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Hey SnapDraggin!
AJ's will hit a really fast moving jig ripping up from the bottom. I haven't had one hit on the drop that I can remember.
I like to use a slim (6" to 8") 200g jig that doesn't drag the water as much when ripping it up through the column. I've caught smaller AJ's on diamond jigs too.
Just make sure your knot/connection is 100% or it will fail because you HAVE to have your drag locked down in order to turn its head and keep it from cutting you off.
On my last Big E trip, Capt Frank said that if you're chasing AJ's with jigs, and two AJ's are lost to break-offs, etc., that the AJ bite will shut down.
Well, that trip it did. Even when we changed spots, same thing.
Then on my next trip on the PhatKat, TJ and I were jigging for AJ's at Tequila rig. I repeated Capt Frank's info out loud, and sure enough, after TJ and I each lost what we just knew were AJ's (on first two jig drops), we couldn't get hit by anything except Grouper, Snapper, and an Eel! Rick said, in his perfect dead pan, "I guess Frank knows his AJ's."
I'll bet if you had the patience to maintain the right chum line on a private boat, you'd have a good shot at getting one to take a topwater. I know the OTI plugs would hold up, rings, swivels, hooks, lure body etc.
Maybe on the next PhatKat trip, we'll try to do it!
They are some of the toughest, fighting fish out there!
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