Heavy Hitter: Jerkthatjig Jigs
Deep-dropping with jigs is fun, but in waters deeper then 300’ you’ll have a long wait for a normal jig to hit bottom. In 700’ or more, it seems to take forever. Part of the problem is that the heaviest jigs around are 12 to 16 ounces, and even these can be hard to find. So Jerkthatjig, a new jig-making company in Virginia, came out with some mega-jigs that go all the way up to about 28 ounces (750 grams). To test ‘em out, we spent a day deep-dropping in Norfolk Canyon for grouper, wreck fish, blueline tilefish, and golden tilefish.
First off, the honkin’ big 750 gram jigs feel like a Blackjack in your hands. They’re hefty enough to club a bear to death, and when you drop them over the side they hit bottom in 600’ of water in about a minute. And yes, they do catch the heck out of fish. During our day of test-fishing we had four anglers fishing jigs and one fishing a “meat curtain” rig of four baited hooks with squid and cut fish, and the guy fishing with bait was out-fished hands-down because his bait was often grabbed by small fish like black-belly rosies. That meant he had to crank all the way back up (along with three pounds of lead – ugh,) to re-bait and remove the rosies, while we could keep our big jigs down there, banging the bottom in search of big fish.
How can a fish see a jig down in those depths? Even though these jigs have glow-in-the-dark paint on them, I was surprised at how easily the fish found them. Granted, we usually tipped the jigs with squid tentacles to give them some scent, but a squid tentacle isn’t going to attract a 30-pound wreckfish and get it to slam the hook—yet that’s what happened, time and time again.
Unlike some jigs of this variety, Jerkthatjigs come pre-rigged so you don’t have to buy split rings, solid rings, and separate hooks. I like their hooks, too, because they have much larger barbs then those found on the jigging hooks you see in most stores, which often seem abnormally small. The jigs themselves are high-quality, sturdy, and well-finished. The finish on some cheap jigs comes off as soon as a toothy fish chomps down, but I fished the same three jigs all day, and after eight hours of jigging and dozens of fish, none of the finish was scratched off or chipped away. Most of the Jerkthatjig models are 3-D, and have a great action for speed-jigging, too. Because of the time of year I couldn’t give tuna jigging a shot, but you can bet that this summer testing will continue, and my guess is that the models appropriate for speed-jigging will prove effective. Overall I give these things a total thumbs-up—try fishing with them, and I’ll bet you won’t be disappointed.
Price: $6 – 20, depending on size and style.
The Highs: The biggest jigs in town, and they catch the heck out of fish!
The Lows: Jigs weighing nearly two pounds make for a very, very heavy tackle box.
Who Wants It: Deep-droppers and speed-jiggers.
Contact: www.jerkthatjig.com
|
 |
| These are the biggest jigs around; if you want to jig deep, you'll want Jerkthatjig. |
|
|