jiggerjohn
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2010
- Messages
- 547
Just back from OBX-lots colder up north than the past few days of 70* and mid 60s with sun down in NC! Our week was beautiful every day, only some wind and slight chill on 2 days (but everything doable even then!).Hard to believe calm & warm jigging in Nov for a PA boy like me(tho drove thru initial snow to get down there!).
One morn was up early and casting a small bridge section of bay with a dart head woolie for a bit before breakfast back at the hotel.Not much activity at all, and I was talking to a local angler who was just leaving, who hadn't seen any fish movement anywhere that day. Just then my mindlessly(never talk & fish!) retrieved jig stopped,then gave that electric sensation of fighting back!! To both of us it looked like a decent , hefty striper,and I carefully put on pressure with the 6# test mono.But when I got it below me at the bridge base, I saw spots -a thick bodied 24" sea trout!! My new friend was terrifically excited and I told him about the productivity in freshwater of woolies and gave him a jig! He left and I kept casting for "10 minutes" more,but no school had moved in, so seemed like futile casting once again.Was about to leave, cast parallel to the bridge, another hefty trout appeared out of nowhere to look at my orange Boolie -except he had his mouth open and in went the lure! This one was 20", but such a thrill to watch the take!Next morning others fished there and "knew me" -word spreads fast down there (and trout hadn't been hitting for anyone else in the sound areas)! Gave a few more jigs away ,and the guys were most impressed with Hawn's unique HU head shape and the wool and satin dressings !! It was a winner this trip to employ a thick wire no 2 VMC hook (yet super sharp), for extra protection on saltwater species.
Another particularly exciting day was from a high (20-30' above the ocean) commercial($12) pier -these are very popular thru the OBX, and water was calm so not hard to work our small jigs.We vertically jigged off the pier rails at first, but very slow action. Then around 2 PM I noticed some of the bait fishers started getting sea mullet out from the pier.These were small but feisty and looked like fun. So I put my latest creation on, a 3/4 oz "JiggerDigger" -my home made pouring of a Doc's Goofy Jig( a heavy,walking sinker type of leadhead,with a tail hook,very popular on the Gulf Coast of Florida), with a 1/28 oz woolie swinging free on the line above.Bunches grabbed the little jig immediately(only one bit on the actual inch long Digger) and consistantly when tipped with a spec of "Fish Bites". Son Sean was upset that he couldn't catch ANY, until he put on his tiny D-Bug(1/32 oz woolie-no 8 hook)with a 1/2 oz bull -shot 6" up line-then I couldn't keep up with HIM! Funny casting as far as you could, then watching the jig fall way down over that height and just give minimal room to work the lure -far enough tho to provide great light tackle sport!
We went back to the pier after dinner to fish in dark (tho the pier itself was lit up lbetter than our our living room -easy to work from). The speckled trout had moved in and we got a hit(s) or hooked fish on most casts from 630 till 11! This time a wider 1/6 oz HU(thick hook again -that no 2 hooked even the little ones) was the ticket here, with retrieves just below surface in a slow steady fashion.These were a BLAST on light tackle, and about the size of typical stocker rainbows back inland, except saltwater "specs" hit harder and fight with more vigor!
Speakin of light tackle, after the first day both Sean & I missed the feel of our usual short Charlie Brewer rods to best control and "read" light jigs. So we searched Nagshead tackle shops for 2 piece(car packing necessity on a family vacation!) light action "Brewer-type" rods. Found some very inexpensive in fiberglass, and used these all week -they performed brilliantly! I may be checking fiberglass rods much more carefully over the winter months -thinking these have been given undeserved bad press due to the huge commercial profits in graphite! But their feel & casting ability were fantastic -these days when you can FIND fiberglass, the components ,even in cheapies, are better than years ago when they were popular!
One morn was up early and casting a small bridge section of bay with a dart head woolie for a bit before breakfast back at the hotel.Not much activity at all, and I was talking to a local angler who was just leaving, who hadn't seen any fish movement anywhere that day. Just then my mindlessly(never talk & fish!) retrieved jig stopped,then gave that electric sensation of fighting back!! To both of us it looked like a decent , hefty striper,and I carefully put on pressure with the 6# test mono.But when I got it below me at the bridge base, I saw spots -a thick bodied 24" sea trout!! My new friend was terrifically excited and I told him about the productivity in freshwater of woolies and gave him a jig! He left and I kept casting for "10 minutes" more,but no school had moved in, so seemed like futile casting once again.Was about to leave, cast parallel to the bridge, another hefty trout appeared out of nowhere to look at my orange Boolie -except he had his mouth open and in went the lure! This one was 20", but such a thrill to watch the take!Next morning others fished there and "knew me" -word spreads fast down there (and trout hadn't been hitting for anyone else in the sound areas)! Gave a few more jigs away ,and the guys were most impressed with Hawn's unique HU head shape and the wool and satin dressings !! It was a winner this trip to employ a thick wire no 2 VMC hook (yet super sharp), for extra protection on saltwater species.
Another particularly exciting day was from a high (20-30' above the ocean) commercial($12) pier -these are very popular thru the OBX, and water was calm so not hard to work our small jigs.We vertically jigged off the pier rails at first, but very slow action. Then around 2 PM I noticed some of the bait fishers started getting sea mullet out from the pier.These were small but feisty and looked like fun. So I put my latest creation on, a 3/4 oz "JiggerDigger" -my home made pouring of a Doc's Goofy Jig( a heavy,walking sinker type of leadhead,with a tail hook,very popular on the Gulf Coast of Florida), with a 1/28 oz woolie swinging free on the line above.Bunches grabbed the little jig immediately(only one bit on the actual inch long Digger) and consistantly when tipped with a spec of "Fish Bites". Son Sean was upset that he couldn't catch ANY, until he put on his tiny D-Bug(1/32 oz woolie-no 8 hook)with a 1/2 oz bull -shot 6" up line-then I couldn't keep up with HIM! Funny casting as far as you could, then watching the jig fall way down over that height and just give minimal room to work the lure -far enough tho to provide great light tackle sport!
We went back to the pier after dinner to fish in dark (tho the pier itself was lit up lbetter than our our living room -easy to work from). The speckled trout had moved in and we got a hit(s) or hooked fish on most casts from 630 till 11! This time a wider 1/6 oz HU(thick hook again -that no 2 hooked even the little ones) was the ticket here, with retrieves just below surface in a slow steady fashion.These were a BLAST on light tackle, and about the size of typical stocker rainbows back inland, except saltwater "specs" hit harder and fight with more vigor!
Speakin of light tackle, after the first day both Sean & I missed the feel of our usual short Charlie Brewer rods to best control and "read" light jigs. So we searched Nagshead tackle shops for 2 piece(car packing necessity on a family vacation!) light action "Brewer-type" rods. Found some very inexpensive in fiberglass, and used these all week -they performed brilliantly! I may be checking fiberglass rods much more carefully over the winter months -thinking these have been given undeserved bad press due to the huge commercial profits in graphite! But their feel & casting ability were fantastic -these days when you can FIND fiberglass, the components ,even in cheapies, are better than years ago when they were popular!