spinners vs conventional reels for heavy jigging

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

my sw20000 is waiting for me at my mother's place(USA) and can't confirm the rotor's material. but shimano's US site says graphite rotor...

http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/products/reels/saltwater_spinning/Saragosa_SW.html

mohamed,

i'm not pushing for you to buy the sw gosa but the torque is next on my list of spinners to buy...if i have the dough for a spinner i'll buy the saltiga. keep in mind though 2 torques=1 saltiga.

[marc77]

Mohamed

I fish the northeast canyons.  During October and November, medium blue fins migrate through our canyons and we frequently catch them there in large numbers.  Due to the regulations, we are allowed to keep one or two per trip and we release the rest that we hook.  These fish are between 150 and 300 lbs.  I have caught as many as 15 during one trip.  Sometimes they are a nuisance, like blue sharks.  We are trying to catch yellow fins, albacore and bigeyes and we will hook blue fins.  They are more of a problem on full moon nights.

In my opinion, these blue fins are the easiest tuna to catch, especially inshore.  They are not as line shy as the other tuna and they will always hit jigs.

You do not need any expensive or fancy gear to catch them.  I use a penn senator 114 reel mounted on a Shakespeare 1120 ugly stick rod.  The reel costs about $ 100 new.  I modified my reels with stainless steel gear sleeves, daiwa 900h handles and one piece topless aluminum frames.  I use 80 or 100 momoi high catch smoke blue line with no braid.  The reel weighs 40 oz and with the 2 to 1 gear ratio and long 900h handle, I can literally winch these fish in.  The rod costs about $ 65 new.  I cut off about 10" off the tip and glue on a roller tip.  I use an 8 oz db hammered Diamond jig which costs about  $ 6.  Jigging technique is simple.  Just drop the jig down to the level where the fish are holding and yo yo the jig; that is, lift it with a slow to medium lift of the rod and quickly drop the rod tip so that the jig flutters back down.  They will usually hit the jig as it flutters back down.

My cousins fish for them in the Mediterranean, in Italy, using the same gear and technique and they also do well.

Good luck.

thank you marc
i have many senators nearly all sizes and many other LD reels , but i'm not familiar with this yo yo technique!! you mean that i don't have to reel the jig up !! just moving it with the rod??
if i understand this right , then that will be good i can use one of my senators or makairas for this technique
but do you use heavy iron jigs? or the colored Japanese ones i/ve used those colored jigs for jigging but using the Japanese technique on smaller fish?

mohamed hashem

Mohamed

The yo yo technique is a very old, simple and very effective jigging technique for school to medium blue fins.  We have been using this technique for many years, way before jigging for tuna became popular.  It is the same technique we use for jigging cod.  We use a 7 foot jigging rod which has a parabolic action.  The rod has to be fairly light so that we do not get tired of working the jig.  It also has to be strong enough to fight the fish without breaking.  The parabolic action, i.e. stiff throughout to the tip, allows us to work the jig most effectively so we do not get tired too soon. 

We use an 8 oz hammered diamond jig.  The jig is chrome plated and is center balanced.  We drop the jig down to the level where we are marking the fish.  We then lift the jig up with the rod as high as we can and then we quickly drop the rod tip so that the jig free falls back down.  In other words, the jig is going up about 7 feet and free falling back down about 7 feet.  The tuna will usually strike the jig as it free falls back down.  The shining, fluttering action of the jig as it falls back down is what really temps the fish to strike. 

We do not reel the jig up to the boat unless we have to reset the jig due to the current.  When the current takes the jig too far, we have to reel it up and drop it back down.  This technique works best when the jig is being worked in a vertical direction.  If the jig is taken at an angle by the current, it will not be very effective.  In other words, the jig has to have an up and down movement, not a horizontal movement.

Envision a wounded sardine, struggling to swim. 

Sometimes the fish will strike the jig as we lift it up or when we are reeling it up to the boat.  However, the vast majority of the strikes come when the jig is fluttering back down.  The strike is very subtle and unless you are very attentive you will not realize that a fish has your jig in its mouth.  When we detect any slight tap or slightly longer period of slack as the jig is dropping down, we reel very quickly to get a tight line on the fish before it spits the jig out.  We do not set the hook with the rod.  We just reel, reel, reel.

I tried to explain this as best as I can with words.  But, understand that this is something that can only be effectively learned through experience.  When we do this tuna jigging, we do not think about what we are doing.  We just do it as instinct.  Keep in mind that the most important factor is the presentation of the jig to the fish. 

Good luck.