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| Yes, they're more expensive...but dang if these things don't work! |
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| Jig, Jig, HIT! Shimano Butterfly Jigs
At first I thought this whole Butterfly thin was a sham. How could those marketing guys expect us to believe that these jigs would be any different then the zillions of other metal jigging spoons that preceded them? But, after two full seasons of yanking Butterflies through waters inhabited by striped bass, sea trout, bluefin tuna, sea bass, and even tilefish, I’m a believer: these things work, and they work better than any other chunk of metal I can think of.
Let me get my beefs out of the way first: Butterflies are incredibly expensive. On top of that, I don’t like that they’re sold un-rigged. It leads to confusion about how to properly rig them, and more then once, I’ve seen guys do it completely wrong. But rigged right, they’re killers. What is the correct rig? There’s more than one way to skin this cat. In my experience, in most situations the best way is with a split ring attached to the top of the jig, a solid ring to the split, and a single Owner hook (those with the short length of leader already attached and protected by a heat-shrink tube) to the split ring. I then go against Shimano’s advice by adding a thin wire treble to a split ring, and attaching this to the bottom of the jig. When tuna fishing, the thin wire is replaced with thick stuff that won’t bend out. When jigging for wreck dwellers over snaggy territory—the Butterflies are absolute killers on sea bass—I ditch the aft hook altogether and just use a single Owner up top. That almost completely prevents snags, without putting too much of a hurt on the hook-up ratio. Many anglers like to use two hooks up top, but from what I’ve seen, this does not increase your hook-up ratio one bit, but it does cause a possibility for the hooks to tangle on each other.
Shimano says it’s the shape and weight distribution which causes these jigs to dart from side to side as they’re retrieved, that sets them apart from others on the market. While most metal jigs simply pull through the water in a straight line, (unless you impart motion with your rod,) these do in fact dance. They’re tough, too, and you’ll quickly discover that it’s nearly impossible to bend them (some cheaper jigs are surprisingly easy to bend, especially at the eyes… try it.) Plus, fish don’t chew off the finish, as they do on most lures.
Once rigged, these jigs seem to simply out-fish others when vertically jigged. And when speed-jigging, they definitely do, hands-down (see Speed Jigging: the Hot New Tuna Tactic, in our Tactics section, for more info on speed-jigging.) They come in plenty of sizes and finishes, many of which glow. And, they’re available in heavy enough weights that you can even deep drop with these things. A sham? Heck no, I was wrong—Butterflies are all about “different.”
Price: $16 and up, depending on size.
The Highs: Out-fish similar lures, especially when speed-jigging.
The Lows: Cost twice as much as some competing jigs.
Who Wants It: Anglers targeting bottom and mid-water feeders.
Contact: http://fish.shimano.com
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