Tuna jigging

[Minnow]

Bazztex Welcome to 360tuna.

Thanks for posting how you caught your yellowfin.

It seem to be most people cught it by accident, I know i did LOL.

[Bazztex]

Thanks for the welcome TJ

Yep and all I was trying to do was get a few BFT for the gang to chunk fish with. By the same token.. I let a member of Quatro Tuna use a 40# vintage Cali jig rig for BFT. He must have caught 50 or more BFT in one night on a Bridgeport 8oz Chrome D-Jig ...Like Sandbass fishing. He was dropping straight down on the down current side of the drift

I have heard from several folks that sometimes YFT like the slower action Diamond Jigs better than the knife jigs . It would be wise to give both the Knife and D Jigs a try next time you're out hunting Tuna. Matching the Hatch Size with your baits has a lot to do with the Fall Rate of the jigs too.

I also found that casting the jigs outside the light circle (like we do with the topwaters) gets you a lot less cutoffs from Cudas... by the time your jig gets back into the lights .. hopefully it's deeper than the Cudas! That's what I did on Quatro Tuna and never lost a single Jig.

[ksh9711]

I agree with what Rick is saying i have not caught a tuna on a jig yet. But bouning it off the bottom for groupers and snappers works for me as well.

Kevin

Originally Posted by mcgolfer

i like the 300 gram size butterfly jigs for dropping to catch tuna's. i prefer the long skinny jigs in the 300 to 400 gram size for jigging up snappers and groupers in deeper water over 200ft. a lot of times the current dictates using lighter or heavier jigs to get a verticle jigging action and a better idea of what depth the fish are holding and feeding. due to the price increases as the size of jigs gets larger you might want to try to use the smallest jig that you can fish that allows you to verticle jig. with jigs it is amazing at what will attack a large jig. i have much better hook up bite per drop ratio when i am violently jigging for tuna's rather than the lift and drop method. the lift and drop seems to work better for me when i bounce it off the bottom fishing for groupers and snappers....rick

[Ragman]

Hey ksh9711!

Welcome to 360tuna!

[ksh9711]

Thanks Ragman, this looks like it's going to be a good bluewater web site glad to be here

Kevin

Originally Posted by Ragman

Hey ksh9711!

Welcome to 360tuna!

[newman]

Hey TJ, I know the thread is old but I caught a 35# YFT on the Memorial day trip on a 14oz R2S knife jig. I had just gotten down to where the fish were (I marked my line w/ Dr Shark's help) and lifted 1 time and fish on!

I will fish as heavy a jig as I need to stay vertical.

[Ragman]

Congrats on the YFT on a jig!

You probably know this, but the shape of the jig is just as important as the weight to enable you to stay vertical in a strong current.

The very skinny, but heavy, jigs will reduce drag and allow the jig to cut through the current better than a jig that is wide or bigger in circumference.

[Deep_Sea_Gull]

I have caught more sharks on jigs than yellowfins. The yellows that I have caught have all been too small to legally keep.

[SkeeterRonnie]

only fish I have caught on the jigs were blackfin, and yellowfin. But the yellowfin hit it different. just like freshwater crappie fishing over brushpiles... lol! Cast out and let it fall, with a wiggle every now and then on the fall. Will be trying that again on the CInco trip, and will post results. I plan on majority of my time cooking for McGolfer( hehe) and slinging jigs to YFT.

BTW~ make sure and ask McGolfer how the scallops tasted when we return....lol.

[Snagged]

I've caught 3 or 4 YF in the 50 to 70 pound on jigs, in every case it was slow jigging. The jigs have been 4 ounce diamond jigs and 10 ounce R2S jigs.