Jigging For Stripers

[TurboDan]

I was reading a thread on another site about jigging for stripers.  They were going over what types of jigs to use (diamonds, AVAs, crippled herrings, Storm shads being the most popular choices), but I had a couple questions that I thought I would bring up here on this topic.

What do most of your prefer to tip the jigs (if using something like the diamond) with?  One guy mentioned pork rinds, but how about clams?  Maybe a clam strip would attract the stripers.

Additionally, when attempting to jig for stripers, is it best to judge only by bird action/FF display or target certain spots that have structure, topography features?  How about when fishing in the river, where the water is shallower?  Is jigging still effective, or should you cast out a long way with a Storm shad and retrieve?

[Capt. Ed]

Hi TurboDan,

I am a big fan of Ava jigs. Depending on the time of year, I use ones with or without tubes. For example, if there are sand eels present in the Fall, I use an Ava (007, 027, 047 or 067 depending on the conditions and water depth). If the sand eeels are scarce that year, I use a tubeless Ava.

Wht do I like Ava? Only a single hook (I hate treble hooks - for many reasons). I have never had a blefish bite off an Ava, even with relatively thin mono leaders; and they can be used with a number of techniques for many species.

I have used deadly dicks and crippled herrings in the past. I do still use crippled herrings.

In the bay, I do not jig (per se). I throw bombers, bucktails and imitations like shads and slowly retrieve. I must admit, I fish mostly for stripers, boat or surf, in the ocean.

I do not tip my jigs with anything. I used to use pork rinds but I did not see much of a hookup difference.

Everyday is different ... but you are on the right track with your thought process and the questions you are asking.

My favorite way to catch fish in the Fall is throwing top water baits to breaking fish. It is a rush!

If there are no signs of birds, look for bait and structure (from a boat or surf - for example jetties, bridge structure, docks).

Unfortunately, without electronics, you are firing blind if the birds are not working. In those cases I go to "Proven" locations that produce and troll. When I hook up, I then turn to jigging (and chumming if necessary).

Do not overlook the rips and clam beds either. Dropping down worms and clams can work when nothing else will.

Good luck,

Capt. Ed

[CapBob]

Dan

Concer with Capt Ed, I will put a strip of squid on a Bucktil, but AVA, Crippled Herring, etc I use plain.

Also on my Plugs I snip off one of the hooks on each trebble.... a lot easier to unhook. Especially with Blues

[Hotrod]

Great Question Dan

[Bucktail]

Captain Ed and Captain Bob have a lot of good advice for you there.  Hopefully I can add  a little something more to those posts that may help you out a bit.  

Jigging is one of my favorite ways to fish for stripers.  

First of all, I agree with Captain Ed.  I do not tip any of my jigs with bait.

For back bay and shallow water (less than 25') I mostly throw bucktail/leadhead type jigs.  The reason is that in shallow water I am usually using a horizontal presentation as there is not enough water for an effective vertical presentation.

For this type of jig, my most productive (in no particular order) are:

1.  White bucktail (1/2oz. - 2oz.) with a 6" white curly tail

2.  Tsunami or Storm swim shads in bunker, shad, blue shad, chartreuse (all colors really) from 4"-6"
 
3.  4"-5" Fin-S type plastics in bubblegum/ice and white rigged on 1/4oz.-1oz. Kalin's or Oldham's Screwlock jighead.

For outside ocean fishing in deeper water from 30' to 100' I will use mostly metal jigs to achieve a vertical presentation.

Favorite jigs for this type of jigging include:

1.  Ava jigs (no tails) in sizes 027 to 067

2.  Krocodile spoons from 4oz. to 6oz. in chrome, chrome blue, and white (for cloudy days)

3.  Crippled herrings from 3oz. to 5oz. in chrome, chrome/blue, chrome/green

On a slow drift I will sometimes drop a 6" or 7" Tsunami shad or heavy white bucktail to the bottom. I'll reel it up about 2' off the bottom and use a very subtle jigging motion as the boat drifts along (kind of like fluking)

This year I am trying a new technique.  I will be experimenting with the Shimano type Butterfly jigging system.  It is a fairly new method for those of us in the US, but Japanese anglers having been doing it for about 15 years now.  I am really excited to be trying this out this season!  I will be reporting back to the board on how it works out for me.

I hope that helps you out.

Good Luck!

-Bob

[CapBob]

Turbo

Did forget one thing.....work the water column from bottom to top. Let jig drift to bottom and crank up 4-5 turns, jig 5-6 times and repeat. This way you'll find the fish, and if Blues are breaking on tp you'll get to the line siders under them.....good luck

[Skolmann]

I'm a big fan of jigging not only in the fall but the spring as well (but we'll save that for another time).

Only time I'll ever tip a jig is when I'm using a bucktail (which I guess you say isn't really a jig at all) with a piece of Uncle Josh pork rind.

To me there are a handful of most have jigs;

Tubeless AVA 047

5 Ounce white Crippled Herring

7 Ounce chrome Krocodile Spoon (good idea to have at least 1 prism & barbie pattern)

5" White or Pearl Swimming Shad

Additionally, I carry tubeless 067, 087 AVAs, 5 ounce Krocodile spoons in chrome, prism and barbie patterns, a 8 and 10 ounce Crippled Herring and a few topwater plugs.

The heavy jigs are for when the drift is fast or fishing in deep water.

I'll use cast/flip my jig out as opposed to dropping it straight down. Pay close attention as the jig falls as you'll sometimes get hit. Once the jig hits the bottom, I'll engage the reel and bounce the jig several times off the bottom before starting my retrieve. I'll vary the speed of the retrieve until I figure out what speed the fish want. I'll work the jig all the back to the boat at times & other times drop it back to the bottom once I have it half way up (again all depends on whats working that day).

I use coventional tackle for everything except when I'm using topwater of shads.

Since no one mentioned how they rig up, I'll briefly describe how I do;

1-I start off making a 30-36" stretch of double line at the end of my main line by tying a Spider Hitch Knot.

2-Next I'll take a 48-60" piece of #25 leader material and using a Yucatan Knot connect that to the double line.

3-Finally at the end of the leader I'll tie on my jig of choice.

Both the Spider Hitch knot and the Yucatan are small enough that they easily pass through the guides of your rod.

My main jigging rods are a pair of GLoomis SWR843Cs matched with a Shimano Calcutta 400 that's spooled with #20 Momoi Diamond. When using jigs of 7 ounce or greater I use a Rogue SW705C matched wuith an Abu Pro Rocket 7000 spooled with #25 Momoi Diamond

[Luna Sea 5]

great post guys, I don't have anything to add, everything has already been mentioned.

[Skolmann]

One thing I noticed on AVA style jigs is that the hooks are not very sharp nor do the hold their point when honed. What I have been doing the past several seasons is replacing these hooks with a Gamakatsu open eye Swiash hook (size of hook depends on size of the jig but it's usually between a 4/0-6/0).

They're very simple to replace. You first remove the hook with a pair of strong pliers by bending the eye open (making sure to leave the swivel attached to the jig). Then you simple place the open eye through the swivel eye and crimp closed with pliers.If you buy the open eye hooks in bulk they are not expensive at all.

[bassnblues]

Jigging is my favorite too. I like AVAs and Crippled Herring for verticle jigging and the old fashioned white smiling bill bucktails tipped with either some kind of rubber worm or pork rind for blind casting to rock structure, pilings etc. When the birds are working, I like Wild Eyes and smaller AVAs depending on the bait that around. Those are my staples.

If I read fish on the fishfinder or there's birds and blues on top, I like to get upcurrent of the action, drop the jig down and jig till I lose bottom contact. When I lose bottom contact, I let line out only once. When I lose bottom contact the second time I reel up fast to try for a blue.

[Hotrod]

Last two trips Iv'e seen  Bass take an Ava 5 seconds after it was casted out and hit the water   Love them jigs

[Skolmann]

3 and 5 ounce blue/white butterfly jigs were the ticket last Thursday & Friday and AVAs taking alot of fish yesterday.

[wb]

Nice post, great info, also have to agree on AVAs  usually tubeless for me. Don't be afraid to try different things lots of info here.

[ped579]

Question...has anybody tried taking the tubes off and replacing them with a bucktail configuration?

Like with angle hair and flashaboo or any other additive?

Just curious,  I bought a bunch of stuff and am going to try a few things this week.

Paul

[IrishAyes]

The Hopkins come with hair.  I don't see why hair on the Ava wouldn't work.  But I also don't see the need for it as the Ava is made to imitate sand eels.
My opinion anyway.

[ped579]

Just to be different.  I was thinking of getting long shank hooks and tying up a few different patterns just for something to do.

I know the AVA mimic sand eels but I was just thinking of making an eel pattern that looks more realistic.

Paul

[Skolmann]

Want some real (or is that reel  ) fun........make a dropper loop say about 24"s above your jig and to that add a Fem-eel or a clouser fly in a brown/white patter (to mimic a sand eel) then procede to go jigging.....Just imagine getting double headers of those gator blues that are around.... ...talk about fun (or is that insanity)

[Reel Class]

(Sorry guys, I initially posted this in another thread, apologies   )

I didn't get to read all of the replies to this thread but jigging can be incredibly simple or it can be incredibly complicated.  

A lot of the time the angler complicates the fishing more then it needs to be complicated  

#1 rule in my book is MATCH THE HATCH when it comes to putting a jig on the end of your line.  If there are sandeels present, use something that emulates a sandeel.  If herring are around, use a jig that looks like a herring, and so on.

Once you identify the bait, you match your jig.  

A simple rule of thumb re: bait and jig preferences:

sandeels:  AVA's with green, black or dark red tails or NO tails, deadly dicks, nordic eels, bananas, butterfly jigs, and any other long, low profile metal.

peanut bunker:  AVA's with no tail, crippled herrings in white, green/chartreuse, chrome, blue/black, or white; 3 oz. kroc spoons, hopkins shorties in 2-4 oz; storm shads in matching sizes/colors, sassy shads on jigheads

herring:  AVA's with no tail, chrome CH's, 5-7 oz. kroc spoons

I NEVER use a teaser ahead of a jig, b/c if there are bluefish present your teaser is dead meat.  Aside from carrying all that metal, white bucktails or white/red bucktails with a curly tail in the appropriate color will get lots of bites if you're fishing in a good current ro w/ wind.

Birdplay can be deceiving.  If the birds are spread out and just picking, its most likely that you'll have bait up high and some fish below.  If you see birds working over fish taht are busting, you should be into fish, if you can get the fish's attention.

Lots of times I spend more time looking at the machine rather then looking at the birds.  Bass typically show up as dense, longer marks that are singular, and bluefish show up as more of a dense sprinkle with many congregated in one area.  Bait shows up in clusters.  If I read fish and bait, and I'm 300 yds away from birds, I'm dropping on the marks.  

If fish are suspended in the water column, break out the butterflies!

I can go on forever, but shoot away if anyone has any ?'s.  

[Skolmann]

(Sorry guys, I initially posted this in another thread, apologies   )

I didn't get to read all of the replies to this thread but jigging can be incredibly simple or it can be incredibly complicated.  

A lot of the time the angler complicates the fishing more then it needs to be complicated  

#1 rule in my book is MATCH THE HATCH when it comes to putting a jig on the end of your line.  If there are sandeels present, use something that emulates a sandeel.  If herring are around, use a jig that looks like a herring, and so on.

Once you identify the bait, you match your jig.  

A simple rule of thumb re: bait and jig preferences:

sandeels:  AVA's with green, black or dark red tails or NO tails, deadly dicks, nordic eels, bananas, butterfly jigs, and any other long, low profile metal.

peanut bunker:  AVA's with no tail, crippled herrings in white, green/chartreuse, chrome, blue/black, or white; 3 oz. kroc spoons, hopkins shorties in 2-4 oz; storm shads in matching sizes/colors, sassy shads on jigheads

herring:  AVA's with no tail, chrome CH's, 5-7 oz. kroc spoons

I NEVER use a teaser ahead of a jig, b/c if there are bluefish present your teaser is dead meat.  Aside from carrying all that metal, white bucktails or white/red bucktails with a curly tail in the appropriate color will get lots of bites if you're fishing in a good current ro w/ wind.

Birdplay can be deceiving.  If the birds are spread out and just picking, its most likely that you'll have bait up high and some fish below.  If you see birds working over fish taht are busting, you should be into fish, if you can get the fish's attention.

Lots of times I spend more time looking at the machine rather then looking at the birds.  Bass typically show up as dense, longer marks that are singular, and bluefish show up as more of a dense sprinkle with many congregated in one area.  Bait shows up in clusters.  If I read fish and bait, and I'm 300 yds away from birds, I'm dropping on the marks.  

If fish are suspended in the water column, break out the butterflies!

I can go on forever, but shoot away if anyone has any ?'s.  

Deja Vu all over again.........

See my response to this post in the other thread in which you made the same post.......

[TurboDan]

How crucial is using the proper leader?  I've been tying the lures directly to the line from the reel (not sure what kind it is, I never asked for anything specific at the B&T shop, just told them the test) and have not used any type of real leader. 

For fluke fishing in the summer, I always use a leader with a fluke rig, but that involves the swivels and such.