When targeting Blue Eye, they’ll quite often run an electric reel out of one side of the boat and have someone jigging out the other side. He said they always catch the bigger fish on the jigs! Anyone keen yet? I know as soon as we’re allowed to roam around again this will be one of the first things on my to do list! For those interested to see how we go, we plan on filming this trip as well as some Striped Trumpeter jigging with Musselroe Charters which we will share on our Facebook page, Sherriff Fishing and Outdoor. Jigging techniques will vary depending on the species you are chasing. Unlike high speed jigging, used for species such as Kingfish, slow jigging relies much more on the rod to help impart the action on the lure. Therefore, these rods will have a slow taper, appearing somewhat soft but still have plenty of power on offer through the butt section when fully loaded. To get your jig working you can gently lift your rod and let it spring back while winding slack line or alternatively wind your reel half a turn or so (depending on retrieve rate), which will load the rod up and then pause to let the rod straighten before winding again. This will cause the jig to lift and flutter. After winding up around 6 – 10m from the bottom, let your jig flutter back down to the bottom to repeat the process. Keep an eye on your line as quite often fish will grab your jig or as it flutters back down after being stimulated
by the retrieve. This slow jigging technique can work well in deeper water with plastics as well! Note: I’ve been told that when jigging for Blue Eye, a faster more erratic, jig action is required as due to the amount of line in the water the action at the jig is more subtle. Here’s a selection of the type of gear that we use for the above methods:
20; similar offerings like the Shimano Ocea Jigger would also be suitable Line: PE3 Braid (around 30lb breaking strain). This may seem light but the smaller diameter is required to allow for extra line capacity on the reel. Jig Sizes: 500g – 1kg
Snapper/Striped Trumpeter Rod: 6’ – 6’5” (overhead or spin) Rating: PE1.5 - PE3 Reel: 3000 – 5000 Spin Reel or Baitcaster (small overhead) that will hold around 200m of PE2 and has 5kg of drag Line: PE2 Braid (around 20-30lb breaking strain) Jigs: 40 – 180g depending on depth Soft Plastics: 5” – 6” with ¾ - 3oz jig head depending on depth
Blue Eye/Hapuka Rod: 6’ – 6’2” Rating: PE5 (must be able to work very heavy jigs, rated to at least 700g) Reel: Overhead Jigging style reel (much narrower and lighter than trolling reels). Must be able to take over 600m of PE3. I’m using a Fin-Nor Marquesa
Matt with a blue eye.
Alex Green with a lure caught striped trumpeter.
Manual or electric wind? Fishing News - Page 26
Glen Saltmarsh with a snapper on a big soft plastic.
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