Tuna jigging is as direct as big-game fishing gets: you mark fish, you drop a heavy jig into them, and you fight the fish straight up from the deep with your own two hands. It is physically demanding and completely addictive, and it puts you tight to a tuna when trolling and popping come up empty.
When to jig
Reach for the jig when you mark tuna holding deep and they are not showing on the surface or committing to the troll. It is also the way to pick fish out of a school you are sitting on, feeding on bait down in the column rather than up top.
How to do it
- Drop to the marks. Get the jig down to the depth you are seeing fish and engage.
- Work it hard. A fast, rhythmic pump-and-reel that races the jig up through the fish triggers reaction strikes; a slower, fluttering lift works when they want it slow.
- Hold on. A tuna eats a jig like a freight train. Keep the drag set right, get the rod into a fighting position, and settle in, a good bluefin on a jig is a serious fight.
Tip Keep an eye on the sounder and your line angle. If the boat drifts and your jig swings away from vertical, you are out of the strike zone, reset the drift so you are dropping straight down onto the marks.
Gear
This is heavy tackle: a strong tuna jigging rod, heavy braid, a stout fluoro or wind-on leader, and a high-capacity, high-drag Daiwa Saltiga-class reel built for the load. Heavy knife and flutter jigs in a range of weights let you match the depth and current. Do not under-gun this, tuna will find every weak link.