I’ve been meaning to share some pics for awhile now but life has gotten in the way recently…
Anywhoooo… We had some guests from Sprotfishing Magazine and ASA in town for the grouper opener. The goal was to gather content for a future article in the magazine. Well, mission accomplished! In 2 days, we documented 32 different species on the FlatSide and FlatFall jigs. For the most part we stayed in 140 to 200 feet of water. The drifts were slow enough that we got away with jig from 140 gram to as small as 80. It wa slights out action all day for both days…
We had a couple of notable catches. Day one I got a black jack (trevally). I’ve talked to a lot of people since and no one can remember seeing one this far north. A really cool looking fish that had me wondering during the fight…
On day 2, Trey caught a large sand tile. We joked that it was a giant but we never considered weighing it. Turns out it would have eclipsed the world record by a few pounds. Oh well… Live and learn!
We had lots of good eats boated. Along with the usual grouper, we had African pompano, mutton, big eye toro, cobia, trigger, porgy, atlantic green bonito and a ton more. Bottom line is everything eats a jig</font id=“blue”> when fished correctly!
Here are a few pics from the 2 days… What a blast!
If everything thing eats a jig when fished correctly, Would love to learn the ways!! Nice haul!
“boatless”
We gave a seminar here a couple weeks back. We’ll be doing more down the road… Stay tuned!
I’ll definitely keep my eyes open. I have a couple Jiggin setups and have watched a few videos, haven’t had the chance to put my YouTube education to use yet. I’m in on a seminar if work doesn’t get in the way.
Thanks for sharing! Do you recommend a certain brand? Also, it look like some are tied on on the hook end and others are tied at the “top” end, can you shed some light on that?
Thanks for sharing! Do you recommend a certain brand? Also, it look like some are tied on on the hook end and others are tied at the “top” end, can you shed some light on that?
Well… I work for Shimano so, YES, I can recommend a certain brand.
As you saw, there are 2 totally different jigs in the pictures. The wide bodied jigs that have the hook on the bottom are FlatFall jigs. The ones with the hooks on top where you tie are FlatSide jigs
As wide as they are, the FlatFalls are designed to flutter on the way down and don’t require much in the way of input from the angler. Just drop to the bottom in free spool and reel back up as far as you think you need to and repeat. 99% of the hits come on the drop. It takes a bit to get a feel for how long the jig should be in freefall given your depth. Any stop in the fall before that is a bite. Close the reel and get tight fast! We generally use 80 gram (2.75oz) to 160 gram (5.5oz). We try to stay as light as we can without getting a ton of line scope.
The FlatSides are a different animal. These sink like a missile and are designed to be retrieved. The technique is a bit like rubbing your stomach with one hand and patting your head with the other simultaneously. Once you crack the code, it’s magical. For the most part, we use 112 gram (4oz) to 168 gram (6oz). There are days we push out to over 300 feet and we have to go heavier. The shape of the jig makes them ■■■■■ side to side as the rod loads and unloads as you pump it while retrieving. Jigging rods are designed to be very parabolic for this reason…
Some days it’s a slower retrieve, other days I’m dripping sweat. For this reason, I prefer spinning gear over conventional. I find it much easier to slow a fast reel down than to have to reel like a
what weight fluorocarbon did you use & would color matter?
We’ve stepped it up to 80. We had quite a few breakoffs with fish getting us in the rocks… I’ve always gone withe Seaguar for the invizibilty. 90% of the time, it doesn’t matter but when the bite is tough in clear water, I want to be in stealth mode
A 1/2 " open/ closed end wrench really works well ! Put a split ring on the closed end for the line/hook attachment. I’ve caught just about everything that swims with these.
I just go to the nearest pawn shop and get a bucket full & rig them up The hooks & split rings end up costing me more than the wrench. Kinda strange - but they seem to really work better when the shine gets dull. I drilled a hole in the one pictured. I found out real quickly that that was a mistake. The sharp drilled edges cut line!. I usually use a single hook on a shorter leader. You can even consistently catch triggers & sheeps with the wrench. Usually foul hooked.
