View Full Version : canal jigging with spinning setup


JamesJet
07-25-2010, 07:01 PM
To start - I am no expert and really just trying to learn a little more about this whole game.

That said - When I started a few years ago I used to use heavy jigs and a conventional setup, with varied success. Lately I have been using lighter - 1.5-3 oz jigs on a 1205 in different spots and tides and have got a 1209 spinning for the heavy stuff.

My question is - with conventional I used to hit the clutch and let out line to continue the drift where possible and found that to be a good way to keep the jig on a good drift - eels worked like this too.

For those of you that use spinning to jig with do you not do this? For that matter - how many of you let out line either way-spinning or conventional?

Saltheart
07-25-2010, 09:14 PM
I use a conventional and certaunly do let out lots of line. I don't just let it run though. I'm controlling how fast the line gets let out to keep the jig bouncing on the bottom but not getting snagged. If you can just let line out without stopping and starting the free spooling , you are probably not close enough to the bottom.

People do the same with spinners. I'm sure some of the guys who use spinners will chime in. If not I'll tell you how they do it but its best if someone like Mike or Slip describes it to you as they do it all the time.

Slipknot
07-26-2010, 08:58 AM
dropping back a jig with spinning is obviously more difficult and also not as effective as with a conventional. That is why I choose spots where I don't often need to do that to get a good drift going. I try to get a good drift and when it gets to the point where the jig lifts up off the bottom too far I will open the bail sometimes, but if the hit comes while doing that I usually miss it. My friend Jim lets his line out while the line is on his finger, and will setup on fish most often with his finger then quickly close the bail with his other hand, he has a glove finger on his fingertip, I can't get used to that way myself. Normaly I'll just let the jig swing and as it nears the bank it slows and I end up reeling in or risk losing it to the riprap. But in order to keep contact the whole drift, the current either has to be slower between moons or if it's fast, use more weight. There are places though where fish will be in close and I like to use sluggos or ronz there as opposed to jigs and porkrind.
I have not jigged conventional in many years, maybe I will tune up my Abu and give it a try soon.

You get used to doing what works for you, everybody is different.

Mike P
07-26-2010, 03:05 PM
In most of the places I jig, the right weight jig and casting to the right upcurrent angle results in bottom contact through most of your drift.

You will find that you rarely get hits before your jig gets perpendicular to yourself, and rarely get them after it passes beyond either 10 o'clock or 2 o'clock depending on the direction of the tide. Occasionally you will pick up a fish at the very end of the drift.

Jim uses heavy jigs, and casts just ahead of the area he wants to work. He'll count to 15 or so, and stop the line with his finger, then drop back as needed. Lots of times he will cast downcurrent, in order to work a specific stretch of water--and dropping back line is usually necessary when you throw downcurrent.

I rarely have to throw more than 4 oz to keep in contact with the bottom. Most tides, I fish 3 oz all tide, and on some of the very slow half moon tides, I have fished most of a tide with 2 oz. In many places I can throw short and get better results than trying to reach the middle. 2 oz will hang less if you want to just throw short and work the edge of the drop-off.

If you feel your jig losing contact just after it pases directly in front of you, that's usually a hole out there. There, you might want to drop back so you get deeper into the hole--but, one thing you will notice--many times the fish are sitting right under the uptide lip of the hole, waiting for something to drop in, or pass over it, and you will feel the bump almost the instant you lose bottom contact. Fish won't come up very far off the bottom to chase a jig, but they will come up a foot or two. It's not always true that your jig has to be right on the bottom to produce.

Fish rarely sit on even bottom and stem the tide with their tails. Like trout, they will use bottom structure that creates a current break. Or they will cruise open bottom--sitting in one place and stemming the tide wastes energy. They'll duck behind a rock, or down under the lip of a hole, and use the current break to save energy and as an ambush point.

Saltheart
07-26-2010, 05:15 PM
I never used a spinner in the canal but for many years I did a similar thing at the breachways in SoCo. I first started doing it with a rear drag reel (some cheapo , maybe a red zebco?) this had a wheel in the back that you turned Right to increase the drag and left to decrease .With the bail closed I would turn it left to run the line out and then after a hook set (holding the spool to clamp the line , i would rotate it back to a spot i marked with a sharpie for the drag spot I wanted once I had one on. I them started using a Penn 850SS which I used for many many years. With that reel I did the JP style with a full leather glove on my right hand (I fish spinners left handed). sometimes I would cut a slip across the fingers as I'm sure everyone has seen on the neoprene gloves. In the late cold season (slush forming on the guides) I actually used a ski mitten. It was black nylon all over except it had a white leather palm sewed in. I would do that with the bale open and just use my hand to control line out and when setting up.

Very interesting was doing it with a bait runner reel. I once had a reel called a Mitchel Orca. I had two in fact , one was a normal spinner and one had a bait runner feature. The bait runner feature worked great for playing out line. That was ag reat reel while it lasted but it was dead in two seasons and they discontinued them.

Anyway , lots of ways to skin a cat.

By doing it at the canal with a conventional which is easy to do , I can cover a lot of ground. Depending on where I am , I can sometimes let out an extra 60 yards of line after the cast , maybe more. At a spot near the Sagamore , I can cast from a spot where I can stand comfortably but actually spend most of my jig in the water time , way down current where a plateau comes up from what I envision as maybe 50 feet deep to maybe 15 feet? Its also a great technique if you can find spots where the shoreline bends back towards the side you are on , down current from you. This creates a natural sweep of the water out away from the downcurrent shore and you can sometimes keep the jig out there 3 to 4 times longer than if you do not ride that current out by letting out line. Another nice thing to be able to do when the right oppurtunity arises.

Like Mike described , I also use 2 or 3 ounces an overwhelming amount of the time (probably 3 oz over 80% of the time). I really only use 4 on the fastest moon tides and only during the peak flow. By tensioning and letting out line and controlling the angle I cast at , I can also get a 3 OZ with a 8 inch tail down to the bottom almost all the time.

Chris in Mass
07-26-2010, 06:22 PM
I smell an update to the Canal How To thread - good stuff - thanks

SurfCaster413
07-26-2010, 08:18 PM
For spinning gear wouldnt it be easier with a VS or ZeeBaa having the no bail is gotta be a plus

JamesJet
07-26-2010, 08:29 PM
Absolutely some great stuff, thanks guys. I guess that there are certainly lots of ways to jig the canal. The jigging and letting out line with spinning seems to be one more thing I am not going to concentrate on until I really understand what my jig is doing. Conventional it just seemed easy to thumb line and still feel bumps. More than anything this is making me want to get out there as soon as possible.

Mike P
07-26-2010, 10:33 PM
For spinning gear wouldnt it be easier with a VS or ZeeBaa having the no bail is gotta be a plus

It's a pain in the ass. Unless you never take up slack after your cast--which is a bad idea because it invites snags--it's hard to get a taut line off the roller, especially with instant anti-reverse. You have to drop the rod to get some slack in the line, like you were dropping back after the take on an eel. It was easier with the old Penns because you had some back play in the gears. Pure manual bails, like those on a Saltiga, Saltist or the larger sized Stella SW reels, are easier to use. Flip it open by hand, close it by hand when you have the drop back you want.

It can be done on a VS or ZB, but you need the right feel for the roller. Just using a manual pick-up to cast and retrieve has a learning curve, and many people are uncomfortable doing it at night.

zimmy
07-27-2010, 09:59 AM
Is Jim a youngish guy who speaks some Portuguese? I was next to a guy fishing like that last fall. Never saw that done before, but it worked. I am surprised that you guys use 2 or 3 oz most of the time. I am typically throwing 4 oz with sluggos, but I cast more straight out in many spots and the 4 helps me get down faster. Can't imagine 2 being enough hardly ever with the way I cast.

Circlehook
07-27-2010, 11:35 AM
I have been using a Shimano Baitrunner this year for Eels and Jigs. What is great is to engage the baitrunner after the cast and set the baitrunner drag for the least amount of tension. The current is strong enough to take the line off the spool for the drift, and if you do get a hit the force will engage the drag.

I almost lost a finger trying to get the braid onto the roller on my manual Penn 704 when a fish started taking line. I would advise against paying out line on a manual spinner.

Saltheart
07-27-2010, 12:51 PM
I have been using a Shimano Baitrunner this year for Eels and Jigs. What is great is to engage the baitrunner after the cast and set the baitrunner drag for the least amount of tension. The current is strong enough to take the line off the spool for the drift, and if you do get a hit the force will engage the drag.

I almost lost a finger trying to get the braid onto the roller on my manual Penn 704 when a fish started taking line. I would advise against paying out line on a manual spinner.

That's exactly how I used the Orca baitrunner reel. :)

Without a doubt if you are going to drift the jig out by letting line off the spool , it way easier with a conventional.

Slipknot
07-27-2010, 06:57 PM
Is Jim a youngish guy who speaks some Portuguese? I was next to a guy fishing like that last fall. Never saw that done before, but it worked. I am surprised that you guys use 2 or 3 oz most of the time. I am typically throwing 4 oz with sluggos, but I cast more straight out in many spots and the 4 helps me get down faster. Can't imagine 2 being enough hardly ever with the way I cast.

no
he looks younger than his age though
not sure if JP speaks any Portuguese
he wears a blue shirt

Saltheart
07-27-2010, 07:37 PM
Is Jim a youngish guy who speaks some Portuguese? I was next to a guy fishing like that last fall. Never saw that done before, but it worked. I am surprised that you guys use 2 or 3 oz most of the time. I am typically throwing 4 oz with sluggos, but I cast more straight out in many spots and the 4 helps me get down faster. Can't imagine 2 being enough hardly ever with the way I cast.

No , he's old and wrinkled but he looks young because he wears designer shirts in pastel colors.

When Slip says he wears a blue shirt , that's not royal blue or Navy blue , that's baby blue! :)

zimmy
07-28-2010, 07:23 AM
No , he's old and wrinkled but he looks young because he wears designer shirts in pastel colors.

When Slip says he wears a blue shirt , that's not royal blue or Navy blue , that's baby blue! :)

hmmm... didn't notice the fashion, but it was dark :)