 |
| Rudow's Guide to Jigging |
|
Jigging Tips
Rudow's Guide to Modern Jigging is now out! Geared Up announced it's completion this week, and has provided FishingGearGuru.com with an exclusive set of excerpts for you to enjoy. Below, you'll see several Captain's Tips and Anglers Tips from the book, which will improve every jigger's catch rate. Check 'em out - and remember that Rudow's Guide to Modern Jigging includes how-to sections on speed, vertical, meat, yo-yo, and Butterfly jigging, as well as species specific section for everything from stripers to tunas.
Captain’s Tip: Always initiate a turn and remain in forward gear during this maneuver, and do not shift into reverse and attempt to back up on the fish. There are several reasons for this: first off, many captains (myself included), believe that the clunk of shifting into and out of gear repeatedly will scare the fish. (Shift into and out of gear with a bluefin on the line and under the boat, if you don’t believe me—they’ll usually make a nose-diving run for bottom.) Secondly, it’s nearly impossible to back up in a straight line for a long enough distance to get back onto fish you went over at eight knots. It’s also often unsafe, if you’re on a relatively small boat in sizable seas. And finally, on many boats backing up will cause turbulence to pass over the transducer, either blanking out the screen or creating unreliable readings. If that happens, you won’t know when you’re over the fish, anyway.
Captain’s Tip: To locate the thermocline, turn the gain on your fishfinder to manual. Then slowly but constantly increase it, until you get a faint reading somewhere in the middle section of the water column. This is the thermocline; your depth finder can “see” it because different temperature water has different density, and because plankton gathers at the barrier between the two differing bodies of water.
Angler’s Tip: As stated earlier, a mix of jigging techniques should usually be applied to wreck fishing until identifying the tactic that’s working the best at the moment. This will change from day to day and current to current, but one specific aspect should be noted: when it comes to the speed of your jig; regardless of whether you’re vertical jigging or speed jigging, more and faster motion is almost always best when targeting wreck fish. Though it may sound strange, these fish really like to attack a bait that’s trying to flee. You may note that both bass and grouper share similar body, tail, and jaw shapes, and this is because both are ambush predators that rush in with a sudden burst of speed, to suck in their prey. That fast jigging action is often what triggers the burst of speed, and the sudden attack.
Angler’s Tip: If you’re doing the yo-yo while other anglers are bailing relatively small dolphin and the mahi action gets hot and heavy, leave a jig dangling 50’ or so below the boat and sit the rod into a holder. Every now and again a wahoo will slam the jig as it bounces around down, moving with the motion of the boat. If you try this tactic, make darn sure you have a wire trace on the jig to prevent cut-offs.
|