tip. While jigging you will want to have a constant feel for what the jig is doing. If the rod tip is to stiff you will not be able to get a good jigging action going. The jig will bounce instead of fluttering through the water.
Jigs
Any good tackle store will stock a vast range of jigs in different sizes, shapes, and colours. Ensure you match jig weight to your outfit. Most good quality brands have particularly good detail on the packaging to explain to the angler what each jig does and how best to use it. Probably the most common type you will see will be referred to as fast and slow pitch jigs. When you place these jigs side by side you will notice slow pitch jigs are generally wider and are designed to offer a greater surface area. In effect, to flutter and sink slower in the water column.
Some jigs will come pre rigged with assist hooks and others will require you to purchase and fit these separately. These assist hooks most come with a short piece of Kevlar cord connected to a solid ring which can be attached the jigs split ring. Many anglers will choose to do away with the pre-rigged assist hooks and fit their own.
One observation I have made over the years is to do with the kevlar cord. If fish species such as mackerel are around, you may find their shape teeth will eventually cut through the kevlar cord. Recently I have been using jigs such as the Majorcraft Jig Parra range to overcome this issue. These jigs not only come with pre-rigged assist hooks but also have a treble attached at the base. I find this particularly useful for increasing my hook up rate.
Line
Most anglers who jig regularly tend to use multicoloured braid. These braids have different colours marked at specific lengths meaning that an angler can more precisely calculate how deep their jig is in the water column. As mentioned previously the most important thing to consider with your line choice is to ensure it is matched to the line class of your rod.
Technique
There are thousands of videos online which can show for you different jigging techniques. For myself I use two extremely basic techniques which I have found to be remarkably effective. With the first I simply hop my jig along the bottom while the boat is drifting, sometimes I give the jig a double hop just to mix it up a little. I find this technique useful when I observe that the fish are holding close to the bottom with my sounder. The theory being that I am using the jig to imitate a wounded bait fish struggling along the bottom who gives a few flicks of its tail before slowly fluttering back to the bottom.
The second technique I use mostly when I observe that the fish are sitting mid water or higher up in the water column on my sounder. I drop the jig all the way to the bottom and then use a pumping action to bring the jig up through the water column. Winding a little line onto the spool each time I raise the rod tip and ensuring the jig falls a little as I lower the rod tip. Again, this gives the impression that a bait fish is wounded and struggling to swim, presenting an easy meal to a predator.
Verdict
Even if you only have a basic rod and reel setup, dropping a lightly weighted jig down amongst a stubborn school of fish can prove extremely rewarding. Some anglers even use metal slugs, normally cast at tuna schools for basic jigging with surprising results.
In summary, jigging can be addictive and certainly is a lot of fun. You do not need to mortgage your house to get into jigging but once you are addicted, I am sure that rod and reel collection will expand. As mentioned, it is certainly a technique which any dedicated lure fisho should master. Think of it as adding another arrow to your quiver while trying to figure out how to fool those stubborn fish.