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Author Topic: Help! setup for heavy jigs  (Read 2571 times)

snelly

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Help! setup for heavy jigs
« on: Jun 11, 2007, 06:11 AM »
I am interested in what everyone prefers as far as types poles, reels, line type/ weight, etc. when fishing heavy tube jgs and other heavy weight presentations when fishing for smalliies in deep water. This is new type of fishinfg for me and very interested in others opinions. Thanks for your help

pikie

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Re: Help! setup for heavy jigs
« Reply #1 on: Jun 11, 2007, 01:18 PM »
I'd suggest going with a braided line for any deep water jigging.  You can use a uniknot to attach a 10 ft or so florocarbon leader to keep the presentation hard to see.  I use this technique to jig deep water for northerns.  The braided line helps since there is almost no stretch and you can feel either a bite, or weeds from a long ways away.

sbfpa_Mike

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Re: Help! setup for heavy jigs
« Reply #2 on: Jun 11, 2007, 07:25 PM »
pikie is right on. You should also look into a Med Heavy rod with a Baitcasting reel. If you are not familure with Baitcasters, check out an Abu Garcia 4600 C3. This is one of the best learning baitcasters out there.

Mike

snelly

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Re: Help! setup for heavy jigs
« Reply #3 on: Jun 12, 2007, 10:21 AM »
Thanks for all the help. A friend told me he hammered the smallies last weekend useing tube jigs. very interested in trying this wanted to make sure I had the right equipment. And to sbfpa mike thanks for the advise on baitcasters, I will be sure to try the reel you recommend. never owned one

anthonyebola

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Re: Help! setup for heavy jigs
« Reply #4 on: Jun 12, 2007, 01:33 PM »
How deep are you talking? For a week every summer I fish Merrymeeting lake in NH, and the water is gin clear. The night bite is the best bite, but during the day I have had modest luck jigging with tubes, and senkos in about 40+ feet of water.  Does it sound like I am handling the situation correctly? I am used to fishing slightly stained to muddy water for Largemouth, and I am definitly not as learned in the art of Clearwater smallie fishing...

sbfpa_Mike

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Re: Help! setup for heavy jigs
« Reply #5 on: Jun 12, 2007, 08:08 PM »
And to sbfpa mike thanks for the advise on baitcasters, I will be sure to try the reel you recommend. never owned one

Happy to help. A couple more things; The Abu will cost you about $60 and you can get a decently matched rod for $40-$60. I won't even get into line other than I use #14 Fireline, but that is me. If you purchase a baitcaster, read the directions about setting it up, once you have your bait falling to the floor at a constant speed you can start training your thumb.
To train your thumb; sit in your easy chair with your rod, open the bail with your thumb holding the spool, lift your thumb to let the bait drop to the floor, put your thumb down when the bait is 1" from the floor. Keep doing that until your thumb is trained.
The other thing I wanted to mention; You don't have to get a baitcaster. You can catch just as many fish with a spincast or spinning reel. The baitcaster and matching rod gives you a heavier presentation for your bait and fighting your fish. You also might need to go with a spinning reel for lighter line in real clear water. There are so many variations, I just wanted to offer you some alternatives.

Wet and tight Lines
Mike

Capt. Travis

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Re: Help! setup for heavy jigs
« Reply #6 on: Jun 14, 2007, 02:15 PM »
snelly,

I don't have much experience jigging for smallmouth, but we have tons of experience jigging deep.    We regularly jig down to 120ft for sea bass and the like.   If your trying to hit the 20-40ft range here is what I would recommend.   Keep in mind I don't know what weight tube jig your dropping, but I am assuming that it is in the 1/2 to  3/4 oz range.   The following outfit will handle anything up to 1.5 oz.

We prefer spinning reels for this sort of work.   A Penn slammer 360 or an Okuma Epixor 30 are our two favorites.   

Rods:   Again two favorites...  St. Croix Premier series medium action 6' 6" spinning rod or a BPS im-8 6'6" medium action spinning rod.

Line:  60 ft of 20lb mono tied to the spool as backing.   Next we will use an albright knot to attach 15lb power pro to our backing.   You should be able to fit around 150-170 yards of power pro onto either of the reels above.   Don't pack too much on there or you'll make a mess of things further down the line.

Leader:   We always use a leader to topshot the power pro.   Things change depending on conditions.   If I where dropping for 3-5 lb fish in clear water conditions, I would run 6 ft of 8-10 lb seagur florocarbon leader.   Again this will be attached to the power pro with an albright knot.   

This set up gives you a very balanced sensitive setup that will have PLENTY of backbone to handle your quarry.  Good luck out there and let us know how you do!!
You know that tickle in the bottom of your stomach when the land fades to a thin black sliver and winks out of sight altogether.... Yea, I'll have some more of that.

 



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