Vertical jigs

[mississipi]

We have been fishing SML for a while but have mostly fished with live bait. We did get to night fish a few times casting redfins. We noticed several folks last spring vertical jigging . Can someone tell me what is the best setup for vertical jigging and what would be a favorite jig? Thanks for any response.

[mwardncsu]

Assume you're targeting striper given that you were fishing live-bait. Here is an excellent write-up on jigging...

smlfishingforums.proboards.com/thread/1680/jigging-101

[mississipi]

Thanks, very good article! And thanks to the writer!

[johnr]

I normally jig these days. I like a white ice fluke on a 3/4oz triangle jighead as my "go to". I also use spoons a lot, and have a box stuffed full of them. The best is typically a 1oz Hopkins, and I remove the treble hook and use a single point instead. I will use other spoons at times, and they will catch fish, but a Hopkins is a good all around spoon.

Some variations I like are:

Dropshot rigged fluke 2' above spoon
Dropper rigged streamer/fly 2' above spoon or fluke
Double flukes, one on a jighead and one dropshot rigged above it
Spoon above the fluke, using a 1/4 oz head and kastmaster spoon
Sometimes I use glow spoons
Sometimes I run a 25lb dropper of 6" off the spoon, and tip with a very small fluke bait
Sometimes I will tip my spoons with a "worm"

Sometimes I will substitute a black gulp minnow for the fluke, and it works. I also will use dark colored fluke type baits from time to time.

BIG fluffy marabou jigs can work wonders, but the right ones are tough to find and expensive.

I'm not a fan of bucktails, unless they are smaller.

[johnr]

Also when using heavy baits for stripers, I typically use a reel with 25lb flouro. I like the extra stiffness it provides, so I don't get tip wrapped. I like a 7' spinning rod with a stiff back bone and extra fast tip.

[mississipi]

Thanks for the info. I plan on trying as soon as wx allows.