[Tod Christensen]

I'm new to this site but I haven't seen any mention of jigging for salmon, especially springs. One of the most productive salmon fisherman I know jigs exclusively. He uses sand lance type jigs (not the herring type even though he in bait) and only moves the rod tip up and down a foot or two and pretty slowly. I've caught quite a few springs when jigging for bottom fish and even caught one when I had put the rod aside for a quick "break". There was almost no boat motion - the jig was just hanging there! I'm set up with dual downriggers so I do a lot of trolling but looking back, I think the fish/hour is higher when jigging.

Any other jiggers out there?

 

[Pippen]

Tod.........first off.......welcome to the site. I have been reading the threads you have started up and they are great topics.

With "jigging/mooching"........I have very much heard similar things about sandlance.....I think it was either CohoKiller or Mr.Dean in a recent post talked about the same thing. (sorry if I screwed up on who had that post )

I was up north around Stuart/Sonora/Dent last summer and we did get a few springs mooching.......if you are right off the bottom.....you have an extra shot at getting bottom 'dwellers'......Bigjay is the king of mooching....he seems to do quite well with it........perhaps he can provide some more info.

 

[Tod Christensen]

Pippen - Thanks for the response. I'll watch to see if others add in. One thing nice (assuming the season is open) about jigging is that it does double duty - Springs and bottom fish. I was on a large charter (15 people on the boat?) out of Ucluelet a few years ago and they used metal sand lance jigs for the whole boat. All of the charter guys I've heard about down off the Washington coast use cut plugs and basically let everybody mooch along. The jigs worked great for salmon and halibut and I've caught lots of rockfish and lings also. I've tried to find the "guy in Port Alberni" who made the jigs for them so I can buy a box. They were white and green and pretty "bendable". I would like to find something that is a bit cheaper than the standard Point Wilson Darts or equivalent. I bought a handfull when I was there but haven't found them since.

Like I said in one of my earlier messages, I'm set up with dual downriggers and have used cut plug or whole herring/anchovies all my life so I kind of migrate to that technique out of "comfort". I don't keep a good log but I think that jigging is at LEAST as effective as trolling at least for springs. Coho are a little different although buzz bombing works great there. To me, mooching is drifting slowly, usually with a cut plug or whole bait on a sinker and occasionally giving it a little action. The metal jigs are more of a "drop it down to the bait (or bottom) and then move it vertically" through the water column (different depths as conditions indicate).

Anyway, thanks for the thoughts and we'll see if BigJay or others answer.

 

[coho_killer]

hey Tod welcome to the best fishing forum you will ever find! i see you have a question on jigging for salmon and bottom fish! you had mentioned you jigged for salmon and bottom fish out of ucluelet was it the canadian princess by chance? i was there a few years back as well and i know the jigs you speak of! i actully grabed a few off the boat while we were at big bank! i do not know who makes them but i know they are killer! some kind of dart jig green&white! here in vancouver i mainly drag anchovies and the only fish i ever caught throwing jigs/spoons was at the cap mouth at low tide in the summer usind a gibbs crock and catching coho! in victoria i use buzz bombs off the breakwater casting off the wall there! the buzz bomb that works best for me was the 2 1/2 inch green pearl with 10 lb line and an 8ft stif action rod! let me look back at my fishing log book to see what worked best for me and you as well might have success yourself as well, but Bigjay might be more of a help!

C.K.

 

[Tod Christensen]

Yes, it was the Canadian Princess (Oak Bay Marine Group). It was a "production" type charter and a big boat but they did a very professional job and I had a good time just getting out. I've been out with them twice and caught salmon and halibut both times. The last time I caught two springs (10# and 25#) and a 45# halibut. I actually was up there on my boat but went out on the charter because I didn't know the drill with the off shore fishing. When I left Ucluelet and gassed up they were selling the jigs at the gas dock so I bought a handfull (now long gone). They were much more "bendable" than Point Wilson Darts and cheaper too. They seemed to be just as effective.

One thing that I have done some experimenting with on jigs is to tie the hooks on to the "upper" eye so they don't just drag into a rock/crevasse. PWDs get pretty expensive if you stay on the bottom (even coming up a couple of feet right after you find bottom). It's a real problem if you take inexperienced guest out and they don't seem to know when they are on the bottom. The minutes/jig is a pretty low number. I've been thinking of "rubber banding" the hooks to the jig rather than let them hang off the bottom. Any ideas?