Small Baits and Big Heads

I've never used them, but I've heard you can catch big fish on a small shrimp fly jig. Small lure and a small hook. A fast drift can make it hard to keep my presentation vertical, so I figure larger lead heads would be the solution. The thing is, if you want a heavier weight, you end up with a hook big enough for jaws. Would it be good to make heavier lead heads without huge hooks? Or am I over thinking this and I should just slap the biggest swim bait on it and call it good?

I have 6-8 ounce shad head jigs that have the same size hook as the 4 oz I pour. They work just fine. I whip them out when the drift gets fast. Andy makes them that big and they are nice.

Overthinking

You guys are all overthinking this swim bait, jig head stuff. Get a few 12 ounce irons if you are worried about staying vertical.  Lings are stupid and easy to catch. Anything  that moves by their head will work. F'd up swim baits. Swim baits put on sideways, it does not matter. A 6" Big Hammer cut in half, filet in half again, mounted sideways on the hook, on a non colored head, drifting at 5mph, 10' off the bottom. It will still work. Look at Ruben last week. He had one swim bait and had a limit before anyone else. Just get it near the bottom and you will catch fish.

Overthinking

I should have said that!

Overthinking

I should have said that!

Coming from me that is  . I love over thinking things.

I'll take a shrimp fly jig and replace the bottom fly with a heavy swim bait.  Mostly so I can get down to the bottom fast. The shrimp fly for the rock fish and the swim bait for what ever may be big down there.  Best of both worlds!  It probably looks like the swim bait is chasing the fly as I jig it.  I jig it hard too; drop, hit bottom, 3 cranks up, then jerk hard as high as I could reach, then drop fast and feel the slack until the swim bait's weight picks up the slack, then repeat. 

When the shrimp fly gets ratted out, I'll change it up with one of the other flies that comes with the jig, usually 3 flies to a jig.

I used this at Albion and limited on my Blacks and Lings while everyone around me was hardly getting anything.  I kept showing folks what I was using, my drop speed and how I was getting the strikes on the drop,  but I don't think they realized how 'aggressive' I was and they were finessing too much.   

Lings are stupid and easy to catch. Anything  that moves by their head will work. F'd up swim baits. Swim baits put on sideways, it does not matter. A 6" Big Hammer cut in half, filet in half again, mounted sideways on the hook, on a non colored head, drifting at 5mph, 10' off the bottom. It will still work.

But you forgot......the lead head/bare hook combo after your swimbait falls off. 

Lings are stupid and easy to catch. Anything  that moves by their head will work. F'd up swim baits. Swim baits put on sideways, it does not matter. A 6" Big Hammer cut in half, filet in half again, mounted sideways on the hook, on a non colored head, drifting at 5mph, 10' off the bottom. It will still work.

But you forgot......the lead head/bare hook combo after your swimbait falls off. 

Damn!!!

Lings are stupid and easy to catch. Anything  that moves by their head will work. F'd up swim baits. Swim baits put on sideways, it does not matter. A 6" Big Hammer cut in half, filet in half again, mounted sideways on the hook, on a non colored head, drifting at 5mph, 10' off the bottom. It will still work.

But you forgot......the lead head/bare hook combo after your swimbait falls off. 

Damn!!!

also, don't forget the whole squid magic threaded to the bare jighead

Overthinking

I should have said that!

You would have, but you were overthinking it!

There's A dory boat that fishes out of Pacific City Oregon that sent down a 3 lbs (I believe)chunk of concrete with a hook on it and hooked a monster lingcod and landed it.