Some thoughts on fishing Iron

[Fiskadoro]

Recently I saw a interesting question on how to fish iron, one of my favorite ways to fish. It got me thinking which led to a PM which has now lead to this post.

The guy was talking about fishing a 6Xjr around Lobster buoys in an area with current. They were using the simplest method you can fish the jig. The old cast as far as you can, let it sink to the bottom then retrieve straight back to the boat at it's best working speed method. This was actually the first way I learned to fish Iron over twenty years ago. You can do a lot of other things with a 6Xjr to catch fish, but it's a good consistent method, kind of the oldest trick in the book, and it has worked for me for numerous Yellows all up and down the coast.

The question they had was related to casting direction, and current. They said they get more bites casting long casts up current, and said they did not know why, then asked if bait swims with the current.

Well they were on the right track. It's not so much that bait swims with the current, it's that baits do not swim against it unless forced to. In other words bait doesn't swim with the current so much as drift with it. Anchovies and Sardines are not the athletes of the fish world they can't swim very long against the current, so the tend to ball up and drift with it.

The Yellows that feed on them hold at good ambush points and then pick them off when they come by.

Those yellows caught with the sink then retrieve method around those buoys are holding position in the current waiting for bait to wash down to them, and essentially what your getting is a reaction strike, when you fish them with Iron this way.

It's all about energy, instinct, and competition.

Groups of Yellows anything from two to five to more will hold in the current waiting for bait to wash down to them. A single bait coming towards them sets up a competition scenario where the first Yellow that get's to the bait get's to eat it. It then becomes a race as to which yellow get's to the bait first. That is why they are not line shy, why they slam those Irons so hard and take them so deep. They are trying to eat that bait before the other yellows can get it.

The reason that they hang around the lobster buoys is that the ropes create small eddies in the current where the can easily hold their location without expending energy, but also without sacrificing their visibility. They are sight feeding and the trap ropes are a great way for them to escape the current without a loss of vision.

They don't offer cover or protection, just an area of low current immediately behind the rope, but they are just a single line so they don't block as much vision as kelp. In other words Trap ropes under the lobster buoys create an ideal hunting ground or ambush point for the yellows.

Fish do this all the time. Halibut lie down behind low rocks and wait for bait to come down current, and any trout fisherman knows that when fishing reaction baits like spinners in streams you always want to cast up current and reel the bait down with it to catch trout looking upstream.

So essentially by casting your Iron upcurrent letting it settle then retrieving it straight back, your moving it downcurrent through the lobster buoys, and your presenting the lure in a manner that looks natural to the fish.

Now I've often when I've heard people talk about this type of fishing they say that most of the fish they catch come on the first few cranks. Well that makes sense if you think about it. While your iron sinks the line is going to get washed down current as it sinks. It's like a parachute flare, as the flare drops the smoke trails away down wind.

With sinking Iron the line trails away downcurrent. So even if the current down deep is not moving the exact same direction as what you see at the surface, when you let a lure settle the first few cranks are going to pull the lure in the direction of the line which is directly down current.

One trick that you can use to capitalize on this that's worth considering is one used by hardcore open water swimbait fisherman.

They fish two rods. They cast one out and let it settle to the bottom leaving it in freespool with the lure resting on the bottom so that line pulls off the reel as they drift down current. They then cast the other rod out let it settle to the bottom, then leave it in freespool while they reel in the first rod.

What the two rod method does is not only get the plastic or Iron well away from the boat, but it also lets the line settle down deeper and wash directly down current from the lure. When you start reeling the bait swims down with the current staying close to the bottom in the strike zone for a longer time. If you just cast let it settle then reel it up when it hits your the bottom the bait still is moving down current, but comes up at a more vertical angle. With the two rod waiting method the bait swims the right direction for a longer period of time in the strike zone.

I've used this and it works.

The only negative is you can't use it in a area with a ton of rock with spectra. The spectra sinks down and the current tends to wash it into cracks or spaces between the stones and hang you up.

So there you have a few ideas. Use at your own risk, Jim