John Cahill takes a look into the world of deep jigging and instructs us on how to prepare for battle.
If you have been around fishing circles for any length of time you will have heard of or maybe even had a go at deep jigging. I first cut my teeth on this activity about 10 years ago when first targeting kingfish in southern New South Wales. My early gear was pretty rudimentary but did the trick, at least for the relatively shallow water we were operating and modest but fun kingies we were encountering. I knew the first time that I was completely smashed by a better than average fish and destroyed on the reef below that this was the type of fishing for me; something a little physical and a real game of chance! Now if fishing for you is about relaxing whilst soaking a bait with your feet up this may not be your cup of tea so bare that in mind before you rush down to a specialist tackle shop and stock up on the latest gear.
There is no doubt that a degree of masochism is required for this style of fishing. Take for example the pretty typical scenario of quickly jigging heavy lumps of lead from the depths for hours only to suddenly hook up with some denizen from the deep which then quickly annihilates you despite heavy gear and a locked up drag. You just pick yourself up, rub your weary muscles and re-rig only to do it again! There is of course an upside to all of this madness and seriously, the mid-water jigging takes are something to behold and I’m sure the main reason people get addicted to this caper. The last year or so has seen me lock up in battle with many a critter from the deep in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand so my learning curve has gone through the roof but I certainly don’t profess to know it all. Here are a few of my thoughts on deep jigging – especially setting up right for the caper.
Jigging is a gear freaks paradise!
The basic concept
Jigging in Australian waters revolves around targeting predatory school fish such as kingies, samson fish, amberjack and further afield other tropical thugs such as dog tooth tuna over deep reefs, pinnacles and canyon walls. The only other way to effectively target these fish (if they are holding deep and not rising up in the water) other than jigging is with baits on heavy bottom bashing outfits however this approach is nowhere near as much fun. Pretty much regardless of where you are in the world, once a suitable location to jig is found, or better still a sonar return is received to indicate you are on the fish the boat is positioned to drift over it by the skipper and a depth where the fish are holding is called out.
The jiggers drop their suitably weighted lumps of metal into the water and either stop the descent at the appropriate depth or wait until they impact with the bottom before commencing their ‘vertical jig’ either to near the surface if in shallow water or up 30 or so metres in deeper water before dropping down again. This is the basic program and it’s repeated until you hook up or the skipper calls lines up and repositions the boat. This type of caper can be undertaken in as shallow as about 15 m and well over two hundred. Many different styles are used with jigging but I favour three basic types: mechanical jigging where the rod is pumped up and down rapidly at the same time as the reel is turned to impart a fast stop-start action, flat out speed jigging and longer lifts or rips of the rod tip. Regardless of the style, they all work on their day.
The gear to get in on the fun
Deep jigging is a gear freaks paradise and the market at the higher end is dominated with gear from Japan, plenty of which we never see here locally. The thing about all the specialisation is that it is actually pretty much required if you do any amount of it. You can give the sport a go and try it out with some of your current tackle but it’s likely not to be fit for purpose and you will soon realise it’s short comings but you can get a clue if it’s for you or not. The gear begins with the jig and these will vary depending on the depth you are fishing, the speed of the current, species you are targeting and the type of jig ‘action’ you prefer.
There are three basic jig styles, rear or tail weighted, centre weighted and head weighted (spike) jigs. All have their purpose but in layman’s terms the deeper the water or the stronger the current you need jigs with the weight towards the back end otherwise they tend to flutter away and drop too slowly to be effective. In deep water you want jigs that drop straight down fast without much deviation. I have used jig weights from 80 g way up to 800 g and have seen jigs up to 2 kg in weight but I have no intention of using one! Attached to the jig is a single or in some cases two assist hooks which are specialised short shank hook tied to a length of kevlar cord which is attached via a split ring to the top end of the jig. A mono or fluoro leader for chafing is then joined to the braid or PE mainline and onto your rod and reel combination.
Jigging rods n’ reels
Rods for this caper are usually very short and generally 5’6” or less. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly this design is much less taxing on the angler working a short rod and it helps keep the whole outfit as light as possible, pretty important at the end of a long days jigging. Many would assume this tackle to be extremely stiff but the opposite is in fact the case. These rods have a softish tip and mid-section; they are super bendy through the spine and feature very parabolic curves. This design doubles over effectively however don’t be fooled into thinking they are toys as they have a massive backbone and their size and weight is no indication of their gutsiness – they are built for serious fish. Attached to the rod of course is the reel and there are effectively two ways you can go – spin reel or overhead. A narrow spooled overhead will provide you with an even line lay and less sideways torque when cranking fast. They also provide great boat gunnel clearance and as such are my favourite reels for deep jigging with heavy lead. They are less taxing, primarily because the gunnel clearance allows you to keep the rod tip close to the water when mechanical jigging.
I personally believe spin reels to be better suited to slightly shallower drops, lighter jigs and boats with lower gunnels where clearance for the reel bail arm is assured. Spin reels suit longer rips of the jig than overheads and can be worked effectively from a rod bucket. A lot was made in the past of high gearing for jigging reels and it’s great to have a reel that quickly winds in the slack created by a big lift however the higher the gearing the harder the work when under load so be careful what you wish for! Some of the two speed overheads are worth a look at to get the best of both worlds. Also make sure your reel can handle about 400 m as a minimum of your chosen line class. This is a caper where physics and technology count!
The main line and connections
There is only one line to use and that’s braid or its many derivative names such as gel spun or PE. Quite simply the ultra-thin and low stretch characteristics combined with amazing strength per diameter ratio helps combat one of the deep jiggers greatest enemies – the current. Quite simply the drag on the line as the jig plummets down and the boat drifts along can leave the angler wondering time and again if they have reached the bottom as a big belly of line is created. Very often in this situation of ‘am I there yet?’ you end up with a jig dragging along the bottom with you unaware that you have touched down and predictably a snagged jig is the result.
Due to the strength of the current, line capacity and diameter factors, quite often you need to compromise a little on what breaking strain or PE you are using. Mostly I favour a compromise about 25 or 30 kg (PE 5 or 6) which is damn strong and thin to boot. Multi colored braids are a great investment as they are designed to give a visual indicator of how much line has gone off the reel as they change every 10 m. Without this visual you are guessing. You can imagine the situation of jigging in 150 m of water and the skipper calls a pinnacle at 100 m loaded with samsons! You want to get to that depth quickly and get jigging and without a colour guide you have no idea of where you’re jig is at.
Moving from the mainline to the leader, the knot connecting the two must be 100 per cent with no weakening of the breaking strain by poor knot tying or knot selection for the task. I favour the FG knot for this reason and it’s easy to assemble once you have practiced it a dozen times or so. It also doubles up as the perfect knot for casting applications. You should always use a leader as the terminal end of your gear will be exposed to all sorts of sharp submerged stuff and braid doesn’t cope with being nicked at all. I favour about two or so rod lengths although sometimes this is even a tad short. The temptation is there to use a super heavy mono or fluoro but be careful you don’t overdo it and create a leader that’s stronger than your mainline as a bust off in really deep water may not be on the leader where you want it but halfway up your line You need to keep the whole system balanced.
A perfectly set up assist hook, all you need to do is attach a jig to the split ring and your away.
And the terminals
Now down to the business end of the caper. The terminal end should look something like this – from your leader a uni or chain knot connects your leader to a quality swivel around 2/0 in size and attached to a good and I mean largish split ring such as a size 8 or nine. Open up the split ring with good split ring pliers and add an assist hook or two if you are in less snaggy country and are prepared to go for more hook ups with the risk of snagged jigs. All you need to do now is again open up the split ring and thread on your chosen jig when ready to drop. It also makes changing jig sizes and types extremely easy. If you find that you’re getting hits on the drop but not hooking up it is likely caused by the assist hook being nowhere near the jig on the drop as it will flutter above, this can be rectified by using a rubber band to hold the hook against the jig body and perhaps run a second assist hook loose. Whatever you do, resist the temptation to run a treble hook off the bottom of the jig. Most hook ups will occur on the assist hooks anyway and the trebles are sure to invite more snagged lures.
Happy jigging but possibly book in a visit with your physiotherapist first!
Many tropical tasties like jigs, Jason Taylor displays a tasty coral trout.
