Just ordered an inshore fluke fishing setup. Went with. 7' Penn Battalion II med-light spinning rod and a Tsunami Evict 2000 spinning reel. I'm going to apool it with 15 pound braid. I tied up 4 fluke bucktail rigs which is a flourocarbon leader with a surgeons loop at the bottom and a dropper loop 12-15 inches above that. I'm going to use a fluke bucktail w/trailer on the bottom and a baitholder hook with a Berkeley Gulp swimming mullet on the dropper.
I've used his blackfish jigs. They are effective. Skinner makes great vids for you guys in the kayaks.
I finished the fluke fishing section. Really good stuff. My saltwater fishing gear is expanding at a rapid rate, lol.
Just wait until your slow pitch jigging addiction begins. I can't even begin to count up the cash I've spent on gear. Had to reel myself in (no pun intended) or the wife was gonna nail my balls to the living room wall right over my TV.
Good question. Depends on your taste. If you choose to spend big money on rods, that's where the cost come in as quality rods can cost several hundred bucks easy. Quantity will become your motivation as there's no one rod that fits every fishing situation. Rods are harder to sell on the resale market too so not as much ROI. If you choose to put the money in reels (like me), the initial cost can be painful BUT, you can sell your gear and get pretty good return on your initial investment. Reels are easy to sell if you invest in quality gear initially. Jigs are at the low end but you will find yourself buying jigs for different depths, current situations, species and so forth so the cost is directly associated with quantity. You won't spend as much on Jigs though. All in all, your days of buying gear off the shelf just might be coming to an end unless you're in a quality shop like J&H or TackleDirect or other retailers at that level. Don't be afraid to order from out of state too.
I've spent a bunch with J&H and TackleDirect already. I not a fan of J&H's shipping fees but they have a lot of selection. I'd rather have the expensive reels rather than the rods.
You get what you pay for when it comes to reels.. You'll also find an easier upgrade path when it comes time to as you can sell your quality reel much easier than a rod. I found that Tax Return, Father's Day, Christmas and 1st weeks after winter is the best time to sell your gear.
You guys dont have many fish with sawblades for mouths like we do.... Cudas and kings can make jigs disappear with a quickness That's why I try to find them on ebay, or on clearance sale..... some of the prices of those things are just stupid. Those setups you bought should have you set for a long time..... maybe the SPJ rod you may want to upgrade eventually (I saw one of those in a local tackleshop and it seemed stiff to me), but you're fishing from a yak..in reality unless you (or friends) are buying a boat, you'll be fine I am going to upgrade mine (reel).... I went cheaper route to start (the Fin-nor that I bought would be fine for most) but considering Ive sent it in for warranty work once already.... (had to learn to back off drag, as apparently cobia and big snapper in 165' put a hurting on the gears) if you want to buy anything else, get a couple of trolling plugs (I like the yo-zuri crystal minnow deep diver) and some Storm Wildeye swim shads (both in "bunker" color) to troll behind your yak.... speaking of, Stripers should be up by you, and I'm sure they were hungry this past full moon
Do these assist hooks look to small for this 150g slow pitch jig? I bought Gamakatsu size 1/0. The cord seems short to me as well.
Right size.. Wrong location. You want the assist jigs on the top so as to not get caught on structure down below. Most predator fish hit at the head first so you'll miss hookups waiting for the tail bite. You'll also need some medium sized swivels to tie your leader to. Its okay to use top and bottom assist hooks IF you're fishing over muddy bottom. I'll be using top and bottom assist hooks on my upcoming Tilefish trip. I'll also be using 300-400g jigs too in 400-600ft depths. Other than that, I only use two hooks on top. You could also go down to 1 hook if 2 are getting hung up too often. The cord length /hook combo shouldn't hang lower than half the length of the jig. If you're using top and bottom hooks, make sure they're short enough not to hang up on each other
It depends.. If you're trying not to get snagged, then only use the top hooks. Especially if you're wreck fishing. If you're on a flat muddy bottom or fishing mid level and higher, go with the 4 hook set up. Stripers and Blues you could probably go with top and bottom as you won't be on the bottom most times. I hit my first blue up in the water column using SPJ. Not to say that top hooks don't get snagged, but your odds are better to keep your jig instead of donating it to Davy Jones' collection.
One last thing.. As a general rule of thumb: 1 gram of weight for every foot of water depth depending on the current. Sometimes you might have to go heavier and a slimmer profile. Just try to keep your rig as vertical as possible and you'll be fine..
Regarding jig color, Pay attention to the color 5th from the right. Its chartreuse and it barely changes color even at 150ft.
Agree with 1st part. Totally disagree with second. I still prefer hooks towards the top for reasons you've stated, but also to have fishing line connected directly to hooks and not weight of jig (to prevent dislodging). Double sets are good for DEEP water, or longer profile jigs. (most jigs I use can fit in my target fishes mouth so I don't mess with em) Cool video about colors.... I usually try to "match the hatch" but I also will say Pink (for snappers), Chartreuse (mid water column faster swimmers), gold/copper (groupers) have been my best... but as long as they're shiny you're ok... gram / ft is a good rule, but I usually err on the heavier side of that, and I definitely would If i was on a headboat to prevent tangles btw, last weekend I found out my cousin in Long Island bought a sweet offshore boat at the end of the season last year.... we used to go on headboats together as kids, but he's TOTALLY clueless about offshore fishing on his own, so I'll be making my way up there sometime this summer to help him put some blood on the boat
