04-11-2003, 11:16 AM
[cool]Halibuts will eat almost anything, when they are in the mood. But, hair and feather jigs are a good way to go, if you can't get live bait or if you would rather toss artificials anyway. Fish them by themselves or with a plastic twister for additional length and action...with the wiggly tail.
One thing to think about when tossing jigs for "Old Hal"...is to use the lightest heads that will get the job done. You know how touchy they can be even with live bait. It's just as bad with artificials. A slow fall and a steady swimming action retrieve will get you bit better than a heavy plunge into the bottom and a bottom dragging or hopping retreve.
An effective approach with the float tube is to toss out a short cast, let it settle to the bottom and then do a slow back troll, keeping the jig just above the bottom. If you have a nice, light swimming action jig, you can cover a lot of water and you will get bit.
Colors for hair or feather jigs should be all white, white and blue, white and red, black and white or even green or brown and white. These colors do the best job of representing the baits most appealing to the flatties. But, don't be afraid to use some wilder colors...especially in cold or murky water conditions. Use something highly visible like all black, black and chartreuse, black and hot pink, chartreuse or hot yellow, hot pink, etc.
I tie all of my own jigs, and I use a lot of synthetic fibres in with the hair or feathers. A few strands of something flashy, like Krystal Flash or Flashabou can give your jigs some extra appeal...especially in clear water on a bright day.
I have caught a lot of 'buts on jigs, and I know a lot of other guys who have also done well on them. These days there are a whole bunch of really good lookin' plastics available, and they do a good job on all species...including halibut. But, the hair jigs have always worked fine, and will still get fish.
The key to fishing a jig is in how you present it. Jig fishing is an art that takes a lifetime to learn. They work well enough that a basic cast and retrieve will catch fish...sometimes. But, if you really want to "kick 'butts", you need to practice different styles of presenting and retreiving your jigs.
What sizes and colors of jigs do you have right now? And, do you also have any swimming plastics...like the Hammer series?
[signature]
One thing to think about when tossing jigs for "Old Hal"...is to use the lightest heads that will get the job done. You know how touchy they can be even with live bait. It's just as bad with artificials. A slow fall and a steady swimming action retrieve will get you bit better than a heavy plunge into the bottom and a bottom dragging or hopping retreve.
An effective approach with the float tube is to toss out a short cast, let it settle to the bottom and then do a slow back troll, keeping the jig just above the bottom. If you have a nice, light swimming action jig, you can cover a lot of water and you will get bit.
Colors for hair or feather jigs should be all white, white and blue, white and red, black and white or even green or brown and white. These colors do the best job of representing the baits most appealing to the flatties. But, don't be afraid to use some wilder colors...especially in cold or murky water conditions. Use something highly visible like all black, black and chartreuse, black and hot pink, chartreuse or hot yellow, hot pink, etc.
I tie all of my own jigs, and I use a lot of synthetic fibres in with the hair or feathers. A few strands of something flashy, like Krystal Flash or Flashabou can give your jigs some extra appeal...especially in clear water on a bright day.
I have caught a lot of 'buts on jigs, and I know a lot of other guys who have also done well on them. These days there are a whole bunch of really good lookin' plastics available, and they do a good job on all species...including halibut. But, the hair jigs have always worked fine, and will still get fish.
The key to fishing a jig is in how you present it. Jig fishing is an art that takes a lifetime to learn. They work well enough that a basic cast and retrieve will catch fish...sometimes. But, if you really want to "kick 'butts", you need to practice different styles of presenting and retreiving your jigs.
What sizes and colors of jigs do you have right now? And, do you also have any swimming plastics...like the Hammer series?
[signature]