Jigging for Tuna and Trolling for Sharks

[Turn_the_clicker_off]

I posted this in the Big Game section which is the forum I usually read but I guess it belongs in this forum instead. Sorry for the duplication but and old dog could use help with new tricks!

Alright Capt.s,

Like many of you I have decided to give in and try new methods of catching my favorite game fish. I guess I'm ready to open the wallet and set myself up to vertically fish BFT and YFT. I have eaten my fair share of sashimi and I'd like to enjoy it again after my first jigging trip.

I have been through the hundreds of jigs in the store on here and would love some direction.

Also, I plan on trolling for various species of sharks this season. My days of chunking mediocre Threshers in schools of bunker are over. I guess I'll burn the fuel I save tuna fishing!

My area is from MHC north to Barneget, NJ
Advise on jig color, weight, hook size, jigging rod/reel combos and line weight would be greatly appreciated.

As far as shark trolling goes . . . . . . am I a fool for giving up a tried and true method?

Tight Lines!

[paul708]

I just did a jigging seminar for the penn/jersey guys last night.

We discussed rods/reels/jigs/line..ect

everyone has their favorite,rod, reel, jig

most of the guys i outfit are not going after the giant 150# plus tuna.
they need and can use lighter rods and reels.
There are alot of good choices for smaller fish,
i used the saltiga's 30T and 50. both worked great.
also use the Ocea jigger 4000P.
i have used rods from 300 to 500g
this year i will be using accurate reels.

the trinadad is a fine reel.

its really about budget.
you can get by with a torium and a budget JPR jigger.
or
jump to a custom spinal or black hole with a accurate or trinadad.

for jigs, i try to have a few each color, usually 180-200gto300g
and a few larger sizes..most of which i dont use.
hammered diamond jigs are good to have in the bag 6-8oz

i usually use 80# colorcoded braid with a 80# topshot about 6-12ft
i like the OTI assist hooks.10/0
but do use other brand hooks and make myself.

[gradyfish265]

At the canyons for yft, we jig 2 jigs and only 2 jigs....a chrome braid slammer in 5 or 7 oz weights, and a hammered diamond jig. These are the easiest to use as you can jig them like you would for bluefish, for most this is simple for even a novice to pick up on quickly. This jigs are solid producers and hook up before most other jigs, especially the braid slammer. Butterfly jigs work well too, but you need proper setups for this, you need butterfly style rods and need to understand the technique of reeling and jigging simultaneously to do this well and effectively, otherwise you will curse them out and say they do not work, I watch it happen all the time when I fish with people who have never done it before, once I show them they start catching fish. If the fish are spread out butterfly jigs work well to over a various range of depths, when fish are marked at a steady depth get a braid or hammered diamond down to that depth and you will be hooked up right away.

For bluefin we jig mostly sting-o jigs in 150 and 200grm weights. Hot color is gold, when fish key in on sandeels this jig is deadly. There were times off the NJ coast when the bite was on jigs that throughout the whole midshore fleet all you would hear is how sting-o's were the hot jig. We had days where guys offered to buy them because they could not hook up and we could not keep them in the water for more then a minute without hooking up. These lures work well both jigged straight up and down as well as using the butterfly method, there shape gives them a wiggle/dart motion when jigged vertically up and down, and they will also dart a little when butterfly jigged. The braid slammers work very well here too, as well as hammered diamond jigs. We've also had luck with butterfly jigs in squid and pink/silver.

Butterfly jigs rods and reels are great for fish under 100lbs, but when you get a bigger fsh you will curse yourself after fighting a fish for an hour or more, which seems to be the norm for most anglers unless they really know how to work the gear well and to there advantage. If you plan to catch fish that might be bigger, go with a calstar 700h or 700xh blank in 7' length or buy a seeker Hercules jig rod. The are top notch jig rods with good blanks to land 200lb fish without a problem yet are still fun to catch a 50-60lb fish on. I use a 700xhblank on custom built jig rods and can land 2 80lb fish in the time a trevala will land 1 because of the backbone in the calstar. Trevalas are a lot of fun for smaller to medium tuna, but once you hook a big fish and fight it for a long time your mind might change fast...you'll realize that with a heavier jig rod you could have had 2 fish in that amount of time and not been as tired. Also heavier blanks can handle heavy drags, I've seen to many trevalas break at the handles when drags were high on bigger fish, yes they can land big fish but it takes some finesse. I am also a fan of having aluminum reel seats vs a composite material, my reels aren't cheap, I want them mounted to something a little more sturdy. Most think composites are lighter, but go weight them, if the 2 are an oz apart your lucky.

Paul makes great gear, I've seen his rods and used a few on friends boats and they are top notch and built well.

I have Avet HX raptors on my rods, I just upgraded them, I have 425yds of 80lb hollowcore, I went with hollowcore since we sometimes use these rods to chunk smaller tuna and have fun, not a fan of straight braid for that purpose. I also like to be able to quickly change out my leaders using a loop to loop connection, and all of my other rods have hollowcore with mono top shots, I'm not a fan of mixing lines, when you tangle, you want similar line otherwise something will be cut off and it will be a huge mess you wont get out, having like line types gives you a chance to get it out or not cut through both lines loosing lots of gear as well as fish. As far as straight braid though, it works well and gets down fast, make sure you buy a line that changes colors every 10ft of you go that route, it makes jigging easy and more productive to get into the strike zone, its worth the extra buck or 2.

As far as reels, a lever drag is preferred since it allows for easy changing of drag settings and allows you to use a very accurate drag setting time after time, assuming its checked before each use. Star drags do work but the angler must know his gear and have a good sense of feel to know when they have too little or too much drag as well as when something does not feel right. I've seen guys on occasion knock star drags loose and get birds nests or broken off but that typically happens due to carelessness. 2 speed reels arent necessary, but are nice in case you do hook a larger fish and need to bring it up from the deep or turn its head.

As far as line capacity, I would recommend a minimum of 300yds of 65 or 80lb braid on a jig reel, personally 400yds is my recommendation,and 80lb braid. If your anchored and chumming and hook a 150lb bft it will burn off more line then you think, that extra 100yds could mean the difference of dropping off the ball and loosing your slick vs fighting it on the ball and landing it. Also, at the canyons, you always have the chance of hooking something unexpected, we've hooked wahoo, marlin, big eyes and sharks when jigging for yft, these fish can peel off a lot of line, so 400yds is more suited for that job.

As far as hooks, Pauls right, I use 9/0 and 10/0 assists hooks on most of my jigs, I typically remove my hooks and replace them, I've had better hook up rations since doing so, even on hammered diamond jigs. I also agree, start with 80lb mono leader, its a good size, if your not getting hits, go to 60, but typically your jigging so fast the fish won't notice like it might when you chunk or troll.

There is no right or wrong really, but buy something that will last and can handle all of your needs, even if it means waiting a season to buy it so you can afford it. Buy once and buy right, I've seen too many guys buy stuff and then replace it because it wasn't what they really needed, it was what they could afford at the time. Since you plan to fish an area where fish come in all sizes, but you can encounter an occasional 150-200lb fish, take that into account and do not undersize your gear. Also since you might make it to the canyons take that into account and see how much of a priority that is for you. Also since you can fish MHC, they do get very large bft, if you might tackle them as well take that into account as well.

[grover29]

An economical reel for jigging would be the saltist reels by dawia I have the fast retrieve and the torque reel I use fast retrieve for tuna. I use 150 to 200g jigs and found pink to be productive we caught about 70 tuna one night out of cape canaveral Florida. Set chum out and jigged all night caught mostly blackfin but did pick up 6 yellowfin around 40lbs a piece.

[JasonB]

My set up:
Accurate Twin Spin 30s on Calstar 760M(79"), 765ML(73") and 700H(67") rods. These are spooled with 65lb braid. I have used these on on dog tooth tuna and GTs in South East Asia and they worked great but I didn't get any thing really big; however, they did give me the ability to haul some decent ones off of the reef before they could break me off. With the shorter rods, I can wear out AJs all day long before they can wear out me.
I also throw poppers with these set ups.
I can't say that I reccomend what I've got at this time because I haven't caught anything really big with 'em yet. But the shorter rod will give you the ability to bring fish to the boat when they are trying to swim down.
As soon as I can get on a boat that is serious about catching big tuna on jigs I will let you now.
On a side note, if there is any one out there that wants to target some tuna on jigs please let me know. I am on vacation untill July 15th and will travel and split the cost.

JasonB

[2 Hands]

For vertical jigging, I would definitely recommend a lighter star drag and would agree that the Daiwa Saltist is a great jigging reel for the price. If you want to step it up for bigger fish and corresponding drag pressure requirements, the Daiwa Saltiga fits the bill. These reels are light, responsive, strong, and smooth as butter. I spool my jigging reels with straight braid to get the "feel" of the jig at depths, plus just a short (maybe 10 feet or so) shock leader of fluorocarbon tied directly to the braid.