With the water so cool now, the offshore pelagic bite has slowed. But bottom fishing and jigging is always productive if you can find the fish. We asked Merik to share his hard-earned boat jigging knowledge with us.

Merik I am an 8th grader in Honolulu HI and an avid fisherman inshore and offshore. In fact I love anything to do with the ocean. One of my favorite types of fishing is vertical jigging, from shore or on a boat. I mainly jig off a boat and it’s one of my favorite things to do.

Overview

There are a lot of factors that come into play while jigging. Depending on what species you’re targeting, the action and style of your jig will reflect that. There are two main types of jigging that can be done, slow pitch jigging and fast jigging. Certain species like biting a certain style of jig and the way it is worked. Slow pitch jigging represents a dying bait fish, while fast jigging represents a fleeing bait fish. When jigging, especially offshore, the way you work your jig based off the fish you’re targeting and the conditions can depict the amount of fish that hit your jig. Just know that there are no rules that are set in stone while jigging and the main thing is that you enjoy doing it so feel free to bend those rules.

Jig Choice

Jig choice is quite important when jigging. The depth, current, structure, and setup can lead to what jig would be best for that situation. Slow fall jigs for example, you want to fish in places with less current, because the slow fall jig flutters on the way down and sways side to side, so when on the boat your jig will drift and will end up having a wider scope and will be more horizontal to the boat. Jigs more geared towards fast pitch jigging you can fish in high current scenarios, and where the drift is moving so that you can get your jig down to the bottom. I have noticed that the fish much more prefer the jig when it stands in a more vertical position rather than a horizontal position. The more vertical you are also increases the falling action on a jig which gives you a higher percent chance of a hit on the fall. Required weight can also depict what your jig of choice is, heavier jigs in deeper and high current scenarios are the likeliest of choice. But if you are willing to stay over your jig, then you can use smaller jigs. I have dropped 60g jigs down 300ft, but the main thing is that you stay over your jig. I typically use 40g jigs in anything 30-100ft, 60-130g jigs in anything 100-250ft, 150-250 in anything 250-600ft and anything more I would go 400g+. But those are not rules and you can drop a 40g jig down 250ft if you want to. I personally just don’t have the patience.

Types of Jigs

There are a few main types of jigs that you have to choose from. There are long jigs, short jigs, flat fall jigs, casting jigs, slow fall jigs, butterfly jigs, and the different in them lies in the shape. Long jigs are normally long as the name mention and they are usually weighted evenly sometimes with a bit more weight on one side. Straight fall is where the jig is completely even on all sides so that it flutters down side ways. You also have casting jigs and fast fall jigs which are much more weighted on one side which give them a straight down fall action or when shore jigging a father casting distance. Lastly are slow fall jigs and butterfly jigs which are designed to flutter on the way down. This is done by having them be unevenly weighted so that they flutter side to side on the fall. Some brands that I liked and used before are Major Craft, Shimano butterfly, Duo International, and Maria. Yet there are many other jigs out there and they all will do the job. I have noticed the way you work the jig makes the entire difference rather than color. 

Working the Jigs

Working the jigs is the most important part in jigging and what I believe is the biggest factor to enticing a fish to bite. Like I mentioned, there are both slow fall and fast fall jigs. Slow pitch jigging with slow fall jigs are completely different from fast jigging. You are keeping your jig close to the bottom, and pitching it up and letting it flutter down. That is supposed to represent a dying bait fish. Fast jigging you want to work faster obviously, simultating a fleeing bait fish. For both I think it is very important to have a small time to pause so that it lets the jig fall. No matter how fast you’re jigging, give your jig time to stop and flutter down, even if it is for a split second because that is when you will most likely get hit. Certain species prefer certain actions. Ulua, omilu, kahala and most Trevally species prefer a fast moving jig as well as all species of tuna, kaku, and Awa Awa. Other species like yellow spots, uku and goats prefer a mid range type of action where your giving it time to fall, yet still pitching the jig at a moderately fast pace. Lastly, for slow pitch I noticed a lot of times you would get fish like nabeta, nunu peke, kagami and hagi. You can still catch all those species with all types of actions. It’s just that I have gotten the most bites from those fish on those types of action. 

Setup

The setup for jigging can vary, but honestly you don’t need those fancy jigging rods like Ocea, Fcl and Zenaq to catch fish. It may help get you more bites and it will be easier to work the jigs, but really they aren’t necessary. The main thing rod wise is that you want something that is easy for you to use and preferably light in weight. 

Reel wise, a nice solid reel should do the job and it should be able to fit a sufficient amount of line and the lighter it is, the easier it is on your arm. But it isn’t the most important factor when jigging. I think that capacity is more important than weight of the line when jigging. You want at least 200 yds on your reel because you may be thinking that a 60lb Ulua isn’t gonna bit a 40g jig, but it has happened to us micro jigging with a 2500 size reel and they are impossible to stop. And if you hook a pelagic jigging, which can happen, capacity will help you land the fish. I would say minimum for boat jigging is PE 1.5 and the maximum is PE 5. You can go higher but the thicker your line is, the harder time it will have cutting through the water. You want thin line so that your line can slice through the water and get to the bottom faster. I usually connect it to mono leader with an FG knot but that’s just because that reel doubles as my whipping and casting reel. But you can use PR knots, GT knot, Albright knot, or whatever knot you find reliable and low profile. I don’t use fluoro because it’s so abrasion resistant, most knots can’t cinch down enough. The weight of your mono is your choice. I do 25lb mono for a PE 1.5 setup, and 60lb mono for a PE 3 setup

Conclusion 

Jigging has quite a lot of factors that come into play, and it may seem like a lot to take in. But 5 years ago when I was first introduced to jigging, watching the guys hand-line jig at the buoys, I didn’t know anything. Me and my dad tried jigging for 5lb aku with a 9/0 penn and a spreader bar (we didn’t catch anything). The main thing is to have fun, and be committed. The more you jig the more you will get a good stroke down and you will then get more bites. The main thing that kept me going was that I was having fun doing it and it was addicting, especially when you got the strike. I didn’t know about any of this when I was jigging at that time, I was doing anykine, but I was catching. There are no rules to jigging, but the main thing is that you enjoy doing it. If I got one hit every trip I was successful. So main thing is that you stay committed and have fun doing it and eventually the bites will come.