Jig fishing: Techniques / materials / jigs

We will take stock of the intricacies of jigging. Contrary to what most people think, jigging is no big deal. jig fishing requires excellent coordination of the upper limbs, a good knowledge of the environment and deducing the right choice of jig.

Knowing how to choose your jigs

The weight of the jigs

There are several factors that go into making a good selection of jigs. The first point that will guide you is the weight of the jigs. Because when traveling, one of the big problems is the weight that you can take on the plane. It is therefore necessary to be the most compact and the lightest in its choices.

Your destination will allow you to select the jigs. If for example you decide to go to the east coast of Madagascar, you will have to choose jigs between 200 and 400 grams because it is an area where the current is very strong. It is common to fish with 300grams of jigs in barely 50 meters of bottom.

On the other hand, if you go to the French Caribbean, jigs between 40 and 150 grams are largely sufficient for coastal fishing.

Here is a table which allows in a single glance to optimize the choice of your jigs according to the place where you are going to go on your fishing trip:

-The stream An important factor for jig fishing gives you an indication of the weight of jigs to select. The more "+" the heavier the weight should be!
-The depth : directs you towards the weight, the more there is substance and the more you will increase the weight of the jigs.
-The last part talks about the presence of pelagic fish who have the annoying tendency to cut our lines because of their incredible teeth. The more they are present, the more jigs you will need!

Jig fishing: choose the shape of your jigs

There will be an impact on jig fishing in the choice of the shape of the latter. Some species also have their preferences on this subject. From experience, I would say that amberjack have a tendency to prefer "knife" jigs (long jigs) as they are much more flexible than other shapes.
Personally, I prefer 'teardrop' jigs. They're not symmetrical, but their centre of gravity is very low. This is an advantage when it comes to breaking through the water as quickly as possible to reach the bottom.
There are also perfectly symmetrical diamond-shaped jigs, often used for slow jigging and very effective on all kinds of predators.

Jig fishing techniques

Speed jigging

It is surely the most used jig fishing technique in exotic deep fishing. It is also the most physically demanding. The feeling of being hitched up as you force your jig up and down the balls is just amazing. Personally, I can't do without it anymore, and trevally no more!

The aim of this technique is to let your jig drop to the bottom, then you close the pick-up, and there you have to find the synchronisation between your arm which "shakes" the lure, and your hand which retrieves your braid, so as to make your line "snap" at the surface. If you've got a hundred metres to work with, you'll work your way up for about twenty metres, roughly 20% of the ascent.

Slow jigging

Slow jigging is a much less tiring jig fishing technique which also requires great precision during the various animations. I particularly like the slow-jigging overnight. During this period, marine predators will increase the sense of their lateral line.
For its animation, it will be necessary to wedge the heel of its rod under the armpit, which will allow it to play the role of pivot and to print an important angle to the rod to take off the jig strongly from the bottom and to let it flutter. on the descent. Multiply the gesture during your ascent, and be careful! The key occurs most often during the descent!

Bottom jigging

We practice this technique of jigging in calm waters devoid of strong currents. The goal is to let your jig drag (it must be equipped with an octopus on its assist hook) on the bottom while giving it small jumps. This animation will make the octopus work from top to bottom of the water column (a little on the principle of animating an inchiku). Predatory fish are very sensitive to it, the attack is always targeted on the hook.

Here is a video of a silky shark that comes to intercept a jig during a bottom jigging animation:

The crancking jig

It is a jig technique a little less widespread on the globe, except in certain Asian countries. The goal is to hit bottom, and bring your jig back to the vertical as quickly as possible. Underwater, this action can be compared to a squid fleeing at full speed. Pelagic fish are particularly sensitive to it when they are in schools.

Arming your jigs

There are several ways to cock metal jigs depending on the technique used and the type of spot.
La 1st technique is a montage on "assist hooks. For those who don't know, assists are simple, strong iron hooks mounted on string. The aim is to cock the jig at the head.
IMPORTANT: The leader must absolutely be hooked to the welded ring !!!

What are the advantages?
-Allows you to avoid a lot of addicts when the jig hits the bottom.
-The predator once bitten will have almost no point of support to unhook, if you do not relax the line.

The 2nd technique for jig fishing is to equip your metal jig with a treble hook. In this specific case, it must be connected with a reinforced split ring. Its size must be in line with the size of the jig.
A rolling swivel is strongly recommended at the head of your jig. It must be connected by a broken ring reinforced on the jig. Your line must be connected upstream of the rolling.
What are the advantages?
- In case of addicts on the bottom, the fact of having the overall weight of the jig above your hook, will allow you to unhook easily by shaking your rod in line with your lure.
-Optimal for shoeing fish with light jigs to cast on hunting.

Jig fishing: essential accessories

To practice jigging from a boat, you will need some really essential accessories for your comfort and safety.
- A pair of gloves in special peach leather. These gloves will protect you from dangers while fishing (braid, hooks, fish, thorns etc…).

-The harness is also essential during the long fights that can offer the trevally, dogtooth tunas and other overpowered predators.

• Broken ring pliers will also allow you to change jigs quickly but also to unhook fish in complete safety.

Discover our other articles on exotic fishing: peacock-bass, golden masheer, snakehead,