Small intro to jigging!

[skip]

Back in 2008 I tried to entice forum members with jigging/popping, both popular techniques that orginated from Japan and that were and still are widely practised in the USA. It didn't seem to generate much interest but I remember speaking to Josef of Mister Fish and well it wasn't long before he geared himself up and filmed it! Lucky for him he caught a very nice fish whilst jigging and all of a sudden jigging has become the new local buzz-world!!

So, if you want to get into jigging what do you need to know and what equipment do you need to purchase.

Well no different to any other fishing style you need to match your budget to the type of fish and size you intend to target, because trust me guys you can spend a little or a small fortune on a good jigging set-up.

With the exception of reels which can be a little more versatile, the rod seems to be the most crucial component!

Jig Weight Range

Start off by selecting a jig weight range, light jigs tend to be in the 50-100g range, medium jigs in the 125-200g range, medium heavy 200-350g and then the heavy jigs in the 350-500g mark. Apparently on a day where the currents aren't going ballistic, 100g = 100 foot of water. So inshore you're good up to 130g jigs, medium water 150-250g and then deeper water of where the current is strong like the west coast 250-400g

I am by no means any kind of jigging expert nor have I had time to read around the subject in great detail, but I know we have some jigging masters lurking around on the forum so maybe we can entice them to post a few pieces of advice and guidance.

I would be inclined to head for the medium or medium heavy range, depending of course what depth of water you intend to fish in based on where you think your target fish may be. The medium range is good to around 200ft it seems, after that you need heavier jigs to get your lures down and maintain their action. As you can imagine the heavy jigs are for deep jigging, or high currents on the west coast.

Jigging Rods

So you've selected your jig weight range and now you need to find a rod designed for jigs in that range. The rod like most other rods will have a rating, but because jigging orginated from Japan where they use a different system for rating their rods, you might find the rod line weight rating referred to as PE3-5, or PE 4-8. Whilst not exact as a guide you can say that :

PE3- 40 lbs
PE4-55 lbs
PE5 - 70lbs
PE6 ? 80 lbs
PE8 ? 100 lbs
PE10 ? 120 lbs
PE12 - 150 lbs

Good jigging rods tend to be around 5.8 - 6 feet going up to around 6 feet 6 inches. Interesting the Shimano JigWrex B526 (overhead) which is a PE6 300g rod is apparently only 5 foot 2. Bigger than that and you're then looking at popping rods that are 7ft - 7.7ft or so.

You'll find some jigging rods in 2 pieces with the better more expensive ones being 1 piece......as jigging gets the angler very involved is quite a physical workout, the best rods are all carbon and very light, but also fragile. You tend to find a mix of carbon and glassfiber as a compromise.

Do your research on the net and be guided accordingly as no one can say for sure what will be best for you. Names to research, Shimano - JigWrex, Ocea Blue Rose, Speedmaster AX, Boatmaster AX, Trevala, Trevala F (some of these are US based or Japanese based models which you might not find in Europe. Okuma Cedros.

Specialist Japanese brands Zenaq, Xzoga, Maria, Jigging Master and the excellent and well priced Vfox rods.

Jigging Reels

When it comes to reels, don't let anyone kid you.....spinning style or overhead conventional is a matter of preference. Due to the complexities involved with spinning reels and the 90 degree turns involved in the gears, you are likely to pay alot more for a very good spinning reel that can be used for jigging than you are for an overhead.

High end jigging spinning reels, Shimano Stella SW 10K-20K, mid to high Shimano Saragosa and Twinpower (look for the PG - power gears), and then your mid and mid-low being things like the Shimano Stradic, Penn 850ssm, Shimano Spheros FB, Okuma Cedros, and then the cheaper Shimano reels.

One of the best conventional overhead reels is the Japanese model Shimano Ocea Jigger 4000P a favourite amongst many hardcore jigging fans. It US cousin, very similar but not quite the same is the Shimano Trinidad TN-40N (N standing for narrow spool) which can be picked up for around ?250 versus the Jigger 4000P at around ?345.

Have a look at the Narrow spool trinidad range, you won't be disappointed. Daiwa also make some overhead jigging style reels like the Saltist and Saltiga but it seems from reports on the net that they don't exert that much drag pressure and you need to upgrade them a bit to perform, but they are certainly very well priced.

You don't have to buy a dedicated jigging reel, if you've already got one and want to save money, something like the lightweight Shimano TLD15-25 can be used for jigging even though most people potentially use them for trolling. The TLD-15 being the preferred model as the larger TLD's have a lower gear ratio.

You're looking for a reel in the 4.0 - 5.0 gear ratio, with 4.7-4.9 considered to be very popular and a best fit scenario. The key is having strong gears, a good ratio and a reel that is happy to be spooled up with braid/spectra (Daiwa Boat Braid Multi colour, Momoi, Suffix, Power Pro, Berkley Whiplash, Spiderwire Stealth etc)

Jigging Line and Terminal Tackle

Spool the smaller reels with 40-50lbs spectra, and the larger ones with 50 or 80lbs respectively, bearing in mind that the PE ratings on jigging rods are specifically aimed for braided lines and not for mono. If you want to go a bit further get a multicolour braided line which changes colour every 10 meters, but be prepared to pay a premium over standard though it's very useful for knowing how far to drop your jig down.

How long your flurocarbon leader should be is again up to you....some people like a short 6 foot leader, other prefer 5-10 meters, but always match your leader to the fish you are targeting, and adjust if you're fishing where the bottom structure is likely to cause your jig to snag. Remember if anything you want your leader to break and not your expensive spectra mainline.

Rob in the forum I believe suggested a good swivel on the end of the leader, connected to a split ring and the lure and assist hook connected to the split ring, which seems to be a popular rigging method.

The actual jigs are up to you like another other lure, Shimano have a whole Butterfly jigging system for example.

Buying

If you don't want to shop from the US sites or US based ebay stores, nor from the East, Malaysia, Taiwan etc, I came across this European site based in Spain that might be of help as they seem well equipped with quite a vast range for jigging: http://www.subprof.com/tienda/index.php?catID=4

And of course check out your local fishing tackle stores and see what they're offering.

Good Luck!

Hope this helps, like I said this is certainly not a definitive guide, and I am by no means any kinda of Pro when it comes to jigging, but I will be giving it a good go this summer!!

Thanks to the guys who've given me advice along the way, one in particular who prefers to remain un-named it seems

Skip

[ramio]

Well done Skip and contributers. A very good intro. I see this year as one with a lot of people starting jigging.

[benri]

great write up Skip... Now all we need is the fish!

[suffrun]

very informative and interesting to read. Might consider trying out this methode comes summer!

[Gazzetta]

If someone might be interested in getting some stuff from the link skip posted at the end, we can do a bulk order.
Loads of tackle at good prices.

Chris 

[skip]

I want to add to this that after trying out some jigging sessions here is what I can recommend based on my own feedback for jigging in up 60-70meters of water:

Rod - Good rod in the 100-250g range
Reel - 8000 size would be best
Line - 40-55lbs braid
Jigs - 150g to 250g with suitable sized hooks.

As someone else pointed out here, I don't think you need more than an 8000 size reel for most of the jigging one might do provided you're not targeting fish more than 15kgs.....that type of rod and reel (especially one with PG power gear) will be well suited.....but if you repeatedly hit into fish that size or bigger you're going to over stress the components.

I was a big fan of the 18K size but they really are big reels which you should ideally be using on rods in the 250-350g range when targeting big fish which let's be honest most of us won't be lucky to be doing on a regular basis.

Much better to spend money on a good quality 8000 size reel that stretch your budget....

[benri]

What is the best way to connect the leader to the split ring and jig please?
I mean do you connect a snap swivel to the leader and clip it to the split ring?
or maybe do you attach a swivel to the split ring and then attach it to the snap swivel on the leader (making it 2 swivels)?

[clutch_kick]

Benri, don't use snap swivels in Jigging, it's close to suicide. A Barrel swivel of the right weight range should be used.  Use split ring pliers to fit a split ring onto the swivel.  The Jig and assist hook will go onto the split ring.

Be conservative, if you are using a leader of 60Lb, then use an 80lb swivel and a 100lb split ring.  Just to keep your mind at rest from manufacturing defects.

[OKUMA-1976]

a very good introduction to jigging''' nick

just wish to add the rod and reel will be exposed to a lot of stresses during a jigging session so go for especially a dual drag reel (spinning) and check out that the reel handle is a comfortable one.

[MartinB]

Benri, don't use snap swivels in Jigging, it's close to suicide. A Barrel swivel of the right weight range should be used.  Use split ring pliers to fit a split ring onto the swivel.  The Jig and assist hook will go onto the split ring.

Be conservative, if you are using a leader of 60Lb, then use an 80lb swivel and a 100lb split ring.  Just to keep your mind at rest from manufacturing defects.

Agree 100% or you can use this type of link between the swivel and jig
http://www.utopiatackle.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/402.jpg
You can get them in a big variety of lb/kg strength.I haven't been using them all that long but they have been great so far,strength wise & lure changing is a snap with them    Tbh e-fisher introduced me to them as they use them alot in italy for jigging and shore spinning.
That being said i used the split ring and then straight to lure method,that clutchkick explained above for a long time and it works great! The biggest advantage of these clips are its easier to change over lures/jigs...good for when the fishing is slow and you end up trying the whole lure box..or is that just me?!    

[clutch_kick]

I use those type of clips for spinning.  I use the Jackclips from utopia tackles.

Wouldn't trust clips for jigging though, you never know when the big one will hit.

[MartinB]

Well they go up to about 80lb breaking strength,and like i said they def. use them in italy on big AJ's,and certainly they do support a decent ammount of dead weight without failing,at least on the test i did on them before they finally 100% convinced me...but i think i see where your coming from..and that is if you don't have 100% faith in them you don't use them...im the same way  .Im on the fence personally re these though,as I think a swivel or a split ring could just as easily fail..

[skip]

On the split ring issue it's a personal preference but from what I read on the US forums, they prefer to use bigger split rings to prevent the solid ring from working it's way around and opening up the split ring which it seems can happen quite often. As for the solid rings, totally round and not oval/flattish to reduce the likeliless of it opening up.

[benri]

emmm...... from the above it looks much more than just buying ready-made assist hooks
thanks guys for your opinions!

[baghira]

I have been trying this jigging lately with a success rate close to 0 %.
We succeded to land a 12cm serran :-) !!!! Luckily it was still alive and it has been released.
I am now appreciating the expenses it involves compared to my traditional way of fishing (apnea).
It is true that we incur into very expensive equipment like suits, computers etc but loosing jigs, braid, floro, split rings, hooks etc. regularly is very irritating