Jigging for dentex / denci

[cukito1988]

I've lately been going vertical / butterfly jigging for dentex and havent had any luck what so ever and i'm a 100% sure the fish are there. I have even used fluorocarbon leaders 0.80mm and 0.60mm to no avail.

Is there a specific colour / length / weight the jig should be as i've heard they are cunning fish.

Any tips would be kindly appreciated

[shanook]

jigging is fairly new to the Maltese islands and its not easy to get advice. Just keep trying and learn. I have tried jigging but its a matter of hit and miss. The fish arent that abundant that you can ascertain a catch. Its a matter of luck (ask Camkev he might refer you to his archangel).

[skip]

Sometimes they are there but won't be in a feeding mood like today......very frustrating but we did end up with a nice 4kg Dentex.

Leader size looks good.......aim for maximum 60m water depth so a 150-210g jig or thereabouts, then have a collection of lures, knife style, shorter ones, Blue/Pinks, Orange, Green etc with the usually silvery bits all over them.

it's hard work makes for a good workout.....

[camkev]

Shannook,you cursed me  ax ili ma naqbad huta sura

[Granitu]

if you expect that with jigging you will have always many big caches i think you are on the wrong line of thought skip!

be happy you have managed a dentex, i know a lot of people who are doing jigging sessions for a year without catching any fish or very few!!!!!!!!

having a good spot for jigging is essential in my opinion. But not enough, if they don't want to bite, you won't manage. but having some consideration for fish like cervjol, which grow into amberjack is also something which we need to take care of... cervjol in their juvenile life are easy to catch, but we have to take enough fish for personal consumption only. such method, which is getting populaR, but is increasing the risk of depleting stocks of dentex and ajs-amongst the most targeted. 

In my opinion: the small ones that we catch are the big fish of the future, just remember that, and search for trophy fish with jigging and not cervjol.

release small ones in the respect of the sea and the excess that won't go for an eating. i.e. you manage a 1kg dentex(a small fish for a dentex)- you can release it. don't fish and think for today, think of a tomorrow with loads of fish- let's change the attitude guys!!!!!!!!

a jig is not a mackerel or a sardine, no scent at all... remember that too

bdw well done for the fish. any photos??

[skip]

As this is not something I usually catch because I never caught any trolling, what would you therefore say is the minimum size to keep a Cervjol/small AJ? The ones we caught were all min 1kgs as the few smaller ones we caught we released.....And whilst we caught 27 between three people albeit it with one rod, the fish were shared out.....4 (one each) went to the guys fishing on the moll at Bugibba, three went to a friend who helped us when we pulled out the boat and the others we shared evenly and ate!

The guy who caught the Dentex has been jigging for the past couple of years and I would rank him very high in the list of Malta's top jiggers.......who btw you won't find on any local forums because having the right spots is so important, as well as technique and equipment.

No picture of the dentex for two reasons.......when it was caught and I had my camera but we were hoping to catch more and in the rush didn't take any pics.....it then went into a bag unfortunately we didn't have ice and when we finally unloaded at the garage it needed rinsing and cleaning up and for those who know me and that I don't really like touching fish (yes yes have a good laugh at my expense!) I didn't feel like holding it. But SimonG, Baghira and Seahunter saw it as they came across us as we were returning home.

[Seahunter]

But SimonG, Baghira and Seahunter saw it as they came across us as we were returning home.

Yes, it was a beautiful fish! 

[Granitu]

skip relatively true what you are saying, especially if considering the poor maltese waters(in terms of fish and size) . glad you ate them, they are delicious. but what we sometimes tend to ignore is that having richer seas involves sacrifices, not that i expect that you begin with it but it is worth a mention

observe why countries in the med have good sea ares with dwindling stocks of ajs. how come? because they preserve the juvenile, is one of the reasons. it is not your fault or anyone fishing, it is those who set the law.

just a 2cent anyways, such system is productive for trophy fish, so i prefer trophy fish. i get the feeling of your rush, it is a beautiful feeling . 1 prefer 1 dentex of 4 kgs rather than 27 ajs of 1kg each. an opinion anyways

this is not an easy topic and very controversial and in any way i want to harm anyone's feelings, but we always talk about taking fish, we tend to forget the chance of living. this is a 2 way channel and not one way i.e. we have to give and take- nothing personal to you or anyone hit with the jigging mania, well HAVE FUN WITH CONSIDERATION FOR THE FISH you keep

[baghira]

I confirm.
Beautiful fish.

[skip]

That's what we're here to do on the forum, discuss everything openly and get different opinions and viewpoints, whether it's on equipment and technique or indeed preserving our fish stocks.....

I have to be honest with myself and everyone, it was such a rush hooking up those fish and the first time every jigging that it didn't cross my mind that a 1kgs small AJ is still on the smallish size, though I happily released the ones that came up that were smaller.

This is like my views on Alungi which I know that not everyone shares.....they are pretty easy to catch relatively speaking if you come across them, but in all honesty once you have 3-4 6-10kgs fish on board there is no need to keep landing more. You can't sell them and for those that do if you're caught good luck to you, might end up costing your boat or a big fine. And once you've been out on a few trips and landed 3-4 fish your freezer is pretty much full! I will definately be adopting more of a catch, photo/video and release with Alungi this year......1 fish per person on the boat for consumption and then release the rest.

With the AJs being smaller fish they are easier and take less room to freeze and then consume but I totally agree that going after that trophy fish or 4kgs+ Dentex or AJ would be 100x better. The more you get the more selective you get about what you choose to keep at least that's my reasoning.

I'm still amazed that on a 150g Jig with a 5/0 we still hooked into small fish no bigger than 25cm which went straight back in with me looking at it thinking you greedy b***ard that jig was bigger than you!!

[Granitu]

yes very true, in summer i will be dedicating some time to this technique(first spear-fishing he he he) since holidays permit me to fish on a 5 day week(i work on part time basis he he he-on weekends=perfect)

we are here to learn, including me, myself i learn a lot from many of these aspects too.

it is humoristic that fish are so greedy and naive at times, sometimes i feel foolish that fish like dentex do not get near to an aspetto and then attack a jig........... but for cervjol there is another method of jigging called kabura but the system of fishing is different

[fisheye]

After following this healthy discussion one would think about doing some suggestions regarding the alungi competion. Maybe it is stupid but what if there will be a minimum size of fish stipulated, lets say 15kg or 12kg up will be eligible to count for the total fish caught. Fish smaller than that have to be reliesed if possible, any videos of catch and reliesed can be rewarded by putting them on the forum. It will olso give us some good name too. 

[skip]

There are many things that can be done for the comp, but first and foremost we need to have our first successful event. The bottom line is that not everyone shares the same opinions and doing a comp with 2 boats isn't a comp, if you catch my drift.

At 12-15kgs you'd also have virtually no fish at all at the weigh in, those are very big for Med Alungi

[shanook]

There is another aspect when Alungi grow bigger 12/15kg they tend to be loners and dive deeper so more difficult to catch. Thats a good way for preserving the species.
If there are sponsors for the competition that can cover the fuel for the trip which for me runs in the 75/100 Euro then I will gladly let go all the fish caught, if not I keep as with the price of fuel its not a joy ride as it used to be so it might be a one of or maybe two trip in a season.........compared to 2 trips a week.
Any takers to sponsor?!?!?!?!?! come on hands in pocket

[SPITEC]

You are going out of subject guys this should be a topic about jigging!