Jigging setups

[back on eerie 2016]

So what are your set ups for jigging Lakers? I'm on a budget as usual. Thanks and Merry Christmas to all of you!!

 

Sent from my moto z3 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

 

 

[bandrus1]

6.5 to 7 foot medium heavy today with an abu Garcia ambassador

[lakerchaser]

My jigging rods are all medium weight 6 foot 10 inch ugly sticks  wiith 3 inches taken off the tip. Reels are all garcia ambassitures spooled with 30 pound braid to15 feet of florocarbon 13 pound test/- then a barrel swivil and another 2 feet of floro tied to jig. Poles run around 35 bucks and new reel is 120 or used on e-bay around 50 bucks. You can spend more but you wont catch any more lakers than this setup  A 8 pound laker on this rig will get your blood flowing. Git-um.

[bandrus1]

$70 bucks for ambassador now on fish usa

[lakerchaser]

Checked the site out. The ambassitor 5 amb is 70.00 bucks but made in CHINA. The C-3 made in Sweden is 119.00. This is the go to reel.. Thanks for info.

[Gator]

Not to be argumentative, but over the past decade China has made great strides in quality control. The new Golden Gate bridge was made in China. And their engineering currently approaches German standards for specifications. The issue is that when it's made over seas you don't know whether that quality applies, or whether it's made by some fly-by-night outfit. Of course, that's the case whether it's China or Sweden. Just saying that the old adage of made in China equating to crap manufacturing doesn't (necessarily) apply any more. I will qualify that by saying I don't know anything about the reels in question.

 

I use a Revo Rocket with 15 lb Powerpro and an 8 lb fluorocarbon leader on a 6 1/2 foot medium fast blank for Finger Lakes jigging. So many of the hits are on the drop that technique is more important than how expensive your rod costs. The ability to take up line quickly will be important. Before I made my own rod, I used a St. Croix SCIII blank or a Bass Pro brand rod. You certainly shouldn't have to break the bank to jig lake trout. In fact, for years we used our steelhead rods on the NIagara bar for water less then 50' deep, and we landed many. many lake trout over 20 lbs on them, with #1, 2, or 3 places in the Spring derby for over 6 years running (drifting out of a 24' Wellcraft, none the less). Good times. 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2018 by Gator

[back on eerie 2016]

I'm refurbishing my swedish made Mitchell 300 spinning reels and pair them on medium to medium heavy rod.

Sent from my moto z3 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[bandrus1]

https://www.fishusa.com/product/FishUSA-Reel-Specials

 

Looks like c3 for 72 to ne

Edited December 25, 2018 by bandrus1

[lakerchaser]

Yes - but only the 4600 which is smaller than the 5500 and is also a left hand retreive and also is a display reel.

[Copperliner]

 

I build and use light-weight (component-wise), spiral-wrapped casting rods for jigging lakers, most are MH rated.  

 

Reels are left-handed (I'm often running a tiller motor while jigging) low-profile casting reels (Lew's, Quantum) with a flipping switch.  (Love that switch!)

 

Usual braid/fluoro setup mostly, but sometimes all-mono.     

Have fun!  

[Gator]

Good point on the left-handed reel! I jig with my right hand and often have trouble switching hands after a strike to pick up the line fast enough. Left-handed reel = end of problem.

[chugbug]

Don't count out a good stradic 2500 spinning reel I know I'm the odd man out on this but I have tried right hand and left hand casting reels for jigging and will never go back to them ,I love my shimmano curado casting reels for bass fishing but for laker jigging its a good quality spinning reel for me . 

[Pete Collin]

The nice thing about Garcia Ambassadeur  reels is that there are many, many used ones out there that you can get for about $30. They are solid and should last your lifetime.