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Jigging is my favorite method of fishing with the RONZ and has proven very effective on all species of fish. I basically use two methods, to this style of fishing, depending on water and tide conditions. The first method is to use your fish scope to locate the prey. When you see a fish stop the boat and send down the RONZ or two or three. If you can mark a fish on your scope chances are it's close enough to see the bait as it drops to the bottom. The ratio of hook ups to drop's exceed 50% and with perfect conditions you can achieve 75%. This may sound high but its true and can be achieved with any type of boat with a good captain. Try to fish the depth range that you are marking fish at once you drop your baits. Lets say you are marking a fish at 40' and the bottom is 60' you want to keep your bait as close to the 40' mark as much as possible. Many times the fish will take the RONZ while it is dropping to the bottom or as soon as you start to jig the bait. If no takers after a few jigs slowly reel up until your about 20' and let drop. Repeat a few times then haul in and look for the target again. If your target is on the bottom retrieve the RONZ about 20' and drop. A Bait swimming down from above can be seen from a father distance than one dragging along the bottom. There will be times fish are not very hungry or aggressive and seem to want to feel the bait first. When these conditions occur reeling the bait slowly or halting it seems to trigger a take. Wait until you start feeling the weight of the fish before setting the hook. You are smarter and have more electronics than a fish, use it. Make sure you MARK or MOB when you mark a target or targets. Precision fishing requires good boat handling and electronics knowledge.
The second technique to use is similar to the first with a few modifications. When the fish are concentrated or holding in a specific area, longer drifts are made. This is when you can really put all the rods to work. The technique to use on a drift is to have the anglers drop the RONZ to the bottom or desired depth then start a slow retrieve up and drop again. The more rods fishing the more RONZ going up and down. This allows you to fish the whole water column rather then just the bottom. There is a RONZ visible to any fish at any depth under the boat at all times. By using the same weight heads, they tend to scope and track identical keeping tangles to a minimum. This method works great when the dogs are present. Dogs are not very aggressive and tend not to bother a moving RONZ compared to one that is standing still. If your getting dog'ed your RONZ is moving to slow. Of all the deferent fishing methods this seems to be the most enjoyable to anglers. Everyone gets to hold a rod and fish. There is no casting involved, just reeling up and letting down. The angler experiences the bite, hook up and fight on light tackle, it doesn't get any better. You can save a lot of fuel fishing the drift method too.
RON Z
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