Tackle Tests - Jigging machines

The lures look neat, the necessary tackle's shiny, downright radical and constantly evolving, and anglers must be strong, fit or mentally driven to survive the longer sessions.

Ahhh, the delights of Japanese, butterfly, or mechanical jigging – call the method what you will, but there’s no doubt about it, it’s bloody effective and bloody addictive. Hell, even us old farts are actually getting fit again so we can compete more successfully against the rapidly emerging mechanical-jigging guns!

But unfortunately our impending fitness hadn’t occurred in time to help us in a recent kingfish jigging expedition near the Alderman Islands.

It was the result of a perfect opportunity. Bryce Hooton, owner of Star Trek, offered the vessel’s use for whatever we wanted to do for a couple of days, accompanied by her very able skipper, Dave Blake, who would show us where to go. This made it a no-brainer: a wide assortment of kingfish jigging gear had built up in our Penrose offices over several months of poor weather and needed to be put to work. And to complete the prospective package, Justin ‘Fluff’ Wilson, Whitianga’s kingfish jigging legend and guide, was available as a ‘hired gun’. Cool! Let’s go catch us some kings!

So it was that we left the wonderful Whitianga Marina on a chilly winter’s day and just a few hours later – perhaps to everyone’s surprise except Justin’s – we found ourselves locked into some nice kingfish while using the gear. Though the sessions were just a few frantic hours in duration, we enjoyed sufficient action to assess the capabilities of our tackle, enabling us to make the following appraisals and observations…

NUMBER 1:

Jigging rods and reels

Reel brand and model:

Duel Speedy 20
Capacity: 300m 37kg braid
Gear ratio: 5.5:1
Weight: 0.95kg

Features include: One-piece aluminium frame; PX graphite fibre drag; quick-change-spool system; helical-cut gears.

Our comments

Very nice reel to use: very smooth drag and high rate of retrieve that’s well suited to speed jigging, but worked with mechanical jigging, too.

Harness lugs a bonus, although hardly needed on 12-17kg kingfish encountered.

Interesting that reel is so structurally strong, no reel-clamp was needed!

Winding was slightly harder when heavy drag pressure set.

Ratchet on part of reel side-plate generally held, but not too obtrusive or uncomfortable.

Heavier than most other similar-sized models, but appears to have great structural strength.

Rod brand and model:

Kilwell ‘Heavy Metal’ rod
Length: 1.37m
Recommended line-weight capabilities: 37kg

Features: Still in its formulative stage, but currently has 3K double-woven bias graphite blank; Fuji Low-rider guides; Pacific Bay reel seat (with palm tang); skeleton butt design; EVA grips; alloy gimbal nock.

Comments

Impressively light and super-grunty.

Great reel seat (easy to screw up and down on reel foot) and palm tang – very substantial, well made and secure to hold – perfect for mechanical jigging.

EVA grips look good with anodized gold trims.

Good numbers and configuration of guides.

Nice and short, so nice to jig with, but can make manoeuvring around obstacles harder when rod fully loaded.

NUMBER 2:

Reel brand and model:

TiCA Team ST368RH
Capacity: 390m 10kg nylon (around 650m 24kg or 300m 37kg braid)
Retrieve rate and gear ratio: 94cm per handle turn, 4.7:1
Weight: 813g (28.7 ounces)

Features include: Lever-drag system; six sealed ball bearings; two-way clutch roller bearings; one-piece aluminium-alloy frame, machined and burnished; forged aluminium spool; loud ratchet; harness lugs; reel clamp; free reel bag.

Our comments

Harness lugs useful.

Handle knob weighted so always ready for action.

Large diameter, narrow spool allows fast line retrieval despite slow gear ratio, with little need to guide line on when jigging.

Relatively low gear ratio provides low-down grunt when hooked up.

Drag beautifully smooth, but heavy pre-set drag settings (for 37kg braid) cause winding action to become slightly harder – could become an issue over longer jigging periods.

Nice short distance when drag lever is slid in and out of gear – but remember to depress lever button so it’s unlocked first.

Rod brand and model:

TiCA Velocity
Length: 5’6”
Recommended line-class capabilities: to 24kg

Features include: Graphite blank for lightness and power; solid reel seat and palm tang; EVA grips; over- and under-bound Pacific Bay silicon carbide guides.

Our comments

Excellent Pacific Bay reel seat incorporates very user-friendly reel-locking ring and substantial reel-seat trigger one of the best we’ve seen.

Full-length EVA butt grip (rather than ‘skeleton’ type butt) adds weight and rubs underarm skin, and the butt is a little short for mechanical jigging (gimbal nock digs into angler), making rod better for speed jigging.

Sufficient power for 24kg braid, but understandably struggled with 37kg.

NUMBER 3:

Reel brand and model:

Daiwa Saltist 40A
Retrieve rate and gear ratio: 92cm per handle turn, 4.9:1
Spool capacity: Around 300m 37kg braid

Features include: Rugged all-metal construction, incl. rigid one-piece aluminium frame; four ball bearings and one roller bearing (incl. CRBB shielded corrosion-resistant bearings); ‘Super Drag’ (22% greater drag than similar-sized reels); high strength alloy gears; dual anti-reverse systems; dual position power handle; strong level-wind system.

Comments

Level-wind system a delight when jigging with braid.
Side-plate fits hand nicely for mechanical jigging, and recessed ratchet doesn’t intrude.

Very smooth drag.

Handle substantial and comfortable.

Overall light weight makes jigging less of a chore.

Spring-loaded and prominent gear-engage level great for near-instant in and out of gear.

Moulded reel clamp actually helped make holding reel more secure.

Narrow level-wind means heavy leader knots will not wind on spool.

Rod brand and model:

Daiwa Monster Mesh 582XHB
Length: 1.76m (5’8”)
Recommended line-weight capabilities: 24-37kg (max. 15kg drag pressure)
Suggested lure weight: 200-400g

Features include: Light but strong silicone carbide guides; two-piece construction; skeletonised butt; palm tang; alloy gimbal.

Comments

Beautifully light and surprisingly powerful.

Smaller palm tang actually works quite well in conjunction with reel side-plate and reel-clamp configuration.

Blank’s two-piece construction can mean gradual migration so regular checks necessary.

Good numbers and placement of guides.

Skeletonised butt section shaped so bare blank fits perfectly under the armpit for easy sliding movement and minimal flesh rubbing – a pleasure to use.

NUMBER 4:

Reel brand and model:

Shimano Ocea Jigger 4000P
Retrieve rate and gear ratio: 112.3cm, 4.1:1
Line capacity: around 300m 37kg
Weight: 765g

Features include: Rigid, lightweight machined frame, pared down; wide diameter main-gear; pure carbon drag washers produce 15kg of drag; Hyper handle II effectively offsets left swinging tendency and provides tight grip and powerful cranking; spool-lock mechanism.

Comments

Very light in weight and well-balanced.

Narrow but large diameter spool gave super-fast retrieve without need to guide line on – perfect for speed and mechanical jigging.

Low profile reel clamp did the job but didn’t get in way.

Beefy handle was comfortable to hold; optional handle style also supplied.

Super-smooth drag, even when heavy drags exerted.

One of trip’s stars.

Rod brand and model: Shimano

T-Curve Deep Jigging (Overhead 200)
Length: 1.78m
Recommended line weight: 24kg
Suggested lure weights: 170-250g

Features include: Two-piece construction; lightweight but powerful graphite blank; light, strong Fuji Sic guides with super strong carbon-fibre bindings; large, sturdy palm tang; slimmed-down EVA butt; contoured foregrip.

Comments

Very efficient and enjoyable to use, but would have liked extra power offered by heavier model (Overhead 400) at times. Even so, provided surprising power.

Liked the extra large palm tang.

Although designed for lighter lures, still handled the 300g sizes we mostly used.

Reduced-diameter EVA butt section had good length, but a harder, more slippery surface might be even better in butt’s midsection.

Guides well positioned and of great quality.

NUMBER 5:

Reel brand and model:

Daiwa Saltiga Z6000GT
Gear ratio: 6.2:1
Line capacity: 300m of 27kg (60lb) braid
Weight: 814g

Features include: Stainless and bronze gears; dual infinite anti-reverse; 14 ball bearings and one roller bearing; rigid aluminium-alloy body; machined-alloy handle and spool; sealed drag and body.

Comments:

Great reel for anglers who prefer to use spinning/threadline type reels.

Beautifully made reel with extremely good tolerances.

Very strong gears and powerful drag capable of taking on very big fish.

Rod brand and model:

Jigging Master Powerspell 250
(spin version)
Length: 1.50m
Recommended line weight: 20kg
Suggested lure weights: 250g

Features include: four heavy–duty SiC spin guides over- and under-bound; EVA grip and skeleton butt; Fuji graphite reel seat with padded stainless hoods; alloy gimbal nock with cover.

Comments:

A powerful rod when fully loaded.

Soft action balanced by reel underneath rod makes for comfortable mechanical jigging.

Glue job on gimbal nock let go.

NUMBER 6:

Rod brand and model:

Maverix Jig Rods (two)
Length: 1.73m
Recommended line weight: 24 and 37kg

Features include: Aluminium gimbal nock with cover; full EVA butt and foregrip; graphite reel-seat with padded alloy hoods; Fuji Alconite BLCAG guides, over- and under-bound; powerful graphite blank with ‘colour change’ finish.

Comments

Rods fitted with excellent Penn Torque 300 reel (see review in the September 2007 Fishing News) and top-of-line Shimano Torsa, another well proven model.

Seems to be little difference in power between the rod models; both stiff, powerful rods capable of really putting some hurt on.

Traditional construction of thick EVA butt and grip, and ‘game’-style reel seat with no tang, a design not really suited to mechanical jigging; better candidate for speed jigging in current form.

Sleek Fuji BLCAG guides, although primarily designed for surf fishing, work reasonably well here, but SiC versions would probably be better.

NUMBER 7:

Rod brand and model:

Shimano Deep Jig 400 (spin version)
Length: 1.70m
Recommended line weight: 37kg
Suggested lure weights: 300-500g

Features include: Aluminium gimbal with EVA cover; narrow EVA butt; Fuji graphite game-reel seat; two-piece takedown at top of foregrip; and Fuji SiC spin guides with heavy-duty carbon-fibre bindings.

Comments

Due to lack of appropriate reel – ideally a Stella 10000FA – rod was fitted with Spheros 14000FB, a reel further down the pecking order. Nice reel but drag lacks sufficient authority to keep bigger kings out of the bottom.

Rod is great. Very powerful with a modest foldaway tip, high quality hardware and very strong build. Have used the overhead version for around three years now, catching numerous kings to 28kg. A favourite.

NUMBER 8:

Jigging lures

While all the knife/long jigs available for testing caught fish, some of the assist-hook rigs supplied with the lures proved inadequate while locked in combat with our tough Kiwi kingfish, so were replaced by some of Fluff’s home-made versions (see Sam Mossman’s article for details).

Williamson Benthos jigs

Great colour combinations that incorporate lumo, so readily seen in deeper depths. Sink quickly, their slender profile also making them reasonably easy to wind in (despite their weight), their shape providing an attractive action. Kingfish certainly liked them! However, assist-hook systems not completely reliable; good length, but splices failed twice (possibly barracouta teeth contributed), and rather flat-sectioned solid rings cut through even heavy mono trace when placed under extreme pressure.

NUMBER 9:

Kilwell Broken Arrow jigs

A very effective lure with a quality holographic finish on one side and heavy lumo paint which really shows up in deep water. Shot down quickly and had great action on the retrieve. Available in very large sizes, so are a decent target for larger fish.

Some fish were caught on lures as is, but the hook-up rate improved once the too-short assist-hook system was replaced with a longer, stiffer version. Assist’s solid ring is excellent and hook seems up to it too. Great value for money.

NUMBER 10:

Zest jigs

Zests have produced very well in past jigging sessions, but we had just two models to play with this time: the Rudder Tail and Cuttlefish.

The Rudder Tail fluttered down relatively slowly on the drop, so tended to be nailed by ‘coutas. No doubt would have been better for shallower waters and warmer months. However, the Cuttlefish model was excellent, slipping into the depths efficiently and possessing a great action when speed or mechanically jigged back. Hooked good fish and possessed an assist system that didn’t need altering or replacing.

NUMBER 11:

Katch 1 King jigs

These impressive looking Asian-made jigs come in three sizes, 400, 500 and 600g, and have substantial assist hooks which, while a little short, have good solid rings. They are heavily tail-weighted and sink fast. A wide flashy head section makes these lures well suited to the erratic mechanical-jigging retrieve, but probably a bit large and heavy for long periods of speed jigging. Fish love them however, and despite their large size, even rat kingfish grabbed them. A real deep-water weapon; it would be nice to see one with a lumo finish.

NUMBER 12:

Black Magic jigs

Beautifully detailed and strongly made jigs that range in size from 60g to a massive 500g, making them a realistic target for even the largest predators. Tail-weighted to sink quickly, they are ideal for deep water work, while a wider, flashy front section also gives them a nice flutter, so that they suit mechanical-jigging styles. Assist hooks are a good length and of solidly construction straight from the packet.

- © Fairfax NZ News