Shimano 'Butterfly Jigs"

Has anyone out there tried their luck with the Shimano Butterfly Jigs.  If so, with what kind of results.  Thanks.
Ack

I looked into them as they got a bit of press for offshore tuna.  I never did follow through as they are very expensive.  What do you have in mind to fish then with?

-Allen

I was thinking primarily Lings, but was wondering if anyone had any other luck or experience w/them....

I've never used them, but after seeing the demo's, etc. I've formed my own opinion, which is:

(1) they are WAY too expensive for me to even consider them for rockfishing.
(2) they appear to be best suited for fishing the entire water column as you might do for a lot of pelagic species.
(3) you can achieve the same basic effect with some far less expensive irons coupled with the same style of hooks.

Erik 

They are simaler to the braid jigs.  Owner has made the hooks for a cuple of years and people have used them sucesfully for rockfish.

I would check out the rods they make for them they are about $100 and would kick ass for rockfish.  They are light and made to handle heavy braid.  My favrote is the 6'6" mh it is rated to handle 50-100# braid and is a two pice that breaks just above the handle.

I agree with Erik 100%...$ 30 a jig, get over yourself Shimano!

I am not sure what some of these lure manufacturers are thinking. One snag and you are out $30. At the Sportsman's Expo I saw a 6'' lure with 3 segments for a mere $69.99!!!!!
At that price I better get a hook-up EVERY cast!

I was trippin over this whole new money makin racket by Shimano.  It was all way over-priced and over-hyped.  I agree with GoldenArrow, the rod was the only real interesting part of the set-up.  The skinny little rod I saw was unbelievely rated at 65 to 200 lbs.  I seriously think Erik could produce a better rod if he could find a similar blank and gave it his signature "acid wrap" treatment. 

Check out Shimano's videos to see the hoopla....
http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/fish/sac/us/en/media_and_events/video.html

well, there are people for whom if it doesn't cost a lot, it's not worth their time,
not enough status in it.

no shortage of those in this valley, but fishing, being a largely blue collar blood sport
will probably remain largely safe from those people. I hope,  .
They have plenty of them in fly-fishing tho, right? and actually the sea-kayakers
have some of those types in it, no?

so maybe they are marketing to the super yups, fly-fishing cross-overs, sea-kayaker cross-overs,
but it seems doomed except in some strange markets like japan where they expect to pay a lot.

the aging surfer cross overs are not a candidate, surfing is a blue-collar thing mostly although
the yuppie longboarders are a good segment now, but most of us are cheap.

I saw an article in the new york times that said cycling in silicon valley was the 'new golf', then I
read about the guys down south, killing the yellowtail, before they head in
to their law practice, so maybe kayak fishing will soon be full
of those kind of people, and if you don't have the shimano butterfly system,
well you are just nobody!

 

The Rods are interesting... I like the blanks for certain applications and wish I could buy the blanks.  They can get away with the ridiculous line ratings because they have such a slow / parabolic action... they will flex all the way to the butt of the rod.  This is good in some applications and provides shock absorption when using spectra line... but if you need to control the fish, this might not be the best type of rod to use.  Also, when jigging, the more your rod flexes, the more you have to work as a fisherman to impart action on the jig.  A faster action rod will take less effort on the part of the fisherman to move the jig. 

It's a tradeoff.

Also, I think Shimano should have implemented the spiral or Acid guide placement on these rods.  With a rod that flexes so deeply, the guides will torque and twist probably close to 180 degrees at the tip under full strain.  The spiral guide placement completely reduces this torque and creates an inherently stable rod, which results in less strain on the blank, guides, and the angler who no longer has to fight the rod... just the fish.  They put so much marketing into this "fishing system", they certainly could have explained the spiral guide placement as another element of the system. 

can you put spiral guides on a two-piece? I had assumed not.

Yea way too expensive....of course I bought one...jig only.  Knowin me I'll lose it first drop.  Looks like they're more for Tuna, but "I gotts to know"...probably gonna be the typical lure catching the fisherman...We'll see when the time comes....sure is pretty though....

can you put spiral guides on a two-piece? I had assumed not.

Yep... no problem... I've done it many times. 

Here is an article on Butterfly jogs.
http://www.senortuna.com/main/showthread.php?t=12783

I can't understand what they are talking about because it is all new to me.
They need pictures for us newbies.

we used a jig similar to this when we would go Mackinaw fishing. the propaganda is correct on the bight being reactive, like a dog going after something just because its running, but there are many other lures on the market that do the same thing and meant to jig in just the same way. They probale hope people will try this "new" lure and catch fish think it's the lure but it probale is the jigging technique it's self. the other lures much less $.