Slow-pitch jigging is fast becoming a craze. Yes, we all know you can catch kob, leeries, elf and other species, such as grunter on art lure. But what about catching winter species, such fish as belman, steenbras, wildeperd, das, and even galjoen?
Well, as unbelievable as it may sound to some of us, it’s already being done by a handful of anglers who have dedicated themselves to this kind of fishing, and why wouldn’t you? It’s seriously challenging for sure, but also extremely fun and rewarding.
So what is slow-pitch jigging? Is it the same as vertical jigging? Well, in the old days we used to jig with heavier type jigs, anything from 40 to 300 gram jigs, would mostly be used on boats with a heavy setup consisting of a strong jigging rod, 50 to 80 pound braid and then simply drop the jog to the bottom and crank it back up to the surface, varying your retrieve depending what species you want to catch.
We used to mostly target big pelagic species like yellowtail, amberjack, big kingfish as well as tuna. Most of us would be speed jigging, looking for a reaction bite from a bigger fast moving fish.
As the years passed by and people started to learn the art of jigging, we started to realise that we are catching more and more slow moving bottom dwelling species like rock cod, red roman, red steenbras and the list just got bigger and bigger as more people started to fish jigs.
We will run through a few different rod and reel setups as well as take an in depth look at the many different slow-pitch jigs and micro lures available in our next article.
Let’s look at what a basic slow-pitch jigging set-up looks like, just remember this is a facet of angling which is used both offshore and land based. The principal and tackle remain pretty similar between the two, other than varying rod lengths and leader set-ups.
So you want to head out to target some steenbras, belman, wildeperd or a das this winter on lure?
Let’s start with your set-up, for shore-based jigging you want a little extra length on your rod, just to help you get that small little 15 g jig onto the sandbank where the fish would be feeding on small prawns or worms or crabs which is what you want to be imitating with your jig.
Let’s remember that slow-pitch jigging is quite specific and there are many different rods to suit your application. Some anglers prefer to fish open beaches, others estuaries and river mouths and others like to fish between rocks for reef species.
A rod with a length 9 ft to 11 ft is ideal, preferably a rod with a slow super soft tip action, so that it can flick that small little lure where you need to get it. There are many models of slow-pitch jigging rods out there and not all of them will break the bank.
As you are going to be fishing very light lures you need to find a nice light well balanced reel to suit your application.
Any reel in the 3 000- to 5 000-class size would do the job for you. You don’t need anything super fancy or expensive. Reels like the big boss 4 000, shinano Sedonas, daiwa excellers are great mid-range reels which will definitely not empty the pockets but still do a great job.
I would suggest fishing anything from 10 lb braid to 30 lb braid for rocky areas. There are many more rod brands and types of rods that will do the trick for you. What I have mentioned above is only a drop in the ocean compared to what is available. If you are wanting to find out more and you are looking to get properly set up, please feel free to contact us, our details are at the bottom.
There are so many lures on the market these days that one can get seriously confused by the different shapes, sizes, colours which are available. I would say that they mostly all work, it just depends on how you work em!
Start off by separating the species you would like to target and where you will be targeting them. Consider factors such as wind on the day, current, sand or rock, fast moving fish vs slow moving fish, water clarity and temperature also play a role in speed and lure size selection.
Friends of mine did a small experiment in Strand where the one fished with the usual roman baits like occie and chokka while the other fished only with slow pitch jigs.
By the end of the morning session the guy fishing bait had caught and released three roman while the guy fishing the tiny slow pitch jig had caught nine.
I have had similar experiences with kob, where I fish with live baits in a hope for hours and not get a bite at all. As soon as I changed over to a slow pitch jig I caught a kob on my second cast. The lure gets the fishes predatory instinct going. He wants something that is running away from him instead of a bait that’s just sitting still in one place.
We don’t have space left in this article, but we will definitely continue this article and speak more about species, areas to fish and how to fish different areas and types of structure with various types of jigs. Feel free to visit us in store at Fishing Republic, we are situated in Strand, on Beach Road. Or contact us on 072 552 4400 or email Kegan@fishingrepublic.co.za.
