Grabbed a few different styles of jigs to experiment with. I think i read in vedders book "matching the hatch" was a good rule to follow ....would explain why i had success today with the Zinger he recommended as it looks like a herring and we fished alot near herring balls. But typically in area 11 there is both candlefish and herring available and i feel like no self righteous Nook would turn down either or, should it be wounded and an easy meal....am i wrong?


we outfished the bait guys today around us. The zinger tended to do a cool dying bait fish swoon at the top of the "jig" then flutter down versus a pt wilson dart which sort of just shoots up with no real motion in the lure then side flutters down ( i slightly bend the pt wilson darts). is it 6 on one side half a dozen on the other or is there a method to the madness of different designs?

im catching fish but still amazed every trip when i continue to do so...i go for bait and jig....and in this HUGE area magically there is fish where i fish....i admit i feel like ( versus watching other people jig to soft and not catch fish) my jigging in and of itself is spot on as far as the action goes...but i still feel like i could be doing better in locating these fish or maybe even catching more....they were there today....im intimidated to go lighter than 4 ounces because of the current rippin gin the places i fish...should i just go lighter and try it? ....is that the hard part...just finding them...its intimidating to motor around and pick a 200 yard spot to drift with the tide and jig....i feel like its a needle in a hay stack kind of thing.....

hahah i guess thats learning....anyone have anymore info they dont mind blasting ove the internet for public knowledge?

There is absolutely nothing more important than fishing over fish. The best way I know to do that is to fish over bait balls. Find the bait find the fish it's really that simple.

IMHO Zzinger is by far the best jig on the market. It has the sexiest flutter of them
all. I prefer the two and a quarter ounce size for most applications, but will go with the 4 ounce size if fishing over bigger bait or if I have to to get down.

I never had a fish finder and did pretty decent. I always fished points and current seams, fish typical areas fish concentrate.
From the sounds of it you are doing far better than most guys, especially just starting out. Don't get to greedy trying to improve what isn't broke. Be glad to have the success you're having and keep putting fish on the punch card.

I use to row my little 10ft Jon boat out and jig at Lincoln park and three tree point. Also out in Elliot bay. 3 to 5 fish a week was my normal success rate.

Fishing itself has a lot of ebbs and flows and only long term experience and increased sample size will tell you where you are currentlu at. I suspect you think this is the norm and things are bound to improve from here. Enjoy things while they are good.

Thanks. Well. Off to the store for more zingers hahahha. BOAT ...Break Out Another Thousand

New jigger here as well, used mostly pt wilsons 3 1/2 white and crushed them in port townsend 2 miles form ferry in 40' of water, landed 2 and hooked 3, best and first experience in salt water kings! Jigs "are" addicting and look foward to using them locally here in area 11 and 12. green and white 4" buzz bombs are the bomb in area 13 I here..

Addicting for sure. Nice thing is you don't seem to catch as many doggies as when mooching and can still have fun fighting the fish. Seems like it's hard to go wrong with your standard salmon colors, green, white, blue, silver, etc. Haven't had as much luck with herring shaped jigs as the candlefish ones, but haven't used them as much either.

My 3 favorite colors are white followed by white and the 3rd color is white.

About colors

The inventor of the Buzz Bomb never painted the lures. He just fished them as they came out of the mold. Later when he was an old man and his son Doug had taken over the company and introduced many colors the old man would walk into the factory and ask if there were any unpainted ones he could use. If none were available he would pick up a handful of the charcoal grey ones.


P.S. He caught one hell of a lot of salmon on the unpainted ones.

Good point, Dave. My buddy pours a lot of his own jigging lures for tuna/salmon. All he does is clear coat the fresh lead to keep it from dulling up so quick. No color...

The Metzler Mooch-A-Jig, in its unpainted form, has accounted for many salmon . . .

I agree. The below jig was retired many years ago prior to barbless hooks rule. It caught many a salmon, halibut and ling cod. 6 ounces. I still fish the Metzler jigs, but now rigged with a single barbless siwash. They are hard to find now, but I thought ahead many years ago and bought dozens to stash away for the future, which is now! The 6 and 8 ounce ones are excellent for the deep jigging here in Area 6. They have a side to side flutter on the way down, deadly! I put more bend in the jigs for more "flutter". That split ring is soldered, non soldered split rings will pull open. Split ring is omitted when using the open eye Mustad Siwash.

Not many people have a Starrett rule with the end graduations.

Mighty white of ya. Been doing well on white

Mako 22

Looks to me like you know whereof you speak.

I thought the same thing. You should post more, Mako.

A lot of guys that jig in the Great Lakes use Swedish Pimples or Jonah Jigs..

http://www.swedishpimple.com/HTML/swedishpimple/index.html

http://jonahjigs.com/

I use the smallest Swedish pimple to jig for Lake Washington perch.

Love the Dart! That said, there's times a buzz bomb has outfished them. Chrome is my favorite go-to.

I think it is a myth that salmon can be caught on jigs. Just kidding!
Here's a 38 pound Chinook from B.C. that was one of the largest out of a dozen or so I hooked on a white jig.