I would like to learn how to jig fish. Do any of you know of any good books or other resources on this type of fishing?
I have a Loomis 1083S 9' Med - Light Spin rod that I fish with mainly. Is this long enough?

I prefer a 10-12 foot rod, but the 9 foot will work. The big thing to remember is to avoid drag. This can be done by mending or by keeping the line off the water. It's easier to keep the line off the water if you have a longer rod.

http://www.amatobooks.com/Merchant2/merc...hing_Techniques

1. Need to keep as much line off the water as possible....thats why most use 9.5 - 10.5 rods.

2. A good spinning reel, 1 with a good drag system....... recommend Shimano.....spirex or better.

3. A good "soft" line.....very important. 8 or 10 pound can land some VERY BIG fish.

4. Floats---- round cork(expensive) or you can make your own "dink floats" with backer rod.

5. Get some good jigs, many people sell off the net........do a seach on jigs. Wallmart, SportCo, Failor's in Aberdeen, or probably 100's more also sell.

6. I'd start with 1/8 oz.....in pinks, red's, purples, blacks....tough to beat these colors.

7. I fish a "movable float", start with the jig about 2' down, cover all the water, then move the jig down, 1-1.5 feet and do it again.....you DON'T want to be on the bottom.

8. If you don't get anything, doing #7, then change color.......some days pink works, some days its a different color.........SOMEDAYS NOTHING works..........but believe me, jigs do work........LOT's of the time...

9. If that float does anything..SET the hook, most of the time the fish will pull in clear under the water............but not always.

10. PAY ATTENTION to what the float is doing.............can't tell you the amount of times that I've had to time someone........"Hey, your float is gone"....

Have a good tijme!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Worse day sport fishing, still better than the best day working"


6.

Drifter obviously knows his stuff. I only have one SMALL difference of opinion about floats. The backer rod floats are so soft they tear easily. If you snag bottom and jerk back a bit the float will be ripped in two. I like the Gibbs dink floats. They cost about $1.00 but are durable and if you follow this tip you will lose very few:

Rather than rig the float as shown in the instructions i.e. through the top hole, around the float and through the bottom hole. Try running the line through the top and out the bottom without a wrap around the float. Instead take a good-sized rubber band and wrap it around the float after you have run the line in the top and out the bottom. That will hold the float tight to your line allowing no slip but it eliminates the wrap around the float, which is what causes it to cut in half, and it keeps the float on the line even if you break off your leader. You can make the same float last a very long time this way and it is easier to adjust the depth with the rubber band trick.

Surecatch -

Great tip. I have never thought of that before and have had a few floats cut in half.

FS

i just buy the dinks with a hole all the way through the middle and use a bit of a toothpick as a stop.

surecatch,

Hasn't Nick talked you into using nothing but Turbomasters yet?

Now, if I could the same deal on them that he does, I wouldn't use anything else.

I do get the same price Nick does, but . . . I fish a lot of stuff other than jigs under my floats and HATE a spining reel. That said, I do use the Turbomasters when necessary.

I don't think the price should be too big a deterant as the Turbomaster also is attached to the line, so you don't lose it when breaking off the occassional leader. I can't imagine anyone losing too many of them???

Lucky dog.


Spinning reel hater, huh? I used to be, but lately I'm taking a liking to my spinning setups.

did you mean float and jig fishin, or mainline jig fishin (like for silvers and chum)or saltwater jig fishin with metal darts..... so much jig fishing now adays that its hard to tell what one means... but one thing is for sure, any kinda jig fishing allways produces more fish for me than bait. about the only time i use bait anymore is on bait divers