# Jigging for kings from a yak - realistic?



## .329 (Apr 17, 2006)

I've been getting very keen to give jigging for kings a go at some point in the future.

I know that others on the site have tried this out from trip reports, but my question is: is deep(ish) water jigging with 24kg gear and 300g jigs a realistic option from a yak? The guy in the tackle store today thought it would be pretty interesting hooking a big king from a yak...any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Some of our members are testament to the ability to land big fish from the yak. Don't know about 24kg and 300g jigs, but I'll be out there with 10-15kg outfits and 60-120g jigs to see what I can get. Only one bonito so far, but its a start and I've learned more since then


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

Absolutely!!! Jigging from a yak is totally realistic but your drag setting is where it can all come undone.

Up this way its common for stink boats to jig with PE8 or 80lb braid and 150lb leaders. These guys often get caned on kings over 25kg. One stink bloke we call Harry Potter has had a $1200 Japanese custom jig stick popped in two and on the same day he had a Torsa TS30 disintegrate while fishting a fish. When it comes to jigging, this guy is a specialist and a damn good one.

On the yak there's a fine line between locking up, getting reefed or getting pulled staight off the yak. I've found that kings are less prone to structure bust offs on yaks. I think this is largely because we use hard locked 50lb braid and get towed over and around the structure at the same time the kings are trying to bust us off. On a stink boat, there's too much weight onboard and the fish often win.

Everytime I've jigged (and hooked rats) I've used 100gram jigs in 24 metres with just enough drag that I can rip line from just above the reel with one hand comfortably pulling quite hard. Once hooked I lock the drag harder to almost full and try to keep them off the bottom.


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## .329 (Apr 17, 2006)

Thanks for the reply guys. I guess the other question I had is whether it is easy enough to get proper jigging technique whilst sitting down - everything that I have seen or read on jigging points to having 'proper jigging style' which looks pretty vigorous...


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

itchyant said:


> Thanks for the reply guys. I guess the other question I had is whether it is easy enough to get proper jigging technique whilst sitting down - everything that I have seen or read on jigging points to having 'proper jigging style' which looks pretty vigorous...


"Proper" is more about maintaining concurrent physical coordination in tune with a zenlike state of mind. The payoff comes when the adaptation of movement within the yak creates an exact sync that coincides with the feeding habits of the target species.


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## FletcherG1991 (Apr 17, 2007)

Jigging out of a yak is a very realistic option, Whilst winter is here im jigging offshore out of the boat but when summer comes around again ill be jigging for the kings in the harbour.

Depending on where im jigging depends on what gear i will use but out of the yak probably a T-Curve 400, Saltist 30TH, 50lb Braid and 70lb leader. Fishing out of a boat i am using large amounts of drags, so much that i have aswell snapped rode. That is the one thing i am worried about, bieing pulled out of the yak when using heavy drags.

At the moment i am putting together a short jigging basics that i will post up on the internet that will hopefully help people that are new to jigging, i will put a small section about technique out of kayaks aswell (this will show you how to jig out of a kayak the 'propper' way)
Cheers,
Fletcher


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## Billybob (Aug 29, 2005)

> "Proper" is more about maintaining concurrent physical coordination in tune with a zenlike state of mind. The payoff comes when the adaptation of movement within the yak creates an exact sync that coincides with the feeding habits of the target species.


Jesus Dan.

I do the 'fire dance' the night before a Spaniard hunt, bless my baits with the appropriate mantras and sing the mackerel song when I'm on the troll but... 'Zenlike state of mind'? Is this a Byron Bay thing?


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

Billybob said:


> ... 'Zenlike state of mind'? Is this a Byron Bay thing?


:lol::lol::lol: Partly a Byron thing but more likely the instinctive moment when you realise you are just about to get a hit and actually do...

I liken this scenario to an experience I once had in a pub where I saw the headbutt coming before the final impact occurred. :shock:


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## Dave73 (Dec 3, 2006)

Hey Billy Bob, what ever works!! Seems like you two have got the mojo as far as whispering goes!
I reckon Dan has spent a lot of time on this, though for me 50lb braid out of a yak is too much. The most I can break is 30lb if I get snagged up on a reef.
Kings are fussy, but in inshore shallow water a selection of jigs could work 
pretty well. There is a lot of truth to jigging techniques, it is hard work and a science for the serious jigging people out there.

Itchyant, Where do you live and fish? You may not need to use 300g jigs as usually that is for deep 60-70+ meters. From a yak usually inshore we'd be up to 30m (around Sydney anyway) and lighter jigs would be fine.

People who specialise in decent kings work at it for some time, Jigs haven't yet been trialled enough. Dan can vouch for how well live baits work, for me thats where the best results are.
Also trolling a live bait is easier and a little less forgiving than jigging vertically waiting for a hoodlum to almost tip me over. That is a fine line and I havent been too keen on testing out so far.

ps, all I know is it's freezing and raining down here and I havent been fishing in weeks. I've booked a charter to go jigging for kings offshore soon, and am hoping it will be very good, will be saying some mantras and sending good vibes also. That worked last time and I caught a marlin!

Ohmmmmm....

Dave


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

kraley, using the heavier jig that dgax sent you (125g-225g) on 30 or 40# is a mainstay here. Generally 20-40ftm (~40-80m), and a fast retrieve reel.

Drop to bottom, jig a couple times, then crank like heck until you get to the top 1/3 of the column, then kick it out of gear to drop it down again.

Personally I don't feel comfortable on line more than 40# on my yak. There is no give if you hook the bottom. I can't in good conscience cut off 100 feet of 40# and leave it.

What's the standard king jigging technique over there?

Z


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## garrick (Sep 2, 2006)

After seeing what some VERY LUCKY people caught in Mozambique, I am all seiked up and ready to learn about catching serious fish of the yak. Just ordered a DVD from a guy in the USA that caught a tuna the same length as himself. Aparently he also caught a lot of monster Gts ect ect. Can't wait to see that DVD. Comming back to the subject at hand, if other people can catch such big fish from a yak then HELL so can we. BRING ON THOSE BIG KINGIES !!!!!


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## .329 (Apr 17, 2006)

Dave73 said:


> Itchyant, Where do you live and fish? You may not need to use 300g jigs as usually that is for deep 60-70+ meters. From a yak usually inshore we'd be up to 30m (around Sydney anyway) and lighter jigs would be fine.


Dave, it'll be fishing around the Batemans Bay area - you're right in that I probably won't be in 80m+ of water, but it was just a thought...


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

The best fishing is the mid temps for us. About 60-70 roughly. We get down to 55 and up to 75F (Min/Max) in SoCal. Winter is when they are deep, and when the water gets to about 60-62 they start to feed more on the surface and get ready for the spawn.

My mothership trip was pretty steady at 63F, everywhere we went.

FWIW We have rats(<10#), firecrackers (10-15#), and homeguards (25#+).
Rats and firecrackers are Summer, transitory, school fish, and homeguards are the bigger fish that take up residency, and can be caught year round in the right conditions.

Z


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## spooled1 (Sep 16, 2005)

Zed said:


> FWIW We have rats(<10#), firecrackers (10-15#), and homeguards (25#+).
> Rats and firecrackers are Summer, transitory, school fish, and homeguards are the bigger fish that take up residency, and can be caught year round in the right conditions.
> 
> Z


Nice names, I like!!!! Particularly "homeguards"

Gotta agree about busting off 50lb. It isn't easy from a yak but my local king reef has some pretty sharp edges to make the job slightly easier. I drop the rod vertical in the water. I wind on as much line as humanly possible, hold the reel tight then pull it straight up sharply. You know you've broken the braid when you overbalance to regain your balance. If I fished water over 30 metres I'd probably move to 30lb. In 12-25 metres, 50lb braid is still manageable - just.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

My personal best kingie was taken on the iron in February. Our winter kingie fishing is primarily done by vertical jigging. Here is a link to an article that will give a good idea how its done.
http://www.bigwatersedge.com/index.php?page=iron
Jigging from a kayak can be a workout, but that can be a good thing when fishing in the winter.

I tried doing a little butterfly jigging when I was down in Mexico. Now that is really a workout. I didn't have any success with it, but nothing was working anyways.


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## .329 (Apr 17, 2006)

Thanks for all the tips peoples, I'll give it a shot with some lightish jigs next time I'm down the coast (maybe next weekend).


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## spottymac (Aug 29, 2005)

Hi Douglas
That was a great read on Pat Holmes catching kingies on irons,he said the best one to use was the Salas B/W 6xJr.
Who sell them in the USA, l looked on http://www.charkbait.com, they do stock the Tady 9 and 4/0 but not the Salas.


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## SharkNett (Feb 20, 2006)

Spootymac,

Do a google search on "Salas jig".

Seems to be a few places

Rob.


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## spottymac (Aug 29, 2005)

Thank Rob, l got onto them first google


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