jigging for macks

[ironrod]

Thanks again for those of you that sent me some tips on jigging for those lakers! We ended up catching just under 40 fish in two days[cool]! It was a TOTALLY different type of fishing then I have ever done. We located boats out in 250-275ft of water so I headed out. We couldn't mark anything so I wasn't positive there were fish...watched for a few minutes and after seeing a few fish landed decided we would give it a try. Short/SLOW jigs were the required method and also keeping a taut line was the key. Almost every hit was while the jig fell back down. We used Zimmer Tackle's fly/jig combo....half of our fish were caught on the fly! They are glow flies that immitate the mysis shrimp. I'll try to get a few pics posted as well...crazy catching fish from that depth! Good thing we were keeping most of the fish...their swim bladders almost pop from the pressure change[shocked]-but again, we were keeping fish and WOW do those taste delicious!!! Our biggest was about 4lbs is all...we did witness a boat next to us (some guys wife) landed a 45" 39lb monster--it was an amazing fish and very fun to see how excited she was. If you find the time and have a boat I highly recommend a trip to Polson Montana...amazing fishery!!
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[sloppyjoe]

Good to hear you guys got into them.
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[osprey02]

Every time I go up, someone gets sea sick? How big were the swells? Were you out between Blue and Yellow Bay?

[url "http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_8d97e294-5cbc-11df-8384-001cc4c002e0.html"]http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_8d97e294-5cbc-11df-8384-001cc4c002e0.html[/url]
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[ironrod]

Swells were bad Friday -4-5 ft. Saturday was calm. If that pic is from Mack Days....yes, we were in between the two bays and I was in my white jet boat (looks like it could be us in the background)[cool]
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[windriver]

How deep did you end up jigging at? I was having a tough time with line stretch at 80ft in Yellowstone.

Windriver
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[MMDon]

Sounds like a great time! This time of year I prefer to troll but you can't beat the numbers jigging!
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[PERRY04]

just read that article in the thread posted and holly crap! i cant believe people are catching so many fish up there. some people with over 1000 fish just this year. what do you do with so many fish? sounds fun!
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[MMDon]

[quote windriver]How deep did you end up jigging at? I was having a tough time with line stretch at 80ft in Yellowstone.

Windriver[/quote]

Most guys that are jigging are using the same reels they use for trolling. 40 lb. Braid. 20' topshot of Fluoro for jigging and 100' top shot of Mono with a 5' Fluoro leader for trolling.

No stretch with braid.
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[windriver]

Thanks, I am going back in July so I will give the braid a try.

Windriver
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[ironrod]

MMdon is right on...I used 10lb braided...tipped with 2-3 of flouro carbon...we actually tried doing it with low stretch mono like cxx and could get a good hook set and also missed those light bites. Braided is a must!

Also-we jigged at 250-270ft! yea, I'm headed to Yellowstone Lake in June so I will give it a try there too. My buddy just ordered some similar jigs in tin so we're legal[:p]!

That mack days event up there is nuts...people really do catch their limit of 50 fish/day. Many people donate their fish when turning them in...they feed a lot of families with the amount that people end up donating. If you go, might want to just fish the the S end and that way your cost is only $12 for a full yrs license (that part of the lake is on the reservation)
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