Butterfly Jigs / Opinions???

[Tunateaser]

Gentlemen,

So I am at the tackle shop this afternoon picking up some terminal tackle and the gent who owns the place is raving about these schmano butterfly Jigs for Tuna. Tells me they have been known to out fish butter and sardine chunks. Then he goes on to tell me that to fish these jigs correctly you need to use only braided line, florocarbon shock leaders and a light tipped rod to make these jigs work properly. I cant help but thinking I am getting a real sales job on these jigs in addition to a whole new rod reel li ne and leader set up. I must admit I have no knowledge about these new jigs as we always have used the hammered jigs on occasion with limited results.

Any Opinions on these Butterfly Jigs???

Thank You, Dan

 

[gradyfish22]

To jig you can use a current rod you have, I'd recommend a 30, anything larger is just to heavy to swing. You can use mono, but flouro topshot on hollowcore braid is the best way to go. We use shimano 6'6" Trevala rods with 65lb and 80lb hollowcore on Avet JX and HX reels. These rods offer better action for this fishing, but your regular rods can work. In all honesty, I've caught a lot of fish jigging butterfly jigs, but nowhere near as many as on a hammer 8-12oz diamond jig. The by far best jig is a hammered diamond. I always keep a good selection of hammered diamonds and 2-4 squid colored butterfly jigs onboard for when the jig bite gets going. If you mark fish but they wont bite, start jigging, you can usually turn them on that way. Although you do not NEED a specific rod and reel for the job with specific line, I would recommend that at some point you invest in atleast one jig setup. I prefer the Avet HX reel with straight 80lb hollowcore and a loop connection. You can carry and switch out the windon topshot easily and change your topshot from mono to flouro easily for different applications. 80lb is my recommended lb flouro and hollwocore, but 65 will do the job, I would not go lower. You need a reel that can hold atleast 300yards of hollowcore, preferably 400. A larger Shimano Torium can do the job, but I prefer a lever drag reel made for braids to fish correctly and be able to adjust your drag settings during the fight if needed. I would recommend hollowcore over straight braid anyday, ask the pros, they will agree 100%. Conventional braid will be a little thinner, but will leave knots that will nick and fray and be hard to get through guides when tied to thicker mono or flouro. Hollowcore provides a smooth transition that can be reeled on with no problems. Some guys prefer a custom jig rod that is heavier then a Shimano Trevala, and there are times with bigger fish I wish I had a rod with more backbone, but the light weight rod keeps the angler from tiring out like they would from swinging a 30 or 50 all night. Since you are starting out, buy your essentials, carry some hammered diamond jigs and 2 or 3 squid colored butterfly's and use what you have. Once you have your trolling and chunking spread set, then get a good jig rod. You can get by using a 30w for now, but it is not your ideal setup. Like I've stated, I chunk with 4 30W reels, and Troll with 5 30w's and 3 50N's and I always have a jig rod rigged when trolling. If you hook up and need to slow down, drop a big jig back and work it, you often will hook up another fish. I do not like to slow down, but sometimes you have to, just never take the boat out of gear, you will end up with a mess.

 

[jimmy's marine service]

nice !!! these jigs really kick azz !!! use the spectra hollow core braid,the floro carbon is served into this...better yet,send your reels to basil..."windon's by basil...he'll set you up...personally,i like the internationals,i hate the avets,cheap junk,the shimano reels are really set up for this fishing,the torium is a good choice...the trevala rods,good stuff...
jigs...the flat sided jigs seem to work better for me,specifically,the one that resembles a sand eel,sand eels are really common on the bottom in our area...these jigs really rock !!! the old school hammered jigs...good stuff...i run one up the rigger and let it sit a few turns off the bottom,let the boat jig it for you...the japanese style jigs requirea special retrieve technique,master this technique and you will be hooked...
the idea of using braid,it's smaller in diameter,therefore you won't need a jig as heavy to get down deep...a good jigging reel is the new penn torque reels,remember that...

another deadly technique for tuna fishing when you're on the chunk,is the kite...fishing a live spot under the kite is a deadly way to catch some bigger tuna !!! live bait will definatley put some fish in the box...
chunk baits...sushi grade sardines are great baits,but,a live spot is tough to beat.... use a light floro carbon leader,60lb max...sometimes you're gonna have to drop to 30lb floro,but if you back the drags down on your reels,you should be fine...remember that... :wink:

man,i could go for hours on this subject....forget that flounder fishing crap,the striper fishing??? well...i would rather have my gums scraped,trolling offshore and seeing that 50w screaming line off it is the way for me !!!

 

[gradyfish22]

nice !!! these jigs really kick azz !!! use the spectra hollow core braid,the floro carbon is served into this...better yet,send your reels to basil..."windon's by basil...he'll set you up...personally,i like the internationals,i hate the avets,cheap junk,the shimano reels are really set up for this fishing,the torium is a good choice...the trevala rods,good stuff...
jigs...the flat sided jigs seem to work better for me,specifically,the one that resembles a sand eel,sand eels are really common on the bottom in our area...these jigs really rock !!! the old school hammered jigs...good stuff...i run one up the rigger and let it sit a few turns off the bottom,let the boat jig it for you...the japanese style jigs requirea special retrieve technique,master this technique and you will be hooked...
the idea of using braid,it's smaller in diameter,therefore you won't need a jig as heavy to get down deep...a good jigging reel is the new penn torque reels,remember that...

another deadly technique for tuna fishing when you're on the chunk,is the kite...fishing a live spot under the kite is a deadly way to catch some bigger tuna !!! live bait will definatley put some fish in the box...
chunk baits...sushi grade sardines are great baits,but,a live spot is tough to beat.... use a light floro carbon leader,60lb max...sometimes you're gonna have to drop to 30lb floro,but if you back the drags down on your reels,you should be fine...remember that... :wink:

man,i could go for hours on this subject....forget that flounder fishing crap,the striper fishing??? well...i would rather have my gums scraped,trolling offshore and seeing that 50w screaming line off it is the way for me !!!

Avet's are junk?....I've never had an issue with one and I fish them hard. Take one apart, find some plastic like other brands have. If you are refering to the original 4/02's they weren't the greatest, but the new pro exw 30's and 50's are excellent built reels. Even pro fishing teams are starting to agree. My penn's have been in for more service and cost me more money then they are even worth. Shimano's are good though, I agree there 100%.

 

[jimmy's marine service]

nice !!! these jigs really kick azz !!! use the spectra hollow core braid,the floro carbon is served into this...better yet,send your reels to basil..."windon's by basil...he'll set you up...personally,i like the internationals,i hate the avets,cheap junk,the shimano reels are really set up for this fishing,the torium is a good choice...the trevala rods,good stuff...
jigs...the flat sided jigs seem to work better for me,specifically,the one that resembles a sand eel,sand eels are really common on the bottom in our area...these jigs really rock !!! the old school hammered jigs...good stuff...i run one up the rigger and let it sit a few turns off the bottom,let the boat jig it for you...the japanese style jigs requirea special retrieve technique,master this technique and you will be hooked...
the idea of using braid,it's smaller in diameter,therefore you won't need a jig as heavy to get down deep...a good jigging reel is the new penn torque reels,remember that...

another deadly technique for tuna fishing when you're on the chunk,is the kite...fishing a live spot under the kite is a deadly way to catch some bigger tuna !!! live bait will definatley put some fish in the box...
chunk baits...sushi grade sardines are great baits,but,a live spot is tough to beat.... use a light floro carbon leader,60lb max...sometimes you're gonna have to drop to 30lb floro,but if you back the drags down on your reels,you should be fine...remember that... :wink:

man,i could go for hours on this subject....forget that flounder fishing crap,the striper fishing??? well...i would rather have my gums scraped,trolling offshore and seeing that 50w screaming line off it is the way for me !!!

Avet's are junk?....I've never had an issue with one and I fish them hard. Take one apart, find some plastic like other brands have. If you are refering to the original 4/02's they weren't the greatest, but the new pro exw 30's and 50's are excellent built reels. Even pro fishing teams are starting to agree. My penn's have been in for more service and cost me more money then they are even worth. Shimano's are good though, I agree there 100%.

ever blow up a shimano reel ??? i have...the frame is graphite,and trust me it will blow up...avets...well...i tried 'em,one word fits them cheap junk,sorry bro...i've used internationals for 25years,best equipment money can buy...personally,i've never had a problem with an international,ever...

 

[Tunateaser]

Holy Sheep Shit,

I think I have started a very sprited discussion on these jigs as well as the right set up. I must say that although I have only been a member of this site for a short time I think one gets really good and honest feedback. I hope I can return the favor this season while on the Tuna grounds and say to all who are out there to come my way and the bite is ON!!!

Thanks again gents,

Dan

 

[gradyfish22]

I agree TLD's are junk, I've seen them blow up as well, thats why I'll never use a graphite reel. Tiagra's are good though, IMHO super overpriced, but they are great reels. The older internationals are good reels, but the new ones are not so good. Also, since Penn was sold, only internationals are built in the USA, everything else is made in China, and some parts for Internationals are built in China and then assembled in the USA. The older models were probably the best reels ever made hands down, but newer series are just not as good.

 

[Grog]

The graphites aren't that bad, you can't treat them like an international or yes, they will blow. The 20's and 30's have to be used for what they were intended for, they cannot take 80# line and a harness. The internals are not built to the same tolerences or strength but you aren't paying for that either. A 50 in graphite is asking for trouble.


The lazy jig off the outrigger is a good idea.

 

[jimmy's marine service]

is this what you're looking for ???

here's some yellowfin we grabbed day time chunking in the canyons...we got some gorillas this day...

we could only load 2 at a time in the cart...note the wheels on the cart...

these fish were caught at the baltimore last october...these are long fin,albacore tuna,yellowfin,dolphin and tile fish...
note the dolphin in the top pic,it's been slashed by a swordfish...pretty cool huh ???

this is my girlfriend wrestlin' a big ol' golden tile off the canyon wall...note,it's NOT an electric reel,and we're fishing' in 700' of water...

this is a wahoo...this is the end result of the pin rigged 'hoo...this guy wacked an islander rigged with a 'hoo...

this is the "pin rig",the lure is an islander outrider,these have a cupped face,real good for flat calm days,it throws alot of water...

islanders and hatteras lures,some of the best tuna catchin stuff you can buy...deadly on the offshore fish,tuna,white marlin and wahoo...

again,those jigs are great...using a "top shot" of floro served into the hallow core spectre is the way to go,i like a 100' top shot for jigging,it let's you know where the jig is...

i gotta remember to bring my camera more when i head offshore...i miss alot of good stuff...sorry guys...

in the tile fish series of pics,we were not on my boat,that's the reason for the shimano reels,the internationals are mine...note,no avets... the reel for the tile fish was a torium loaded with power pro braid,we were holding the bottom with 20oz of weight starting out in 800' of water,and drifting up the canyon wall...

 

[Tunateaser]

Hey Jimmy,

Pictures made my day... The wahoo is spectacular.

You said that you did some daytime chunking? I have only done that at night. I assume the baits need to be deeper in the daytime?

Thanks Again / good stuff

 

[jimmy's marine service]

Hey Jimmy,

Pictures made my day... The wahoo is spectacular.

You said that you did some daytime chunking? I have only done that at night. I assume the baits need to be deeper in the daytime?

Thanks Again / good stuff

in the day lite,we fish a stagered bait set up...that day,the fog was thick,we didn't see sun till 1pm...fish were on the surface,due to the low level of lite...these fish were all taken on live spot...don't believe anyone that tells you day time chunkin in the canyons won't catch fish...

 

[Tunateaser]

Hey Jimmy,

I don't mean to sound ignorant but what is a spot? Understandibly a bait fish but do you jig them or buy them???

 

[jimmy's marine service]

Hey Jimmy,

I don't mean to sound ignorant but what is a spot? Understandibly a bait fish but do you jig them or buy them???

it's a funky lookin' little bait fish...they show up later in the season in the marinas...we catch them and put them in the pen...great bait...small perch work well,just about anything live around 5-8" long works great...

 

[Tunateaser]

I gotcha thanks, Years ago I caught an 87 pound True allison tuna on a live ling I jigged from the bottom. I dont think we have spot on the Island unless we call them something else, Bergal? but I agree any live bait uually will produce.

Your tip on the top shot also makes alot of sence in that you know about where your jig is.

Thanks Again... Dan

 

[tuxedospike]

Butterfly Jigs....?

Back to the original question...Here in Fla. The butterfly Jig is starting the really catch on. The opinions are all over the map. All I can say is that if I"m going after bottom fish or Kingfish on structure, I won't go without Butterfly Jigs...gas costs too much to boat ride. Here in Fla I've found that most fisherman (no, not all) use Internationals for trolling and the other brands for bottom fishing. I use Diawas that are about 20 years old and have yet to break one. (400s and 450's) . I still use mono on all my rods save a select few and those are 130lb. trollers. I have a few butterfly jigs made by the "high priced spread" folks but most are Williamson or BassPro or local Knock-offs. I would advise that you buy a few and try them with your existing tackle and make up your own mind. My own opinion is that fished correctly they will out-fish live bait....

 

[fishingFINattic]

Looks a little heated above, but I feel that I should add that some of guys I fish with have paired the Penn 16VSX to a nice light rod and spooled it with JerryBrown hollow core..... the rod is small and light, good action.... they have been using this rod to jig while we are chunking..... seems to work very well and it is not nearly as tiring...
Tim

 

[jimmy's marine service]

Looks a little heated above, but I feel that I should add that some of guys I fish with have paired the Penn 16VSX to a nice light rod and spooled it with JerryBrown hollow core..... the rod is small and light, good action.... they have been using this rod to jig while we are chunking..... seems to work very well and it is not nearly as tiring...
Tim

man i can't agree more with that set up....the 16vsx is one kick azz reel...i have 2 both are loaded with spectra hollow core braid,80lb and they have 100' of 60lb floro top shots...certified jigging perfect !!!

same set up using live bait flown from the kite is incredible !!!