Those of us who enjoy light tackle jigging for stripers on the Chesapeake Bay or elsewhere are always looking for fishing tips that will help us catch more fish. So when the Annapolis MSSA invited Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow to speak at a meeting this fall, the topic they settled on was tips for light tackle jigging. Check out this video to see Lenny's top tips for this type of fishing, which range from tackle to technique to choosing lure color and type.
Just in case you missed one, here's a recap of the top six tips:
- Don't drive through the birds, and spook schools of breaking fish.
- Leave schools of very small fish, because the big ones don't commonly school with them.
- Use braid for jigging. The sensitivity and hook-setting power goes way, way up as compared to monofilament.
- Worry less about the brand of jig, and more about the color and size. These factors have a bigger impact on whether or not the stripers will bite.
- When a topwater lure gets hit but missed, don't stop working it. Instead, keep chugging or walking the lure right up to the boat - often the fish will follow it and strike again and again.
- Don't drop your rod tip too fast, and allow slack in the line. Snapping the jig is often quite effective but if you have slack line you'll never feel the stripers hit.
Of course, you may have noticed that there were plenty of other tips mixed in with the talk, so this list of tips doesn't cover each and every aspect of jigging Lenny talked about. Watch the whole video, to get the complete scoop. And if you want to get a broader look at the technique of light tackle jigging along with some specifics on where to try this tactic in the Chesapeake Bay, remember that we also have a video up from our seminar held at Island Tackle Outfitters earlier this year. That's on top of a huge selection of How to and Where to articles and videos ranging from freshwater fishing to offshore angling, all designed with one thing in mind: helping you catch more, bigger fish!
