jigging

[honoco]

I"ve neen a downrigger guy for years and have a ball at it. Last year tried the jigging routine with no success. I hear jigging guys are not trolling guys. who cares,..fishin is fishin,.....who can tell me how to go about the sport of jiggin on Cayuga?

[DtD]

WOW.....that's an easy one........go to fingerlakesanglingzone site and read everything there. ...then reserve a time with the JIG KING, John Gaulke. He is a truly fine fellow and you will learn more in even a 1/2 day than you could over several trips on your own.

Once you file the HIT/STRIKE upstairs, you will be forever blessed ( or cursed ). You will also enjoy the poached, baked, smoked and grilled lakers. Good luck, and DO NOT FORGET YOUR LICENSE !

[honoco]

okay thanks willl do!

[bulletbob]

I have always jigged lakers on Seneca and Cayuga since moving here in 91.. the technique is identical to what I used in fishing NJ salt water for fluke, stripers,weakfish and blues...

It was a very natural transition for me to make.

Here's a quick how to...

You NEED a good fishfinder.. If its a cheapie, ditch it and get a decent one... You can get something that will work well for $150.

I start at 60-70 feet on cayuga or Seneca.

Find schools of bait that are fairly deep. Usually the lakers won't be far away, but not every bait school has lakers, and lakers are often on bottom nowhere near the bait...In summer sometime the fish are close to 100 feet, but early morning around 70 is a good starting point.. Get some 1 oz jig heads, and a variety of good size twister tails, paddle tails. flukes etc.. Plastic baits that are bass sized.

White is a great color, natural shad color is good, chartreuse, and combinations of these colors as well.

1 0z saltwater metal bluefish jigs work great as well..AVA 007 or similar.. 1 to 1/2 ounce Hopkins or Kastmasters are fantastic as well. Some of my best lakers, and an 11 pound brown have hit wheel weights that I paint white, and put hooks in!.. They are as good as a $4.00 jigging spoon!

Drop your jig right to bottom, and bounce it, jig it, reel up fast. reel up slow,,, Some days the fish hit all retrieves, sometimes slow jigging is better, some days they will only hit it reeling at light speed up from the bottom.. Vary speeds and jigging methods until you hit the right combination.You can watch all the action including your jig, and the fish racing for it on your FF.

Trolling is the best method for catching trout on the Finger Lakes, but on many days I have outfished trollers on Lakers.. It all depends on the day..

If the lakers are on bait 150 down over 225, trolling is the best method... by far.

If the lakers are on bottom in 100 feet or less, jigging is just as productive.

I have had plenty of mornings of 10 fish boated while jigging.

You will lose as many or more than you boat, its just the way it goes with jigging.

The BEST thing about jigging is you need no riggers, no wire, no meat stick, no flashers, no dipseys, none of that stuff.

Just a good stiff one or two handed rod that you would use for bass.. NO noodle rods!!!... 10-12 pound low stretch line and a 1 oz jig is all you need .. Spinning or casting tackle works fine.

Very often once they get the hang of jigging lakers, some longtime trollers never troll again for lakers..

They keep the trolling gear for the other salmonids.

Jigging can be every bit as productive as trolling for lakers, depending on conditions... If you want salmon, browns and rainbows, keep trolling... You will catch a brown here and there on the jigs , even a rare salmon, but good sized bows are rare on the deep jigs.. I have seen a few, but don't bet any money. You will catch probably 30 lakers to every brown ,salmon or bow.

PM or email me if you want a few specific locations that are productive for me. bob

[PolarBear]

great post ...thanks

[Pequod1]

Good post, and I would ad that the saltwater experience helped a great deal.(L.I.) I watched Bulletbob hit quite a lot of lakers last year on Seneca one day,and his advise is right on. I even tried it on Ontario in the spring derby and finished in 7th place with a 21lb.12oz laker useing the same Seneca lake jigs.

[woody 184]

Bob that is a great post.. I have wanted to jig for lakers on the flx for several years now.. I am an avid troller on the Big O and Canandaigua but I love the thought of having a laker slam a jig on a medium action rod.... When I was a younger man I used to cast for springtime browns from shore and would love it when the brown slammed my crocodile on a nice slow retrieve.... What is the chance I can get you to come out on my boat and you can teach me the some of your tactics.... Thanks... Dale