Flats,here,s the note from my friend "aquaholic"-yep, you can be sure something that is small and flashy will
definitely get the fish's attention.
I got a mold for the swivel jig and my buddy pours them for me. I
experimented with attaching a Spanish Mackerel flies to the swivel
head. It is after all, just a flies attached to a jig head. I ties the
Spanish Mackerel flies with a long shank hook and I tied some bucktail
and flashabou half way up the shank. I was at the Skyway piers(the one
you drive on) and decide to send the jig down to the bottom since the
Mackerel weren't on the surface. I had 20lb Suffix braid and 50lb mono
leader. I was expecting only Mackerel even though I caught a 10lbs
King Mackerel on live bait and long shank hook the week before.
I gave it a couple of jerks and all of the sudden, a big hit and
100yds of 20lbs braid disappeared in literally 3 secs flat. I am
staring at less than half a spool of line on my Stradic 4000FI and
line is still continuing to disappear. No way I was getting spooled, I
rather pop off the fish. I crank the drag up half turn and that seems
to piss the fish off even more but it finally slowed down with less
than a third of line left on a previously full spool. I knew the fish
was done so I back off the drag and inch the fish in. It wasn't easy
with 20 other people on the bridge. After 15 minutes of over and
under, we got the fish doing circle at the base of the piers. It was
a King Mackerel, about 25lbs. We sent the gaff down, he nailed it, but
he nailed the fish on the stomach area. Halfway up the pier, the gaff
sliced through the stomach area and the fish fell down and sink
straight to the bottom. Even though I had slack line, the gaff line(
it was a large treble hook on a big rope) tangle around my line and
pop the jig lose from the fish.
The gaffer, who is a pier rat and a buddy of mine, felt worse than I
did. I got the best out of that fish and had the satisfaction of
beating it. I just hate to see it go to waste since it is essentially
dead. The Jewfish will have a feast I guess.
We should be OK with the oil unless a hurricane sends the slick our
way. Pomp bite was good in April but slow in May. I just found them
again at the bridge. They were slow arriving this year. I had to sneak
the swivel jig past the ladyfish and hop it every so slowly so I don't
catch the attention of the ladyfish.
I have a knot for you to try and master. Google up Sebile Knot on
Youtube. It's not as hard as it looks and it is nearly as strong as a
Bimini-yucatan combo. Try it and master it and test it's strength. I
think you will love it.
Lee
On Fri, May 21, 2010 at 10:48 AM, <
[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi Lee, I haven't written to ya for a while, and got to thinkin about you
> and how you're doing with the fish! How is the jigging around the piers and
> bridges? I'm still fascinated with your swivel jig, and have been involved
> with a relatively new jigging website called jigcraft.com - would you mind
> if I mention you & your great ideas/experiences every now & then? Do you
> foresee any immediate problem in your area from that terrible
