I have probably said this before, but predator fishing is arguably one of the most diverse areas of the sport, especially in the range and variety of methods that can be used to catch various predatory species.

Of course, not all predator anglers seem to see the sport in this way, and a surprising number seem to derive an almost puritanical outlook towards their own particular method of catching pike, zander or catfish. “My way is the only way” often seems to be the prevailing sentiment amongst some predator anglers. As a result, bait anglers are dismissed as mere ‘herring soakers’ by lure anglers, who in turn get labelled as ‘wood chuckers’ by anglers who simply can’t appreciate a more active form of catching pike.

I must admit though, that despite being someone who is generally willing to try new methods of predator fishing, I was always a little dismissive of some of the methods I have seen being used by our continental neighbours. Not least of these being vertical jigging. However, they do say that travel broadens the mind (if not on occasion, opening the bowels!) and early last year I was finally introduced to the method in no uncertain terms. We were on the way back from an massively unsuccessful cat fishing trip in Italy (the river was completely flooded out) and we had decided to call into see Dutch angling buddy, Lucas van de Geest who had offered to take us zander fishing for a few days.

To cut a long story short, those few days were a revelation. Not so much for the level of sport available to the predator angler in that country – I  was already pretty much aufait with what Holland has to offer. But in the method used, which as you might guess, was vertical jigging. Despite pretty lousy conditions, and the fact that this was the first time we had really tried the method, we did pretty well. I must admit, that at first there was a certain lack of conviction on our part, but once Lucas started to encounter the odd zander fishing from his boat nearby, and we too started to feel the first few tentative takes on our jigged baits, which after a few aborted strikes, we started to turn into hooked zander, we too were hooked. I forget how many zander we finished the day with, it was well into double figures, with the biggest fish going just over 7lb. Not bad for a first attempt. 

As with any productive method, the learning curve proved to be pretty steep, which was, I am sure, partly helped by the fact that Geoff and I are extremely experienced predator anglers. I know that may sound arrogant, but one of the advantages of having both a long and more importantly, varied angling career is that you are usually able to pick up on the vitally important points of a new method that much quicker than someone who has only ever really been a one method angler, however long they have practised that method.

Potential
However, I digress. Having had time to perfect this technique and more importantly, think about the method further, the more I can see what potential it has here in the UK for all types of predatory species.

Before I go on, I suppose I should first explain exactly I mean by vertical jigging? Well, the basic method simply involves lowering the jig over the side of the boat until it touches the lake or river bed. Then the rod tip is literally ‘jigged’ up and down, which raises the lure before allowing it to drop back again, usually to the lake bed. However, like most lure fishing techniques, the actual execution may appear to be deceptively simple, but it is often quite subtle changes in techniques that can make a big difference to your catch rate. The delicacy that is required to both attract the fish in the first place and hit the takes on jigs when you get them would, I think, help budding lure anglers appreciate the importance of technique in other types of lure fishing.
So why is vertical jigging so productive? Why should jigging a small plastic shad up and down prove to be so apparently irresistible to predators? As I have already said, although good technique is obviously a very important aspect of this method. The real key is much more prosaic. All ‘cast and retrieve’ method of lure fishing by their very nature have one very distinctive flaw. In most practical fishing situations, your lure will only be in the predator’s ‘zone of awareness’ for a very brief period. Which means that in many situations it could be only a matter of seconds for the pike to become aware of your lure and decide to attack or at least follow it. In short, a lot of the time you are retrieving your lure through the water is, in effect, ‘dead’ time. With vertical jigging, provided the fish have been located, the lure is right in the fish’s zone of awareness. Of course, the fish may still not take the lure, - there’s never any guarantee in fishing – but the chances of it doing so are certainly increased by a significant degree.

Key to success
Another key to success with vertical jigging is close attention and accurate interpretation of what is appearing on the fish finder. In fact, I have never encountered another method where the sounder is such a vital tool.

Those anglers who have read my past writings on the subject will know I have always been somewhat cynical about the ‘fish finding’ abilities of echo sounders. Whilst this cynicism has tended to abate somewhat in recent years as finders themselves have improved, I am still somewhat wary about the value of what I am seeing on the screen at any given time. Whilst I don’t doubt that you can spot shoals and even individual larger fish with these machines, there is always a slight dislocation between what you are seeing on a sounder and your baits following in the wake of your boat, in the case of trolling, or being cast roughly in the same direction of what you had seen on the finder in the case of more static methods. Certainly, my own experiences have always tended to suggest that to rely too heavily on finders to find you fish (at least in the strictest sense of the word) will lead you up many a blind alley. In fact, experience has taught me to use these machines as ‘feature’ rather than ‘fish’ finders. The reasoning being that if you find the features that attract the species you are after, or even just its prey, then the fish won’t be far away. 

However, vertical fishing tends to throw this theory, if not into disarray then at least into question. Because, with this method at least, there is a very definite correlation between the images you see on the screen and the fish you actually catch. Put simply, the method puts you right over the fish. As a result, what you see on the sounder screen is what is beneath your feet right now. Which in effect means you can almost instantly change your fishing style to suit what you are seeing on the screen.

This kind of close attention to the sounder has also revealed some pretty interesting patterns of behaviour on behalf of our quarry. Not least being how mobile many of these shoals are during the course of the day. By this I don’t necessarily mean that they move large distances, often the reverse is the case, but they do seem to be in an almost constant process of slight movement, and it is often necessary to keep moving to keep up with the shoals. I am prepared to accept that part of that movement may well be due to angling pressure, though I suspect that this is a much less profound reason for these movements than we realise. However, I also suspect we are seeing patterns of behaviour more closely associated with daily patterns of prey movements. For example, one shoal of zander we picked up initially in the morning lying in around twelve feet of water, did slowly as the day progressed, move into deeper water, we eventually lost contact with them, or they simply stopped feeding in 25ft.

Vital component
Given these facts, another very vital component to success with vertical jigging is a decent electric motor. Most of the continental vertical jigging experts use a bow mounted trolling motor for this method, usually equipped with some kind of foot or hand operated remote control device, so the engine can be steered from anywhere in the boat the angler happens to be. Having said that, a stern mounted trolling motor is perfectly adequate for the job, though in some situations you may care to consider extending the tiller handle to allow you to steer the boat more effectively, though in many situations, even this addition may not be necessary.

Jigging methods
So, in terms of fish location and ‘efficiency’ for want of a better word, vertical jigging has a lot going got it. However, the third building block of successful jigging is obviously the actual jigging technique you employ. There’s really no one style of fishing the jigs that always works, but it is necessary to pay close attention to the actual techniques. Sometimes a simple up and down motion, with the rod being lifted and dropped back to the lake bed no more than a couple of inches at a time, is all that is required to tempt the fish. At other times a slightly more jerky approach seems to be required to induce the takes. If you have a colleague in your boat and he seems to be getting more takes, it is certainly worthwhile paying very close to his jigging style and attempt to replicate it yourself. I’ve even watched anglers who have been fishing successfully in other boats and gained an edge by blatantly copying their techniques! Ashamed of myself? No, not really, we all improve our fishing by copying each other, sometimes unwittingly!

Having said that, there are times when fish can be tempted by a jig that is not apparently being moved at all. It is common practise for anglers to gain those extra fish by placing another vertical jigging rod in a rest and basically allowing it to fish for itself. I must admit I was sceptical when I first did this, but a couple of fish caught whilst I had simply placed the rod in the rest for a brew, convinced me of its value. Of course, it could be argued that the movement of the boat itself imparted enough action into the lure to attract the predators. Whilst this is true to a certain extent, having watched the action of lures placed over the side of the boat, most of the action imparted this way seems to be the lure simply going round in small circles. Whatever, it’s often enough.

So far I have only really discussed this method in the context of zander. But the method does work for all species, it’s just a question of getting the boat over them and fishing suitable upgraded or downgraded tackle. In fact, the method is one of the most species selective I have ever come across. It’s easy to see why. Once you’re over a shoal of zander that is all you will catch. Ditto for perch, catfish or zander. Continental angling friends to whom I have spoken seem somewhat puzzled when I tell them that UK anglers rarely if ever use vertical methods for any species. How can such an effective and efficient method of tempting all predators be so ignored? In fact, I think one of the key points for making this method work for UK anglers is simply the mental block many will feel fishing for pike and other predators literally under their boat. In the UK an idea seems to have built up that a boat is something you cast away from to catch your fish, this isn’t necessarily the case and thinking back I can think of many occasions when a vertical method would have been a near perfect presentation.

So, the next time you are having a frustrating day afloat trying to locate and keep track of your quarry, the answer might be closer to your feet than you might think.

This article was first published in Pike and Predators magazine