Vertical Jig Fishing

Vertical Jig Fishing

Follow Which Leader?
leader spools Leaders can be a contentious issue. Cummings is particular about using long leaders, whether they're 40-pound fluoro for stripers or 80-pound for bluefins.

"I feel you need a much longer leader than most anglers routinely use," he says. "I'll start with a 25-foot wind-on leader and fish it until it gets down to 18 or 20 feet.

"I don't know what happens, but there are times when we should get bit and we don't. We change the leader, and boom, there it is. There is some relationship between the jig and the resistance of the leader."

Secrest approaches things differently. "I seldom use more than 6 or 8 feet," he says. "My leader is 60-pound nylon mono for rockfish, 80 for general use, and I'll use 100- or 150-pound fluoro for tuna. I want to be able to put a couple of wraps around the reel spool with the fish at the boat. The length of the leader does not matter if I have the right rod for the size of jig I'm fishing."

Hook Peculiarities
Unlike traditional jigs, which are built on hooks, speed jigs are fished separately from their hooks. The leader is tied to a welded ring, and jigs are fastened to that with a split ring. Assist hooks, rigged by hook manufacturers on Kevlar or cable leads, are girth-hooked to the same welded ring.

This configuration allows the jig to swing freely as it is worked through the water column, and when the strike takes place, the fish is hooked by a single hook or paired assist hooks, and the jig hangs free. It's an action thing, says Cummings: "You want that jig independent so there is no drag or resistance on it." Everything goes on the solid ring that is fastened to the leader. "Even the highest quality split rings will open," he says. "I have landed a lot of tuna and not gotten the jig back."

Cummings offers a couple of deviations in hook configuration. "Usually I use one assist hook instead of a pair," he says. "I've found my hookup ratio is not compromised, and my landing rate seems better." He also ties his own assist hooks, opting for a shorter lead than what is available in pre-rigged hooks. "I make them just long enough to loop to the welded ring, instead of letting them reach the bottom of the jig," he says. "My hookup rate seems better, and it is a lot easier to handle the unhooking at boat-side with a shorter lead."

Comments (3) Post A Comment

from C.O. Jones on 09.04.12 at 12:41AM ET.

This is an excellent article that includes everything a beginer should know about vertical jigging to determine if it's for them and, if so, start the practical end of learning it. Very thorough and varied in ways, means, techniques and opinions. Kudos to the writer.

While, "The truly versatile metal jigs continue to be tail-hooked..." is a very valid point, vertical/butterfly jigs are also every bit as versatile and effective.

Asians have been fishing for more hundreds, if not thousands of years than most current western cultures combined and, through globalization, of which I am not necessarily always a fan, we'll likely eventually learn many more ways to catch fish from them than we ever thought existed.

That having been said, butterfly jigs can also be tail-hooked, as I have tried them that way and they work just fine. I have also found butterfly jigs already manufactured and sold with both, a single tail hook and a treble hook instead of one or two forward assist hook(s).

I too, make my own assist hooks and I outfit my vertical jigs in the following manners at different times, depending on circumstances:

* One front assist hook;
* Two front assist hooks;
* One tail treble hook;
* One tail assist hook:
* One or two front assist hooks with one tail assist hook;
* One or two front assist hooks with one rear treble hook.

They all work at the proper place and time, just as do those, "...truly versatile metal jigs.." Cpt. Pete talked about.

Wow! I could write a book on the subject!

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from D.man (not verified) on 01.15.12 at 6:39AM ET.

Very informative and helpful, thanks a lot for the info

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from Capt. Pete on 12.23.11 at 1:06AM ET.

The truly versatile metal jigs continue to be tail-hooked Crippled Herrings (Luhr Jensen/Rapala) and Kandlefish (Yellow Bird Products). They can be cast, vertically jigged, swim jigged, speed jigged and trolled. Try catching salmon on the nose-assist hooks. The tried & true American jigs will catch fish in all situations where the foreign jigs will not.

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