A look at some deep water metal
by Lee Brake on 16 Sep 2013
It's not just pelagics that will take metal jigs. This big nannygai launched out of the depths and smashed Graham Brake's Reidy's Knife Jig. Lee Brake
This week Lee Brake takes us through the action-packed art of jigging with metal lures.There are many different metal jigs on the market and they are all reasonably similar, yet often have subtle, important differences. One thing they do share though is that pelagics like Spanish mackerel love them.
If you are fishing a deep water spot and you see arches and maybe even bait balls holding high in the water column on your sounder, fair chance you're looking at feeding mackerel. Sure, you can troll for them, and this is often a good way to prospect for fish concentrations, however, once you have found them, nothing is more productive and exhilarating than dropping down a metal jig!
Let’s start with the knife jig. These are, as their name suggests, a jig that vaguely resembles a metal butter knife in its simplest form with a loop of Dacron hanging from the top tow point and a single, wide-gape assist hook connected to that. I’ve seen part of well-known writer and jigging enthusiast Peter Zeroni’s collection of jigs and it contains actual butter knives with holes drilled to fashion them into jigs. This kind of lure is nothing fancy!
With knife jigs, the first thing a beginner needs is speed. Unless you’re cranking and ripping these things through the depths, they won’t work, and I don’t just mean as fast as you can wind. Not all reels have the speed to make these jigs work, so you will need either high-speed spinning gear or at the very least a high speed overhead over 6.0 – 1.0.
The other factor that anglers need to realise about high speed jigging with metal in northern Australia is our fish have teeth. Mackerel and even barracuda love knife jigs and are your primary catch along with trevally and the odd cobia. Knives dominantly provoke the frenzied instincts of pelagic fish and while many other species will attack them, the non-pelagic species take much more persistence. But, let’s go back to the teeth. Mackerel will smash a knife jig five ways from Sunday and they usually destroy everything that gets in their way, including leader, the assist rig and sometimes even mid-lines swivels.
This means that you need to retro-fit your jigs. Firstly, retro-fit them with a short length of single-strand wire leader (20cm) haywire twisted into the split ring of the jig at one end and a heavy duty ball bearing swivel at the other. From there, run a rod length of 100-120lb mono joined to your braid (I like 50lb) with a double and an Albright knot. Pre-made wind-on leaders are also great for high-speed jigging, as the lack of knots – which produce small bubble trails underwater – prevents them from attracting mack-attacks. Next, you need to replace your Dacron assist rigs with wire. Companies like Mustad, River2Sea and Surecatch all do basic wire rigs that work well or you can try fashioning your own out of multi-strand wire.
Once geared up and rigged to be tooth proof, it becomes a matter of 'when and where'. I like fast moving water for knife jigs and depth is also important. Because of the speed which you work knives, water under 30m deep is a real struggle as you only just reach top speed before you need to freespool. The biggest tip I can give anglers is to use your sounder and look for bait balls and feeding fish – find them and your battle is half won. Deep offshore pinnacles, bombies, wrecks and shoals are all good starting places.
The other type of metal jig that mackerel love is just a standard metal slice with a treble on the base. Where a knife jig drops vertically and is worked up through the water column with big rips of the rod, a slice tends to flutter down and is then best retrieved with a straight, fast cranking retrieve. I personally really like the 75gm Double-up Bumpa-Bars for this as they have the weight to get down quickly and can be worked with a variety of actions, not just the straight retrieve.
Ok, so I also should mentioned bladed lures. Companies like TT (Tackle Tactics) have recently released heavy blades useful for offshore work up to around two ounces. These can be worked in a variety of ways and catch a large selection of species; however, unlike soft plastics which have the advantage of realistic textures, scents and even tastes, and unlike the faster knife jigs which draw the instinct bite, they rely solely on action to attract fish. This means a degree of finesse is required that will benefit from a fast-tapered graphite rod and braided line.
Working blades is also something that takes practise, as they can be ripped hard through the lower water column, fluttered up off the bottom and twitched with jerks and pauses like a jerkshad-style plastic. Choosing the right action depends on the species your targeting and the nature of the structure below.
Overall, the best thing I can advise is to go and grab a selection of jigs and the next time you spot pelagics on your sounder, give them a drop. You'll have a blast!
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