One eyed Joe… A Pig on a Jig

[bowguide]

With season winding down and this weekend looking unfishable my buddy Chris and I decided to do an after work gentleman’s trip
Met at the dock a little after 4 and we were off. Took a few minutes to settle in but it was game on right from the start. Chris put two quick keepers in the box and I was wondering what I was doing wrong. I rebaited and dropped down and my line just started moving… no tap nothing just started moving away. I set the hook and had an awesome fight on the Jigging World Corporation night Ranger .
A few runs pulling drag and the big male I’ve now named “ one eyed Joe came to the net. He had completely swallowed the S&S Bucktails white chin wrecker. After a few pics he was released back to give another lucky angler a great experience. He bounced the certified scale between 13.8 and 14.4 so we will call it 13.8.
Followed up with a 7.4 ( also released)
Great way to spend a couple hours after work. Huge thanks to chris for the invite

[BowhunterNJ]

Wow, now that is unique!  Very cool catch and great fish! 

[JHbowhunter]

Awesome Scott. Congrats.  Why do the teeth remind me of our governor?

[nmc02]

Nice Tog! Still have never fished for them....say I am gonna go every year. Love the great prices of good rods Jigging World sells.

CONGRATULATIONS 

[Rusty]

Great fish!   

[hendryhill]

That’s super cool, A really unique trophy. Congratulations on hooking him. I’ve caught those fish before, it’s a lot of fun.

[DonW]

Great catch!

[bowguide]

1 hour ago, nmc02 said:

Nice Tog! Still have never fished for them....say I am gonna go every year. Love the great prices of good rods Jigging World sells.

CONGRATULATIONS 

They will drive you mad.....These fish seperate the men from the boys.......I have found in all of my saltwater fishing, if you can master blackfishing you are a good fisherman.....

[nmc02]

1 minute ago, bowguide said:

They will drive you mad.....These fish seperate the men from the boys.......I have found in all of my saltwater fishing, if you can master blackfishing you are a good fisherman.....

what rod, Reel, & braid u recommend 

[hunterbob1]

7 minutes ago, nmc02 said:

what rod, Reel, & braid u recommend 

Nick; Honey look what I bought

Wifey: nice dear you needed another one like a hole in the head you have more of them than I have shoes and pocketbooks.

[hammer4reel]

Nice tog Scott .

 

[Gunsmoke]

damn!

[Cousin Brown]

Awesome!!! Congrats

[Buckeyes11]

Damn nice tog!!

[bowguide]

3 hours ago, nmc02 said:

what rod, Reel, & braid u recommend 

I can honestly say when it comes to blackfish you have to find the rod that fits you. I went through probably 10 rods before I found one that fit me and my style of fishing.

I personally like a lightweight fast action rod with plenty of backbone to pull these dinosaurs out of its home.

But many guys are big fans of the softer beefier rods like Honey Lamis or the newer Madkatz....Great rods but don't fit my style.

For the Jig most guys use a spinning rod but some will use a conventional( myself included) The reason for this is its much easier to handle a big fish and its easier to let the light jig down.

The jig rod is easier to recommend ,I love my Night Ranger 72 H, its incredibly sensitive and as you can see it has all the power you need to Handle a Big Tog. I also like the Hybrid rod, a more parabolic rod than the Night Ranger...The Black hole 701 Challenger Bank has a big following as well.( I feel it doesn't have quite the power to control a big fish .......again its a trial and error test for each individual.

As Far as reels Im a little spoiled.. For spinning I use a Shimano 4K size Stella and the same size twin power ... These reels are a little over kill but I always try to use what I feel is the best available.

For conventional Im currently putting the new Jigging World Prime reel through its paces and am very happy with the results so far. A lot of guys fish the Diawa Saltigas and love them.

As far as braid goes Im a Berkley X9 ....20# for Jigs and 50# for rigs

At the end of the day I would recommend you buy the best gear you can afford because these fish WILL find the weakest link

Edited April 27, 2023 by bowguide