JP- I know your feelings on the shad, thats why I specified no bucktail. Personally, between shads and sluggos, I have not thrown a bucktail in 2 years. Sometimes you just gotta give them what they want. And yes I have a great pic, just too much off a moron to know how to post.

shhh!!!!! the storm shads are a secret!!!!! :smash: :smash:

Me being a boat guy and with the little surf fishing I have done,
How is jigging from shore done in the canal ?

t.o

I've got pic posting issues myself.

Powers' maxim #1:

If the fish don't want an eelskin jig....., then they can go _ _ _ _
themselves. Fish over 50#s are are getting too damn finicky.

JP, you funny. Personally, gave up on skins. Been doing better with heavy sluggos.

it's the chunkers that are spoiling the bass :( the pluggers have suffered from it also.
Inshore fishing has been going downhill, getting very challenging lately.

Raider Ron, cast 4 oz canal special jig with pork rind out about 100 yards about 15 degrees towards the direction the current is coming from, then let enough line go to allow jig to go to the bottom, then pop jig up off bottom and repeat bouncing along the bottom where the bass lay in wait of an easy meal passing by. When they hit, set hook and reel in. EAsy to do from shore. If one spot is void of fish, move. But we have to walk, can't fish the canal from a boat, that would be cheating and definately does NOT count.

:wave: Hi Jim

Saltheart, may be JP has had a 50 on his line before no doubt, but I really am not an expert, I just have more experience then I used to , and I've learned alot from guys like JP, you , Carl, BigDave etc. :)

thanks for all these responses. it's really great to get some real advice from a site where i know all the people fish. i'm def. going to buy a disc. rod from mike as soon as i get some christmas money. it's tough being a kid. next Q. what do you guys jig with? A 9" sluggo on a 5 oz. jig sounds good, as does a similar sized bucktail with a long rind. also, how do you guys work these lures in the canal? rhody beaches are one thing, but the canal seems alien:confused:

t.o.

I've got enough plastic in the tackle room to build me a Cher. Got hooked on the red/black sluggos for a while.
Went back to skins when mr.pogie and Saltheart started making skin jigs like I'd dreamed about - invested heavily. Went back to the dark side.

No qestion....., Sluggos and shads are the cat's ass. I just got this thing stuck in my head that if/when the mount fish comes......
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I want it on a bucktail or a skin. I'm basically nuts!


Hi, Bruce :laughs:

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Slipknot
[B]it's the chunkers that are spoiling the bass :( the pluggers have suffered from it also.
Inshore fishing has been going downhill, getting very challenging lately.

Raider Ron, cast 4 oz canal special jig with pork rind out about 100 yards about 15 degrees towards the direction the current is coming from, then let enough line go to allow jig to go to the bottom, then pop jig up off bottom and repeat bouncing along the bottom where the bass lay in wait of an easy meal passing by. When they hit, set hook and reel in. EAsy to do from shore. If one spot is void of fish, move. But we have to walk, can't fish the canal from a boat, that would be cheating and definately does NOT count.


Thanks for the info, sounds like I will have to try it next season! ;)
Ronnie

ps. next summer, come on my boat wire line jigging , set a hook in a cow and then tell me "Boat fish don't count"!!!
What a rush !!!:D

Sorry for the hijack, JP thats what makes the canal so great. Everyone has their own method to their madness. When not jigging, I've been known to chuck a few eels around too.

J Powers is in rare form tonight!! :) I agree , F the big lazy fish who won't swim to my jigs!! :)

I think most would agree skin jigs are the cats meow. I especially like curltails grubs cause they catch , they have very little windage when casts compared to say a shad body and you can fit 20 Grubs in one baggie in a jig bag. Sometimes though , especially late season , them shad bodies get big fish when nothing else works.

Slip , you've gotten good at at. You're probably the only guy around who doesn't consider you an expert!! :)

JP if you have enough plastic for two could you build me one also???:D Would make a great Christmas present!:laughs:

He an expert in my book. ;) He catch BIG fish.
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and.......
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. he laughs at everthing I say.

:p

Mike,

I totally agree about the curl tails. I went out and bought a round head jigmold for 4, 5, 6 oz heads just for that reason!

Take those jigheads and attach one of GS's 8" grubs and hang on!!!

Smaller scale curl tail grubs used to be my ace in the hole back when I was tournament fishing for FW bass!!

I hear there is some guy they call "the phantom of the ditch".... i bet he knows something about jigging :hihi:

That guy's so dumb...... he still smokin'.

Still smoking!! You would think he would have learned his lesson ! Dumb as a tack!

A FEW?!?!

T. Yur killin me:smash:
Here's the pic you've been talkin about, I had another shot but just can't seem to find it.
JP i think you'd like the background on the other PIC;)

Happy Holidays guys.

O & Ahhhh for the record................Live eels all the way:laughs:

5/0

:(

ok

the storm shad fish...now i know what you guys are talking about...man i gotta read these threads closer

i got stranded in two airports yesterday for over 12 hours so i got alot of time to think these things over when i remembered something that i learned awhile back, just never thought of it until they told me my luggage was lost....

take your coventional rod spined so you can cast well, where the relaxed curve moves backward easier as you cast...take that rod, tie it a paint pail or some other sort of resistance and pull upward with force. as you pull no matter how well the rod is spined it will still twist

i've seen rods used for comm. cod jigging that actually twisted apart when the epoxy from the wraps wore down. as this twisting happens the guides are literally trying to get to the other side of the rod......which is where they are in the first place on a spinning rod!

Whaddyathink....does this theory hold water or am I jet lagged and a little nuts.


ronnie...sorry for the hijack.....here's a tip
----take the sluggos---or----even better some ledgerunner's...cut the head at a 90 degree angle...thread them up to the jig head and then glue them with either zap a gap or super glue..

cary some cheap super glue with you and you can fix the rubber as you are fishing

i have a whole bucket full of plastic, but i mostly carry the old school stuff......

Powers---I got some special stuff brewing in my basement for you!!!!!!!shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

more jig talk please!:D !

Stroth, that's why you gotta acid wrap:D i've yet to see guides be twisted off a rod. closest thing is offset on the rod. thanks for all the replies, keep 'em coming:)

Canal Conventional
 

Canal + Conventional + Sprial Wrap (acid) = :D

Have a 1209 I'm spiral wrapping now thats 75% finished.
It's a telephone pole for sure... but sometimes you need it out there. Have been using the 1208 for the past two years and it's a great rod, but can't argue that sometimes you just need more rod.
Everyone has their own likes and dislikes when it comes to rods at the canal. Just have to find what feels good for you.

Theres a canal????

Yes , that tunnel is there so you can drive under the canal.

acid wrap?
 

so a spiral wrap is an acid wrap huh?

i have never fished one, but I saw a couple last week--they are pretty cool

Just make sure whatever rod you choose you put on high quality guides.

I have built with sic and it is great, but I am not sure it is worth all of that dough. but, if you have the money to burn......get them.

IMHO---the key to jigging the canal effectively is your line and your terminal connections...you will find out soon enough if the rod is not beefy enough to handle what is on the end....

One tuesday morning at around 3:15 a.m. I had a fish put a substantial bend in the 1209. I held on as long as I could (about 40 seconds---but man it felt like 10 minutes!!!) and then my knot gave way.

What I learned from that exp is that you to have the absolute faith in all of your connections. I now tie all of my leaders ahead of time and as a wise ol' snickers eatin' cigarrette smokin' canal rat told me--"check them constantly". If I feel the slightest knick I will re tie a fresh one. Palomar knots all the way.

Stroth,

Yep. The best gear money can buy is a slave to your ability to tie a knot.

And......, just when you think to yourself " that nick isn't TOO bad", WHAM !!!! A LARGE will prove you wrong.

I'm a stickler when it comes to tien my rigs.A palomar with floro in 50lbs an up can be tuff to tie.U gotta help it.I got a little set of tools to make life easier.My problem is I get lazy on the water an probably fish with a nicked leader too often.I actually loosen my drag.At the ditch u seem to get frays about 6" up the line so i cut out the bad section.I can't remember it coming into play yet.Fishing time seems to go so quick.start out at 10pm next thing u know the suns comin up.Takin time to retie could cost me three casts.Anyone one else fish with this kinda urgency.I gotta learn to slow down a little when fishing................I do everything else slow.I take forever to prepare for the nights fishin.dillie dallieng.New rigs, new baits, coffe, smokes.its always right after this smoke.but once out there i can't stop.

For me that kind of urgency happens at certain times. Like the hour or two before the sun comes up. Man you can't get enough casts in.

NIB--you are right about the line fraying six inches above. I'm guessing that the line is actually skating along the bottom with your jig and that is why it frays like that.

Combo for Canal Jigging
 

The best combo I've found is a Hand Grenade and a Cast Net.

Tie on a long leader to start. Like about 10 to 12 feet. Then check that foot just above the jig all the time. You almost always have to pick off a weed so run your fingers over the leader above the jig. Retie if there is anything not smooth. It takes 1 minute to retie the jig if you have cutting pliers in your pocket.

Tying the leader to the running line takes some time. Take the time to do a good job there. Use a tough running line. I like Cortland spectron. It must be used on a conventional , it won't work on a spinner. Toughest stuff around from a wear standpoint.

Never cast into the water unless everything about your gear is just right. Nothing worse than losing a big fish because you were not prpared. Bad luck you can deal with but losing a big one cause you were lazy or stupid and unprepared will haunt you for years.

And......,

Always check your guide rings for cracks ( usually they're very small).

You'll never know most of them are there until a big fish puts the strain on the braid running out of the first three guides. Taut braid hits the nick/crack and SNAP!!!!! Fish gone.

What about spraying some sort of lubricant into the guide rings once.

I was fishing for blues a couple of mays ago and I met this guy who sprayed wd-40 all over his guides. I didn't say anything to him, but in my head I am thinking.....jesus wd-40 is a solvent and that is really going to foul things up...

Anyone ever spray stuff on the guides?

used it in a reel. can't figure out why he would do that. it wouldn't increase distance any, if at all. i've heard of doing it in the winter to prevent icing on the guides, and also on rollers offshore.