River 2 Sea knife jig

I went to fisherman's warehouse today, bought their last two 3.5oz anchovy pattern megabait live jigs.

I literally fished the same stupid megabait all summer. it has no paint on one side. but I still have it.

scwafish, I saw the pt wilson dart and all the slammers.

the pt wilson dart looks like a quality anchovy imitation.

http://www.dartjigs.com/Point-Wilson-Dart-Jig-Store.htm

Glen of the FWH kind of damned it with faint praise, he's a live jig lover too.

there are too many braid jigs.

the sardelle, the slammer, the slammer-D, the slammer-A.  those guys are not west coast, so they don't make exactly what we need.

but they all look pretty good.

A 3.5 oz jig head and big hammer 5" anchovy swimbait kicks some butt.

iron rules anywhere the fishing pressure is not too hard, namely everywhere scwafish fishes.

but otherwise, a swimbait can perform better.

J

No doubt swimbaits are great, they just don't get to the bottom like a jig.  The dart does look good too, need to give that a try. 

BTW-I fished a swimbait at ocean cove and it produced almost all of my vermillions...but the bite was very soft...almost steelheadish. 

I fished a 7" swimbait on a 4oz shad head last trip for my first time.  It got to the bottom 100 feet down no problem (there wasn't much of a drift that day).   I hooked a nice copper after a few minutes.  After losing a number of hefty feeling fish and having the tail ripped off, I gave up and went back to old trusty megabait with the siwash hook.  Next time I fish a swimbait I am going to try running a trailer hook in the tail.  I really like the look of the River2Sea Sea Rock jigs.  They come in huge sizes, and I like the big jigs. 
I was on Charkbait and I found these Owner Stringer Hooks.


I started fishing the 3.5 oz megabaits then slowly progressed to larger jigs.  I now usually fish the 6.5 oz megabait and I seem to catch bigger fish on it.  What is the reason a lot of people like to fish the lighter jigs.  Is the action of the lighter jig superior?

I think swimbaits are a better bait for a tougher bite. Iron is better for a hot bite. yep, you need more weight than the equivalent iron. yep, they wear out. yep, you get short and soft strikes. but I still think they will get you more fish when the going is tougher. like in santa cruz or so cal.  or in worse conditions, swel, wind, etc.

Travis, when you feel the hit on the swimbait, don't set the hook hard, just pull slowly. often they will let loose of the tail if that is all they have. then re-drop and wait for the real hookup. I learned this from alantani. I got 3 lingcod last time out on a 7" big hammer swimbait and 4oz head, in less than 10 minutes, but had to redrop once or twice on each fish. the megabait live jig got smaller fish.

I have used a stinger hook in my swimbait. that does work. but then you can't have a teaser above, or at least not one with a hook. and if you learn the re-drop method, you don't need it.

Anyway, I think we'll see the resurrection of the live jig mold under another name soon enough. somebody has to be smart enough to buy that from the ruins of pace marine/megabait assuming that was not the lure that got them in trouble. Anybody got the inside scoop on that?

have you tried a big bucktail (4-8oz) with a plastic trailer? I think they use that on the east coast for grouper and the like, I tried it a few times here, worked well enough, if you use a small plastic trailer, they sink pretty well.  it is the big plastic that doesn't sink well.  cabelas has a few of these.

the smaller jig catches more fish and has better action in shallower water and higher pressured areas, but if you are catching big fish with the big jig, I would keep using it!

J

Searock looks good too...just spendy.

Travis you should try making your own stingers, its ez.

Searock looks good too...just spendy.

Travis you should try making your own stingers, its ez.

Charkbait has the 5oz searock for 7.49.  That isn't much more than a megabait.  I think I am going to buy some of the searock jigs in sardine and some in the green color.  If the green swimbats are so killer, I am curious to see how a green jig will produce vs. a sardine colored jig.  What size stringer should you run?  The same size as the bottom hook or smaller?  What about stringer length? Short Med. or Long?

somebody has to be smart enough to buy that from the ruins of pace marine/megabait assuming that was not the lure that got them in trouble. Anybody got the inside scoop on that?

According to the scuttleutt I heard, the problem rested with the bill design on one of Pace's hardbaits. The Live Jig was not the problem.

well, they will be back then, I'm sure. It's probably easier to dissolve it and reform without the offending lure than settle or contest the suit. 

Travis, it's harder to feel the bite with a heavier jig? They always say to use the lightest you can get away with,  I think it is both for action and feel.  also, light jigs are easier on old man biceps,  .

If I use a nose assist hook, I use one a little smaller. you just want to be sure it doesn't link up with the main hook when you are jigging.


J

I ordered a couple of the 10 1/2 oz sea rock jigs in sarrine and a couple of the owner 3/0 stringer hooks.  I hope they are big enough.  If not I might try the 25oz jigs next time.  I will report back after I get a chance to use them.

Those 25ozers are he-uge! 

Travis, I caught a big vermillion a big copper and a ling on a chrome and prizm 10.5 oz Salas PL-68 jig this summer,
so your 10.5 ozers should be good. I was fishing in 150 feet of water.

J

Got a Pl-68 Glow in the dark on.  Excel 6 dayer.  Fishing Alijos Rocks one night.  Capt Pat went to Aljios on a 6 dayers.  Gave use that 2 days of fishing time.  First drop on 60 lbs mono.the thing starts screaming.  Get it up to the boat but only me and the captain on deck.  Can see the swill from the fish. Long story short fought that Yellow fin for 45 Min's to 1 hour until it rocked me.  I thought at first it was a big yellowtail.  But, Capt Pat said it was a big yellow fin and you were under gun.  Probably 200 to 250 lb range.

Ken kickfish

whoa! that's a good fish story!

I was am a fan of the live jig as well but even before I knew they were going out of buiesness I started trying other jigs I have had good luck on certan braid jigs (you have to try them for yourself to know what colors)  I have also done well with anchovy point wilson darts with a green back and a silver belly.  I have a cupple of zingers that I want to try out.

Hey, patrick, are you back from ALASKA? Howd that go?

I have 2 zingers I got in an ebay lot.  they are shiny-metal-plated anchovy things made of lead with a hole through the middle that is designed for you to run your line through, so it's kind of a sliding sinker lure. because of the lead, they are heavy, like 5 oz?

pretty old school, very pt wilson dart like.

they abrade the line real quick, so I ran wire through mine.
I got a little carried away and sharpied a black back on one and put some epoxy over it but it caught a ling pretty quick one day at Bean Hollow this summer.

J

http://www.profishco.com/fishskinjig.asp

what about the 3 and 4 oz version of the blue shad jig?

should be less water resistance and float than a swimbait?

J