Quote:
Originally Posted by BornToFish
Greetings,
I believe that two things are needed to get the most possible out of a vertical jigging presentation: sensitivity and power. Sensitivity is needed to feel the bottom of the lake, to make sure that one is jigging in the strike zone. Power is needed to drive the hook home when fishing in relatively deep water and to manage the fish during the fight.
I vertical jig with light power and medium light power spinning rods. I find these rods have adequate power to reliably set the hook and manage even larger walleyes during the battle to the boat. I gave up using ultra-light power rods for vertical presentations years ago, as I found that I was getting unreliable hook sets and had trouble bringing larger fish to the boat.
I believe that a set-up (rod + reel + line + jig) that is balanced achieves peak sensitivity. As mentioned above, sensitivity allows me to feel the bottom of the lake to make sure that I am in the walleye's strike zone, and allows me to feel the bite or if my bait is gone.
My vertical jigging rods are higher end St. Croix spinning rods. These are very lightweight fishing rods. I found that spinning reels with size 2000 or 2500 frames caused the fishing rod to feel "butt heavy" in my hand. Thus, I switched to spinning reels with size 1000 frames. My fishing rods with these smaller reels are neither "butt" or "tip" heavy. They just disappear in my hand, as they are balanced.
My point is that I believe the rod and reel need to balance. I stated in the previous paragraph how I achieve balance with my rods and reels. Someone using different fishing rods may need to use a different size spinning reel to achieve balance in their set-up. Everyone recognizes balance differently.
I will note that my fishing line is almost always Trilene XT or XL in six pound test. I routinely fish with jigs weighing 1/16 ounce, but will move up to 1/8 ounce when fishing deeper or rough water.
Good fishing and tight lines!!
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Seems odd that 2 or your three goals are Power and sensitivity yet you use mono, whose main weaknesses vs. braid are power and sensitivity. Your third goal is balance which braid won't effect.
Using braid would be the easiest and more importantly the most effective way to increase sensitivity and power.
I have no problem someone choosing mono, everyone is different. Just your response sounds like an advertisement for using braid.
I switched to braid originally to vertical jig. I add 3-5ft of mono or fluoro for a leader to add back a little stretch and lessen visibility. I am in sensitivity and hookset power heaven.
You definitely know exactly what you want. Just curious your thoughts on increasing sensitivity and power with braid?