What do you think is the best jig for tuna. Is it the longer version or the shorter version? Do you work if fast or slow? I Think for yft tuna, shorter jig and slower action seem to be the ticket.
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
Rick, Everyone knows you are the king of the BFT jig, but have you caught many YFT while jigging with the knife/butterfly style jigs? On the Big E do you jig by casting the same direction as the poppers are flying and letting the jig sink, or do you just stay on the chunk side and jig straight up and down? Just curious. Tom - DBG
I haven't had much success on fast cranking to jig yellowfin, longfin and bluefin, but I found blackfin tuna loves fast moving jigs. It does not mean slow jigging is better than fast cranking to catch them. I seldom tried fast cranking for tuna here because it is not possible for me phisically to crank fast for many hours nonstop. I have been following the fishing reports from Big E and other overnight tuna boats in Gulf Coast curiously to know how they catch tuna on jigs. I read they catch small yellowfin tuna on fast cranking. One of the objectives on the Big E trip in late Oct is to observe how tuna respond to fast moving jigs as I know many guys on the boat are going to use Japanese style jigging.
Kil, you are right on the money about fast moving jig and blackfin tuna. You can catch them all night long if you have popeye's arms LOL. I think blackfin tuna react to fast jig because they are small and agile, while bigger tuna not as agile as smaller tuna, therefor need a slower technique.
I wonder, how many people in this forum have caught yellowfin tuna using jig? If you had, how big was it? was it on the drop?
I brought one 60-70 pound YFT to the Big E on a 14 ounce knife jig. He hit the knife on a slow retrieve with an up and down rod action while retrieving. That is my luck with it. I have seen YFT caught in the 50 pound class with the longest (and narrowist) crippled herring jig. These were caught by inexperienced yahoos just drifting them out in the current and lifting the rod up and down. They let the cripple herring way out, like a chunk.
Hey tj- On our Dolphin 60 hour I caught a 57# YFT on an 8 oz. Tady in blue/chrome. I was probably about 200 feet down, and since I was tired from fast cranking, just popping the jig up high, and letting it flutter down. When the tuna came over the boat, the jig just fell out of its mouth and onto the deck! He must have been hungry. Other than some small football YFTs on surface iron, that's the only YFT for me on a deep jig.
Ive caught a good amount of yellowfin jigging. Being that all I do is drop it down 150 feet and put it in the rod holder and crank it up as fast as I can. Cant remember the last time I actually jigged it LOL Mostly just tryig to catch blackfin to chum for the yellows. Ole fashioned 8 ounce diamond jig.
This exactly how I have caught my YFT, granted they were the size of the Blk fin I was fishing for, but hey it was a YFT, BTW I released them to get bigger since I didnt gaff em Ive caught a good amount of yellowfin jigging. Being that all I do is drop it down 150 feet and put it in the rod holder and crank it up as fast as I can. Cant remember the last time I actually jigged it LOL Mostly just tryig to catch blackfin to chum for the yellows. Ole fashioned 8 ounce diamond jig.
I caught my first jig yellowfin after tired of jigging and reeling in the jig, but have to stop for a moment to take a rest. As i rest, for marely 5 seconds, suddently i got a hook up and brought in a nice 60-70# yellowfin.
i have caught lots of yellowfins jigging but most were in the 10 to 70lb range. the few larger units that i have the chance to fight i have broken off in the intial run due to me not wanting to tangle with others onboard and not wanting to get spooled when fishing with reels that only put out 22lbs of drag when hammered down. i believe that if you are in a good school of yellowfins that you will get the jig bite whether you jig it fast or slow....rick
I fished Baltimore Canyon out of Indian River, RE years ago. I jigged for several hours for nothing. I went to bathroom while putting my rod in the rod holder. When I returned, I found my rod moved down violently. That was the only yellowfin tuna we caught on the boat that day. We sometimes use outriggers to jig itself and catch many tuna by doing this. There is no doubt slow jigging can catch yellowfin as I caught close to 1000 tuna on slow jigging, but the question is whether fast jigging is better than slow jigging or not. It might work better than slow jigging. You never know because very few guys have tried.
I dont have a lot of experience with tuna, have only been twice. Both times on Deep Sea Hdq... Last trip I did bring one to gaff, and lost a couple other 60-70# class fish on the pink/white River to Sea knife jig (10 oz). I was throwing it out as far as I could and just letting it fall back towards the boat without reeling- I would pop the line up, let the slack tighten up, then pop it again. I only had 2 of those jigs- lost them after 2 hours. Flouro gave out. A couple of them pulled hooks out while diving straight down.... All the while I thought I had a frieght train on the end of my line... I did catch all the blackfin I would have ever wanted if I dropped it straight down half a spool, and reeled backup as fast as possible while making the jig dance...
I was using a 60# flouro leader about 3 feet long tied to a SPRO power swivel, then 65# Spiderwire stealth. I caught a few blackfin before trying the method I listed above, so I SHOULD HAVE replaced the leader.... live and learn... Is anyone having sucess using a larger leader- such as 100-125# flouro.?? I am thinking I will go up to 80# for the added abrasion resistance next time.
I was using a 60# flouro leader about 3 feet long tied to a SPRO power swivel, then 65# Spiderwire stealth. I caught a few blackfin before trying the method I listed above, so I SHOULD HAVE replaced the leader.... live and learn... Is anyone having sucess using a larger leader- such as 100-125# flouro.?? I am thinking I will go up to 80# for the added abrasion resistance next time. When tuna are in 50-100 lbs range, I use 80 lbs fluoro canbon leader line at night. IF I feel tuna are line shy during daytime, I go down to 60 lbs. I usually attach a small bead above the swivel to prevent the swivel from going into the guides if I have to use a swivel. I had an experience guides were damaged by the swivel when tuna charged just before gaffing.
TJ I caught three YFT on 8oz Chrome Diamond jigs doing the updrift side with the cast and drop method. One 5# Baby, One at 20# and One about 40#. These were accidental catches as I was making the drops for BFT to stock the chunk bait kitty. Both the 20 & 40# fish hit the 8oz Diamond jig on the fall just as I was lifting the rod to add a little action. I guess you could call that a slow technique since Diamond Jigs dont fall as fast as Knife Jigs. www.ShootNhunt.com has the Williamson Abyss and Bethos knife Jigs fairly cheap with a single pre-rigged assist hook.
