7/23 Sandy Jigging AM - Great Morning

[idn713]

Welp, went out solo this morning to make up for my abysmal landing rate with Manny yesterday. 
 

Started today trying to get on some fish and I found them in the depths that had been working but they were incredibly negative. Wanted nothing to do with the jig early on and I wondered if they were full from feeding in the full moon all night. 
 

Kept at it for the next hour and after the sun got up it was game on. I went 7-10 on kings with some absolute studs that weighed in at 19 and 23 lbs. The fights were fantastic and they were blasting the jig hard. I was darn near wore out toward the end of the trip! Bass tackle just doesn’t wear the kings out like the trolling gear does!

 

I also tagged an additional three lakers for a solid morning of 10 fish boated and 13 hooked. A much better landing ratio! 

Edited July 23 by idn713

[Gill-T]

Wow that looks like fun. What is the approach? Find marks and spot lock with electric trolling motor?

[fisherman21]

All hail the jig KING!!!! 

[Lunderdog]

That looks like a blast. I've had good luck with Lakers, but I need to try Salmon... 

Thanks for the report.

[idn713]

1 minute ago, Lunderdog said:

That looks like a blast. I've had good luck with Lakers, but I need to try Salmon... 

Thanks for the report.

It’s a ton of fun 

[idn713]

34 minutes ago, Gill-T said:

Wow that looks like fun. What is the approach? Find marks and spot lock with electric trolling motor?

So far I’ve preferred to not spot lock. Slow the drift with bags to cover more water and then use a heavy jig to stay verticalish. The major key is finding the depth zone you want, once you find fish, they bite pretty easy. Unless the wind is absolutely dead, staying vertical is kind of a pipe dream. Up to this point the kings haven’t minded a slight line angle but once the angle gets too great, you can tell the jig isn’t falling right and they lose interest. 

Edited July 23 by idn713

[GAMBLER]

If you ever can’t find kings, just go here!  If you know me, you know where this is.  

[Gill-T]

I was thinking the eddy near the Niagara red can in the fall would be fun. 

[idn713]

3 hours ago, GAMBLER said:

If you ever can’t find kings, just go here!  If you know me, you know where this is.  

lol, dream screen

[jk1]

Love jigging, trolling not so much......jk

[GAMBLER]

21 minutes ago, idn713 said:

lol, dream screen

It looks that way every day in that area!  

[thefly1414]

Awesome! 

[idn713]

6 minutes ago, GAMBLER said:

It looks that way every day in that area!  

Hahah I never doubt that. When you are out, you are on fish. Jig em sometimes!

[Josh A]

Awesome.  Nice work 🎣🎣🎣

[joelagreca]

Hey man can you send a better picture of what the actual jigs look like or maybe even post a link to buy some

[idn713]

12 minutes ago, joelagreca said:

Hey man can you send a better picture of what the actual jigs look like or maybe even post a link to buy some

Hi Joel, 

 

They are the 2oz EJ Jigs from mission lures. You can buy them online or at Sportsmans Warehouse. Pretty much any heavy jigging spoon would work though.

[Tomb]

How aggressively do you jig it?

[idn713]

5 minutes ago, Tomb said:

How aggressively do you jig it?

I would say its pretty snappy 

[GAMBLER]

3 hours ago, idn713 said:

Hahah I never doubt that. When you are out, you are on fish. Jig em sometimes!

After the shoot out I may have to give it a try.  Looks like a blast!

[13owhunter]

Have you had any luck "on the wind" or are you only jigging in one place?  Asking because I had a lot of followers the last time i was out.  Once I saw a fish that was interested (a few pixels on a LVS32) I would wind slowly and some of them would follow for 10-20 feet before turning away.  Ive caught a lot of saltwater fish via casting "iron" letting it sink to the bottom and reeling up as fast as you can.  Wonder if that would work.

[Smat64]

Thanks for all the info and reports.
 

Went direct and cant wait to feel one hit!

[idn713]

58 minutes ago, 13owhunter said:

Have you had any luck "on the wind" or are you only jigging in one place?  Asking because I had a lot of followers the last time i was out.  Once I saw a fish that was interested (a few pixels on a LVS32) I would wind slowly and some of them would follow for 10-20 feet before turning away.  Ive caught a lot of saltwater fish via casting "iron" letting it sink to the bottom and reeling up as fast as you can.  Wonder if that would work.

With these pelagic fish they want flutter and unpredictable. They never hit on a straight retrieve but they absolutely hit on a fast pop up. So as long as it’s a sharp pop one way or another, they will smack it.

[fcboats]

Did you do this last year on stagers?  Once they get into 50 - 60 FOW, seems like they are quite congregated and wonder how it works on them.

[idn713]

2 minutes ago, fcboats said:

Did you do this last year on stagers?  Once they get into 50 - 60 FOW, seems like they are quite congregated and wonder how it works on them.

No, this is the first year I am giving it an effort. I’m sure it works quite well on stagers. That’s how the majority of people in Michigan jig them, is when they stage off the harbors.