A beginners guide to jigging - PART 2

Super lines and great leaders

Ken Yang with a monster kingie caught with Memory Maker Charters, the White Island jigging specialists. (Photo:Memory Maker Charters)

Gemfish and frostfish, along with ‘couta, make up a toothy trio that demand tough trace material. (Photo: Sam Mossman)

Two very happy anglers, both with personal best kingies of around mid 20’s caught while jigging White Island. (Photo: Memory Maker Charters)

When the hurt goes on, one thing is for sure; you need good quality braid and leader material. (Photo: Sam Mossman)

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Last month we looked at the tackle used for mechanical jigging. However, a couple of aspects deserves a lot more discussion.

Superbraid, also known as GSP (gel-spun polyethylene) or PE line, plays a vital role in jigging effectively, due to its super-thin diameter, low degree of water resistance and non-stretch properties.

Most braids designed for jigging have a PE rating and/or an approximate breaking strain rated in pounds. The PE rating is actually a unit of measure for line diameter that the Japanese developed many years ago to describe the thickness of silk thread. Fortunately for us, the PE rating can roughly be converted to a breaking strain in pounds by simply adding a zero to the end (i.e. PE3 equals 30lb).

Quality jigging braids are available in New Zealand in line diameters of PE1 to PE8, but lines to PE12 can be obtained overseas if looking for something even heavier.

In most cases though, their real breaking point will be a fair bit more than the rating indicated. For example, YGK Jigman Ultra – which is the top-of-the-range braid available in New Zealand – has the actual (or very close to it) breaking strain printed on the box; the PE8 I often use – which by our rule of thumb should be 80lb – actually breaks at 113lb.

However, there is also braid/PE available that is IGFA rated, so should break at or below the rating provided.
You will also find that most quality braid/PE is coloured differently in 10-metre increments. This helps you to know where your jig is within the water column. Consequently, when the skipper of the boat tells you to drop your jigs, you can ask him where the fish are holding. If 10m off the bottom say, and the shoal is 5m thick, you will only need to jig until two entire colours have been retrieved. After all, the first colour will bring your jig up to the shoal of fish, and the second will take the jig through the shoal of fish and slightly past them, taking care of those that decide to chase it for a bit. It is therefore a waste of jigging time and energy to jig the entire water column from top to bottom. Instead, focus on the depth where the fish are holding, as well as slightly above and below them.

Leader material
We generally use around 5m or more leader material for a couple of reasons. This strong, thick line means we can grip the spool of the reel firmly and still have enough to grab or wrap with your hand for lifting aboard or gaffing. A short leader can mean very serious cuts if the fish pulls the braid through your bare hand under pressure.

A long leader also means there’s less chance of being busted off on a reef – and even if you do, you may well be left with enough length to simply tie on another jig and get straight back into the action. Tying on a whole new leader and jig can use up a lot of valuable jigging time.

As for the leader’s breaking strain, a few factors need to be considered, including: the weight of gear being used (light or heavy?); the terrain below (is it over low-lying foul ground or steep, rocky pinnacles?); as well as the likely size of the kingfish encountered. All these things determine just how thick the leader will be, keeping in mind that although a really heavy trace will provide excellent insurance against being broken off, it can also put fish off biting in the first place.

The following is a basic guide to the recommended leader strength used to suit the following jigging outfits: 150g set-up, 60-80lb leader; 250g set-up, 80-120lb leader; 350g set-up, 120-150lb leader; 450g+ set-up, 150lb+ leader.

However, you still need to decide which leader material to use – monofilament or fluorocarbon – and unfortunately there is great debate focussed on this topic, just as there is with those who fish soft-plastics. Suffice it to say both materials have advantages and disadvantages, and each has its place within my tackle bag, that’s for sure. So here are my thoughts on the subject, and you can make the decision yourself as to which will suit your needs better.

Price
Costing around $20-$25 for a 100m spool on average, monofilament is significantly cheaper than fluorocarbon, which tends to be around $35 for only 10 metres.

Availability
Monofilament leader can be found in every tackle store in the country; trying to find fluorocarbon leader in higher breaking strains suitable for jigging can be difficult, unless you visit a tackle store that specialises in this aspect of fishing.
Monofilament is also available in 100m spools and a wide range of breaking strains, whereas fluorocarbon is generally only available in 10m spools (because of the price) and in very few breaking strains.

Strength
Mono isn’t as susceptible to damage and weakening through heat when pulling knots up tight, and also offers higher and more consistent knot strength than fluorocarbon.

Usability
Monofilament is much nicer to use, as it is softer than fluorocarbon, easier to tie knots in, and doesn’t have as much memory as fluorocarbon. The latter can see the trace acting like a spring when wound onto your reel, and can be a real pain in the backside on spin reels, as it will spew off the spool and end up in a great mess if given any slack line.

Abrasion resistance
Fluorocarbon offers much greater abrasion resistance than monofilament, making it the best candidate when jigging in real ‘tiger country’ (i.e. steep, rocky pinnacles) for big kingfish, or when targeting large angry bass (which will try to swim back to their rocky-cavern homes). That extra abrasion resistance can mean the difference between the fish of a lifetime or five minutes in the cabin sulking and tying on a new leader.
Another situation where you may want to use fluorocarbon is when winter jigging in areas where barracouta tend to chomp at your expensive jigs with their nasty dentures. While fluorocarbon won’t stop them from biting off your jig every time, it does offer much greater protection than monofilament.

Fishability
Personally I have not found any difference in the hook-up rate between the two different materials – and, believe me, I use both a lot in many different situations. Kingfish are a predatory species, and if they want to eat, they will eat! A kingfish isn’t going to swim up to your jig and think to himself, “Hmmm… Nah – I don’t want to eat that thing – it seems to be rigged with monofilament, not fluorocarbon!”

There are some firm believers that fluorocarbon is less visible underwater and therefore entices more hits. When it comes to jigging kingfish I disagree (it probably does increase bites when freshwater fishing or soft plastic fishing in the shallows on bright days, when fish can be easily spooked – but we are not talking about that here). I think that clever marketing has caught these people hook, line and sinker – or, in this case jig, hook and leader! This is my opinion only, and I recommend that you go out and try both for yourself to make up your own mind on the subject. 

Next month: Jigs – the various styles, weights, and what to use in different situations.
 

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