I’ve seen tons of success with SPJ on the yankee Capts. I’m headed down to Florida next week for a week in marathon and then a week at home on the gulf coast. Do any of you have success in the 70-150 ft range in the keys or the Florida coasts with SPJ or do you mainly have success at deeper like 300+?
The only time I've slow pitch jigged so far was in two spots in the Gulf. One was in 150-180 ft. and the other about 250. Both spots were from an anchored boat and were only for an hour or two in each spot. I didn't hook anything in the deeper water but in the 150-180 ft. depth the small almaco and amberjacks took my jig on almost every drop, fwiw. Good luck on your trip and I hope I've been at least a little help to you.
I haven't slow pitch jigged while drifting yet, but I went with a heavy (250g) jig while anchored in moderate current in 150-250 feet of water in order to stay as vertical as possible. My jig stayed vertical so I was happy with my jig choice. I sold my Gravitate G2 and bought a Gravitate G3 to replace the G2. The G3 is a little stiffer than the G2 and I hope it will make it easier for me to work a 220-320g jig in 200-400 feet of water. I should know by the end of July if I made the right choice. BTW, I might start with about a 300g jig on my trip in July and see how that works out.
I haven't fished the slow pitch yet, but normal butterfly style crushes at any depth, so I don't see why it would be any different at shallower depths?
Is this like a thing? Because that's gonna be super annoying if it is.
I was inshore sea bass fishing last week in Middle Jersey (Atlantic Highlands) crushed the inshore sea bass on small Slow Pitch Jigs nothing larger than 60grams. The whole key is light high quality braid. Friends are still fishing 50 or 60 pound test and wonder why they need 6 to 8 oz to hold bottom when I'm doing it with 2 to 3 oz. The Sea Bass wanted the jig dragged across the bottom not jigged vertically. Limited out before 1030 and outfished the bait guys by probably 3:1 - most if not all the better/bigger fish where landed on the jig not bait.
These where on the Palmarius SPJ rod with an Ocea Conquest 300HG
In my experience in South Fl the depth does play a factor but more importantly the bottom is what will dictate what you catch. Unfortunately in shallower waters you will be catching trigger fish but there are quality mutton and grouper in shallows....
SPJ works in any depth
The keys are lightest line for Jig & target size & just enough jig weight for the depth........that means the rod needs to suit the jig weight to work the system properly...............a 300gm rod doesn't present a 40-60gm jig very effectively at all.
FWIW
I wonder how well you'd do if you dropped a big jig, say a 300g NLO Scoop, down in 100-120 feet of water? A big mutton or grouper, maybe? An AJ, cobia, blackfin tuna or bonita? A kingfish or cuda cutoff? Perhaps all of the above?
A lot of work retrieving but 300-1000gm jigs in 1000ft catch plenty of Hake, Trevalla & big Cod etc
Quite a few of the conventional speed jigs work well with SPJ techniques .
FC Labo's are a good example of a crossover jig............& most everything thats asymetric with some flutter on the drop.
So...for what it is worth I will share my personal experience. I have heard from credible and experienced anglers in Florida that they don't do well with SPJ in shallow water. I have no reason to doubt them. However, I've fished 5 days of the 2020 ARS season in AL so far and we've had tremendous success - including taking some 13 to 16 year old kids out for their very first trip - on the SPJ gear in water less than 100'. Last weekend we never got deeper than 88' and we lit them up - ARS, Beeliners, Triggers, and Almaco Jacks. The jigs that worked best were 100g or 130g which is pretty small and light. But the technique will absolutely work in shallower water in the GOM. And in several cases, the spots we are fishing are in state waters, are public numbers, and get hammered. So it will definitely work in shallower water...you just might have to lighten up your jigs and gear a bit. Hope this helps...PM me for details. Tight lines!
ARS hard to catch?
have you fished the western GOM in the past 7-8 years?
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