Everybody who has done speed jigging knows how hard it can be on the body.
Whipping that 300-450g jig from 130m to get a strike can be and is definately a lot of hard work. Especially in the tropical environment where you have heat and humidity to contend with.
Slow pitch jigging was something new to me and after starting to read about it last year I bought a dedicated slow pitch rod (Black Hole Pioneer) and reel (Wiki Jigger) and loaded it with Verivas Slow Pitch Braid ( 4 strand PE2) rated at 29lb.
Walking around some of the high end tackle shops in Singapore I could pick and choose what slow pitch jigs I wanted ...
My rod is rated to 200g so my choice of jigs where in the 150-180g class.
While walking around shops like JDM, Saber and Kaiser Pro Shop it dawned on me quickly that this is not a cheap lure game with the average jig going for S$20.00
Not only did I have to look at my budged but also that I need to fly the jigs halfway around the world.
My main reason for investing in the slow pitch jigging outfit is not because the speed jigging is too much work. (i love speed jigging) But the challenge of landing and adding species to the species list.
Now I could target fish that would never hit a speed jig (due to the speed we fish these jigs, as well as the action) but also I could target species at depths I could never dream off before.
The slow pitch jigs are designed to flutter when they fall and this is what instigate the fish to hit the jig.
I was keen on testing the outfit during my trip to Mafia Island in Feb and it did not disappoint.
Roy and I caught a range of rock cod / grouper species that were all new to me.
Then I caught this razorfish... (Thanks for the ID John)
And later this trigger fish
Rusty jobfish
To name a few of the species.
We fished these slow pitch jigs down to 130m and still got fish.
Roy and I were both hoping to hook up and land a GT in the 10-15kg range on these light setups to really put them to the test.
Roy was fishing a PE3 outfit with 40lb braid if I remember correctly and on one of our 1st spots he connected to a very good tropical Amberjack that I am sure he will tell you more about himself.
On our last day fishing we found the Tropical Amberjacks at the edge of a ledge down at 130m. Mark was clobbering the Aj's on speed jig and I decided to see what happen if I drop a slow pitch jig.
Down to 130m the jig went and here I need to compliment the skills of the skippers at Big Blu as they worked non slow ensuring the boat stays on top of the jig as its important in both facets of jigging to stay on top of the jig.
Working the jig up to around a 100m and "bam" this little light bass rod (as some of the guys on the boat called it) almost got ripped out of my hands...
Fighting a fish on light tackle called for a lot of finesses to ensure the thin braid does not pop. The rod comes in under the shoulder the thumb goes on the spool to add drag as I did not want to push the drag to max on the reel.
I knew I had to stop the fish before it reach the ledge and cut me off...
The left thumb started warming up due to friction on some of the runs but I could stop the fish and then the delicate work of lifting the fish started...
After what felt like hours but probably was not more than 7min I could see color and then the leader.
The Tropical AJ came to the surface and huge were our surprise to see big bite marks around the tail area that were nothing else but big dogtooth tuna bite marks...
This fight on light tackle rate in my top 3 fights.
I am still amazed how these light bass type rods and reels can handle so much pressure and lift strong fighting fish.
Sure I will get smoked by a big Doggie or GT.
But with a lot of luck and finesse even those species will get landed.
Slow pitch jigging is relatively in its diapers...
But from the North of KZN all the way down to the West Coast slow pitch jigging will open a new and exciting world of light lure fishing targeting species never thought to be taken on lure.
The guys fishing for yellowtail will now have a perfect tool and a lot of fun fishing for a school of fish that went deep...
