This isn't laid-back fishing where you sit and wait for something to nibble your bait. It's more proactive -- where you drop it deep, hit bottom and work it briskly, with plenty of action. We used to call it "crank and yank," which meant yanking the rod tip and cranking the reel fast. A rod with a stiff tip gave the jig more action, as did braided line, which doesn't stretch. (Using a soft-tip rod with mono line only increased your work).

What sort of fish? In the Gulf of Mexico around countless oil rigs, jigging was perfect. Lead-head jigs cover the entire water column, which is good since oil rigs are built from the Gulf's bottom to high above the water. That attracts fish of many kinds, from bottom-hugging snapper, grouper, redfish and Gulf trout, to mid-depth amberjack, pompano, kingfish, bluefish, and Spanish mackerel, to topwater cobia. Bonus fish included spotted seatrout, tripletail, sheepshead, flounder, blue runners and black drum. All hit our jigs, though some preferred our feather and lead creations of a certain size.

You could spend the entire day out there fighting fish. One year we outfished the local guides on red snapper, by pinning a frozen cigar minnow to our 2-ounce jigs and lowering them 50 feet. The locals were using 2-ounce egg sinkers and a mono leader with hook, but our white jigs rigged with a foot of wire leader were catching limits of 12- to 15-pound red snappers, and the occasional kingfish. And that was back when the bag limit was five snapper. If a snapper hit and we missed him, you could bounce the jig around and the same fish (or another) would grab that unbaited jig. Wham! Another 15-pounder. It was sinful fishing. We did this by drifting past the oil rigs, keeping at least 50 yards away from structure, where bait-stealing triggerfish were waiting.

This was in Texas and Louisiana, where few suitable jigs could be found except in the bigger stores in certain cities. However, I kept myself in stock with jigs for many years, while visiting friends in Miami. That's where every little neighborhood tackle store had a fine assortment of jigs. There were also a few jig companies, and we found Lead Enterprises on the Miami River, where you could order jigs by the dozen. Before long, I had them shipping me five dozen yellows and five dozen whites, all weighing one to three ounces, either arrowheads or spearheads.

Flip the jig out a few feet from the boat, then strip line from the reel until the jig hit bottom. Then, slap the reel in gear and begin jigging back up. If you miss a bump or strike, drop the jig back down at least five feet, and try him again. These fish often circle around for another hit, or they have plenty of friends swimming alongside. 

Sometimes a cobia would follow a little jig and scarf it down, since cobia will eat very small items. Suddenly you have this 30 or 40-pound cobia shaking its head in annoyance at the pesky jig, before cruising off. If it heads for steel pilings, you have to get tough.

I should mention here that the ideal tackle for this lighter jigging offshore is a fairly stiff, 7-foot rod and a baitcasting reel armed with 15 or 20-pound line. We used the red Ambassadeur 5000, 5500 and 6000 reels for many years. The only reel like it now in my tackle room is a Calcutta reel with 15-pound clear Ande line, and that combination has done some good work.

Heavier jigging is done with an 8-foot blank with a long cork handle, and a sturdier reels like the Ambassadeur 7000 or Shimano TLD 15, or something similar. Pack it with 30 or 40 pound line, which means you can really lean into a fish. That arrangement will also handle the heavier 2- or 3-ounce jigs, and drive that bigger hook home when a fish strikes. We've caught countless amberjack, kingfish, cobia and bigger snapper with this rig. The biggest two fish I've caught with this outfit were an 80-pound cobia in the Atlantic, and a 66-pound wahoo off Galveston, mentioned in another article. 

Anglers are even using this heavy metal jig setup for deepwater grouper, down to depths of 800 feet or so. Apparently, snowy grouper can still see at those depths, though perhaps mid-day is best, since light has the best chance of penetrating deep when straight overhead. At such depths, braid line is mandatory of course. (Mono line will suffice down to 200 feet for
Amberjack and grouper). Imagine feeling every nibble and tug, 900 feet below. That isn't possible without line with zero stretch.

To spice up that jig action, a box of frozen bait is nice. One should also carry a few plastic twister tails, which add plenty of wiggle. Carry a few scented plastic bait strips in a sealed bag, to add taste and smell.

There you have it. Keep an assortment of jigs in at least one of those flat, plastic boxes with a few trays; they don't take up much room. Keep the small jigs separate from the one to three ounce biggies (with maybe a couple of heavier six-ounce jigs if the current is strong that day). Also a few metal jigs as well. You won't need 100 jigs on the same trip; that only exposes them to corrosion or getting misplaced, as in left on somebody's boat.

Better to keep at least half of your jig collection at home in reserve, where they can be altered with paint or even dipped in marine resin, to harden and preserve their factory coating.

View all Saltwater Jigs.

Joe Richard is a Gainesville writer and photographer who owns Seafavorites.com, a stock photo web site of outdoor photography.