Jigs, Jigs, Jigs

July 12, 2021 By Scott 2 Comments

This is what I currently take out on the kayak. All but 3 are tungsten jigs, from 20gm up to 100gm. Jigging is my third option after damashi and bait fishing, so I haven’t had a recent catch on them but when the fish marks on the sonar are active, or the damashi rig gets destroyed, almost certainly the jig will get bit.

(top to bottom) 80gm 2.5″ and 100gm 2.75″ tungsten jigs

The more compact, non-elongated jigs above could easily be fished from shore, if you were casting into deep enough water. A flutter blade makes the jig look even more alive when retrieving diagonally.

We’re finding that the specific jigs work best when they match what the predators are feeding on. When they’re on inshore bait fish and krill the small tungsten jigs work really well.

(top to bottom) Williamson Benthos 100gm, Little Jack 100gm lead jigs

According to Big Island kayak fishers Haru and Shea, when the deeper water fish are chasing opelu, the longer, slender jigs get nailed, and the jig length helps keep toothy fish like ono from biting off the leader.

These two are my only long, opelu looking jigs. The bottom one from Little Jack (JDM) really looks like an opelu (please zoom into the picture), and the top one from Williamson has bevels that are supposed to make it fall and swim enticingly.

Looking at these jigs is making me want to move jigging up to a higher priority! What do you guys think about these jigs? Good shape” Good colors? All but the top two have already hooked fish. Hooked doesn’t equal landing though, when the hookee is an angry ulua.

Hard fighting or great eating, take your pick

November 29, 2017 By Scott 14 Comments

In early November, Capt Erik invited Frank and me to fish on his 16 foot Livingston. The winds were very light and surf was small, so we felt extra blessed and excited to fish areas that would normally be too turbulent. The plan was to start deep (300 ft plus), while the conditions allowed, and work our way in. Erik and I jigged while Frank used the damashi rig to give the bottom critters more menu choices.

Capt Erik put us on spots that produced for him in the past, and while Frank began to bring up small moana, our jigs went untouched except for a phantom swirl that resulted in my Shimano flat side 140 gm lure gone and the leader slightly curled as if the knot got bitten off. Nothing bit for a while after, which made me wonder if I just tied a bad knot and the jig fell off on the way up?

Doubt began to creep in. Maybe the conditions were too calm and the predators weren’t feeding down there? Frank brought up a small nabeta on the damashi as we drifted in shallower, that piqued Erik’s interest. When a large nabeta came over the side, Erik grabbed his light spinner damashi setup and left me as the sole jigger.

Frank landed a jumbo moana, and then Erik hooked something with his damashi that peeled line off his small spinning reel. I pointed my cap cam on the action and we were stunned to see what Erik coaxed up to the surface.

We were in about 140 ft when the damashi bite slowed. Capt Erik announced we’d be moving once our lines were up, and then my jig rod slammed down with authority. I had on the very dependable 2 oz green mackerel Live Deception, and it didn’t let me down. The fish powered towards the bottom as I tried to put the brakes on. I was using my heavier jig setup because I wanted the stiffer tip to spring back as I speed jigged, and was glad I had the Tranx 500 with 60 lb fluoro and 65 lb braid to back me up. You can see how this up and down battle went. Capt Erik filmed the cool underwater sequence and Frank filmed above water with my cap cam. The fish was released tired but unharmed.

We stayed on the spot after the fish was landed and I checked my tackle. The kahala had slightly bent one of the treble’s tines out and I bent it back with my pliers. I dropped the Live Deception down again, and maybe 10 cranks off the bottom something hit it. It felt solid but wasn’t running hard. I wanted Frank to battle something with the big level wind bait caster setup, and I could use a break after the kahala, so I asked him to take over. During that transition, the fish ran parallel to the bottom and if felt like it went in a cave. Frank fought it for 50 minutes. This battle really deserves a post of its own so please look for that sea monster story soon.

The yellow spot papio swimming in air, still trying to throw the jig

After that long battle we took a break for lunch and then Capt Erik drove us inside of the 80 ft mark. Frank reminded me that I hadn’t caught anything to be taken home so I switched to the pink Jigging World jig Erik fishes in the shallows. Sure enough I got a nice hit and a 13.5 inch yellow spot came up. I bled it and iced it down so I could compare it to the delicious yellow spot we caught at the Banks that I turned into poke. Here’s how we did on that Banks trip.

Capt Erik took us way inside to the papas’ edge to show Frank how he uses small poppers and right on command he hooked a scrappy 14.5 inch white papio on light line.

What a perfect day! Everyone got a chance to scrap with some fish and bring home something delicious. The nabeta, weke ula and yellow spot papio are some of the best tasting fish we hope to catch. Big Mahalos to Capt Erik for his relaxing hospitality and for putting us on so many different types of fish.

Stay tuned for the Sea Monster post. We were scratching our heads, wondering what could be so large and heavy and not want to be moved off the bottom. It was definitely a tackle tester.

Product testing in 180 to 500 ft of water

September 7, 2017 By Scott 3 Comments

We definitely were past the “nearshore” boundaries on this outing. I wanted to test some heavy jigs with the Shimano Tranx 400, and Capt. Darren and Rey were kind enough to let me join them. I was wearing a GoPro Session on my cap for the first time, hoping to get decent footage of how the Tranx performed, and of our catches since it would be easier to point the GoPro than to take my phone for a still photo.

Darren fished the traditional methods of damashi with lures, and deploying a bonus line with cut bait. He caught more fish than we did jigging but Rey was a close second with an amazing variety of species caught with his customized vertical jig spinning outfit. I just landed a few fish on my slow pitch jigs, jigged slow and also fast, but the catches were memorable. Out of respect for their privacy I’ll just be talking about my meager catches.

I started with an “inchiku” type jig that had an octopus hanging off a chunk of lead. A small yellow spot papio hit that but the action slowed so I moved on to the new Live Deception jig with UV paint and a stout assist hook off the front eye. The original Live Deception had always caught fish so I was surprised with nothing hit the new one. I switched to the original and didn’t get bit either. I tried other jigs that had worked in the past and still came up empty. An oddball looking white jig with pink stripes got hit as I lifted off the bottom and a hage made it to the surface. That gave me some hope. On the next drop a yellow spot papio hit it on the first lift.

We drifted past 220ft so I went with an 80 gm tungsten jig that was very dense and fell quickly. That got slammed by something bigger as I lifted it off the bottom also. Still, it didn’t feel too big because the Tranx’s smooth drag and big gears. We didn’t measure the white papio but it looked bigger than 7lbs.

Rey was doing really well fast pumping through the water column so I tried a medium – fast pumping retrieve. The slow pitch jigs wouldn’t swim well at this pace so I had switched to a swimming/casting jig from Japan. It was easy to to tell if the jig got bumped as it fell to the bottom, and a turn of the handle engaged the Tranx’s gears. In the video below I’m clumsily lifting and cranking to make the jig shoot up and then slide a bit before shooting up again. A smoother retrieve would have been to life and crank in an exaggerated circular motion.

About 2/3 of the way up I got hit by something with head shakes and frenetic tail kicks. It felt like a small kawakawa but then headed for the bottom with authority. I thought a shark or ulua got it as you can hear on the video. Turns out this same jig had caught a smaller kawakawa on a previous trip.

The 14lb kawakawa was a fun fight but the Tranx 400 had things under control the whole time. The Game Type J rod and Tranx reel were so light and comfortable to fish the whole day. I also had the Tranx 500 on a Shimano Trevala TFC medium action jig rod, but that felt a little bulky for the size fish I was catching. If something big showed up, I was ready to grab it though.

Rey’s unique vertical jigs and refined technique outfished me 3 to 1. My gear and lures were really meant for slow pitching but the fish didn’t want to eat slow pitched jigs that day. The Tranx 400 was plenty fast with 41 inches per crank but the Game Type J rod didn’t spring back fast enough for a heavy, fast jigged lure. In hindsight, maybe I should have used the heavier Trevala jig rod, but the fights wouldn’t have been as fun.

The GoPro head cam wasn’t always pointed where I wanted, and I found out it takes a long time to go through and process the worthwhile clips, but all in all it was a successful equipment testing trip. Much Mahalo to Capt Darren for being so tolerant as I bumbled around the boat, and for Rey to fill in for me when I should have been helping more. I started the day off getting seasick (first time ever) and my back tightened up fighting the kawakawa. That made me even more impressed with how the guys could power through with little sleep on a constantly rocking boat.