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Hot Jigging Tips for Fresh and Salt Water

July 26, 2017 By JD Leave a Comment

Spooning (aka: “jigging”) is one deadly technique for ocean salmon, halibut, yellowtail and rockfish, along with trout, landlocked salmon, striped bass and walleye in freshwater.

While it’s a super easy technique to learn, there are some little twists and tweaks that can help you take your jigging to the next level. If you’re game, read on!

RIGGING UP & THE BIG SECRET
For spooning, you want a rod that’s got some oomph in the lower two thirds – so you can muscle fish out of deep water and also move the spoon. But it should also have some give in the tip so that a fish can suck down your spoon and not feel too much resistance. Casting gear is the only way to go, as it’s really hard to make subtle adjustments with spinning tackle.

Inhaled! Stripers and rockfish love the P-Line Laser Minnow!

I like a baitcaster with a high-speed retrieve (above 7:1) if I’m working deep water, or a lower speed, more torquey model when trying to wench big fish out of the rocks. When it comes to line, keep this in mind: braid…braid…braid. There’s no other choice for jigging. Braided line has a slim profile so it is less subject to current drag, has no stretch (great for deep water), and is super durable and very sensitive.

Now, here’s the super top secret rigging tip I can throw at you to make your jigging much more effective: Run a heavy mono leader – the heaviest you can get away with without spooking the fish. For example, I’ll run a 10- to 15-foot section of 40-pound when jigging mackinaw. The lakers rarely get over 15 pounds where I fish, so it’s not the strength of the line I’m looking for but the thick diameter. The heavy line acts almost like a parachute for the lure, slowing it’s fall and thus making it flutter more enticingly. You’d be amazed how much of a difference this makes!

If you’re trout fishing in a lake, 20-pound seems to do the trick and I’ve gone as heavy as 60 plus when in the ocean.

SPOONS
When it comes to choosing a spoon, there are several things to consider. What does the natural forage in the area look like? In most cases, I try to “match the hatch” as much as possible and use the jig that best matches the profile and color of the local baitfish. When deep bodied fish like shad or sardines are the main menu items, I’ll go with a spoon like the Revenge or a Blade Runner Spoon. The Livingston EBS Spoon with Electronic Baitfish Sound is a good one at times, too.

But if narrow baitfish are what the fish are dining on, a slender jig like a [easyazon_link identifier=”B003D93PVG” locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]P-Line Laser Minnow[/easyazon_link] or [easyazon_link identifier=”B000LF03QU” locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]Hopkins Spoon[/easyazon_link] will get the job done.

Silver or white are great all-around colors as most baitfish have some sort of shiny hue to them. However, when I’m bouncing rock piles for rockfish and lings, I’ll often switch to a darker lure – something brown, dark green or black – to match the myriad of juvenile rockfish that inhabit these areas.

In freshwater, the same concepts apply. I’ll go with a wider-bodied spoon when threadfin shad are the primary baitfish and then use a more streamlined model when the fish are eating pond smelt. Kokanee are a bit of a wild card and they seem to prefer spoons with bright fluorescent finishes like hot pink, flame red and chartreuse.

As far as weight goes, you want to use the lightest lure you can get away with. It’s pretty simple: the lighter the lure, the more flutter you get. And of course, the more your spoon is flashing like a wounded fish, the better!

Swap the Hooks!
The majority of all jigging spoons come standard with treble hooks but I’ve never been all that fond of them. Taking a tip from the tropical saltwater guys, I started testing [easyazon_link identifier=”B000B5A5ZE” locale=”US” tag=”fiwijd-20″]assist hooks[/easyazon_link] out and have gone all in with them. If you’ve never heard of assist hooks, let me explain. They’re a single hook attached to a short length of cord that is fastened to the top eye of the spoon (yes, the top!). Some folks run two hooks up there but I’ve found one works great. I have to admit that a jig looks strange with the treble removed and the hook at the top, but they are deadly.

Assist Hooks look funny but they work!

Assist hooks are also much easier on the fish and are usually buried right in the corner of the jaw – not down in the gills. They’ve also been a godsend for me when jigging deep like I do for mackinaw at places like Lake Tahoe. So many times I’ve dropped a jig all the way down to 120 feet, only to have the lure flip and the treble wrap around the line just above the knot. Talk about frustrating! But that never happens with assist hooks!

Technique
One basic concept to keep in mind when spooning is: use your wrists, not your elbows or shoulders. Most of the time the best jigging motion is, with the rod tip angled towards the water, a quick upward snap of the wrist and then you allow the tip to fall back towards the water. There’s a fine line here – the lure will have the most action as it falls on a slack line. However, most strikes come as the lure is on the drop, so if you have too much slack in your line, you will miss a lot of bites.

The best way to describe it is, let your lure drop on a “controlled” fall in which you keep a little tension on the line. That’s where trouble comes in when the elbows and shoulders get involved – too high an upward stroke and you’ll almost assuredly have loose coils of line on the water, which translates into a lot of undetected strikes.

Yellowtail on light jigging tackle are a blast!

Bites can be slight “ticks” to outright arm yankers, but most are fairly subtle. For that reason, it’s a good idea to also watch your line where it enters the water. If you notice any slight hesitation or direction change, set the hook immediately!

One final note on technique: Try to keep your presentation as vertical as possible. The lures work best when presented straight up and down over the fish and you’re less prone to snags that way. If the current or wind is pushing the boat along so quickly that you have a pretty good line angle going, either reel up and drop again or try a heavier lure.

Filed Under: Saltwater, Techniques Tagged With: halibut, jigging, rockfish, Salmon, spooning, stripers, trout

A better way to spoon: Assist Hooks

January 12, 2013 By JD 4 Comments

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One of the things that drew a lot of interest from the big crowds at my striper seminars the past couple days at the International Sportsmen’s Expo was the way I rig my jigging spoons.

We had a lot to cover in one short hour so I didn’t linger too long on this subject. If you missed it, here’s a closer look:

I simply remove the stock treble and replace it with an Owner assist (size depends on the size of the spoon).

These hooks come with a looped end so all you do is run it through the line attachment eye and loop it back over the hook…Done!

Soon, I will do a full blown post on striper spooning but for now, I’ll tell you that this rigging style is more snag resistant, never flips over and hooks the main line on the fall and is easier on the fish (fewer gill hooked fish). Give it a try!

Filed Under: Bass, Stripers Tagged With: assist hook, jig, jigging, spooning

Mackinaw Jigging 101

May 10, 2009 By JD 13 Comments

Wireline trolling with heavy tackle has long been the staple for mackinaw anglers in deep water lakes like Tahoe, and while it’s extremely effective, the technique isn’t always the most exciting way to catch fish. I much prefer jigging on light bass gear.

Not only do you get to feel the grab, but you also get a lot more spot out of the fish.

Rigging Up

Mackinaw on boat deckAnother cool thing about jigging is you don’t need a lot of sophisticated gear (besides good electronics). I like to fish with 6 1/2- to 7-foot casting rods rated for 8- to 15-pound line. You need enough backbone to be able to set the hook in deep water, but a sensitive tip so you can feel the bite – which, by the way, often come as the lure is falling. Some good ones to check out include the Fenwick HMG 7’2″ Medium and, if you want the nicest rod on the planet (be prepared to pay, however) the Douglas X-MATRIX DXC715F is so nice, light and sensitive it almost should be illegal!

Disclosure: When you purchase a product through one of the Amazon links you find on this site, I get a very small commission – there’s no extra cost to you. I only highlight products that I have used and believe in. By using these affiliate links you can help me keep this website up and running. More info here.

Pair these rods up with a low-profile bait caster like the Shimano Curado 200 DHSV which has a 7:1 retrieve rate, which makes cranking up from 100+ feet all the faster. There are times, however, when a line counter reel will get you down to the right depth when the fish are suspended. It’s a little slower on the retrieve, but the Abu Garcia Ambasseduer 5500 LC is the way to go.

I run 20-pound PLine TCB braid on my reels – braid is a must when fishing deep because of its sensitivity and lack of stretch. Of course, you need a leader between the braided line and the lure. In off-color water, go with the heaviest line you can. In clear waters, I go with 12- to 20-pound PLine CFX Fluorocarbon. As far as leader length goes, run 3-4 feet in darker lakes and up to 15 feet in clean waters.


I like jigs in the 1- to 4-ounce range, depending on water depth and wind conditions. For mackinaw, my top three color patters have always been silver, white and chartreuse. I like to  remove the stock hooks on most of my jigs and replace them with assist hooks. These babies have a better hook-up ratio, snag less and don’t wrap around the line when you drop your tip too quickly (like trebles tend to do). They also usually snare fish in the top of the jaw or the corner – nice safe hook placement if you plan on releasing fish.

There are tons of models to choose from out there. I like Crippled Herring, Hopkins Shorties, Bomber Slab Spoons and, when I have the time, I’ll make my own with a lead mold… which saves tons of cash.

Jigging Motion

Drop your lure down to the bottom (or just above suspended fish, if you see any) and then use your wrist to impart subtle hops — avoid jerking the rod towards the heavens.

All you need is a quick snap of the tip and it should only travel about 1 foot up. Be sure to keep some tension on the line on the drop so you can feel those bites. Like I said before, most fish eat the lure as it falls… and if you drop too quickly, you’ll miss out on a ton of grabs.

I run an electric motor on the bow of the boat to hold me in position over fish — and also to slow the drift down if the wind is blowing. A little breeze is a good thing…it allows you to cover some ground. Generally, I’ll start shallow and let the wind or motor push me out over the edge of a drop, working the bottom as we go.

Fish on!

Fish on!

Finding Fish

A good graph is your best friend is this department. Look for macks to hang on or near the bottom most of the time. They’ll key in on structure: points, flats, rock piles and, most often, break lines where shelves drop off into deeper water. I start out in 50 feet of water early on and then progressively work out deeper as the sun comes up. You can get macks as deep as 400+ feet, but I rarely go below 200 just because I don’t like the time it takes to get down and back from the bottom.

In this shout, you can clearly see a school of macks sitting on a break

In this shot, you can clearly see a school of macks sitting on a break

In this shot, there are mackinaw sitting suspended and on the bottom along the dropoff

Here, there are mackinaw sitting suspended and on the bottom along a dropoff

Prime Time

It’s been my experience that mack jigging is typically best from first light until about 9 a.m. on sunny days.  There are days that they bite better midday – especially during full moon periods and when the water is dark. If you mark a bunch of fish but can’t get bit in the a.m., give ‘er a rest and try again just before dark. I’ve had some great evenings of mack fishing on days when the morning bite was as dead.

Fat mack

Filed Under: Trout & Kokanee Tagged With: fish finder, How-to, jigging, lake trout, mackinaw, Techniques

Shallow Water Rockfishing

September 6, 2008 By JD 4 Comments

Rockfishing doesn’t have to be just about the meat. Instead of dragging bloated, bug-eyed bottomfish up from 50 fathoms, try busting out some bass gear and hitting the shallows…it’s a blast!

And it’s not just fun…shallow water rockcoddin’ is also very productive. In fact, some of the best fishing you’ll find these days for lings and assorted other rockfish takes place near the beach, away from where the commercial draggers and big party boats fish.

Click here to read more…

Filed Under: Best of FishwithJD, Saltwater Tagged With: jigging, light tackle, lingcod, rockfish, Saltwater, saltwater fishing

Jigging for Kokanee

August 8, 2006 By JD 24 Comments

Jigging for Kokanee

Late in summer, kokanee salmon start to get edgy. With spawning season not too far off, the fish get all bunched up into tightly-packed schools, and in those close quarters, the salmon become aggressive. And, that, my friends makes them particularly susceptible to one of my favorite kokanee techniques: jigging.

While trolling is, bar-none, the most popular way to catch kokanee, there are times when jigging is the way to go – especially in late summer.
Click here to read more…

Filed Under: Trout & Kokanee Tagged With: jigging, kokanee salmon

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