Gearing Up for Deep Water Jigging

By Luke Smith

Since the release of the TT SLO JIG R Jigging Rods, I have been putting them through their paces and have thoroughly enjoyed fishing them. My adventures have seen me chasing everything from pinky snapper and flathead in 20 metres of water, through to blue eye and hapuka in 450 metres.

Below I’ll cover my setups, how I rig them and my techniques for chasing some tasty species in 100 metres of water or more.

The SLO JIG R rods were in the pipeline for some time before coming to fruition from the team at TT and for that I am thankful. These rods certainly filled a hole in the current rod market as many casual fishos wanted to venture into the offshore jigging scene but didn’t want a second mortgage on their house to afford the combos.

Yes, there are many combos out there on the market that cost upwards of 1K, however for any of you that have followed my writing, you will know that I love a value for money combo, that suits the average punter. With this being a specific piece of fishing equipment, that for many is used sometimes but not always, I simply can’t justify the huge price tags associated with some of this equipment.

Sure, they may feel nice and all, but do they catch more fish for the huge price tags? My answer is simply, no. If this was my bread and butter, aka my everyday type of fishing, then I may look to spend more. However, like many, I try to dabble in all manner of fishing techniques and species. My darling fiancé knows the difference between 25 rods and 35 rods, even if they are all budget/value for money combos that are used for multiple purposes.

For me, winter means deep water jigging for migrating snapper, with the off chance of a prized Tassie trumpeter, along with the more common reward of school shark, aka flake. Yes, that’s right, down south in Mexico a species of shark is desirable! In fact, we have several desirables including mako sharks and threshers, however the most desirable are the gummy shark and their toothy relatives known as school sharks. These latter two are commonly referred to as ‘flake’ and they have a massive following in the seafood industry in southern parts of Australia.

With the release of the SLO JIG R rods, I pounced on one of each model in the range to put them through their paces. Originally, I had jigging in mind for the winter snapper in 120m-150m. Yes, that’s right, snapper in 150m. However, after receiving each rod and seeing them in person, I realised that this rod range had a much greater scope and I could effectively cover everything from 20 metres of water, through to dropping for hapuka and blue eye at the shelf.

There are three rods in the SLO JIG R range, offering anglers excellent value with the quality of Toray Carbon blanks, Fuji reel seats and Fuji Tangle Free K-Series guides. The range consists of the blue (PE-2), yellow (PE-3) and orange (PE-4). These are three different beasts, and they cover a wide range of fishing applications. In fact, I was truly blown away at the versatility of this rod range.

I could talk in PE ratings or jig ratings, but let’s be honest, I am simple and love the different colours. Lol! The blue model is a light, fun stick, that is well suited to any light inshore or even bay situations. I have enjoyed this on snapper in Port Phillip Bay in under 20m, through to chasing flathead in 80m offshore. It is simply a matter of matching your lure being fished and the application.

Port Phillip Bay requires a much lighter presentation, so I can easily use this rod, paired up with a small overhead, such an Okuma Cavalla Lever Drag Overhead, or even one of the many baitcasters in the Okuma range as line capacity is not crucial. Honestly, any reel capable of holding 50 metres of 20lb braid is more than enough for a Port Phillip Bay snapper. These fish will generally take a few metres on the initial run and then slug it out with some impressive head knocks, followed up by some desperate lunges boatside. They certainly won’t spool you or bury you in reef, with most fish coming from fishing on the mud.

For fishing out wider you need a reel suited to winding in plenty of line and I like one that is fun to use, so for this reason I love my Okuma Cavalla 5N. Being a narrow spool reel, it makes it super easy to use as the line practically lays itself. I might get into trouble for breaking it down like this (however if you are reading this it has not been edited out), but I don’t follow the rod ratings when it comes to maximum jig or lure weight. I simply fish the rod to what drag it is capable of in an up and down situation. Sure, a lure weight is very important in a casting situation, however in the form of a slow jig rod, that is simply working a lure ‘up and down’ in the water column, I feel that you can measure the rods capability by the lure weight, combined with the required drag for the species at hand. With these rods I will happily tie on any jig, however I must be able to handle my desired species pulling some string under the drag that I want to run.

This is the very reason I will say that ‘Justin’s fave’, the humble flathead, suits the lighter blue model in 80m but not snapper or sharks in 80m. Flatties simply don’t pull the string or fight hard enough to warrant a heavier combo. The way that I measure this, when using a jig or fighting a fish, is that if the rod is ever bent enough to let the line touch the blank in between the guides, then the drag pressure is too much for the rod. If this occurs when using a jig, it means that you need a stiffer rod, and I would suggest going up a model in the range. If it occurs when fighting a fish, you need to either back off the drag pressure or, if the pressure applied is necessary to landing the fish, then you need to also step up a model in the range.

This brings us to the yellow PE-3 model, which I will declare as one of the most universal rods that TT offer. Yes, that’s right, I have thrown down the challenge to all the other TT Pro Anglers to prove me wrong and throw up another option. This rod is a beast that is capable of being used as a lighter rod, due to its soft tip, while still offering the low-down grunt to stop some quality fish. This rod is also thoroughly enjoyable to hold onto all day.

I have personally used this rod catching pinky snapper in the Port Phillip Bay shallows, through to fishing the continental shelf for some tasty species. Again, it all comes down to what you are chasing and the rods capabilities when hooked up. We have hooked many a jig munching school shark in 100m+ of water, that certainly let you know they were pulling on the line. If you try to muscle these sharks then the yellow rods will max out and you may need the orange model (PE-4), however if you are about the battle and choose to test your angling skills, fight the fish with a set drag and you can land all manner of species as long as they are not burying you in the local reef.

If you haven’t picked up on it, down south we are not blessed with the reef systems like those found up north and are mainly fishing over broken grounds or limestone bottoms wide offshore. These environments are a lot more friendly for fighting fish on lighter lines and it is truly rare that you would be ‘bricked’ by a fish when fishing offshore.

The yellow blanks (PE-3) will make up a large portion of my deep dropping in 100-150m of water for Tassie trumps and our winter run of snapper. When moving out wider again I will generally swap over to the heaviest model, being the orange blank (PE-4). This rod is a beast when used in the 100-150m bracket and can absolutely muscle some quality fish to the surface. However, I rely on this rod when fishing deeper and will send 400g jigs down to 450m in search of some tasty jig munching critters of the deep.

The orange SLO JIG R or PE-4 model has some serious grunt down low, while retaining the feel in the tip, making it great to use in multiple applications. I pair this with the larger Okuma Cavalla in the range (CAV-12NII) that’s spooled with 30lb Platypus Pulse X8 Braid. Whilst many opt for 50lb braid in the deeper situations, I find braid diameter more important than heavier line, especially when trying to drop a jig into 450 metres of water.

As I touched on, I am a big fan of using the Okuma Cavalla Lever Drag Overhead reels and definitely see the value in spending a little more on the reel and getting a smooth drag. The only reason that I did try these higher dollar reels is that I love a lever drag when jigging as you always know exactly where your drag is set. I still also run a couple of the Okuma Metaloid reels (the predecessor of the Cavalla) and they also do the job no worries at all.

On the blue, PE-2, model I run 20lb Platypus Pulse X8 Braid and this does the job no worries at all. On the yellow (PE-3) and orange (PE-4) models I just run the Pulse X8 in 30lb, which is the perfect combination of diameter versus strength for this type of fishing.

Technique wise, for the snapper out deep, I tend to use two different jig styles. These don’t really change too much whether I am using a 200g slow pitch jig or a big ZMan 9” GrubZ.

The first consists of slow rod lifts, whilst gathering the loose line in between each lift. I will usually raise the jig 5-20 metres off the bottom, before free spooling, but this can be determined by where the fish are sitting in the water column, as shown on the sounder.

The other technique consists of big, steady rod lifts, with minimal winding, before allowing the jig to fall back into the zone each time. This technique can be very effective if the fish are that bit slower, as the big lift of the jig helps to throw out some vibrations and flash, while the pauses in between allow the jig to flutter back into the zone, making it easier for the fish to locate. Most times the fish will eat the lure on the drop when using this technique and you soon load up on the next lift.

If you haven’t already, get into your local tackle store and check out this super fun and versatile range of rods.

Cheers, Luke