By: Capt. Joe Verdino
Most fishermen use the traditional chicken rig or knocker rig when targeting grouper because they have a proven record of success. When talking to these same fishermen you will find it is a widely accepted practice to jig for snapper or cobia but not so much for their beloved grouper. I’ve heard people say it’s too easy to get snagged or they never really tried it and that made me think it could be a very successful technique if someone put in the time to really see what works. We all know that jigging for grouper has been around for as long as, well the jig itself. Unfortunately when it comes to grouper fishing it is considered more of a specialty application rather than an accepted norm. Hopefully the information here will peak your curiosity and allow you delve into the art of jigging grouper.
Jigs come in all shapes, sizes, and colors but no matter what they look like they all come from the same basic design. Simply your weight and hook are combined into one compact unit that can be used to accomplish many tasks. Your main goal when using a jig is the same as any other type of fishing, you want to make the most appealing presentation possible. You also want to ensure your offering remains in the strike zone long enough to entice your target species to attempt to consume what it believes to be a meal.
A common misconception about jig fishing is that you have to fish the jig directly on the bottom. In actuality a jig can be used anywhere in the water column including at the surface. Obviously you can’t expect an 8 ounce jig to stay within a few inches of the surface but you also shouldn’t think it can only be used inches from the bottom. Depending upon the technique you can fish a large jig anywhere from a few inches to a few feet from the bottom and still expect to lure fish to hook.
There are as many styles of jig as there are types of fish and every fisherman develops his own form with a list of favorites. When it comes to grouper digging my favorite is the “bullet head”, white color, with a white skirt. Notice I didn’t say feather as that would denote the use of an actual feather as part of the jig. The skirted type of jig looks a lot like the skirts you might find on many brands of trolling lures. Comprised of several filaments that form a ring at the base of the jig head the skirt helps to camouflage the hook as well as offer movement in an otherwise rigid object.
There are three styles of presentation when using a lead head in a bottom fishing application. The most common is the “vertical jig” where you allow the jig to fall straight down and then use vertical sweeps of the rod to raise the jig off the bottom and allow it to fall again. This mimics the action of shrimp, crabs or a bait fish that has been injured, all of which are irresistible to just about any grouper. The next is a horizontal style which is achieved by drifting or casting out and slowly working the lure in the same way as vertical jigging with an added advantage of allowing you to cover more ground. This application can be a little tricky in areas of dense coral bottom or near wrecks that offer many places to get hung up. Dead sticking is the third alternative in which you let the jig hit bottom and then just put the rod in a rod holder and wait for a bite.
Vertical jigging is a very effective way to beguile a grouper long enough to make it think it has to strike. The erratic movement of the jig as it rises and falls will make the fish think it has an easy target. We all know that almost all fish will take advantage of an easy meal and grouper are no exception. Most times a grouper will not travel more than a few feet from it’s ambush point so vertical jigging does have it’s drawbacks. If your fishing structure or a ledge you could be just a few feet on the wrong side and be completely out of sight. Depending on water clarity you could also be just a foot or two out of visibility and the fish would never see your bait. The noise of the jig hitting bottom may be enough to get a few fish to investigate but chances are they will be juveniles. Big fish don’t get big because they are dumb and like people if you hear a noise in the distance some will rush to find out what’s going on while most freeze up and wait until they can see what is making that noise.
Casting out or drift jigging could be a more successful endeavor when targeting fish on large structures or expansive reef areas. Allowing your boat to move, will cover a lot more ground and your presentation is more likely to be seen. Drifting with the current also transfers more movement to your jig by allowing it to travel horizontally as you lift it off the bottom. With this presentation you are mimicking a bait fish or other prey item that is frantic and searching for a place to hide. Fish may seem dumb but they learn when a prey item is consumed with finding a place to hide usually it isn’t thinking about what’s coming from behind to eat it. Now, your jig that is darting up and down as it goes from spot to spot, has the look of panic which is like ringing the dinner bell. Depending on the area some grouper will remain near their ambush point waiting for the lure to get within striking distance while others will go in pursuit mode. To increase your chances of a successful day you should use the tracking feature on your gps. After each drift check your gps track and then move the boat over a few feet to drift parallel to the previous position. Using this technique will ensure you have covered the entire area, making sure not to have missed a strike from a wary fish.
“Dead sticking” is the least often used method of jigging mainly because Most people prefer to keep the bait moving as much as possible. This is the easiest way to use a jig as it takes no skill and even less energy to master the art. The proper way to dead stick a jig is to let it hit bottom and then just leave it there by placing the rod in a holder. In recent years, thanks to the D.O.A. Shrimp, dead sticking has become more popular but still hasn’t completely caught on in most places. Often times it is associated with shallow water angling, being dismissed as ineffective in deeper depths. In actuality the basic concept behind the jig is that it deploys your bait to the bottom no matter how deep you fish.
I have spent a few years developing a successful method of dead sticking a jig that works well for grouper. It started when on a night fishing trip I noticed a bunch of squid had come into the light of my spreaders. This is something I had never seen while drifting and it got me to thinking that if these squid were usually at or near the bottom they must get preyed upon by grouper. That led to my next night trip being one that focused on using a squid and jig combination. I took whole squid on plain 4-6 ounce jigs and lowered them to the bottom where almost immediately they were hit and ripped off the hook. The night resulted in only one red grouper landing but considering we went through nearly 20 lbs of whole squid I figured I was on to something. The other thing I learned is the toughest part of employing this lazy man style of fishing is fighting the urge to “check your bait”.
After several more attempts at my new method I noticed a pattern where most strikes either ripped off the head or the whole squid was taken. That resulted in a modified approach where I was using a coast lock swivel to allow me to pass the line through the tip of the squid, attach to the eyelet of the jig, then put the hook through the body near the head. This resulted in a few more hook ups but mainly I found the squid head would get torn off and then nothing would bite. After many more modifications and mixed results I used an underwater video system to examine exactly what my offering looked like from a fishes perspective. I found that when you deploy your jig you will undoubtedly create a small dust cloud as it hits bottom which gets the attention of just about anything in the area. Then as the boat moves your jig will make a few hops along the bottom creating a few more puffs of sand. Finally the jig will take flight rising from the bottom and look like it is swimming along. This new perspective eventually led to a design that works well and usually produces strikes from larger grouper. The end product is that a 6-8 ounce white bullet head jig with white skirt is placed inside the body of a squid. Then the eyelet of the jig is poked through the side of the squid allowing attachment to either a coast lock or inter lock swivel. This leaves the hook exposed directly over the squid head while concealing most of the lure inside the body. If a short strike occurs the skirt acts like the tentacles of the squid and most times the grouper will come back to finish the meal and take the entire offering.
Initially I was using this technique only at night until I began to increase the strike to hook up ratio which is currently at about 60% with almost every fish being keeper sized. Now I use this method any time I plan to drift for grouper as it allows me to fish more rods with less effort and if I hook a fish the other rods continue to fish while I bring one in. Often times I will pre-rig a couple dozen jigs and toss them on ice, much like a rigged ballyhoo, they are ready to go and are quickly attached. Another advantage is I can have a few anglers fishing live baits while simultaneously running an equal number of dead sticks. This gives the appearance that the oversized pinfish or grunts are chasing the squid and now I’ve created a moving buffet that’s calling out to every grouper in the area.
As fishermen we should consider our gear as tools designed to achieve a specific result. Just like any other industry there is no such thing as a tool that does every job. What we do know is we should keep an inventory of items that have worked or could work in the conditions we plan to fish. Also we should consider that each tool has a learning curve associated with it and continued practice will result in an achieved skill. Every bottom fisherman should have a selection of jigs at his/her disposal as well as the knowledge of various ways to utilize the tools that have been selected. I encourage all anglers to hone their skills and develop your ability to jig for grouper.