By Johnny Steadham
I pull back the lever, releasing my reel into free spool. My 300-gram, wide-profile slow pitch jig starts to fall rapidly toward the bottom at first. The line is peeling off the spool and eventually begins to slow down. It keeps going and going for what seems like forever until eventually my 30-pound test PE braided line is down to the knot and I never felt bottom.
It was a long ride to get out to this deep drop spot. I have no backup plan for fishing in these depths and now I need to manually crank 500 yards of line back onto my reel with no reward. This was my first attempt trying to deep drop a slow pitch jig. Honestly, I felt a bit defeated, but even more curious and determined to figure this out.
There just wasn’t much information available on slow pitch jigging when my crew and I started, let alone deep drop jigging. This was the final frontier for us, and it had only been done by a handful of anglers in the U.S. We really wanted to be included on that list and were willing to put in the work. The idea of running out to deep water and catching nothing again didn’t bother us one bit because we knew once we figured it out the rewards would be great.
Since our first attempt at deep jigging, Chris Doyle, Will Cran and I (Johnny Steadham) have accumulated thousands of hours on the water and have caught some of the most incredible bottom-dwelling, deep-water species. It has become our favorite way to fish, and this is how we do it.
When selecting a jig to drop in ranges of 500-1,200 feet, the first thing you should look at is your depth and then S.O.G. (Speed Over Ground). S.O.G. is mainly influenced by wind speed/direction and currents. These two factors will allow you to gauge how to rig to be more effective. Ideally, you want your speed over ground to be less than 2 knots. We have successfully tapped bottom with the speed as high as 5 knots, but your bottom time is very limited, and your jig needs to be heavy.
At 2 knots, when the jig hits the bottom, it is definitive — and you know you are in the strike zone and can stay there. At 4 knots, it is almost as if someone whispered from across the boat, “You hit bottom.” It can make you question whether you are really on bottom or not and can largely prevent your ability to maneuver the jig.
Taking into consideration the depth and S.O.G., a safe play is to start out heavier than needed to assure your first drop nails the sea floor. At 2 knots in 850 feet of water, we may drop down a 600-gram jig and then scale back from there. Ultimately, the ocean tells you what jig to select, and if you are staying completely vertical and able to feel the bottom multiple times when dropping back down, then, if desired, you can change your current jig out for one that is lighter or with a wider profile. The wider profile will give you more action, increasing your chances of a strike, and the lighter jig will simply make it easier to continue jigging.
My preference for assist hook selection is a single 6/0 or 7/0 rigged onto the top and bottom. A ball-bearing swivel at the top, connected to both the jig and the assist hook by a 200 lb. triple-wrap split ring, will help in minimizing line spin while jigging or fighting a fish. From there, we connect to a 10- to 12-foot 50 or 60 lb. test piece of fluorocarbon leader. Ideally, you will have a selection of jigs with you, ranging from 300 grams up to even 1,000 grams. You also will need a rod to that can work these jigs effectively.
We have experimented with slow pitch rods from 9 feet down to 6 feet. The longer rods are incredible for implementing an action on the jig and serve a purpose on head boat fishing as well. Keep in mind at these depths, with any kind of current, you are going to have a bow in your line. We found the long rods to be great at pulling the scope out of the line and moving the jig. The downside to a long rod is the effort required to work the jig. It can be arduous but effective. The shorter rods are ideal in slower drift speeds with less current. You can absolutely get a great action on a jig with a 6-foot rod in all depths, but you may, at times, need to use a more exaggerated movement to work the jig.
A Stud Snowy Grouper that smoked a 500g Blue/Pink Torpedo ->
Many of the seasoned slow pitch anglers prefer the shorter rods, but I like to have the option of both. The greatest factor when selecting a slow pitch rod is whether it loads and fully unloads. When pitching the jig, the more the rod bends (loads) and then straightens out (unloads) the better action you will have on the lure. At these depths, you will lose much of the control you normally have on a jig in shallower depths and rely heavily on your slow pitch rod to move the lure, allowing the jig to operate as it was designed. The reel also plays a big role in producing action on the jig.
Shallow water slow pitch reels may not have the line capacity needed to reach these depths. We have quite a few great options available to us in the States today and some of the big names are Daiwa Saltiga 35JH, Accurate Valiant 500N & 600NN, Maxel OMX and Ocea Jigger 2000 and 4000. The reel becomes your gripping point as you are jigging.
After ensuring the reel has the line capacity needed, the first thing I am looking for is the comfort of how it fits in my hand when attached to the rod. That is one of the reasons we use narrow spool reels and, after a full day of deep dropping, you will know exactly what I am talking about and why it is important. The second is the power handles. The long arm makes it easier to wind up or fight a fish and the big handle can be used to assist in lifting the rod tip to work the lure.
Third is line retrieval. Some of the high-speed reels like the 35JH can go as high as 47 inches per crank. The high retrieval will aid in putting movement on the jig and I personally recommend it for someone just starting out. The other end of the spectrum is power gear that will give you a lower inches per crank but makes it easier to reel up a good fish. Some of us are starting to use small electric reels, but that is a conversation for another time.
We have learned a lot since that first failed attempt, and this is what a day of deep drop jigging looks like for us now. I pull back the lever, releasing my reel into free spool. My 400g slim-profile Johnny Jigs Torpedo slow pitch jig starts to fall rapidly toward the bottom. Keeping slight tension on the spool using my thumb ensures the jig stays vertical and falls rapidly, until thump and it hits the bottom. My 20 lb. test, 17mm line is cutting through the water perfectly and my vertical presentation is on point. I give the jig a few pitches and I feel a strike.
It’s incredible how sensitive these light setups are in 500-plus feet of water. I’m assuming it was a small fish because the larger 6/0 single assist hooks I rigged purposely to try and avoid the little guys didn’t catch.
I drop back down still in a great position with my jig straight down from my rod tip and get undeniably crushed by what seems like a nice fish. I give the reel a few fast cranks, along with the business end of my rod, to ensure the hooks set properly and start cranking. Counter intuitively to what we were taught as kids, I do not pump the rod, just reel slow and steady. Halfway through the fight the fish starts floating up. This is a telltale sign of a grouper. Chris Doyle is working the camera next to me for our YouTube channel and our guesses of what species grouper it is are all over the place until popping up to the surface comes a 26 lb. Kitty Mitchel. The mate Sara lowers the gaff and lands a perfect shot.
Once the fish comes over the rail my reaction is somewhat embarrassing, but I cannot help myself: Since the time I was a little kid to now as a grown man, the excitement and rush of catching an incredible fish never gets old. Another fish checked off my bucket list.
Deep drop slow pitch jigging can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. If you can feel your jig hit the bottom, you have a chance. And having the proper gear increases your odds of landing an epic fish.
As slow pitch jigging grows in popularity, we are going to see the technology advance with it. Many big brands that we have had the pleasure of fishing and talking with are already developing new gear and systems to take SPJ to the next level.
]]>The plan was to leave out of Jensen Beach, Florida and cross the Atlantic Gulf Stream some 80 miles to drop slow pitch jigs and troll in one of the best fishing spots in the Bahamas, Grand Cay. Everything was on the table – or at this point, still in the ocean. I started packing a week in advance for this one.
The morning of departure, I met up with Matt, Chris, and Joe from Southern Fortune Fishing Tournament as well as a father son duo Darrel and Trevor. We launched from Jenson Beach Boat Ramp at 3:45 a.m. The SFFT team prepared most of the essentials like ice, food, and drinks as well as all the safety gear like an emergency life raft, two e-pirbs and the latest and greatest electronics. My mind always starts ticking about the possibilities of what could go wrong on a trip like this especially traveling into another country. It gives you a sense of comfort knowing that contingency plans are in place just in case.
Going into this trip Matt informed me that we will be fishing from 30'-1000'. For a guy who likes to drop slow pitch jigs this means I have to bring everything and by that I mean jigs from 20-800 grams my whole line of rod sizes and all my reels including back ups as well. The tricky part about this gear endeavor is that we are six people on a 28.5 Blue Water center console boat and space is limited. So my final lineup was a Daiwa XX heavy Saltiga rod for the deep drop and power one, two, and three JohnnyJigs Pro Jigger Plus slow pitch jigging rods for areas under 600'. For reels I brought a Maxel Rage 90 and a Daiwa Seaborg 300j both packed with Berkley x9 20 lb. test for tapping bottom in deep water. As for the shallower depths I brought my Daiwa Saltiga 35JH, Daiwa Saltiga LD 15H, and finally an Accurate Valiant 500N SPJ. All spooled with J-braid X8 30 lb. test. Lastly, I jammed my two jig bags filled to the top with JohnnyJigs slow pitch jigs. The trick to preserve space was to consolidate all my rods together using JJ Jig Wraps and place all my reels into my tackle bag and pull them out as needed. I tied a couple dozen sets of tandem and single assist hooks, charged my camera gear and before I knew it we were flying at 40 kts across “Lake Atlantic” as we call it on calm days. We are headed to the Bahamas!
I tried to sleep in my bean bag chair on the way, but my adrenalin was pumping with anticipation and the two hour ride flew by. A tiny island became visible in the distance and all around were jagged rocks and unclear waterways. Capt. Joe had tracks on the Garmin screen from previous trips helping navigate our way safely through the channels and into the harbor. We were welcomed by our Bahamian connection Gary. He is local born and raised. A big part of the islanders income is from anglers visiting. Cash is king and a couple hundred bucks can definitely help make sure you get well taken care of. He was our key to the castle. Gary helped us check in with customs, get our personal gear situated in our home for the weekend and gave us the thumbs up to hit the water.
In a matter of minutes we were in 990' of water. The drop off in this area is incredible even in comparison to my home waters of Pompano Beach. This was our first fishing spot and the sun had just come up. We couldn't have timed it better. I had to take a few things into consideration before selecting my first jig. One being the wind was 5 kts at best. Two, our drift speed or SOG was .5 knots. Three, our depth was 990' and current was minimal. This was perfect conditions for slow pitch jigging. I tightened my Maxel Rage 90 onto my Saltiga rod and placed a single 5/0 assist hook on top and bottom of a 600 gram KP Pink and Blue Torpedo Slow pitch jig and dropped to the bottom. After a long wait for my jig to tap the ocean floor I gave it a few nice short pitches and I was tight to a fish. Everyone got excited knowing that we were on a good spot and the fish were chewing. Up came about a 6-8 pound Queen Snapper. At this point I realized I could easily scale my jig size down to 400 grams but, I decided not to waste any time getting back down and stayed with my 600 gram Torpedo. When it comes to jig selection in slow pitch jigging it really comes down to this fact, if you can feel bottom you have a chance. Ideally you drop down to the lightest jig possible for the simple reason of stamina and staying at the gunnel. The longer I am moving that jig in the area the fish are the better chance I’ll have of hooking up. My second drop was another Queen snapped slightly bigger. Matt, Chris, and Darrel were all dropping down chicken rigs with squid and electric reels. Shortly after my second Queen Snapper Matt pulled up a Yelloweye Snapper and Snowy Grouper on the same rig. We drifted that spot one more time and decided to make a change.
Reports from friends back home that visited the Bahamas recently said that the wahoo bite has been incredible. Our morning deep drop was short lived because we knew as soon as the tide switched our next target was a wahoo and that tide change was happening right about now. We sent out a Blue Yo-Zuri Bonita and a silver, orange, and white dart head. Our target speed was 18 knots and we began to put our two Shimano Tiagra 50w’s to work. Honestly this is the kind of trolling experience that you hope for but don’t always get. We were tight on our first fish in a matter of minutes. First up was Trevor on the reel and I took the opportunity to break out my camera and film the action for our YouTube Channel JohnnyJigsTV. Joe eased back on the throttles slightly and Trevor went to work. As the fish approached the boat Chris got into position to land a gaff shot and Trevor picked up the reel and made his way towards the bow. Matt hand lined the remaining balance of line to get the fish in gaff range and our favorite Jersey boy Chris stuck that wahoo like a boss. For the next hour we rotated positions and repeated this process three more times catching a total of 4 wahoo’s. The old saying is never leave fish to find fish but, we had enough wahoo for all of us to take home and Joe mentioned some great deep drop spots nearby.
Conditions remained perfect for deep dropping and I selected a 400 gram Watermelon Torpedo Slow Pitch Jig from my jig bag. Our depth was just shy of 1000’ and Capt. Joe announced the sonar screen was lit up with fish on the bottom. Dropping a jig down to these depths can take 2-4 minutes pending on the jig size. If you are targeting a small spot in deep water I would recommend going much heavier on your jig selection in order to get down faster. In the case of where we were slow pitch jigging currently in the Bahamas the area was large giving us a long drift and a lot of time to drop. Matt and Chris announced on the stern that they were getting bites on the squid and they hooked up soon after. Matt pulled up about an eight pound queen snapper and at the same moment on the stern of the boat I had a solid hook set into a fish that was tight to the bottom. If your jig is 1000’ down then there is a good chance of you having a substantial amount of scope in your line. You have to react quickly at these depths. By that I mean reel the scope out super fast and set that hook with the rod hard. That is exactly what I did. You can see this clip on our TikTok and Instagram reels. Once I knew the fish was far away from any structure I backed off my drag so if he decided to take any runs it would pull drag and not the hook. Soon up popped a Misty Grouper or what some may call a convict fish because stripes going vertically on the fish. This is a fish I am familiar with but have never caught personally. So for me it was the icing on the cake for an already amazing day.
We headed back into Grand Cay and met up with Gary. If you don’t have an island connection like Gary there is a chance you will miss out on things like the best cracked conch I ever tasted in my life and bags full of stone crab claws for half the price we get them for in the states. So what was once our fishing machine turned into a relaxed party and feast on the days catch. One more important thing you need to have when you cross over to the Bahamas is a place to stay. Matt put together a nice two bedroom two bath house with a full kitchen and living room to relax in. It was perfect for our crew of six. We all got to take a hot shower and turn in for the night.
At dawn we congregated on the second floor balcony. The island came to life early in the morning. Fishermen were getting their gear ready, workers were leaving by small boats to larger islands, and we were one cup of coffee away from hitting the water ourselves. After packing up our personal belongings and loading the boat we made a quick stop across the harbor for fuel and blasted offshore.
The wind had picked up substantially and was going to get worse as the day progressed. Our first spot was about a twenty mile run in 980’ and known for Yellow Eye Snapper. Darrel and Chris baited up their hooks with pieces of Barracuda caught from the day before. Matt put out a squid on a chicken rig and Trevor and I dropped down 600g Torpedo slow pitch jigs. Trevor was the first to hook up quickly followed by Chris and then me. Unfortunately I was tangled with a bait line on the way up and my fish popped off but, Trevor and Chris landed a nice Yelloweye Snapper.
The bite shut down on that spot after our first drift so we made one more move before going home. The spot was in approximately the same depth as the last and I was really hoping to catch one more fish before the calling it a day. I tapped bottom using my Maxel Rage and Saltiga slow pitch rod. I gave the jig a few pitches and got absolutely crushed by what could definitely be the biggest bottom fish of the trip. My drag was pealing line out and I started working this fish hard to keep him from rocking me up. Once I was sure the fish was off the bottom I backed off the drag and reeled up slow and steady. About halfway up I could feel the fish starting to float and that was a tell tail sign of a grouper. Up popped a giant Snowy Grouper weighing in at 22 pounds. This fish was definitely a highlight of my trip and can be seen at the end of our YouTube video.
Lines up and it was time to go home. The surf had picked up and the ride home was going to be a bit rougher than we planned. The wettest spot on the boat was definitely co-captain and unfortunately that was my final task for the trip. I popped on my rain gear and took buckets of water to the face for the next two hours. For me this crazy ride home just taps into an inner part of myself that yearns for adventure and pushing the limits. We made it back safely split our spoils and went home just absolutely satisfied. You can watch the full YouTube video in the link below.
By Johnny Steadham
]]>One observation about what is happening in this fishery is that it is incredible! The bluefin tuna have only recently began inhabiting these waters in such great numbers. Although there is an equally incredible fleet of charter boats in San Diego harbors, the spots on these boats fill up and must be booked well in advanced.
We were recommended to book a 3-day on the Polaris Supreme and the choice did not disappoint! The newly renovated boat equipped with comfortable amenities was also equipped with a stellar captain and crew. Upon arriving to San Diego 2-days in advance to give us some time to familiarize ourselves with the fishing scene we soon began to find out that the Polaris Supreme was THE boat to be on and had THE captain at the helm. Captain Aliyar. But, before I get into the trip itself I really want to share a bit of our trip preparation as well as, what we experienced going to the local tackle shops and trying to figure out where slow pitch jigging these tuna is at.
We are fortunate enough at Johnny Jigs to be in touch with so many anglers around the country. There were many conversations with anglers both on the west coast as well as the northeast that we took advantage of trying to understand jigging for tuna so we could be ready to catch some but, more importantly do it with slow pitch jigs and a slow pitch rod and reel system.
There are several challenges with slow pitch jigging larger grade fish that need to be better understood. The rod is a tool to perform the jig not fight the fish. Will the rod blow up if you pin it to the rail? At what point will the rod blow up if you are pumping on an 80lb fish? 100lb? 150lb? What about the line? We like thin diameter 8 strand braid to help increase our ability to stay vertical and pitch the jig. If you know anything about bluefin tuna fishing historically relatively heavy line is used 65lb-100lb braid and 80lb-200lb fluoro leaders. But, then we learned that when “fly lining” or “flat lining” as we call it in Florida a live bait anglers are using 40lb fluoro on large grade fish – Okay, that was a glimmer of hope!
So Johnny, Will, & Myself (Chris Doyle) while keeping in mind we were flying across the country attempted to bring a spread of gear from what we would like to use to make it work to what we may have to use to successfully land a few fish. Personally, I brought only 2 rods and 2 reels which definitely gave me anxiety due to the lack of options. However, I had Johnny and Will with me as well who had 3 rods and reels each and I knew in a pinch we are okay with communally sharing our gear. I had an Accurate Boss Valiant single speed 500N spooled with 40lb J-Braid 8X multicolor with an 80lb fluoro top shot that I put on a Temple Reef Grand Cru Power 3 and I had a Maxel Rage 90N spooled with 65lb Berkley X9 with an 80lb fluoro top shot that I put on a JigStar Twisted Sista. I also brought a Johnny Jigs Pro Jigger Power 4 that unfortunately, got damaged by TSA on the flight over. I tied 3 dozen single assist hooks using our very own 5/0 and 6/0 slow pitch jigging hooks with a 1mm Dyneema cord made by New England Ropes designed for high performance sailing. The jigs I brought ranged from 150g – 400g and I brough as much variety as I could while bringing multiples in Torpedos and Tuna Teasers while also keeping the total jig bag weight to 20lbs to I could reasonably travel with it. We did publish a pretty comprehensive breakdown on our gear in a 2-part series on our YouTube channel JohnnyJigsTV.
Like I said, we had many conversations with numerous anglers and to be honest and went back and forth from being securely confident and cautiously skeptical. Fear of the Unknown, we have to learn to love it!
Arriving in San Diego was incredible, what a beautiful place! We stayed in a hotel on Shelter Island which put us right next to one of the hot spots at the entrance of San Diego Bay where we found the likes of Fisherman’s Landing Tackle and Mitch’s Seafood. The Polaris Supreme is docked to the north in Mission Bay at Seaforth Landing. Both spots offered numerous complimentary boats fully rigged to accommodate a full on experience for chasing bluefin tuna as well as going after yellowtail, ling cod, and rockfish.
The whole process of getting on to the boat to leave the dock was surprisingly painless. They are a well oiled machine over there and have system in place which you fall right into to complete your check in, obtain appropriate fishing licenses, and get your gear organized on the boat. We were greeted by an eager to help crew and fellow anglers that just like in Florida, were all ready to leave our day to day lives behind and talk only fishing for the next 3 consecutive days.
The main goal for this trip having 3 days at sea was to find the bluefin tuna which the crew seemed confident of. The reports were positive and the boat has been consistently getting on fish every trip. We pulled off the dock at about 9am on the morning of April 22, 2022. Somewhere just south of Tijuana by 2pm, we were already marking our first schools of fish. The chase was on.
I am going to try to not be totally long winded as I can be and keep it to the basic highlights. We published a beautiful 40 minute YouTube video on our experience on JohnnyJigsTV.
The Captain and Crew jumped into hunt mode as the Captain paid attention to the sonar and communicated to crew and anglers what he was seeing the fish do. As we observed the majority of anglers congregate off the stern of the boat to feed their sardines out the back as the boat continued to retain a slow forward movement we had to figure out our attack plan for getting our jigs down. Quick!!
Well, if the boat is sliding forward and the captain is attempting to get on top of or ideally in front of the fish and have them run under us – our thinking was to get on the bow of the boat (which is a very common practiced tactic in our home South Florida waters) and launch our jigs ahead of the boat and work at getting them down to the depth of the fish and save as much vertical alignment as possible to begin pitching and fluttering the jig.
One thing we saw clearly now that this trip is under our belt is that the daytime bluefin fishing can easily be much trickier than the night-time targeting. There were far fewer daytime bites on this particular trip. Another thing that we took away with us that slow pitch jigging these fish – attempting to get your jig to pitch and flutter - proved to be extremely effective at these difficult to target daytime schools of bluefin tuna. The challenge of not having any control of the helm and having to adapt to the boat still having forward momentum as you try to get the jig down where the captain is calling the fish out 50 feet down to 300 feet deep underneath the boat – having enough vertical presentation to then pitch and slack your line to get the flutter. When executed correctly, your jig was in the zone the fishing were coming through – and it was irresistible! We were able to get our first bluefins on the boat and felt a lot of emotions of relief, intrigue about what we were experiencing, and excitement to do it some more!
The sun set on a wavy and moderately windy Pacific Coast horizon as we steamed deeper in to Mexican waters. The chef served up food that we are still raving about and we filled our bellies with calories that were about to be scorched because the night time bite we got into is one that is just difficult to put into words other than – it’s the one you dream of.
Because the boat looks like a sports stadium on the water with all of its lights, a school of tuna can be attracted to anchoring themselves under the vessel – this is what proceeded to happen on our first night. What ended up happening wasn’t much slow pitch jigging, although I started to look for the opportunity to stop my jigs descent and get a pitch and flutter out of it but, what usually happened was –drop the jig in the water and wait for it to simply get crushed on its decent – easy fishing. Limits were caught very quickly. Because of the rougher day time conditions there were anglers that weren’t feeling so well down in their bunks. The captain and crew urged us to keep fishing. A full boat limit for 3 days and 22 anglers was reached in the matter of roughly 4 hours. All the fish were in a quality size range of 40lbs-60lbs. Not the smallest bluefin tuna but, also not close to the big bluefin tuna. We now understood the meaning of bloody decks.
The next day of the trip now that our main goal was accomplished had to involve something new. We spent time evaluating schools of bluefin tuna for their size as there were about 10 fish (related to crew limits) that we were able to harvest – so we went on the hunt for bigger bluefins. We proceeded to catch fish in the 60lb-88lb range until our max limit was completely reached. The remainder of the day was spent between 250’ and 400’ targeting rock fish and ling cod. We were psyched that we got to experience this because we speak to a lot of pacific coast anglers that do this all the time. We also quickly discovered that fishing for rock fish species and ling cod is exactly like slow pitch jigging for grouper and snapper! Selecting moderate to high fluttering jigs that can reach the bottom and allow you to be vertical. Slow pitching the jigs achieving the traditional slow ascent and flutter fall produced reaction strikes and we quickly saw that there is really no better way to target these fish and guess what; The Red/Gold holographic profile seemed to also be an absolute killer here too!
Getting back to Seaforth landing full, tired, and happy – we had our fish processed at Fisherman’s Processing and prepared ourselves to head back to South Florida where we have now planned to book another San Diego blue fin tuna trip in May of 2023. We saw reports soon after our trip that the schools of fish quickly increased in size in subsequent trips by the boats in the fleet. So, in true fisherman’s fashion we are going to see if we can get ourselves into the bigger tuna and continue to understand which gear is truly necessary and adequate to slow pitch jig for this incredible fish, the bluefin tuna.
By Chris Doyle
In April/May of 2021 a dear friend and frequenter of the Johnny Jigs Tackle shop, Captain Alex De Melo, had been urging us to consider joining him on his 2nd trip to the Pacific Fins Resort in Iztapa, Guatemala. A trip that is hosted by Capt. George Gozdz of the Unfathomed fishing show.
This fishery is world renowned for its bill fishing. It is also known as the sailfish capital of the world. On an average good day, a boat will get 15-20 sailfish bites, as many Mahi which average 20lbs in size, and raise a Marlin. Discovering schools of yellowfin tuna as you are trolling around is also a regular occurrence. But, you know our FIRST question before signing up for this trip: CAN WE JIG!??
Don’t get me wrong – The Pacific Ocean, a beautiful Central American country, an insane fishery at a dedicated fishing resort, with friends, and some legendary anglers is more than enough to go for this experience. However, once we had the discussion with Pacific Fins about who we are and what we do – and we were given the go-ahead to bring our jigging tackle – we were all in!
Flying into Guatemala City on the morning of November 6th, 2021 was a relatively easy experience. The slow pitch jigging rods were all packed safely into a travel rod tube, the reels (all spooled) were all packed into check-on luggage, and the slow pitch jigs which left unrigged, were able to be carried onto the plane (we found this saves paying for over-weight check on luggage).
Transportation to the resort was arranged by the Pacific fins and we settled into our seats and began getting to know other anglers that were on the same itinerary. It was a 2 hour drive that was coupled with both awe-inspiring majestic landscapes as well as a sobering observation of surrounding poverty of this third-world country.
We felt spoiled when we entered the gates of Pacific Fins resort and were greeted by smiles and cold refreshments. The accommodations are incredible and the layout of the property left us feeling humbled that we would be catered to for the next 3-days leaving us with only 2 jobs: Fish and Relax.
Day 1 of fishing. So, we jumped on a 35’ Viking sport fish with an open fly bridge which would be our ride for the next 3-days. We immediately, assessed it for “jigability” and understood that we would most likely perform any jigging we got to do off the stern. We did our best at being patient and respectful as this was not necessarily our show. We did however greet our captain and 2 mates and immediately ask if we could start by targeting cubera snapper and Roosterfish. They gave us a bit of a puzzled look and responded with their best English “Sailfish” “Dorado.” Everyone comes here to experience world class Sailfish, Marlin, and Mahi fishing. So, it appeared they didn’t expect the change of plans. The Captain informed us that the tide for Roosterfish was better in the afternoon. We didn’t want to rock the boat so, we deferred to set a spread and go trolling.
Watching this crew manage a spread was impressive. They got it set fast and they got it in fast. They rigged nose weighted naked ballyhoo and set them short to long on each side, and added a port and starboard teaser to raise the marlin. A small skip jack tuna was rigged and ready to drop it back for the Marlin bite. We crossed into open blue water and the bite, “she was a on.” There was a good presence of flotsam, which were mostly nice sized tree trunks that had Mahi at every pass. Day 1 we safely released 7 sailfish and harvested about 12 Mahi (all 20lbs and larger).
Once we had all got some great tug and was served some fresh Mahi ceviche on the boat that was mouth-watering. We took some time to educate the boat’s crew on what we would like to execute when it came to dropping jigs. It was best attempted by showing them. The language barrier was a challenge! We backed up to a floating log and deployed jigs straight down. We proceeded to catch a handful of small sized skip jack tuna however, used this as a show and tell time – what we really want to do is target the bottom and see what the grouper and snapper looked like here!
On the ride back the Pacific Fins we discovered some concerning details (for us) about our boat, the Sirena. She did not have a transducer! She was only equipped with a Simrad Go-Series 12” chart plotter. Upon hitting the dock at the resort and after being greeted with irresistible appetizers, refreshments, and cannonballing into the pool we had to get down to business. We had a chat with Ozzy Delgado the resort manager to discuss with him again – as we did leading up to the trip – about executing a plan to set us loose slow pitch jigging the bottom.
It became somewhat clear that grouper was largely not fished for. I mean we were in one of the best bill fisheries in the world, that also had insane Mahi Mahi, and if you really wanted to pull an audible - it was Roosterfish! It was also communicated that there wasn’t a lot of known blue water bottom structure to inhabit our beloved bottom dwelling species. We got the go ahead that we would start Day 2 with purely dropping jigs. We had to get to work.
Thank goodness for technology. That night we paid and downloaded the central American maps for Navionics. Johnny, Will, and myself scoured the chart looking for contour lines that stacked closely together identifying a more rapid change in water depth (drop offs) and anything else that looked out of the ordinary. We took into account the inlet we were heading out of and made a track of waypoints to go check out the next morning.
On Day 2, first thing in the morning as Johnny was getting some spectacular drone footage I hopped on the Sirena and began entering the waypoint Lats/Longs onto the Simrad. I felt like a soldier logging the secret coordinates to go to battle. Once we pushed off the dock although not communicated, I couldn’t help but feel that that the crew thought we were taking them on a casual joy ride around their race course. Also, there seemed to be a lot of chatter on the radio that was outside of our language comprehension.
The first several waypoints we had marked were before the blue water line. We were in roughly 150’ of water. We started again doing our best to explain slow pitch jigging; the action that we were getting the jigs to do, the desire to be vertical, adapting to any drift, and most importantly wishing we could analyze the bottom. Will was the first to hook-up and he landed a decent size Jack Crevalle. There were more of the little skip jacks to follow. The chatter on the radio continued and I couldn’t help having the first disheartening feelings.
In hindsight, I am really glad it all happened exactly the way it did. When you bring slow pitch jigging to places or people that have never seen it before you are not always going to “put on a show” although that does tend to happen sometimes! You do it because you love it. Face the obstacles of language barriers, figuring out how to get the boat to assist with the slow jigging, being unfamiliar with the fishery, and sometimes just blatantly being made fun of. Adapting to your environment makes you a better angler and pushes you further into a sport that still has a lot of learning and figuring out to do. Make the obstacles become opportunities.
We crossed into the blue water and settled onto our first waypoint at about 220’. All of our jigs went down and began tapping the bottom. Bam! Well, no, not quite. I was stuck on the bottom. But, “Hey guys! I’m stuck on the bottom! We’ve got good bottom!!”
Definitely, a big boost in confidence knowing you’re over bottom that grouper ideally should be on after feeling your jig do a lot of pounding sand at the previous spots. Then, in true Will fashion, he hooks up first. Up came a grouper and out came a verbal onslaught of jubilation from us as well as the crew. What a relief to catch the fish you came to target and put in a decent amount of work to make it happen. Well, that captain hopped on the radio once again but, this time the tone was much different and there was quite a lot of radio chatter. Especially when BAM! For real this time - I hooked up and steadily worked in a larger grouper. And last but, certainly not least, Johnny himself slaps the largest grouper on the deck of the Sirena.
What a tremendous victory to catch these three grouper. That Captain came down from the fly bridge and demanded to be in a small photoshoot with the grouper. Then the crew became chatty about how much the love to eat grouper and what a treat it is. We were like “We know!” Our plan was to give these groupers to the kitchen for everyone to eat that night along with whatever other delicacies were going to be on the menu.
Before I close the trip out – One last discussion point and a big one! What the heck kind of grouper are these? We were told after asking the same question over and over in every different way that they are simply known as “Cherna.” Which was the word for grouper. We attempted to explain the vast number of grouper species we have in our waters however, the answer was the same. No matter the grouper – it was called Cherna. They were unique groupers. They have similar characteristics of red grouper and mature snowy grouper (lacking spots) however, they had these reddish/pink fins which looked like no other grouper than we had ever seen. Just before this trip, BlacktipH posted a video fishing at the Casa Vieja Lodge 9km to the Northwest of Pacific Fins and caught one of these groupers and quickly exclaimed “What the heck is it!?” It really left us wondering what other species of grouper inhabit these waters and curious about the mystery this fishery held with its bottom species population.
Day 3 of Fishing we set out to fill a live well and do some drifts targeting roosterfish. Capt. George Gozdz boat set out to do the same. After several hours of flat lining live baits and bump trolling only producing a cuda like cut off we cruised back offshore to try and finish up with Marlin. There had been a couple blue marlin and a striped marlin released amongst the group. We did get our chance and raised one – which was incredible to watch – but, she didn’t bite. Getting back to the dock one crew landed a 70lb yellowfin which ended up as one of that evenings menu items.
This trip included a bonus day. We packed up at the Pacific Fins on the morning of November 10th and took a 2-hour bus ride to Antigua. Along the way we stopped at the foot of an active volcano called Fuego which was surreal. Fuego had erupted only 3-years prior and its destruction was still on display. One final night in the beautiful Casa Santa Domingo in Antigua, Guatemala. We spent the evening internalizing our experience here. A desire was absolutely ignited to commit to travel more in search of destination fishing spots where we bring our slow pitch jigging gear with us. At Johnny Jigs, we are so lucky to converse with and meet so many anglers from around the world who are slow pitch jigging in places where it has never really been done before. It really opens up a new interest to explore fisheries around the globe. A special thanks goes out to Capt. Alex De Melo of Pesca Mares fishing, Capt. George Gozdz, and the Pacific Fins Resort for making this experience possible for us.
We published 2 amazing YouTube videos detailing this experience on our channel JohnnyJigsTV Check out the links below and…
By Chris Doyle
]]>"Fish On," said Chris Doyle, barely more audible than the idling boat motors. He had just dropped his jig, a shiny piece of solid metal referred to as a "flat back" to the bottom some 350 feet below the boat just off Pompano Beach, on Florida’s southeast coast, and was hooked up. “Maybe a grouper?” asked Johnny Steadham, who was just working into his own jigging cadence in the bow of
the boat. Pompano Beach, FL being the home of Johnny Jigs they have been fishing these waters for years. “Doesn’t feel like it,” Chris replied, keeping his wispy-looking fishing rod pointed just below the horizon while he cranked slowly and steadily.
Barely 10 minutes into our first drift, I recognized that what these guys were doing was quite a bit different from run-of-the-mill vertical jigging. I’ve used lead-head bucktails, metal speed jigs and various combinations of jigs and trailers over the years, but this was something else—from the size of the rod, reel and line, to the terminal rigging techniques, to the way the different metal jigs were dropped and worked, to the reeling of the hooked fish. Don’t get me wrong—I have caught plenty fish dropping jigs off Palm Beach over the years and enjoyed it immensely. Tunas, AJs, kingfish, ’cudas, snappers and groupers and more have slimed my thighs. Some jigs were long and skinny, some shorter and fat. Some heavy, some less. I fished them all the same way on the same rod and had about the same luck—some days were great, some were not so much. Today, I was excited to add another tactic to my arsenal, slow pitch jigging.
When Chris brought that first fish along the boat, we all admired the barracuda that was well over 3 feet long. Chris and Johnny were pretty surprised this beautiful yet ugly fish was caught right off the bottom at this depth. I was more than surprised at just how simple Chris made the whole thing look without the usual “pump-and-reel” groaning. And, he was using a rod that looked no bigger than what I throw at bluegills in a pond. Within a few minutes we moved to a different spot at around the same depth. “We have spots marked out here, but right now we are looking for blackfin tuna and they move around a lot,” Chris said. “They seem to swim around in huge circles out here so if you keep an eye on your electronics you are bound to run across them at some point if you just drift with the current and wind.” As if on cue, horizontal lines started showing up on the screen in the lower half of the water column and a wimpy looking jig rod was soon doubled down, arcing down towards the water. Again, a slow, steady retrieve was employed. Chris had the butt of the rod tucked under his arm and the tiny reel palmed in his hand while he calmly reeled and talked me through his perspective on fish fighting when jigging.
“Don’t think of it as fighting the fish. Think of it as guiding the fish to the boat,” he cooed. “This reel is deceiving because of its size, but one crank gets me more than 40 inches of line.” In short order, a very respectable blackfin was hoisted over the gunnel and I caught the first glimpse of an increased heart rate by the boys. “That’s a nice one! Sushi tonight!” Johnny exclaimed, and into the cooler it went. “We encourage most first-timers to target blackfin. They are plentiful around here throughout the summer, and readily take slow-pitch jigs.”
The morning was going according to plan, which meant our next move was
to head offshore to deeper waters. Much deeper. “We often start around 300 or 400 feet to get an idea of what the current and wind are looking like for the day. If it seems favorable, we’ll go out to 900 feet or so and drop some jigs out there,” Johnny explained. Once we hit a depth of around 850 feet, Johnny killed the motor
and all eyes turned towards the electronics. The drift was nice and slow—just a couple knots—and there was a gentle cross breeze, nearly perfect.
“I’m going with a 500-gram torpedo jig, and Chris is going a little lighter with a 400- gram torpedo, which is longer and more tubular than the flat back jig we used earlier,” Johnny explained. “Out here, we have to go a lot lighter with the line to make sure we get to the bottom, so we’ll switch to the rods that have 15-pound braid.” During the next few minutes, I received quite an education, and the best way to describe what went down is to just start at the beginning.
Two rods were selected based on the diameter of line on the spool (15-pound, as mentioned). All of the rods were partially rigged in the same manner: reels spooled with various diameters of braid and each one had about a 10-foot flourocarbon leader tied directly to the braid using a FG knot. FG knots can be somewhat tricky to learn at first, but they are the perfect knot for this application because they allow you to avoid doubling your braid when tying directly to a thick leader (which I used to do). The FG is long and thin, allowing it to easily pass through the rod tip. The terminal end of the fluoro was tied directly to a ball bearing swivel via 5-wrap uni- knot. On every racked rod, the business end of the swivel was threaded on to a triple-split ring. Attached to each split ring was a set of two “assist” jig hooks. “Triple split rings just don’t fail as often as doubles, and just as important we prefer them to have a 90-degree cut. Many split rings have a 45-degree cut on the ends of the curved metal. You’d be surprised how often a hook point or something can get caught in there and wedge in between the rings. A 90-degree cut almost eliminates that risk,” Johnny explained.
Next, a folder of jigs was laid across the bench and we were looking at a highly organized spread of metal jigs in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. A smaller box of rings, additional hooks and other goodies was opened next to it. Once the preferred torpedo jigs were picked out, split ring pliers attached a set of two hooks to the bottom of the jig, then the top of the jig was connected to the same split ring that connected the ball bearing swivel to the dangling hooks.
This answered a question I often asked myself: Was I supposed to tie my leader directly to the jig loop, or the split ring, or the closed metal circle that held the two hooks? Turns out the answer was none of the above. “We have found through a lot of trial and error that using a ball bearing swivel that attaches directly to the split gives us the best combination of action and strength,” Chris said. The bottom of the lure is the same except there is no need for the swivel. I pointed out that many slow pitch jigs are sold with hooks at only one end and asked if jigs are often fished with just one set. “If you are getting hung up on rocky bottom or reefs, you can remove the lower hooks,” Chris answered. “But they do help keep a bigger fish on the hook because the lower hooks will often grab the fish and hold the lure in place so it doesn’t flop around. One way to reduce bottom snags is to make sure your hooks open facing in towards the jig, not the other way around.”
I didn’t feel the need to confess that I used to use only one set of hooks, often on the wrong end of the jig...Johnny tossed a drift sock off the back of the boat to help keep us moving at about the same speed and direction as the current. Then the jigs were swung over the gunnel, bails were opened, and the hardware was going down. And down. And down. Both anglers were lightly thumbing the spool, and I asked if backlash was an issue with the heavier jigs and light line. “Not really. This is to allow the jigs to drop faster,” Chris told me. Turns out, these jigs are designed to have action when they drop freely. Some fall like a leaf from a tree if they are deployed with a total free-spool, which is the intended action during the jig. At this depth, the lure would never reach the bottom, so applying just a little drag can straighten the jig to a vertical position and allow it to drop much faster. Every 30 seconds or so, each angler would close the bail and reel in several cranks, then open the bail and send it back towards the bottom. “This is not to fish the column; this is just an attempt to keep the line as straight as possible. Currents can move in different directions along the way down, causing the line to bow out this way or that. Braid is sensitive but it can be very tough to feel any bite if you don’t tend your line during the descent.” The 500-gram lure touched bottom first, and Johnny started an exaggerated, sweeping vertical jig. Chris’s smaller jig hit bottom shortly after and they both were hooked up within a couple minutes. In what felt like less time than it took for the jigs to find bottom, both flopped two blackbelly rosefish (a type of scup) into the cooler. One jig, one drop, two fish each—not bad. “These fish don’t get too big, but wait till you taste them tonight,” Johnny said. “The texture is like nothing you’ve had, almost like a shellfish, and they are as sweet as can be.” The man spoke the truth. We were after golden tilefish, so the scups were a welcome catch. “Usually when you get into these fish, you find a mess of them. Tilefish are usually nearby too,” Chris said. As I was somewhat pressed for time, we scooted out of there after just a couple more drops (and more black bellies—and a beardfish. A new species for me, the 99th I have entered in my iAngler log book). “Come back tomorrow, we’ll head straight out and get your tilefish,” Johnny offered. I was landlocked the next day, but they did indeed get some tiles.
After an eventful morning on the water, my brain was full. I realized that eventually, I will be upgrading my slow-pitch jigging gear. But for now, armed with new knowledge and skills, my current jigging rods and reels will do the trick. I have since learned that there is a subculture of deepwater jiggers with videos on YouTube; search away (as with any trip into that rabbit hole, however, be prepared to filter some of the advice from sources evidently sponsored or otherwise profiting off of component sales). Many local tackle shops along the Florida coasts are well stocked with slow pitch jigs, as well as other types. You can hit up the Johnny Jigs guys in person at their new showroom on Federal Hwy in Pompano, or visit their website johnnyjigs.com to pick up more tips and tidbits. FS
SLOW PITCH JIGGING CADENCE
There is an art to maximizing the action of your slow-pitch jig in deep water. There are many variations to how you might work the water column, but a basic way to get started is to get your metal to the bottom and work the lower few yards. The best action of the jigs occurs during the fall after you sweep your rod up in a jigging motion.
It might seem logical to crank your reel a bit at the top of the vertical sweep, but this is not the case. “You actually want to crank the reel when you first start your jig. This helps load the rod and increase the speed and distance of your vertical lift. In the perfect scenario, the jig will fling up very quickly because of the rod flexing up as you sweep your arm up. This way, there is a longer fall before you start the process again,” instructs Johnny Steadman. Cranking slack at the top of your jigging action reels the slack line during the fall, shortening the duration of the lure’s intended action. After a few repetitions of this, your lure will be off the bottom. At this point, open the bail and gently thumb the jig back to the bottom. You’ll feel a distinctive thud, then repeat the process a few times before reeling all the way in and starting over. Don’t be surprised if a tuna, mahi-mahi, or other hungry critter grabs your jig during the speedy retrieve to the boat.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT ROD FOR THE JOB
“A good jig rod has what we call a parabolic bend, meaning it will flex from the tip all the way to the butt,” explained Chris Doyle. “We don’t pump and reel, we just apply steady pressure on the fish as we bring it up so the rod doesn’t do a lot of work during the battle. Basically, match the rod size and strength to the lure you are jigging. “The rod should load when you jig up to give you the best vertical thrust. A rod that is too flimsy won’t straighten at the end of the jigging motion, reducing your action. Too much rod power ends up decreasing the action as well. If you are balanced, you can be successful with either a spinner or conventional rod.”
Technical jigging rods may have spiral-wrapped guides— the guide closest to the (conventional) reel is on top, and the guides are offset along the blank until the very last one is hanging under the rod like a spinning rod.
Not totally necessary for those wanting to get started with slow-pitch jigging, but it does have one huge advantage. Often when the jig is fluttering down during between jigging strokes, the braid can flip over the rod tip. If your last guide is on top (as in typical conventional), the braid will get hung up on the last guide. With the last guides on the bottom, the line can slide off the tip before you start the next stroke.
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