[Freshwaterman]

Found the 6 oz at the new academy off of 290 on friday at a clearance price of $1.88. I picked up 6 and changed the small 7/0 hook out for a beefier 9/0 tuna style hook. The new thing is to slip a yo-zuri sqid over the dimond jig to give you a soft jig type lure. We'll see how good it works when the yellowfin start hitting.

 

[Cat O' Lies]

If they are Lee's brand, you better change the hooks or you will loose a lot of fish. The hooks break really easy!!

 

[Freshwaterman]

I found these 6oz. dimond jigs at Academy for $1.88 (far right) those who know me know I like to head offshore for tuna and big AJ's. I am used to buying $7- $10 for these fancy painted jigs. The inferior hooks and split rings need to be changed. You can tell the diference from the original hook (far right) to the replacement hook and split ring (left). I took the plain jig and changed the hook to a (7/0 Mustad 7698BD ), split ring (#8 Spro 255 pound split ring) and painted (Krylon spray paint) myself.

I only painted one side to keep half of it with the original shinny surface (far right). So the pics you are seeing are of the painted side only. The only jig that I painted completely is the Glow jig (second from right). I found some luminecent (glow in the dark) paint that works great. It looks radio active when you turn out the lights. Best part of this whole process is that you can re-paint them when they get beat up.

Experiment with metallic paint or flourecent paint. I used what I had in the garage. Or just change ut the hook and ring and leave them as is. Best of all I have about $4 invested in each jig.

 

[michaelbaranowski]

I have never jigged before and I was wondering if jigging for AJ is as productive as live bait. My dad has jigs in the tackle box but no one ever uses them. I am not sure why we have them.

 

[Freshwaterman]

Best big Aj bait there is IMHO. Lot's of times we wait for ever or just don't know if the big boys are there. The diamond jig is one way to find out what size of fish are down there. AJ's tend to school with the same size fish. So if you catch a 50 pounder then you know there are more that size around. Then you can set up to live bait. If you jig up a barely legal one then don't waste your time live baiting and move to the next rig. Jigging tends to wear you out after three or four drops but if they haven't hit then they are not there. The best method is the drop and rip. I drop the jig to the desired depth. If you are marking them at 100' then drop below them to 150.' Tighten the drag and crank as fast as you can all the way to the top. slow down before you get to the top or you will have a missle comming out of the water. If they haven't hit 20' from the surface then stop and drop again. A small blue mark (sharpie) on your line 20' above the jig will tell you when it's time to stop cranking. A high speed reel really comes in handy here. If you get wore out holding the rod and ripping then stick it in the rod holder for better support and crank like crazy. Hit all four corners of the rig, you never know where they will be hanging out. When the fish hits, (You will know it) motor away from the rig to help you pull him away from the leg and avoid a cut off. Hope this helps you catch a big'un

 

[michaelbaranowski]

Thanks I will have to try that.

 

[Ernest]

Dump the cheesy swivel that comes with the jigs as well. They are both ineffective to prevent line twist and relatively weak. A BB swivel on a welded ring or up the leader as a replacement.