compact tungsten jig Archives - Hawaii Nearshore Fishing

Shh… What the shoreline tungsten jig fishers don’t want you to know.

May 28, 2024 By Scott 2 Comments

About fifty 40g and 60g compact tungsten jigs were sold or given out in the last 2 years to the early adopters. My kayak friends said that the jigs were catching all sorts of fish, but I hadn’t heard back from the boaters and shore jiggers.

Recently, a shore jigging friend placed another order of both the 40g and 60g jigs so I asked him how they had been working. He was initially secretive but said the small, heavy jigs have worked very well when the papio/ulua and other inshore predators were chasing small baitfish.

He fished this past weekend, using the BKK Sea Ranger Plus assist hooks as shown above, and caught and released 2 papio on Saturday but a shark took the next one along with the 40g jig. He switched to a 60g jig and caught and released another papio before the bite slowed.

He fished again on Sunday and caught a few moano but no papio. He reported that his hookup ratio with the BKK assists was excellent.

He offered a bit more hard earned wisdom: the small jigs cut through the wind well and out cast bait and every other lure he could use. There have been times when the small jig have outfished live oama, since the small size looks like nehu/iao and the assist hooks don’t easily snag the reef.

He shore whips with a 10ft JDM rod, Shimano Twin Power 4K, and 15lb braid. He’s landed ulua this way and is trying for his next one. I’d credit him for the amazing photos but he’s trying to do his thing on the down low. 🙂

So I think it’s safe to assume that the other jiggers are quietly catching fish with the heavy micro jigs and they don’t want the word to get out.

You can find the jigs and assist hooks in the Store by clicking this link. Sorry, we only ship to US addresses. Mahalo!

Opelu only attracted sharks so we dropped down to jigs and damashi to find the fish

May 2, 2021 By Scott 2 Comments

Been hearing of ono caught within kayak range on the South Shore so Guy and I went out to the deep to hunt for opelu. Couldn’t find any biters and headed inside 100ft dragging a frozen opelu. Something tapped the bait, then took off on a few sustained runs. I was hopeful but when it slowed and felt heavy, my heart sank. I dropped the Avet SX Raptor into low gear and 20 mins later a 6 ft plus sandbar shark was cut free.

Reef fish were showing from 90ft to 75ft (counting backwards since the drift was toward shore) on the sonar so I broke out the 60gm tungsten jig and hooked something that felt really jerky. A small yellow spot papio came up that spit the jig just as I was about to lift it into the yak.

Guy hooked a yellow spot on a 20lb fluoro dropper rig to add to the nabeta he caught earlier and we worked the area for a while but the bite was really slow. I hooked another yellow spot on the jig that stayed on, and this one was about 10.5″ FL. Nothing else wanted to bite the jig, and my half pieces of opelu were getting yanked off my bait rig armed with big hooks so I put a slice of opelu on the assist hooks of the tungsten jig. Hookup! Something pulled drag and began to do the circles that deepwater fish do. Uku! Small, at 2 to 3 lbs but a fun fight and great size to steam whole.

Guy managed to hook a hagi on a jig and then the bite completely went dead, so we retraced our track to head in. Guy saw some bait balls near the bottom in 100ft of water and I dropped my home made damashi rig with 10lb fluoro and special opelu flies that Robert had tied up for me a couple years ago. Instant hookup and a small kawalea (Heller’s Barracuda) came up but the other damashi hook was cut off.

I dropped the 60gm tungsten jig down and it didn’t get a sniff. Rebaited the solo damashi hook with a CHL Minnow, found the school again, dropped down and hooked another kawalea. Next drop the deep water cuda bit me off and that was it for me. Guy’s dropper rig with 20lb test, geared for the big fish that broke off on previous trips, may have been too heavy for the kawalea this day. They only wanted Robert’s lucky flies.

I gave the uku, yellow spot and one kawalea to my church friend who previously liked the moana I had given her but said the small bones were a little tricky to deal with. The bones on these fish are much easier to locate and remove, and all three are great tasting white meat fish. She steamed the uku whole for her family, fried the yellow spot and is contemplating what to do with the kawalea. 🙂

Compact Tungsten jigs have slayed nearshore and offshore!

March 8, 2021 By Scott 4 Comments

Last summer I requested some Tungsten jigs from two jig manufacturers , and was sent a batch of 60gm test models from the first company. A few months later the second company sent a couple 80gm and 100gm models. Both sets were painted but lacking the tough clear coat to make them puncture proof, and some were eye-less. I had a feeling they’d work, purely due to their small size, and resemblance to tiny bait fish.

The 60gm jigs came through just about every time I tried them off the kayak, catching fish as small as moana, and as large as ulua and kahala. They were so easy to fish because they got down to the bottom quickly, even in current, and didn’t have much resistance as I jigged them back up. As a control, I switched back to a lead jig of the same weight in the middle of a hot bite, and didn’t get a single hit.

These are some jacks that went wild for the compact jigs.

Wanted to see what these jigs could do in the hands of a jigging pro, so I passed a couple of the little 60gm jigs to Capt Erik. One day at the buoys the pelagics were showing on the sonar but not taking trolled lures. Capt Erik and his dad started with larger lead jigs that had caught fish in the past, but those jigs were ignored. So they dropped the little 60gm jig down and KABLAM! Shibi and aku fought over them and the guys had to stop fishing and drive away because they caught enough for their ohana. The tuna had tiny bait fish in their stomachs and the jigs had perfectly matched the hatch.

Thanks for making this video Capt Erik!

Tried the 80gm and 100gm jigs a couple times off the kayak and like them because they are heavier and get down faster when I’m fishing deep but I haven’t landed anything on them yet. I broke off two ulua and unbuttoned what felt like a small uku. These bigger jigs don’t look as eye catching as the 60gm jigs from the first company, but they still hooked fish. All this has convinced me that compact jigs dropped on hungry fish will get bit!

I ordered a small batch of 80gm and 100gm jigs from the first company with a few 60gm jigs thrown into the order. The production finish, with glow in the dark stripes exceeded my expectations. Almost too beautiful to fish, and coated with a tough sealant. I’m selling these at “friends and family” pricing to guys that catch fish and take great pictures. 🙂

Stay tuned to hear how effective those jigs are, from cliff, kayak and boat. Mahalo.

Update: Check out how well the tungsten jigs worked for Coach Haru here!