RIGGIN’ FOR JIGGIN’ TUNA

Butterfly jigs have reawakened interest in one of the oldest techniques for catching saltwater fish—using metal jigs—except now there are specialized rods, high speed reels and a different kind of line that makes it more exciting and productive than ever before.

It is amazing how much pressure
you can put on a fish with these little
outfits paired with Grand Slam Braid.

Jigging for tuna isn’t new by any means. I’ve been doing it since the first time I went to the submarine canyons off the Mid Atlantic Coast over twenty-five years ago and it was already an accepted and well practiced technique, we just didn’t use specialized tackle and jigs. Jigging was done in conjunction with chunking tuna while the boat was either at anchor or drifting. The standard lure was a heavy diamond jig clipped on the end of a 50-pound class stand up outfit. Drop it down, jig it up and down until your arms got tired or you hooked up. When you arms got tired we would drop the jig down 50 to 150 feet, put the line through a release clip and run the clip up to the top of one of the outriggers. As the boat rocked it would do the jigging and when a tuna hit the line would snap out of the clip and hook the fish. No fuss, no muss, but it wasn’t the primary technique we were using, just a adjunct to chunking with bait.

Today the tackle is strikingly different. Light-weight graphite-composite rods are paired with small, high speed reels, both conventional and spinning, that take on big, strong fish like bluefin tuna with surprising ease. Don’t get me wrong, you are going to be on a fish for a while, an hour or better if it’s a larger fish, but the tackle is so light and easy to handle it doesn’t fatigue the angler nearly as much as heavier stand up gear.

The key to the success of the technique and the ability to use such diminutive tackle is the line. Without the advantage of thin, strong, sensitive Spectra® braided like HI-SEAS Grand Slam Braid the whole system would collapse. The light rods still require line of 50 to 80 lb test and the small reels could never hold enough line to challenge fish that fight as hard and run as far as tuna if it wasn’t extremely thin. The last critical factor imparted to the tackle by the line is sensitivity because the line has almost no stretch, which makes is possible to feel a fish hit a jig while it is descending in time to engage the reel and set the hook. The thinness and sensitivity are also critical when jigging in deep water by allowing you to get relatively light jigs down and still feel the hits. We frequently jig and catch bluefin tuna hunting for sand eels right on the bottom in up to 250 feet of water using six and eight ounce jigs!

Little outfit, tough line, big fish! 

I usually take two jigging outfits with me. One heavier rod and reel rigged with 80 lb Grand Slam and a lighter outfit rigged with 50 lb. The reels are complete filled with braid. No backing for this set up because if you hook a big tuna you might need every foot of line capacity the reel can carry. I add six feet of HI-SEAS 100% Fluorocarbon or the new Quattro Fluorocarbon as a leader and keep a selection of 40, 50, 80 and 100 lb test onboard in case the tuna are line shy. I tie a 40-turn Bimini Twist in the braid and then attach the leader using a No-Name (worm) knot. I start with heavy leader, usually with 80, and only rarely have to go lighter. But if I’m not getting any hits and there are tuna showing on the depthfinder, I will drop switch to 50 and then 4 lb leader, whatever it takes. On one occasion I had to drop all the way to 30 before the fish started nailing the jig and that’s light for fish that were averaging 70 lbs or better.

These hot new jigging outfits aren’t just for tuna, either. They are gaining popularity for a variety of bottom species like groupers, snappers, jacks and more. Fish that were rarely associated with jigging are being caught on butterfly type jigs. It’s a lot of fun and you should get in on it. Just be sure you’re spooled up with HI-SEAS Grand Slam Braid, it’s the best!

Caputi’s Blog Tip: When attaching a butterfly type jig to your leader leave the hardware out. You want the line attached directly to the welded ring the assist hooks are hanging off. With heavier line you can do it with a crimp or tie a clinch or uni-knot to make the connection.