(Continued - To Jig Or Not To Jig)
Now that the basics are covered, here comes the hard part and the part that can take you a longggggggggggggggg time to figure out, and that may be why more anglers don't go to the jig. You have to find where the fish are!!! I know, that sounds stupid but, I proved this the other day out on the lake, nearly an hour of jigging and not one bite. Why? Because there weren't any fish marking down below! I was just testing the theory, that's all! The best ice fisherman is the one who fishes that same lake in the summer, he knows the bottom contours and where there is structure, that is where the fish will be. Sameo on the big lakes, even though that water may be 130' deep where your jigging, there can be structure that attracts fish. The fly fisherman that flog the shoreline up at Murdock Pt., they are fishing structure when they are tossing their stuff out, that area has a real nice drop-off just off shore, with lots of rocks and other structure that attracts baitfish and other food. The spots that I jig for lakers, while it may not look like a tree or some rocks down below, have fingers of land that jut out into the lake and are surrounded by deep water, that's perfect bottom structure for those kinds of fish. Drop offs are the same thing, just another form of structure that is in all lakes. If you find a spot like on the pics below, your definitely going to get into some fish! You'll notice that I'm using the Zoom In feature on the sounder which really shows the fish.
It can take a long time to find these spots, but when they are located and fished on a regular basis, you will find out how to identify the markings below as fish, and then know when to fish and when not to. There are spots on Shuswap Lake where the lakers really stack up at times and, if you are lucky enough to fish it when they are there, your catch rate will go from 1 all day to 10 in an hour, it can be that good. Same with burbot on Okanagan Lake, Mara Lake and Shuswap Lake. If you know the spots and check them every time you go out there, it can be literally fish after fish after fish. Something else that I have found with jigging, you tend to get into the bigger fish of whatever species your after, whether your a "trophy fisherman" or not! I'm not sure why this is, perhaps the bigger ones are confident enough to just lounge on the bottom and wait for the food to come to them, kinda like the Big Guy that sits in his arm chair watching the game and his darling wife brings him a frosty pop, you gotta like that!! Another little trick for the jiggers is in these hot spots you've now found, just don't concentrate in one small area. Fish move around looking for food and so should you. With my Minn Kota on the boat, a move of 10 yds can make a big difference some times. If they stop marking in one spot I'll buzz around the area, as much as 100 yds sometimes. By "following the fish" in this manner you can stay right on top of them, where ever they go. If you don't have an electric then your kicker will suffice.
When I'm by myself in the boat, its 2 rods out for jigging. With that big cod jig on one side and a Buzz Bomb on the other, you may as well take advantage of having the 2 rods to find out just what they want. The nice part about that big Gibbs jig is that it is heavy enough to jig itself when put in the rod holder. A little wave action or just yanking the line once in a while and you've got enough jig action for a fish to take it and you to see it!! Strikes can be aggressive or passive, I've found that burbot kind of nibble on it, especially with a big piece of Power Bait attached, and then strike when you pull it away. With lakers, the take can be light sometimes but others, they just run at it and rip it, lots of fun!!
In any event, jigging can be one heck of a productive style of fishing, and can turn a real slow day into a bragging day! It seems that when the fish aren't taken on the troll, they seem to have alot more spunk in them when your trying to bring them up while jigging. For anyone that's tried to bring a big hali up (and that can be just the 10-25 lb chickens!) you'll know what I mean, it can be a heckuva fight! I was going to splash some pics around but, the albums show the types of fish I'm talking about but the Albums show those so no point flaunting it, OK, one pic, although not caught while jigging there have been bigger ones that this (photo) taken out of one of our local lakes and, in fact, was pushing 40lbs, try that on your wee rod with your light line!! Give it an honest try, you won't be disappointed!
