Fishing Articles : Fishing with Jacks Jigs

Daiwa Reel: SL20
Daiwa Reel: SL30
Shimano Reel: Star 15/30

Once back in the 1950's I waded into the American river to taste my first experience with shad fishing. There were no less than 30 anglers standing waist deep, shoulder to shoulder, in a riffle casting and recasting small weighted flys. The flys were supposed to catch shad as they bumped along the bottom; however, very few were caught by the group except for the guy next to me, who caught one every single cast with a fly he could have sold on the spot for $50.00. Don箃 all we anglers share this experience at some time in our careers? It seems there is always an incident where some guy has a bait that makes us look bad.

This story comes from my fishing buddy Jed Welsh who was experiencing this problem. Jed was fishing next to a guy on the "City Of Long Beach" sportfishing boat. This angler was catching a barracuda on every cast with of course, a magic jig. And of course none of the other 20 anglers were catching anything. On Jeds筽ursuit to have that jig, he found the guy to be the galley cook on the boat. "What a story!" This fellow constructed his own jigs that couldn箃 be found anywhere except on the City of Long Beach. He made the jigs from his own plaster molds and to make matters worse he was very strict on who got the jigs Jack Sargent 62, once fished in a shallow water rock cod tournament on a boat out of San Simeon. The tournament allowed no bait, and you could use only one reel. You brought the reel aboard with no line on it and the crew gave you and the other contestants #15 pound test line to spool onto the empty spools. This insured that all the anglers had the exact tackle. You could use any jig you wanted but absolutely no bait was allowed. The waters
off that central California spot are treacherous to fishing tackle. It is a maze of sharp rocks, crags and pinnacles. Jigs wasted no time in finding a hole to get broken off in. It became expensive to Jack buying jigs, so the mother of invention, that of necessity, came forth. Jack started making his own jigs to offset the cost. He developed the kind of jig that fit the fishing of the area. In that part of the country the rock cod are found in much shallower water than they are in Southern California. Quality ling cod and reds can be caught at 50 feet while in Southern California waters you may have to fish 500 feet to catch the same fish. The first jigs Jack turned out were 2 ounces and colored in bright orange and pink colors. Since, he has developed #4 ounce and #8 ounce jigs for the rock fish of the Southern California waters. His tournament jigs were so successful that just before the tournament folded he was turning out hundreds of jigs for the tournament and it became a lucrative financial adventure. Unfortunately the tournament ended when in a storm the boat at San Simeon washed up on the rocks and sunk. Insurance would not cover it from then on and that was the end of it.

Jack is no stranger to the fishing scene. He worked for a couple of years on tuna purse seiners out of his home town of San Diego. He has spent time commercial fishing the Alaskan waters and has worked aboard sportboats most of his life.Yes, we are all glad that Jack decided not to pursue a high school teaching career, his hamburger is a sight for an empty stomach but tastes even better. When his wife had to temporarily bring her business to the Los Angeles area they moved to Lakewood from where Jack took on the present galley job. The Southern California fishing situation sent Jack into another phase of jig construction. As Jed found out, Jacks?#2 and #4 ounce jigs really catch the surface fish like calicos, barracuda, and sand bass. He now has jigs that look like anchovies, sardines and mackerel. He even has one that looks like a herring. During this incident, Jed talked Jack out of an anchovy colored jig and immediately started catching barracuda as well as the other anglers that purchased the jig from Jack. Jed has since purchased the whole series of jigs. For construction of the jigs Jack collects buckets of used tire weights from the local tire venders and melts them down. He first strings heavy stainless wire across the mold with each end looped to accept the hook and a place to tie the line. The mold was formed from a well known jig on the market but Jack has improved upon it in such a way that he will not reveal. You can actually bend the jig to improve or change the "wiggle" of its' retrieve. Jack says that his jigs are really effective with all the Mexican fish especially the delectable trigger fish. When he fishes albacore, he casts from the bow of the sliding boat out about 50 yards, places the reel in gear and waits for a fish to pick it up. He has taken a #45 pound tuna this way with his #2 ounce "Bloody Anchovy." For construction of the jigs Jack collects buckets of used tire weights from the local tire venders and melts them down. He first strings heavy stainless wire across the mold with each end looped to accept the hook and a place to tie the line. The mold was formed from a well known jig on the market but Jack has improved upon it in such a way that he will not reveal. You can actually bend the jig to improve or change the "wiggle" of its' retrieve. Jack says that his jigs are really effective with all the Mexican fish especially the delectable trigger fish. When he fishes albacore, he casts from the bow of the sliding boat out about 50 yards, places the reel in gear and waits for a fish to pick it up. He has taken a #45 pound tuna this way with his #2 ounce "Bloody Anchovy." If an angler would like to own "Jacks Jig" he will have to buy passage for a halfdays fishing from the" City of Long Beach" out of Marina Sportfishing in the Long Beach Marina. Jack will not vend his jigs from anywhere except his galley window. The "City" sails twice daily at 7:00am and 1:00pm. Call 562 598-6649.