You don’t hear much about it today. It is one of the deadliest methods of light tackle fishing in ocean or estuary, channel or river, producing an incredible variety of fish species, yet light tackle aficionados these days seems to prefer other methods. We called the technique deep jigging, but perhaps vertical jigging is a better term. I can tell you from first hand experience that it works from the tropics to the arctic, producing fish throughout the water column.
Standard tackle started with 15-pound test line, because as the line test increases above that, the lures don’t work as well. Rods were stiff, 7-footers with very short butts that allowed you to keep your elbows at your side and use your whole body to pump a fish out of the depths rather than your arms. The reel was a standard baitcasting model that held 200 to 250-yards of 15-pound monofilament.
Instead of the butterfly jigs and other metal offerings that are popular today, the leadheaded bucktail proved to be the heart of the system. Design of the bucktail and its weight are important considerations. You want the lightest weight that will get down to the bottom. Usually, deep jigging with the gear just outlined is done in water depths up to 200-feet. Under typical conditions, you can get a two-and-one quarter-ounce bucktail down that deep with 15-pound test line. If there is a strong current, you may have to go to four ounces.
Opinions differ on the perfect shape for a bucktail, but almost all of them are white and the better ones have strands of Mylar mixed with the bucktail. Arrowheads, spear shapes, and a tapered wedge are among the best, because they will fall faster and produce an erratic upward action when jigged. A simple test will give you a clue as to how a leadhead will perform in the water. Loop some line through the hook eye and let the lure hang freely. You want a lure that hangs at a 45 degree angle for the best action rather than one that hangs horizontally and parallel to the deck. A vertical retrieve holds the key to successful deep jigging and lures that hang at an angle are more effective when retrieved that way.
The bucktail should be freespooled and allowed to drop directly to the bottom on the upwind side of the boat without any drag. Casting and retrieving is not nearly as productive. If a strong wind or current causes the boat to drift too fast for the lure to go straight down to the bottom, a short, downwind cast (almost a lob) will help to solve this. If you can’t feel the bucktail hit bottom, watch the line as it comes off the rod tip. The line will go slack for an instant when the lure hits bottom.
Jigging is done by pumping the rod and reeling the slack as the lure starts to fall back toward the bottom. Experts are constantly experimenting with the speed of the retrieve and how far the bucktail moves each time the rod is lifted. Since the lure moves through the entire water column, you might want to jig more slowly near the bottom and speed up the retrieve in the mid-depths.
You can fish a bucktail right off the shelf or you can add a plastic worm or some other shape on the hook. If you use bait on the jig such as a strip, ballyhoo, or a small baitfish, you will improve performance and probably catch more fish.
If you haven’t tried deep jigging, it’s worth learning this technique. If you used to deep jig, now is the time to start doing it again. It still ranks as one of the deadliest light tackle techniques and the results will amaze you.
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