Slow pitch has moved fast on the Northeast fishing scene and now it’s been streamlined for use on the kayak.
A few years back I was riding my bike and I was hit by a car, suffering a serious shoulder injury. During my recovery, I had lots of time to watch fishing videos and, as I watched more and more slow pitch videos, I knew it was something I had to try. I tried it first from my boat and while fishing with my son who was using bait, we pretty much caught at the same rate. I also hooked the biggest fish of the day, but it came off right at the boat! Once I saw how effective it was, and that it kept the pace with bait, I knew I had to try it from my kayak.
Slow pitch jigging originated in Japan as a way to catch heavily-pressured fish. Its roots were sunk in deep water where there wasn’t much structure, but electronics revealed schools of suspended fish. One of the leading experts on the subject is an angler named Benny Ortiz, he has some great videos on YouTube with Shimano and BD Outdoors that can get you up to speed on the basics of this technique, which will really help shorten the curve when you bring it out onto the kayak.
Geared Up
Part of the fun of using this type of fishing is that you can ditch the broomstick rods and use something much more sensitive; feeling every tap as the fish follow your jig, you’ll also get the full slam when a fish goes in for the kill. There are lots of options on the market for using this technique, some of the most popular rods are made by Shimano and Tsunami. My weapons of choice are made by Goofish; these rods are color-coded depending on their power and are great for slow pitch. Basically you want a rod between 6 and just over 7 feet to successfully use this technique from a kayak – you want that extra length so you can get the rod around the bow of the ‘yak if a fish makes a sudden move from one side to the other. I like the Goofish rods because they are ultra-sensitive and unbelievably strong.
Most experts will tell you that a conventional setup is the way to go, and for really deep water, that’s probably true. I love to fish with spinning setups and that what I use from the kayak; since I’m rarely fishing deeper than 60 feet, it works perfectly fine for me. Both types are exciting to use and will get the job done from the kayak. The rods come in a variety of designs, some are ‘acid wrapped’ (with the guides spiraling around the blank) and others are not. If you look into the Shimano Game J rods you’ll see that they are equipped with what they call “high power X construction” that utilizes a 45-degree weave of carbon fiber that stops the rod from twisting under strain, that’s essentially the same reason why some of the rods are acid wrapped, to reduce twisting under strain.
For my conventional setups I use Avet reels, but the Shimano Ocea is a popular choice as well. For spinning, you can use almost any quality reel, though I would recommend one with a higher inches per crank; but the reel is less important than the rod and the line. Braided line is an absolute must for slow pitch jigging. You want to use the thinnest line you can for cutting through current and getting down deep with minimal scope; you also want zero stretch for heightened sensitivity. The lighter the line, the lighter the jig you can get away with, too. PowerPro is probably the most popular line for this method, as it’s reliable, predictable and consistent. I have used other brands, including some off-the-wall brands and had good success with them as well.
Going Metric
The first thing you’ll have to get used to with the jigs is that they’re weighed out in grams. There are plenty of free conversion charts online if you want to get a feel for their size in ounces. Most of the slow pitch jigs are weighted to balance in the center and they’ve been designed to flutter erratically on the fall. Different shapes will act differently in the water, some vibrate, some flutter, some slide back and forth; they’re all designed to mimic a dying baitfish sinking to the bottom and this drives fish crazy!
Do a little poking around online or at your local tackle shop and you’ll see that there are a wide variety of different shapes, with colors that range from simple solids, to near-perfect baitfish replicas, to wild fluorescents, glow finishes and even strangely striped iterations that look more like candy canes than anything that swims in the ocean. But they all seem to have their moments and they all catch fish.
For anyone that’s really new to this style of fishing, the assist hooks may seem strange and you may be tempted to take them off so you can rig it like a conventional tin; don’t! These hooks are incredibly sharp and effective at catching anything that tries to eat your jig, while reducing leverage and snagging a lot less.
For rigging, I’ll usually attach my braid to a 15- to 20-pound fluorocarbon leader using a small barrel swivel. I tie the braid with a Palomar knot and favor an improved clinch knot for the leader; to the swivel and the jig. You’ll see that many of the pros on YouTube prefer to connect their braid and leader with a knot; the FG Knot is very popular for this, and you can certainly do this. I use a swivel for ease and because, at the shallower depths I fish, drag on the line is not as much of a factor as it would be if I was fishing in 200 feet. Plus, tying an FG Knot while bouncing around in a kayak is no easy task.
Working The Jig
The rods used for slow pitch are designed to work the jig and not so much to fight the fish, as the reel does all the work once a fish is hooked. Deploy your jig with the rod held parallel with the water and let it fall to the bottom, keep a little tension on the line with your fingers or reel or else the action of the jig will make it take forever. Basically you’re trying to keep the jig vertical as it falls. Once you feel the jig hit bottom, take one to two cranks on the reel and you’ll feel the rod bend as the jig bounces up off the bottom. You can drop it back down and repeat the process until you get whacked.
You can also use this method to fish the whole water column, swimming and fluttering the jig in sequence until you’ve brought the jig back to the surface. If you happen to have a fishfinder on your kayak, you can use this method to target suspending fish as well. As with most methods, there is plenty of room for experimentation with retrieves, jigging intensity, depth, silhouette and color, change things up when the bite is slow and try to dial in what the fish want that day. There’s no wrong way to do it, find what works for you.
Slow pitch rods are designed to work the lure and not so much to fight the fish. In fact if you put too much pressure on the rods you might end of breaking one! The reel is meant to do most of the work. You want to keep the rod held about level with the water, no pumping, just reel the fish up and keep the rod steady. I like to bring the fish up on the port side, my fishfinder is on the starboard side, I just find it’s much easier to control and land the fish on that side.
Get Tactical
While this method works primarily for bottom species like sea bass, fluke and the occasional large scup, I have caught a wide variety of species including stripers, bluefish, bonito, mackerel, tautog and false albacore. I’ve fished depths ranging from 10 to 70 feet and caught fish – I haven’t had the opportunity to fish deeper than 70 feet because the 70-foot line marks the outer edge of the range I feel comfortable going in my ‘yak. My best results seem to center around about 40 feet of water.
I typically drift when fishing this way, but if the drift is too fast, I will anchor up. But please be very careful when anchored up and make sure you can ditch the anchor in a hurry if bigger waves, a heavy wake or a moon current start swamping the boat, it could save your life! I also recommend carrying a pair of cutters capable of cutting through the heaviest hooks you might use, I’ve been nailed with those assist hooks a couple times and learned my lesson the hard way, a pair of chintzy needle-nose pliers isn’t going to work. I’m just trying to save you a trip to the ‘accident room’!
If you’re a kayak fisherman, give slow pitch a chance, not only is it fun, but it’s effective and it catches many species of fish. Since I found this method, I’ve been able to leave the stinky squid at home in the freezer and catch just as many – if not more – fish. I’m just another old dude that loves to go fishing and this method has become one of my favorites.
Good luck out there!
