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Vertical Jigging and Plugging Fishing Tackle |
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Vertical Jigging and Plugging Fishing Tackle
When pairing up vertical jigging and plugging outfits you need to consider the rod and reel’s purpose and function and match the pair accordingly.
You don’t want a light vertical jigging rod if you have a big reel with a strong drag. You can fish with this combination but you won’t be able to use the reel for what it was designed for. Exactly the same applies with a strong rod and a smaller or less expensive reel. The drag will be inadequate and you won’t be able to apply enough pressure to bend he rod to even half its potential pulling power.
One strong piece of advice about vertical jigging and plugging outfits – if you take your fishing seriously and intend on jigging deep waters then you need to buy the best you can afford. Ripping half a kilo of lead from 100 meters of water will test every piece of your reel to the max. The less expensive reels will be adequate for the occasional angler or for shallow vertical jigging.
Vertical Jigging and Plugging Reels Gear Ratio
The difference in speed of retrieve has a huge impact on vertical jigging and plugging, and therefore the reel’s gear ratio should be considered.
Gear ratio is the number of revolutions the bail arm makes around the fixed spool from one full wind of the handle. For example, 5.7:1 means that the reel winds 5.7 times around the spool for every wind of the handle.
A faster retrieve reel like the Daiwa Saltiga Dogfight with a gear ratio of 6.2:1 would be better suited to plugging. The reasoning behind this is that you want to keep direct contact with your plug at all times and a fast retrieve reel will enable you to wind up the slack faster after each jerking action of the plug.
The exact opposite applies to vertical jigging; a slower retrieve like the Daiwa Opus Bull 6000 with a gear ratio of 4.6:1 is the better option. The smaller gear ratio allows for easier retrieval of vertical jigging spoons from deep depths of the ocean. If a higher gear ratio was used for vertical jigging, it would make it extremely difficult and tiring to retrieve the jigging spoon due to the effort required to turn the handle as the bail makes a large number of turns.
Vertical Jigging and Braid
Due to the depths that are successful for vertical jigging, it is extremely important that the jigging spoon is dropped into the area where fish have been found using a fish finder. For this to be effective the line needs to be as small a diameter as possible to reduce the effect of drag if there is a current running. Due to the small diameters of braid relative to the strength, it is recommended that braid and not nylon is used for vertical jigging.
Braid can be rather pricy and for this reason, you could use nylon as a backing and then add 100 to 120 meters of braid on top of the nylon. If you get stripped or lose your braid, then it is a far less costly affair to spool up again. Braid invariably costs about R1.00 or more per meter, so if you were to lose 300m in one go, the cost would be significant if it was all braid.
I am not suggesting that this is a better method, as knots invariably reduce the braking strength of the setup.
Always match the braid used to the vertical jigging rod and reel, as there is no point in using 80lb braid on an outfit that can only apply 20lb of pressure and vise versa.
Vertical Jigging Spoon Weights
When vertical jigging you will need to decide what depth will be jigged before deciding on your jigging spoon weight. The rule of thumb is for every 25 meters you need to add 100grams to you jig. So, jigging at 50 meters, you will need to use a jigging spoon of about 200grams. The other consideration is the thickness of the braid used. If the braid is thinner, a lighter jig can be used as there is less drag in the current. Th opposite also holds true. The other factor is the speed of the current, a faster current will require a heavier jigging spoon.
Vertical jigging spoon weights and depths
100g – 25m
200g – 50m
300g – 75m
400g – 100m Some suggested Vertical Jigging and Plugging Combinations
| Rod | Braid | Reel | Gear ratio | | Daiwa Opus OP602XHS | 30-50lb | Daiwa Opus Bull 5000/6000 | 4.6:1 | | | | Daiwa Sealine Bull 4500/6000 | 5.7:1 | | | | Daiwa Catalina 4500/H | 5.7:1 | | | | Daiwa Capricorn 4500J | 4.8:1 | | Daiwa Opus OP702XHS | 30-50lb | Daiwa Opus Bull 5000/6000 | 4.6:1 | | | | Daiwa Sealine Bull 4500/6000 | 5.7:1 | | | | Daiwa Catalina 4500/H | 5.7:1 | | | | Daiwa Capricorn 4500J | 4.8:1 | | Daiwa Opus OP802XHS | 30-50lb | Daiwa Opus Bull 5000/6000 | 4.6:1 | | | | Daiwa Sealine Bull 4500/6000 | 5.7:1 | | | | Daiwa Catalina 4500/H | 5.7:1 | | | | Daiwa Capricorn 4500J | 4.8:1 | | Poseidon Jigging 60-150g | 20-40lb | Daiwa Catalina 4500/H | 5.7:1 | | | | Daiwa Saltiga 3500 Big Game | 4.9:1 | | | | Daiwa Capricorn 4500J | 4.8:1 | | | | Daiwa Exceler Oceano 4500 | 4.8:1 | | Poseidon Jigging 150-300g | 30-60lb | Daiwa Catalina 4500/H | 5.7:1 | | | | Daiwa Saltiga Z4500 | 4.9:1 | | | | Daiwa Sealine Bull 4500/6000 | 5.7:1 | | | | Daiwa Saltiga Z6000 | 4.3:1 | | Poseidon Plugging 5oz | 30-60lb | Daiwa Saltiga Z4500 | 4.9:1 | | | | Daiwa Catalina 4500/H | 5.7:1 | | | | Daiwa Capricorn 4500J | 4.8:1 | | | | Daiwa Sealine Bull 4500/6000 | 5.7:1 |
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