What is Slow Pitch?
If you have not yet discovered the world of slow pitch, you are missing out on some exciting fishing opportunities where you don’t need live bait, you can cover more water, catch quality fish while having more fun using lighter tackle, and still fill the fish box.
Slow pitch is a system and has a combination of factors that produces fish. While you can catch fish on the jigs alone, leaving out any one component of the system will reduce the number of fish you catch. As you read, remember that pitch can be used to talk about the rod action as well as the reel action.
The rod does most of the work to impart action to the jig rather than the angler, this makes slow slow-pitch jigging much easier on hot summer days than speed jigging. A sharp, upward pitch of the rod, a quick turn of the reel handle, or a combination of both is enough to load the rod and pitch the jig with very little effort. After a fish is hooked, the fisherman relies on the power of the reel, not the rod, to turn it toward the boat. Thus, it is imperative to have a reel with sufficient power and drag as the reel does most of the work in fighting a fish and not the rod.
In slow pitch, you are trying to imitate an injured, wounded, or weak bait fish. Think of it this way. You are on the savanna in Africa and there is a herd of zebras and a pride of lions. The lions want to get the easy food so they go after the young, weak, or old zebra, not the strongest or the fastest ones. You want the jig to look like the young, weak, or old bait fish. Easy to catch for the predator.
Maybe you are going to say that you have tried jigging before and wore yourself out while not catching many fish. In the past, most jigging techniques were about speed jigging and not a jigging concept. Tie a jig on and hope for the best. Slow pitch will never get you tired. The rods and reels are lighter making catching and jigging less tiring and more fun while still giving you the ability to catch large species.
Slow pitch will work for pelagics like tuna, wahoo, mahi, and kings as well as reef species like snapper, grouper, jacks, and triggers.
Slow pitch works in water as shallow as 50ft and as deep as 500ft for most anglers. You want the lightest jig possible as the lighter the jig, the slower the fall when jigging. Most bites happen during the fall when the jig is doing the work.
Jigs
There are many manufacturers of jigs. Just to name a few out there that make quality slow pitch jigs:
Shimano, Nomad, Daiwa, JYG Pro, and Johnny Jigs
Jigs come in many styles and color patterns. These color patterns include solid, multi-colored, and striped. There is an old fly fishing saying “match the hatch” and it resonates here also. Use a color that matches the baits the fish are feeding on. In our experience there is one color that consistantly works well in this area. GLOW. If the jig has glow as one of the colors or stripes, the jigs seem to produce better.
When choosing leads for bottom fishing the general rule is 1oz for ever 10ft of depth. When speed jigging 1g per foot and when slow pitch jigging 1g for every 3ft of water. These are general rules and in heavy current or wind situations you may need to use jigs that are a little heavier to stay vertical below the boat. These weights also refer to when you are holding over a reef or wreck.
If you are drifting an area of natural bottom you may need slightly larger jigs to stay vertical. If your drift is too quick due to current or wind try a drift anchor. If you do not have a drift anchor, tie on a 5 gallon bucket and use it to slow down your drift!
You should also consider adding a little Pro-Cure Bait Scent to your jigs to increase their effectiveness. Reapply after catching a fish or about every 30 minutes for the best results.
Rigging and Technique
Jigs come rigged and unrigged. Some come with single hooks, some come with multiple hooks. Some have hooks at the top of the jig and others at the bottom of the jig. Most of us prefer the jigs to have multiple hooks, two at the top of the jig and one at the bottom. This setup seems to have the best hook up ratio. The bottom hook can be attached directly to the lure. The top hooks and leader need to be attached to a solid ring that is attached to the jig with a split ring. This method imparts the most action to the jig and keeps the pressure from the rod directly through the line, leader, and then the fish. This makes it harder for the fish to dislodge the jig during the fight.
To rig your jigs you are going to need extra assist hooks, split rings, solid rings, and a good pair of split ring pliers. We also recommend some jig wraps for traveling. These jig wraps help ensure that you don’t have all your gear tangled getting to and from the boat or when you arrive at your fishing location. They also save your rod from the wear and tear of the jig bumping it during travel. It’s also always a good idea to have a nice jig bag to store jigs and accessories.
Jigs come in multiple sizes. As mentioned earlier, you want the lightest jig possible as the slower it falls after you jig it, the more bites you get. On the other hand, you need a jig heavy enough for the jig to remain vertical below your boat. You do not want to get blowback or end up angled away from the boat. If the jig is not vertical, you don’t have a good idea where you are in the water column, you can get tangled with others on the boat, and you will not get the proper action on the jig. All will cost you bites.
Remember when jigging, the PITCH or jigging comes from both the rod and reel, but more so the rod than the reel. Pitch or jig up and only use 1/4 to 1/2 turns on the reel during the pitch. Let the jig flutter or fall several times at the same depth before jigging up farther in the water column.
The problem with using the reel to impart action is you can quickly be out of the strike zone when targeting reef species. The reel is mostly used to change depths of the jig or to fight the fish.
When targeting pelagics on the other hand, you can use the reel more to cover more water.
Remember there is no right or wrong in jigging technique. It takes some experimentation to find what works for you. Pelagics can be anywhere in the water column but most action will come close to where the bait fish are. This could be close to the bottom or near the surface.
Reef species will require you to determine the strike zone based on the bottom machine and the depth where they are showing on the screen. Start jigging near the bottom and continue working up the water column slowly until you are 30-40ft above the highest level of the fish. Once at that point drop back to the bottom and repeat the process if you haven’t gotten bitten. Once you get a bite or two try working that same depth until things change. This could be very near the bottom, mid column of the fish, or slightly above what you see on the screen.
Once you hook a fish the technique to fight a fish is much different than you are accustomed to. Where we would normally use the rod to fight the fish, in slow pitch you will use the reel to fight the fish. You are going to point the top of the rod at the fish and the rod butt to the sky or horizon and use a pulling action to move the fish letting the reel do most of the work and not the rod. Slow pitch rods are designed to impart action to a lure, not fight a large fish. You can easily snap a rod using it in a traditional fashion.
Leader
The leader, much like the jig and line, should be as light as possible to allow for the most action to be imparted to the jig. In most cases we rig with 60lb fluorocarbon leader but somewhere between 50-80lb is most common. We don’t normally have any wire leaders unless we have lots of cut offs from kings or wahoo and we have to have wire. Wire takes away from the action and typically tangles more.
Line
Slow pitch was pioneered fishing natural bottom so some of the rigging and techniques have to be modified to fish areas like ours along the emerald coast where we have lots of structure. Most people will state that you should use 20-40lb braided line. While it is true that the lighter the line, the more action will be imparted on the jig, in areas like ours 40lb is the lightest you can really get away with and most will find they land more fish with 50-65lb line. We have two issues in our area. The first is heavy, large structures that extend well into the water column, sometimes 50ft or more off the bottom. The fish can become tangled in or cut you off in this structure. The second is that we have an abundance of sharks that will steal your fish if you fight them too long.
Top Shot
When using braided line you can go straight to the leader, but in most cases we use a top shot of mono matched to the line weight. 65lb braid = 60lb mono top shot. The braid has no stretch and is very soft. The mono adds some stretch to have a gap for angler error. Also the braid is so soft that it tends to tangle with the jig when dropping to the bottom. The top shot being slightly stiffer means it won’t tangle as much. You want to keep the top shot short so you get maximum action out of your jig. 20-50ft is perfect.
The top shot should be added to your main line of braid using an FG or reverse FG knot. We find that for most folks, the reverse FG is much easier to tie than the traditional.
Rods
Slow Pitch rods in general are very light in both action and physical weight. Being light weight helps reduce fatigue. Light in action allows you to impart the
correct action to the jig. They come in both spinning and conventional styles. The rod should not have too fast of an action. It needs a moderate to slow action to be able to impart the pitching action to the jig.
Action is imparted by loading the rod on the upward stroke or pitch of the rod. The rod should bend on the upward stroke and at the upper most part of the jigging action it will snap quickly back. This action sends the jig fluttering upward in the water column and you quickly drop the tip back to the water slowing the jigs to flutter, slide, or glide back down through the water column. This is when you will get bit. The next time you go to jig you will feel the fish and get hooked up.
To produce the best action the rod should have a long enough butt it can be placed under the forearm and allow you to impart the correct action on the jig.
You also need to have a Cushit Rod Knob for your rod to not get bruised up when fighting bigger fish.
Reels
As long as a reel that has enough drag and power to get the job done and holds enough line for the depths we fish, you can use spinning or conventional reels.
Conventional reels by far have the most power. Spinning reels are easier for most people to learn the jigging action. Narrow conventional reels work better than wide reels. The narrow reel lets you focus on jigging technique and not on spooling the line back on.
Most folks prefer a spinning outfit unless targeting the largest of species or fishing depths of 300ft+. It is a good idea to have both types of setups in your arsenal.
