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Twitching Jig Fly Fishing

5K views 46 replies 25 participants last post by  tallguy 
#1 ·
I know this subject has been discussed over in the fly tying section, but I have some questions regarding their use in the saltwater.

Yesterday I was at my usually coho spot trying to get those tightlipped staging locals to bite. A local gear guy I've befriended came down and we chatted abit. He had a white-headed purple and white twiching jig on. He set up a small ways down the beach and, bam fish on. Ten minutes later, bam another. He kept his two better fish, out of the five he landed in about 90 minutes. Needless to say, I am impressed. All the spinner guys where fishless as was I.

So my question is, how can a fly guy mimic this jigging? I use flies with large beadheads and leadeyes but they don't have the same action. Can you buy bare jig-heads that are small enough to cast with a fly rod? The eye on the side seems to be key. Thanks for your input....
 
#2 ·
I went on the same mission a little over a decade ago and accidentally discovered that gear fishing is fun instead.

I was successful doing this for pinks when I lived up that way. you need a tungsten head and a very sparse fly. Do anything bulky or with bunny fur and it won't sink the same way. It has to drop fast. Like, very, very fast. So any drag or bulk on the fly will hinder that.
 
#5 ·
The limit is in whatever stops being fun to you. For me, I just plain don't enjoy casting heavily weighted flies. Takes the joy out of fly casting for me. I'd assume a 1/16oz jig head isn't out of the question on an 8wt, but it's been a long time since I tried. For my gear fishing jigs, I'm rolling with 1oz jig heads. The faster the sink, the better. I was never able to make a fly sink fast enough to make coho happen with that method, personally.
 
#9 ·
Sounds like the need for a large coho perdigon. I would think a slotted tungsten bead on a jig hook would accomplish that. Very sparse body with a slender tail. UV resin the body and straight towards the bottom. That's all I got. I would like to see what someone ties up. My tying gear is stored away for a while.
 
#16 ·
the combination of the thin mono & 1/4, 3/8 ounce jig allows the jig to drop fast when the rod tip is lowered or dropped really that gives the jig it’s falling & rising motion that the fish attack. Not really possible with fly line. At least not the same vertical rising/falling steady motion. And that’s the trick it has to be steady at the same time as your reeling it back towards you. So the jig is not only moving up & down but swimming back to shore. Very tough to achieve with a fly line unless you’re in deeper water like from a boat. You can mimic this technique on rivers with deeper pools but then the jig fly is a bugger to cast. One thing I would try is using the sequin in front of the fly to get erratic motion. The Danish sea trout guys use this plastic cone thing in front of the fly to get some very nice wiggly motion. I want to get some myself & try it on Salmon. Try a cone head fly on maybe a sink tip line, intermediate lines, or a type 3-4 full sink line. A fly tied with rabbit, marabou or even flash might work. It’s got to be wriggly & have movement. Also try some scent on the fly like herring, anchovy, shrimp etc. works better on rabbit fly’s. With coho I always say bring everything you got including the kitchen sink. You never know what will work on certain day or hour. Up here on the Snohomish River the guys bring everything in their tackle box cause no one knows what they will bite on — when the river is open of course. Hey at least you have fish there & if’s open for fishing.
 
#20 ·
Sorry not to respond earlier as I have been fishing! Not sure if you ran into me or RD at your local coho fishery but I did bang about that many fish with other guys throwing spinners and flys to no avail. You can not toss a jig far enough with a fly rod and risk serious damage if you hit your rod or head. Was this the jig you saw? The good jig guys use different line and smaller jigs. Guys can actually cast small jigs due to less aero. It is really about distance since folks like to wade to their chest instead allowing them to mill closer. These are 3/8 or less. Tie in your vice with random materials and thoughts. I also like a bubble gum color squid cover for ease. Why not, this is what the spinner folks use on their vibrex. The fish hit on the drop. PS Spinners do work, mainly in morning or worked good a when they first arrived to beach....and a tungsten cone small pattern will give you similar jig action. Just tough to get them close. I take a spinning and fly rod with you for change on situation. The fish are moving shop. Message me if you want to discuss.
 

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#33 ·
Nice silvers there!

So I started kind of backwards. Gear fished nearly a lifetime, then fished nothing but the bug rod for 10 yrs or so, then now mainly back to gear, mostly. Before the jig twitching craze I caught coho's on heavy weighted short-bodied streamers. I think you guys are right, it's gotta sink fast. You can make a shiney lead-headed fly that's pretty small, pretty sparse, and sinks like a rock. Color combo's are key. That purple is the shiz, or chartreuse head purple/black body. Something egg-sucking leachy looking. Think like 1/16, 1/8 oz max. Still fun enough with a fly rod. The key is the right water and the right technique. To get the sink rate, the water has to be a big froggy slough or dead still back eddy. And if the water's clear it works out, because that little sparse fly is well-suited. As long a leader as you can, on a full floater. Let er sink all the way to bottom. Then jerk-strip it. Like zoo cougar style jerk stripping. Rip that bad boy and pause and hold on. It actually works. I don't do it much anymore. Because a 7.5 foot spinning rod set up with a half ounce twitching jig is more effective. And I like catching. But it can certainly be done with the bug rod. If you just gotta do it that way.

There, I feel like I finally made an actual contribution to the fly fishing board. That should hold me for another 10 years.

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#35 ·
You guys are killing me! I wasn't fishing much back when the whole jig twitching thing got started, and when I did start fishing again it was primarily fly rod. So having missed the twitching boat so to speak, I've been trying to replicate a spin rod technique with fly gear that I really have no experience with. I have scratched out a few but definitely not freezer filling #'s. Not that I have any problem fishing gear. Just not quite ready to invest in new salmon/steelhead casting gear at this point.

So I'm sticking it out with the fly rod for the remainder of the coho run. We should still have a couple weeks in the rivers around here but I'm not bothering until it rains again. In the mean time I'll be tying up some fasting sinking flies that I plan on fishing with much lighter leaders.

This is basically the same comet-style flies I use for coho, but sparser and heavier. Normally I do a crazy-charlie type body with clear vinyl over mirror flash. Here I replaced the vinyl with 30# clear fluoro leader, then put 2 coats of thick UV resin over. Has the same flashy, translucent look, but definitely heavier and should cut through the water better. Also left out the saddle hackle and just used some FTD holographic flash.

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#37 ·
I have an article in this Fall's Fly Fishing and Tying Journal about Jig Flies.

I purposely left out heavy twitching jigs as that is a good way to break your rod or potentially seriously injure yourself.

But if you must try it, here's what has worked OK for me. I sparsely tie purple buck tail and maybe a few rubber legs on a 3/8oz jig head. I throw this bullet with a spey rod strung with a 500ish grain skagit line and a 9' tapered leader and only use the Perry Poke cast to keep it the hell away from me. The whole system is really not too bad once you get the hang of it but at the same time, the potential for disaster is always one good wind gust away.

In the end, Clouser deep minnows work just as good (or bad) for those damn lock jawed coho.
 
#39 ·
Drifted a SWW river yesterday with a buddy. I brought two rods one with an intermediate for swinging/stripping and a floater to twitch lead eyes. He said the coho were holding in steelhead water and wasn't kidding. Most were out on flat runs in faster moving water than I would've expected. Might go back next week and bring a short/heavy sink-tip if they are in the same type water.

I did pitch a few heavy flies, and spoons into froggy coves but no biters. He likes to pull plugs though so that's what we did mostly. Landed 3 jacks and lost 2 adult coho. One to a thrown hook, and the last to a nicked leader just before the net. Nice bright fish too.

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