Which line for vertical jigging rivers?

[Jim S.]

Hi all, after my first year of jigging for 'eyes on the Detroit River, I'm looking to improve my catch (who isn't) by going to a new line next year. I've been using 6 lb. mono on a Loomis 721 for 1/4 oz. and under and 8 lb. mono on a 722 for 3/8th oz. and up. I saw a PWT event where some/a lot of the guys were using XT Solar (I think, it's a pretty unique color) for their vertical jigging. Can anyone tell me if they have tried it and how they like it? Does the hi-vis color reduce strikes? I am also considering Fireline and would also appreciate feedback on performance of that line compared to mono, especially in the snag-infested Trenton Channel. Thanks in advance, Jim.

[ebijack]

you'll really have to spend the time using fireline and the braided lines to see if you personally like them. some prefer to add a short piece of mono after a swivel then to the jig. for one, it stops most of the line twist (especially if you use a twistertail). and if/when you snag it's easier to break the jig off. the color line doesn't seem to bother the fish (i believe your moving to fast anyway and the fish HAVE to react if they want it). if you run straight braided in the heavier line class like 30lb test/6lb dia. and no leader, have a wooden dowel etc handy to wrap your line around and you can pull alot of the jigs free (not all). but be careful! those lines will cut right thru to the bone on your finger in a split second (been there a few times).
in shallower than 20ft i tend to use straight mono, and in strong wind days or the deeper water i use the superlines. for me that works. the fireline is stiffer than the braids and doesn't sink quite as fast. and both are a touch slower to fall than mono.(tenths of a second). one of the main things you might try is to have a few rods tyed up and ready togo, because when your on the perfect drift you don't want to waste time tying on a new jig and miss that little honey hump where you get a fish everytime you can hit it just right.
hope that helps

[FROGMAN]

Well you've got the right rods for the job! Now spool them up with some 4#, and 6# Fireline , you'll be all set. Don't forget to leave some mono backing on so that the Fireline won't slip on the spool.

Ebijack has some good points in his post as well that are worthing thinking about.

Fireline also comes in "Flame" green for line watching sp be sure to try some of each color (smoke) to determine your favorite.

Tight lines.

Keith Segar
NPAA #260

[CJHughes@Norstan.com]

I saw a guy on Cumberland Lake in KY which is gin clear catch waleye one right after another on flame green fireline . It impressed me , but I have to get over the habit of feeling the line with my finger it does cut to the bone.

[Backwater Eddy]

I am seeing some great advice here.

FireLine is a great tool for vertical jigging all year long. The 6#, 8#, or even 10# work best for my needs.

FireLine has properties that make certain style jigging presentations perform even better, lures such as rattle jigs & spoons, Rattle Traps, blade baits, and large profile ice lures like Nil's Master Shads or Chubby Darters.

The right combination of medium to medium heavy rod matched with the 0% stretch line certainly aids the sound producing characteristics of many lures.

Jig...Jiggle....Shake....Rattle....Clatter.....Thu mp.. (THUD).....Weeeeeeeee-Haaaaaaa.......Piggy on!

Walleyes don't want to find you, go find them...><,GO PIGGY,>

Backwater Eddy......><, ,>

[Tom (mich)]

Ditto to that previously stated. The superbraids are surely the way to go when vertically jigging. Their benefit is even more significant in the deeper upper stretches of the Detroit River, where I spend my time away from the circus in the Trenton Channel. last season I switched from Fireline to Cabela's Ripcord SI and prefer the latter. One tip - the Ripcord is pricey and I bought the gray color -absolutely can't see the line in cloudy conditions. I've since respooled with yellow. I also use a mono leader, about 3 ft, attached with a ball bearing swivel in-line.

[perchjerker]

Yep, I agree with Ebi and Frog. I really like fireline, it really telegraphs the "feel" of all the junk down there. And with the smaller diameter, you can go much lighter with your jigs. Its really durable, too I have found. A cutoff broomstick handle is a good idea, along with a knife just incase. Just try not to spend too much time backing up, trying to unsnag your 30 cent jig, I have seen too many times guys circling around, distrupting the natural flow of things expecially when its wall to wall with fishermen. (just a peeve of mine!)

[Homer]

In the lower part of Trenton Channel where the water is shallower, I still prefer the feel of mono (4-6# Tectan). Up near Ecorse, I use either 4# or 6# Fireline.

[Cangl]

Both monofilament and braid, the green flourescent could be a luxury for me but for the thought of having that stuff on anything other than a spare spool it would be left in the garage more often then knot. Pay attention to your line with mono, and with braid the feel is going to be 80% of your bite, shortening up your rods will cut down on errant sweeps and swings of the rod that we all do and are unaware of. Current exaggerates suttle lifts and swings. 5 years ago I gave up on jigging with 7ft rods and my catch ratio went up 20-30 % if for no other reason than not being able to pull a deep jig away from the "unknown"

Day twa rvr could not pick a better day then to day. Nowadays mine like the sun.

[REW]

I have to admit that I 2nd the comments on fireline for river jigging.
In the last few weeks, my catch ratio has gone up, and my jig loss has gone down, by using 10 lb fire green fireline for all of my river jigging.

I use the same rods as you for the same applications.

I do use the 10 lb fire line in flame green for both rods.

I also keep a cut off broom stick handy for freeing snags. Never, never, never, use the rod to free a snag with fireline. It is quite likely that you will snap your rod, rather than free the line.

With 10 lb fireline, and most jigs - it is quite likely that you will simply straighten the hook, rather than breaking off. Check the end of the line frequently, and especially, if working rip rap - retie - if the line starts to fray.

I have made lots of tests and have found no difference in the number of strikes or hookups - with a mono leader or fireline tied straight to the jig. Therefore, I no longer use the mono leader.

I also agree with the other post on the use of shorter rods for river jigging - in a vertical direction. I also have found that my catch rate went up, when I went back to the shorter rod.

I use either a 6' - 721, or 722 - or the Avid 5'8" avid medium extra fast - with equally good results.


If I am doing lake rigging, or if I am doing long line drifiting, then I go back to my 7-8 foot rods for rod tip watching and ease of setting the hook.

Take care and enjoy.

REW

[Neal/Co]

Last winter I tied a 1/8 oz Kastmaster directly to my 6 lb Fireline just to see if the trout I was ice fishing for could see it? After a dozen fish I never worried about it again.

[Jim S.]

Hey, thanks for all the great info!! It looks like the color of the hi-vis lines doesn't make a difference, so I will try one or two rods with some 6 lb. XT Solar. But, it seems as if I should try Fireline as well, and, I may not go back to mono for river jigging, eh? I must admit even though I've tried Fireline in still water, I've never used it on the river. Probably take some adjusting with drag etc. Guess I'll spool a spare rod with some 10 lb. Fireline and make some of my own comparisons to the mono. You can bet I'll post the results next Spring, providing the walleye cooperate! Good fishing to ya'
Jim S.

[FJH1]

I've tried Fireline for vertical jigging and I've abandoned it after several tries. There are a couple reasons why I don't like it; I vertical jig with two rods, I found that when I set the hook with Fireline, by the time I had dropped my other rod and started to reel there was enough slack that I was losing fish. The only pressure was applied by the bend in the rod. With mono, the stretch in the line gives you a little additional time. When I set the hook, my other rod hits the floor, I don't set it down, I just drop it. However, even this little amount of time caused enough slack that the fish could shake off. I fish the Illinois River. In some areas, there's a lot of junk on the bottom. If you snag with Fireline you better be ready to quickly wrap it around a cleat or put on a leather glove, the stuff cuts skin fast. I'd prefer to break off easily with mono. Don't get me wrong, I love Fireline and use it on all of my trolling rods. I just don't like it for vertical jigging. My vote goes to Solar XT in 6#. That line is the bets in my opinion, love the high-vis properties and the stuff is tough.

Best Regards,

FJH

[schrof]

Jim,

I know everyone mentioned fireline and I agree superline is the way to go for most jigging, but what I found with Fireline is its extremely stiff. I tried a line few years ago that now is no longer in the Chicago area only out West. Called "battle line". Its a superline by Versitex. It' spendy $25/300 yrds., but no other line has the feel for jigging in my opinion. Comes in green or white, color does not matter. I use white for evenings when green is hard to see at dark. You won't be dissapointed. Versitex t/p #610-948-4442.

[BobB(MI)]

Jim,

This is a great post and typifies what the site is about. Even though there are varying opinions, you now have a ton of info and a few things to try out. I'd like to throw in my 2 cents as well.

1. I had the pleasure to prefish with Tommy Skarlis for the Detroit River PWT tourney this last April. He ended up taking 1st place and the big check - couldn't happen to a nicer guy as he works hard and it was well deserved IMHO. Anyway, when you open up the rod locker in his Ranger, it is stuffed with spinning reels that are all spooled in green. XT Solar and Fireline - I don't think he uses anything else. He is arguable one of the better river and jig fishermen on tour (I said arguably because there are a bunch of good fisherman). I know he used the green Fireline on the path to his win.

2. Tommy could outfish me on my best day (and probably his worst?), as I am anything but a great jig fisherman; however, after I switched to the green Fireline, my hookups increased. I'm not going back.

3. If you use the 6/2 Fireline, you can usually just hold down on the reel spool to either pull off the jig or break the line - it's a little quicker than wrapping the line on a dowel - just point the rod at the snag, as was said earlier, don't use the rod to try to get it off. The stronger tests work well too, but you put more pressure on the line/spool. Also, wet hands cut easier than dry ones - ouch.

Good luck with whatever you try.
Bob

[ND]

My two cents:
In clear water, I like to run a black marker for a foot or so on the green fireline from the jig up.
The small diameter firelines do fray......check them near guides and tip.
A double loop palomar knot on horzontal jigs will not slide around hook eye.

[FROGMAN]

Just want to caution you on using that strong of Fireline down in the Trenton Area. I routinely use 4#, and 6# and catch some very large fish on it. Down there the problem is not usually getting the hook point caught, it's getting the jig wedged between rocks so you won't be able to straighten the hook. In that case 4# or ^3 is easier to break off, but more than enough to land big fish!

Hoppy Holidays

Keith Segar
NPAA #260

[Jim S.]

Bob, you are so right about this site and the great anglers who help out their fellow walleye hunters. Thanks for sharing your experiences on the Detroit River. That's where I also saw some guys using the green lines, though I wasn't sharing a boat as an Am. Based on the replies I will definitely try the green lines all next year, comparing Solar to the Fireline even though it's a tad unfair to compare 6 lb. mono vs. 6 lb (2 lb. dia) Fireline. Anyhow, I am looking forward to using the Fireline since it will increase my feel while jigging, though I'll still probably snag the same amount of "rockfish"...LOL. Good fishing, Jim S.

[Hunter]

Ive fished the Detroit for 20+years, it is my home waters. For 3 years we have used 10#fireline, with a 4' 6# mono lead to the jig. It has upped our catch ratio at least 35%. You can feel every little tick on the end of your rod. The reason for the green color line is so you can see it move in the water if a fish takes it and you cant feel it. Try it, you wont go back!

[Jim S.]

Hunter,
Thanks for the advice. One more question...do you tie direct to the Fireline (back-to-back Uni knots or whatever) or use a swivel between the mono and Fireline as mentioned? I can see how the swivel may be better if the mono section gets too short and retying the Uni knots would get old very fast. Thanks, Jim.

[perchjerker]

I know you arent asking me, but I tie direct, lots better sensivity plus its a lot cheaper ,too!! :)

[curt quesnell]

i have used trilene xt solar and stren hi-vis gold for almost
everything for a while now. i fish very stained water so i cant
help in a clear water situation. this fall i put the green
fireline on my jiggin rods and liked it very much.

i like to see the line and just cant see anything without some
color in it.

it would be good to tie a bit of leader line under a swivel
to keep the line twist down. i dont do that often enough, but
its a good idea.

curt quesnell

[James Morris]

I didn't see this answer in the replies and think it should be included (but I may have missed it so if someone else said this- not trying to step on your toes)

I think one of the greatest/most important features of a line that is going to be used in a river is the diameter of the line, and here's why:

If you are using a higher OD line (such as mono) there will be a significant increase in the amount of friction between the river current and the line, making it more difficult to keep lighter jigs vertical, and perhaps necessitating a faster slip rate (downstream movement) than you would like (less time to work a fish holding in the area, less thorough). Also, the extra bow in the line will reduce "feel" and hooking percentage.

Essentially- smaller diameter lines typically outperform larger diameter lines in this situation. Superlines add the element of low/no stretch to the equation are are well worth the time invested to figure out how to incorporate them into your river jigging arsenal.

Good luck- hope this was helpful,

James

[Bad Finger]

I'd agree 100% with your findings, and add one more. When the temp gets below freezing, mono sucks up less water into you line guides. That means less ice to deal with.

[Bad Finger]

REW, one comment....

When you have to free a snagged jig with a broom handle, don't you always get back a useless jig?

I don't know what it is about that XT solar... but I seem to always get my jig back.... a jig that is still useable!!

[Mr. Sauger]

Jim,
I switched to flame green fireline 4 years ago and have never looked back. The increased sensitivity makes it feel like you're dropping a jig on the kitchen floor. The bright color of the line makes boat control (following your line) a lot easier. I dropped down to 6lb. test (2lb. diameter) and still straighten more jig hooks than I loose. I jig with a 722 with 1/4 & 3/8oz on the Illinois and Detriot rivers. No leaders needed.

Mr. Sauger