New To Jigging - What Gear Do I Need?

[Vanuatu_dreaming]

Hi all

I’m currently based in Vanuatu and have bought a small 6metre boat to go game fishing. There’s a few FADs nearby which I’ll be targeting. The game fishing anglers mainly jig. What kind of gear would you recommend when jigging for tuna, mahi mahi and GT? Any advice on rods, reels, jigs/overall set ups would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

G'day Vanuatu_dreaming

Welcome to the forum! It's great you have decided to join up. I assume you are an Aussie in Vanuatu  

In terms of the question, I am not much help. But the main thing for things like this is that it comes down the research. I know the TV program Mark Berg's Fishing Adventures does a few episodes in Vanuatu, so if you have access you might want to see if you can find anything in there. Here are also some other links I have found for you - 

https://www.nambasfishingcharters.com/the-fishing

http://fishwrecked.com/forum/vanuatu-jigging-and-popping-ocean-blue

https://www.tackletalktobes.com.au/tag/vanuatu/

Cheers Hamish  

[Drop Bear]

Mate sounds like heaven. 

[Vanuatu_dreaming]

Thanks for the welcome! Yep, Aussie living in Vanuatu. I’ll check out what the local charter operators use. 
 

Ive mostly done beach and estuary fishing in Australia. And I’ve been trolling in Tonga. This is the first time I’ll be getting into stationary boat fishing so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[kmcrosby78]

Welcome to the forum mate - I'm no help with jigging advice either unfortunately but I hope you work it out and are able to put some reports up, would be great to hear about the fishing over there. I'd love to get over to somewhere like there or Fiji sometime.

[Brodie_S]

The best thing I would recommend is doing research and talk to people who sort of do this thing . But if I had to give advice on tackle I would get this gear simply because I know it’s quality gear and it’s very versatile .

rod atomic arrows rods the offshore models particularly.there are many different models to suit your application and all models have awesome light responsive blanks and good quality guides and reel seats and are also fairly cheap most are under 200 I got a lighter bream series one for $112

Reels shimano saragosa simply because there heavy sealed and have a great reputation . Shimano stradic fl I don’t have experience with the bigger models but I have a little experience with the smallest model and it’s extremely smooth when using and has good drag and feels very Rigid has pretty much zero play in the reel also for some reason it feels smoother retrieving line with a lure on the end of it then just spinning it by it self with nothing on it . But I know it’s fairly water resistant and can differentially handle the pressure of big fish . Just don’t go dunking it yes it’s sealed but not water proof it can handle salt spray from waves that’s about it then comes to the water resistance level 

Main line . Daiwa j braid its easy to tie knots with .you don’t get wind knots it’s cheap and it’s strength has been proven to be extremely strong . This is the only braid I use 

leader line . FC rock it’s fairly cheap for fluorocarbon and it’s very abrasion resistance and ties most knots well with a bit of lubrication . For mono leaders  you might want to check out shimano Exage personally I haven’t used it but a lot of my friends use it and swear by it 

 

lures personally I haven’t used jigs before 

but I have heard good things about the savage gear jigs and The hooks on those things are super strong 

overall just do some research and see what you can find out these are just some of my suggestions in a pool of many other  suggestions but in terms of rods reels and line I think that’s were you want to be headed . Hope that helps

[Vanuatu_dreaming]

 

9 hours ago, Breaming with bro said:

The best thing I would recommend is doing research and talk to people who sort of do this thing . But if I had to give advice on tackle I would get this gear simply because I know it’s quality gear and it’s very versatile .

rod atomic arrows rods the offshore models particularly.there are many different models to suit your application and all models have awesome light responsive blanks and good quality guides and reel seats and are also fairly cheap most are under 200 I got a lighter bream series one for $112

Reels shimano saragosa simply because there heavy sealed and have a great reputation . Shimano stradic fl I don’t have experience with the bigger models but I have a little experience with the smallest model and it’s extremely smooth when using and has good drag and feels very Rigid has pretty much zero play in the reel also for some reason it feels smoother retrieving line with a lure on the end of it then just spinning it by it self with nothing on it . But I know it’s fairly water resistant and can differentially handle the pressure of big fish . Just don’t go dunking it yes it’s sealed but not water proof it can handle salt spray from waves that’s about it then comes to the water resistance level 

Main line . Daiwa j braid its easy to tie knots with .you don’t get wind knots it’s cheap and it’s strength has been proven to be extremely strong . This is the only braid I use 

leader line . FC rock it’s fairly cheap for fluorocarbon and it’s very abrasion resistance and ties most knots well with a bit of lubrication . For mono leaders  you might want to check out shimano Exage personally I haven’t used it but a lot of my friends use it and swear by it 

 

lures personally I haven’t used jigs before 

but I have heard good things about the savage gear jigs and The hooks on those things are super strong 

overall just do some research and see what you can find out these are just some of my suggestions in a pool of many other  suggestions but in terms of rods reels and line I think that’s were you want to be headed . Hope that helps

Great advice. Yes this what I was looking for - some pointers on trusted gear. There’s so much out there it’s hard to sort the wheat from the chaff. Thanks again.

[Towknee]

Sammy Hitzke has a fishing channel on YouTube. He often does deep water jigging. In a few of the videos he mentions the gear he uses. 

[Ed.]

20 hours ago, Vanuatu_dreaming said:

Hi all

I’m currently based in Vanuatu and have bought a small 6metre boat to go game fishing. There’s a few FADs nearby which I’ll be targeting. The game fishing anglers mainly jig. What kind of gear would you recommend when jigging for tuna, mahi mahi and GT? Any advice on rods, reels, jigs/overall set ups would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

In my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions, they are like bums,...everyone has one!  it really depends on how much you are willing to spend, how often you will use it,  and whether you want to use overhead or spin type reels. If you are after largish game fish I would recommend an overhead reel, and obviously the larger you go the more expensive they cost, having said that. My preference would be a Okuma Makaira 30 which should handle the larger fish as well (up to several hundred Kg's).

I just watched that video of Sammy Hitzke mentioned before and watched him catching that tuna on the Tiagra 30, (at about 15 minutes in), he then took the ratchet off a few minutes later, and the noise of the anti reverse pawl (still audible) would drive me crazy for any length of time  compared to the Makaira 30 (which is silent), not to mention that the Okuma has thrust bearings, bigger drag, and helical cut gears which make the retrieve considerably quieter, smoother and  more efficient.  Moving on from there, have a look at the Penn Fathom 2 speed lever drags in the 30 and 40 sizes, they are less than half the price of the of the Tiagras and the Makairas, they have a decent amount of drag, are silent, have a thrust bearing and are a much physically smaller compared to the 30 size reels in the first two models I mentioned.

All the reels mentioned would do your job and will probably last a lifetime if looked after a bit. The Penns also have the Squall range which are basically a bit cheaper than the Fathoms but have a graphite frame, for the larger fish I prefer the all Ally frame reels. Both of the Tiagras and the Makairas come in smaller and larger models, but once you go past the 30 sized reels they tend to be very large reels and would probably be a bit tiring trying to jig with those sizes, even the 30's could get tiring if just jigging all day. Also pays to have a reel harness and a rod gimbal handy if catching larger fish, the harness is only good if you have harness lugs on your reels but the rod gimbal you can use any time.

As for rods, there are heaps of them that would suit, but my preference would be something on the shorter side in the range of 5'6" to 6'6" tops, any longer and you will have the leverage working against you and towards the fishes favour. I have two in the 25-37KG range a Ugly Bluewater 5'6" with guides and a Palagic Extreme 6' with full rollers, the only thing I don't like about the Ugly is the guides and am thinking about replacing them with some SiC guides. The Palagic is like a broom next to it, it has full rollers but it is twice as thick even though it is rated the same, probably as it is made with fiberglass as against carbon fiber in the Ugly. Both of these are not "tippy" rods and need a bit of weight on them to make a curve, and as I said before there are stacks of different models and brands that will also do the job.

I can't advise you on spinning reels as I do not use any that are in the larger sizes, my largest is a Penn Spinfisher 6500 but I would not grab it to go after the Jumbo sized fish, if I wanted to go for larger fish I would grab the overhead Makaira first then the Fathom second. My view is if I needed something bigger than the 6500 I would go to the overheads but the spin rods are better suited to casting lures/baits than the large overheads. So if you want more info on spinning setups I am sure someone else here will recommend something suitable.

So first off I would head off to the charter boat operators in the area you want to fish and ask them about what size and type of fish they regularly catch and get gear to suit, if you ask them about the hardware, be aware that most charter boats have a mixed bag of fishermen, some of who have absolutely no idea and/or experience and some who do, so the skipper may just fit his boat out with cheap and nasty reels and rods as he knows they will probably get wrecked in the hands of novices so why spend big bucks on the better gear which will be damaged. Once you have a better idea of your likely catch, go to a tackle store or two or three and get your hands on the reels and rods you are interested in, just  to get a feel of them before deciding to spend your money. The reason I say 2 or 3 stores is that some stores will not carry the full range of gear and may try to sell you something they do carry which may not be the most suitable for you.

So do some research and get a reel and rod that feels right, is within your budget and will last a long time.

Cheers.

Ed.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hey Ed. and Breaming with bro

Thanks for all that great advice, I know it is not for me but that is a lot of good information!  

Cheers Hamish

[Brodie_S]

Also I will just put out . Shimano and daiwa have the most durable and overall smoother gearing compared to any other spinning  reel manufacturer then your catching big fish you need strong tough gearing . So i would stear away from abu Garcia okuma and those cheap eBay brand reels . But I do find overhead reels and bait casters it doesn’t matter as much with the gearing . But for spinning gear differently go for shimano or daiwa 

[Simo68]

7 hours ago, Towknee said:

Sammy Hitzke has a fishing channel on YouTube. He often does deep water jigging. In a few of the videos he mentions the gear he uses. 

Shimano Ocea jigger gear, its the business but very xy 

[Ed.]

As I said before that was just my opinion, but just to clarify, I don't think that Daiwa is in the larger game fishing business anymore as they stopped producing the Tournament reels last I checked but I could be wrong, and I don't think that they have a replacement. The last one I owned was the Daiwa SLT50W and I didn't keep it long, sold it almost new as I disliked their gear change mechanism, as for steering away from Okuma,  I think that you would be doing yourself a dis-service by not looking at the Makairas. I was just about to buy a Tiagra last year as I always wanted one but decided to do the rounds first of the different  large reels, I looked at Penn Inter's, Tiagras, Finnor, Ticas and the Okuma, and the Okuma won hands down so I bought a Makaira 30. Now don't get me wrong, all of those reels are good and all have caught big fish on them and all of them have been around a long time. But in my opinion, the Okuma was much better, for me anyway, and since they teamed up with Tiburuon  to design the reels whilst Okuma manufacture them, their standard of reel has improved dramatically, years ago  I had one of their original Titus 30 and 50W reels but eventually sold them, anyway I ended up buying a Makaira 50W  as well for good measure. Now thinking about getting a 10-15 sized one, that is if I can convince the wife! I also have had a few TLD reels but really didn't like their drags and then found the Tyrnos reels which were much better.

Fishing reels/rods are very subjective things in that what I like in a reel/rod someone else will dislike, so getting back to opinions everyone has one, so do yourself a favour and check out as many as you can to see what appeals to you as you will be the one forking out the cash and using it, just make sure you at least check out the Makairas!!

[Brodie_S]

Yea I did mention the gearing thing is more in the spinning reel category . I know abu Garcia make good baitcaster reels  but their spinning reels suck there gears don’t last long and break down fairly quickly compared to daiwa and shimano ask anyone who owns a abu Garcia reel who isn’t sponsored and 9/10 they will say it’s crap and has lost smoothness . Okuma is a little bit better and at least their gears are smooth for a decent amount of time  but once again they aren’t as good as other reels around that price range but I serviced A okuma overhead reel can’t remember what model it was but it seemed really good so you might on to something there . But anyway as I was saying shimanos hagene gear and Daiwa’s digi gear are some of the best main gears on the market . I open and service reels often only cheaper reels under $150 due to its easy to get confused when you starting getting any higher quality reels I service my own and other peoples and the okumas and abu Garcia’s are always have the most wear on the gears  I find shimanos Hagane gear is the best main gear overall also I don’t know why but shimano really like the to  skimp on the ball bearings compared to other brands but I think the reason they do this is for better gearing and longevity . Also stay away from 13 fishing there reels are crap overhead or spinning . I will add this some of shimano reels and daiwa reels are crap but most are excellent . But yea do some research and see what you like don’t just take my word for it . Penn make some good reels to and also van stalls there’s also some other brands that make decent reels to but I really like penn overhead reels but like Ed said you might what to check out those okuma overheads they seem really good 

[Tacklejunkie.]

Jigging encompasses so many different scenarios it is almost impossible to recommend suitable tackle without knowing just what fish you are gong to target, what depth of water you intend to fish and what your budget is. 

If you are proficient with their use I would go for an overhead style reel in preference to a spinning reel for jigging, they are mechanically stronger with better designed drags. If you do go for a spinning reel you will need to dig deep and buy one of the top shelf reels designed to handle the job or you will be disappointed.

The newer carbon rods, especially the high modulus Japanese carbon blanks are much lighter and stronger than traditional fibreglass  rods and can now be bought quite cheaply, they look like toys but are very strong and are a joy to use.

There are also some good jigging reels coming out of Korea, Malaysia and China that can handle the stresses of jigging without costing a fortune, I have a few and since buying them I have left my Shimano's in the cupboard.

As Ed has said, don't discount Okuma's, they make some very good reels.

[ggg]

.

[Ed.]

Another thing that you may want to add to the boat if you are fishing at night is an underwater LED light,  such as the following:   https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12V-Underwater-108-LED-Fishing-Light-Night-Boat-Lamp-Attracts-Fish-Shad-Squid/163676895227?hash=item261be737fb:g:~H8AAOSwhBtczie-

They come in Green, Blue or White and you can get them for about $20-25 delivered. They have a switch on them and come with small alligator clips to connect to the battery terminals, just be aware of the battery drain as most are between 15-20W. Only thing I don't like about them is that the wire cable is really thin. You just lower them underwater and tie them off, they attract bait which attract the bigger predators,  just cast outside the light circle and reel back in as most of the predators will be cruising just outside the light reach.