One of many newer techniques that anglers have been including to their arsenals over the past 10 years has been slow-pitch jigging. This model of jigging was developed to entice bites from bottom-dwelling species most frequently focused with bait and rigs, like haddock, cod, sea bass, and fluke, however it stays efficient on mid-water, predatory species like tuna, stripers, bluefish, and pollock.
In contrast to pace jigging, which is supposed to mimic a fleeing baitfish and incite sooner pelagic species, slow-pitch jigging imitates a wounded or dying baitfish. Whereas a complete system of specialised sort out from rods and reels to gloves and line has been developed round this system, crucial facet is the jig.
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What makes a jig a “slow-pitch” jig?
The defining attribute of a slow-pitch jig is the asymmetrical, center-weighted, keeled design. This offers the jig motion whereas in freefall. A dropping slow-pitch jig might glide, quiver, spiral, or dart, imitating an injured and dying baitfish—a simple meal that few fish can go up. Due to this fact, a slow-pitch jig is most engaging to the fish as it’s falling.
Deciding on a Gradual-Pitch Jig
The precise motion of a slow-pitch jig will depend on a jig’s form. Longer, slimmer jigs, just like the Shimano Shimmerfall, have a decent shimmy and shake on the drop, whereas fatter-bodied jigs, such because the Sea Falcon Z-Gradual, have a wider rocking motion as they fall.
Jig sizes and types must be chosen based mostly on the water depth and the goal species. On inshore waters, for sea bass and fluke, fishermen have had good luck with “micro” slow-pitch jigs weighing 60 grams or much less. On deeper bottom-fishing grounds, 90- to 120-gram jigs get the job accomplished, whereas excessive depths and bigger pelagic gamefish might require jigs as much as 300 grams or extra.
Construct Your Personal Gradual-Pitch Arsenal
Each quick pitch and lengthy pitch jigs fall below the umbrella of “slow-pitch” jigs, resulting from their center-weighted design, however every kind shines below completely different circumstances and situations. As slow-pitch jigging beneficial properties recognition within the Northeast, there are few jigs in each classes value hoarding for the upcoming fishing season, whether or not you favor to focus on offshore tuna or shallow-dwelling sea bass and scup.
Quick Pitch Jigs
These stout-bodied jigs produce a large, gradual fluttering motion on the drop designed to imitate a wounded baitfish. As a result of they fall at a slower price than lengthy pitch jigs, they have an inclination to carry out greatest inshore or midshore, or when fish are feeding lethargically.
Sea Falcon Z-Gradual
Shimano Butterfly Flat-Fall
Lengthy Pitch Jigs
Aptly named, these lengthy, slender jigs generate a tighter, less-erratic motion than their portly counterparts. Lengthy pitch jigs are perfect for deep-water, offshore purposes or when fish are feeding extra aggressively.
Sea Falcon Cutlassfish
Shimano Shimmerfall
The Gradual-Pitch Jigging Method
To get the perfect motion out of those jigs requires the right rod, which is extraordinarily light-weight, wanting extra like a largemouth bass rod than one able to beating a tuna. A slow-pitch rod has a leisurely, even recoil that lifts after which “pitches” the jig with a only a full flip of the reel deal with. The rod, extra so than the angler, imparts the motion to the jig, which makes slow-pitch jigging far much less labor-intensive than pace jigging. Fishermen have a tendency towards lighter braided line whereas slow-pitch jigging to scale back water resistance and preserve a vertical presentation.
A fundamental strategy to slow-pitch jigging is to drop to the underside, sustaining a little bit of pressure to maintain the lure vertical, in order that it sinks extra rapidly. As soon as it has touched down, make use of sharp turns of the reel deal with, whereas holding the rod stationary, to “pitch” the jig upward. This creates sufficient slack within the line to permit a quick freefall that triggers the jig’s motion. As soon as the jig has been fished past the strike zone, so long as the presentation is near vertical, drop again down with out pressure, watching the road for indicators {that a} fish has grabbed it.
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