Skipper Matt’s Deep Dive into Slow and Mixed Pitch Jigging
Overview
Productive Slow Pitch Jigging is effectively a system made up of many parts. It’s a game of fine tuning and adapting, getting all the parts to work together to create the best possible action from your jig and making sure you’re doing that whilst your jig is in full view of any fish. Although it’s important, it’s not just about the quality of the tackle you own or even how you use it, it’s also about good skippering, boat position and timings!
As far as the tackle goes, I believe the jig is the first piece of the system. The right jig for the job will vary through each day as the depths, weather conditions and tides change. The shape and weight of the jig needs to be suitable to work properly in those conditions, the rest of your gear (particularly the rod and braid) should then fit to get the best out of that jig or small range of jigs. The bottom line is fairly obvious, when you can spend more time with your gear working well together and in the right places, you’ll catch a lot more fish!
You should be aware that there are two factors in pitching a jig up with your rod. Firstly, it’s creating a movement of the jig in an upward direction (which can attract fish) but it’s also the way we set the jig ready to fall again correctly, which is when most ‘hits’ will occur.
Keeping your line vertical, or close to vertical, is really key with SPJ as this helps allow the best ‘fishing’ action during the jigs fall. When your line is down at 90 degrees and the jig is directly under your rod tip the rod will load and unload correctly, this helps set the jig up for the best fall. When the line is at say 45 degrees, with the jig well away from the rod tip, the rod will load and unload very differently, the jig is harder to set and will struggle to provide the best action. Getting the most out of SPJ is understanding there’s a number of parts to it, you’re often working within windows of time, so getting the right jig action is important and then doing that in front of the fish is obviously the key.
The style of MIXED PITCH JIGGING has been highly successful for me here in the U.K. It’s something I learnt whilst travelling and fishing around the Philippines in much deeper water, it mixes the slower shorter pitches of Slow Pitch Jigging with the addition of long lifts and falls and the faster pumping up of the jigs up through the water column in a similar way to Speed Jigging. Not only is this a way to search more of the water column and help hold your line more vertical, but this mixing up of pitches is proven time and time again to encourage hits, especially when fish are either less active or want to actually chase bait fish. It’s a deadly method and you’ll often see me using it in my videos over at the JOKER Jigs and Lure Youtube channel HERE
Three good fish on three good JOKER Jigs!

The huge importance of BRAID and how it effects your Slow Pitch Jigging in so many ways.
For successful jigging the jig needs to provide it’s best action, to do this it needs to fall freely and should be unrestricted. As previously mentioned, this is helped by keeping the line from your rod tip down to the jig as close to vertical as possible and in turn this is aided by using a fine dedicated jigging braid that cuts the water easily and avoids too much drag.
When fishing at almost any depth, the water will rub against the surface of the braid along it’s entire length, from the sea surface all the way down to your jig. This contact with the water, along with the pressure of the tidal stream, causes an unwanted drag that can slow the fall of the jig, it gets noticably worse the deeper you go. That same line drag can also effect and even stop the jigs falling fluttering and fishing action, this happens because the line will slow, hold and pull the top of the jig, tipping it into a free fall. Further to this, the sideways force and drag from the tide can push the jig away from the boat, taking your line away from vertical, this widening angle can effect the rods action and also damage the jigs free fall. Piece by piece your jigs action will suffer!
When we’re pitching the rod up we want the jig to respond and flick upwards through the water, when it slows at the top of that pitch it wants to achieve that ‘unweighted’ position, usually lying on it’s side, this hanging and relaxed position can then provide the best fishing action on the free fall back down. Remember that after an upward pitch you must then lower your rod slightly faster than the jig is falling. While the jig is falling you must avoid the line going tight to the rods tip, this will act like a handbrake and stop the jigs fluttering free fall and tip it straight into a dive, killing it’s action (which is fine when dropping in at the surface as it then gets down to the fish holding depths much quicker).
So, a dedicated Slow Pitch Jigging braid really helps improve this situation as it’s smooth and super fine, it’ll cut through the water more effectively, it’ll have less drag along its length, stay vertical longer and then allow the jig to fall more freely. Take note that you should also avoid using heavier braids with lighter jigs as this will only magnify the problem!
Jigging braids are also colour coded for depth marking. This has many uses, it allows you to fully understand the location of your jig in the water column, where you’re getting or not getting any hits and also helps you to avoid snagging on structure. As with most drift fishing on boats, it’s really valuable to fish within view of the plotter and sonar, this is so you can relate that info back to your braid markings and in turn your jig depth and position, continually noting where any takes or snags may occur! Then on your next drift you can know where to concentrate, avoid or search further into.
Once you’ve got a handle on reading the braid and depths like this, when you drop in all the way from the surface, I recommend stopping about 10m off the botttom and give a fast 3 or 4 turns on the reel handle to pull any arcing out of the braid and then have a few rod pitches. After that drop further and repeat it again at 5m off the bottom, then drop the rest of the way (unless on a snaggy wreck then stop slightly above it) and commence fishing proper. You’ll find you often get a take whilst you pause and tighten up, so it’s often worth a few cheeky pitches here and there on the way down, searching for any fish higher up. It has the added benefit of bringing the braid and jig slightly back to vertical if it’s already moving away from you.
Your braid is also a bite indicator! After pitching the rod up, you should lower it slightly faster than the jig falls, this leaves the excess braid on the surface while the jig ‘hangs’ and as it starts to fall again. Always watch your braid there on the water’s surface, just below your rod tip. Learn how long it takes for the jig to fall and pull your line tight again. When you see a change, usually a slack line just lying on the surface or sometimes a slight nudge or tightening, its often a take, so wind into it hard to set the hooks! If you miss the take, just jig again in the same location, try and tempt the fish back for another go!
There’s a bit of a knack to it, always lower the rod slightly faster than the jig takes the line back, but be aware, avoid allowing the light braid to blow back on to the top of your rod! Tip wraps are unwanted and can be costly! Using a spiral wrapped rod can help eliminate snagging the braid on a rod eye, but it’s still best to move your rod slightly to the side of the braid as it falls back onto the water. When you get more used to jigging you can time the rod lowering just a tiny fraction faster than the falling jig, you’ll stay closer to connection and have less chance of rod tangles with loads of braid hanging in the air.
It’s worth noting that all your depth readings are more accurate when your line is vertical, if you’ve streamed away say 15m to the starboard side and your line is on an angle, it’s much harder to monitor the depth correctly, not only that, the sonar image is showing the area under the boat not where your jig is! It’s also harder to get the best action, to hook into fish AND much easier to get stuck in the wreck!
Not touching your jig down onto the wreck all day long is unavoidable, but if you can learn to gauge where your jigs is and stop it a metre high you’ll lose less jigs, waste less time resetting your gear and catch less of the unwanted species, like Pout! Avoiding these regular contacts with the structure can extend the life of your braid too, the lower section gets damaged instantly by contacts with sharp structure and spinning Pout also ruin it, so it’s a good idea to keep checking the lowest few metres and trim it off a couple of times a day to keep it 100% fresh and strong. Wrecks and super fine braids just dont mix well, so contact must be avoided at all costs.
Sunline Siglon X8 braid

The dedicated Slow Pitch Jigging rod.
There are many variations but it’s basically a lightweight rod usually between 6 and 7 foot long that’s main object in life is to provide the correct pitch and flick of the jig. The rod is not used for pumping big fish up from the depths or for breaking out of snags, they’re generally very fragile and need to be treated with respect. The majority of SPJ rods are lightweight, hollow core, constructed with carbon or graphite and highly sensitive. There are also some good solid rods on the market that are much more durable, but sometimes lack some of the sensitivity.
Ring guides and reels seats are neat and small. Often the guides are spiral wrapped to help eleviate the blank twisting. There’s also a benefit with the spiral wrapped rods which is that the line is less likely to get snagged on the guides or rod tip.
Your choice of rod rating (or power), will be made on the weight of the jigs required to get down and fish your water correctly. The conditions on the day are usually constantly changing so don’t expect one jig weight or style to be good all day long, you’ll always be working within a range of jigs. Rods work well in the middle of their rating range (their ratings arent always that accurate but it’s a starting point to work from). As I tend to fish over 100 days a year I have the common need for a second and third setup, this allows me to have everything at it’s best and cover all senarios and seasons!
The various rod powers and the way each of them imparts it’s power and in turn ‘action’, to your various jigs is important to understand. Look at the weight and shape of the jig and the rating on the rod and try to match them, test your jigs to see how the rod works with them close to the boat (at about 3 to 4m below the surface). Just about every rod and jig has a different action and jigs need to be worked accordingly. Remember, this action beside the boat will always be reduced at greater depth, it will become slightly slower and less aggresive, again this is due to the braid drag and any arcing with the tide etc. The addition of these slight loads obviously increase with more depth and current, they reduce some of the rods power, in-effect making it slower and a bit harder to work.
In the UK we are looking at using jigs from about 40g to 120g inshore (say 20 – 50m) and then from 100g to 250g offshore (say 50 – 100m). Conditions and tide will determine what you go for on the day but your choice of set up and rod need to start roughly in the middle of these ranges. If you use a lighter rod with heavier jigs, actions will be slowed, some jigs can prefer this. If you use a heavier more powerful rod the actions will be faster but you will also get better useage when conditions are more challenging. Its always good to have options, but I’d recommended to start in the middle or slightly higher than the middle of the ranges above. Don’t be surprised after a while of starting SPJ, that you’ll soon be looking for a second set up to cover more options comfortably, I usually have a few at hand!
Quality rods, the Palmarius P+

The SPJ Reel
The reel is the tiny power house used to hold and retrieve line whilst jigging and for bringing your fish up to the boat, but there is also a bit more to it. A good quality small, well balanced, over head reel is best and ideally with a good rate of retrieve. A strong and smooth drag is also important but it really needs a nice powerful retrieve. This is useful because the rod is just too light and cannot be used to pump and lift the fish up, remember to just keep the rod low and use the reel smoothly like a winch. Having a 100% full spool of braid also helps increase the retrieve rate and allows for better working of the jig up through the water column, it also makes it easier to get into a smooth rhythm. When fully loaded just 1 turn can grab close to 1m of line.
Whilst jigging, remember to fish with one hand cupping the rod and reel and one hand ALWAYS on the reel handle. Although we do strike, it’s not enough on it’s own as the rod is so soft and short, it’s the winding super fast into a fish that tightens everything up and initially helps set the hooks. It’s also worth noting that there’s often very little pressure between the fish and the hooks at the time of the take, this is because the fish is hitting the jig as it falls or ‘hangs’. Yes, it may hook it’s self, but time is of the essence, keep your hand on the handle, get winding and lift your rod firmly and make sure!

Jigs
So, unlike a lure that swims in a steady and straightish line, your slow pitch jig’s movement can be much more erratic looking like a wounded or dying fish. This can attract fish that are less focused on feeding, as well as the harder feeding fish. Jigs will mostly get hit by fish when on the drop and whilst stationary, basically before or after a lifting pitch with the rod or during or after a fall.
Jig selection is important and it’s easy to spend your hard earned cash on jigs that look good but aren’t actually that practical or productive. In the past I’ve been guilty of this and used to have dozens of various shaped jigs, most never got used more than once or twice! Finding practical and effective patterns is key and that’s what I’ve acheived with JOKER. Currently the main range is just 4 jigs in various colours and weights and these give anglers various options and cover all senarios.
Various weight and shape jigs will move differently through the water, not only on the uplift but as they fall. Some create better actions but can be prone to streaming away more quickly, especially when tide or wind come into play.
The last thing you want is to own great rod jigging rod and reel combo and then use an unsuitable jig (or braid) that streams off into the distance before you even hit the bottom! Maybe that particular style of jig is ok on a calm day and at slack water, but 9 times out of 10 there’s some wind to move the boat away from that perfect drift. Also remember that there’s some epic fishing to be had when the tide is strong and fish are feeding hard, often holding tight to the bottom or over structure. I think it’s actually the BEST time and it’s a total myth that jigging is for neap tides and slack water!
My slimmer JOKER jigs look more like traditional ‘speed’ jigs but they actually fish really well ‘slowly’ and with the ‘long fall’ technique as well as with the faster movements! The highly versatile JOKER Slammer and Cobra could actually be called MIXED PITCH JIGS. They’re slightly unsymmetrical but punch and dart well, they also have a various other benefits. They get down through the water column very quickly, they catch less drag, not only with the tidal stream, but whilst actually jigging, so they tend to load the rod less. These are some of the key factors that are helpful in staying vertical for longer especially on days with bigger tides or wind.
JOKER XL jig roll

Timing and boat position is critical!
The timing of your ‘pitching’, ‘falling’ and ‘drop in’ are also important. We need to know where the fish are because the more time with your jig spent in the ‘strike zone’ with your line vertical means more fish to the boat. The sonar screen and knowledgeable skipper can be helping with this.
On my charter boat, Silver Halo, when we locate those hot spots of fish my drifts will obviously concentrate more to that area and the start of the drift will be positioned to allow for jigs to drop in just ahead of the fish.
If you’re fishing in challenging conditions when the boat is being held or pushed by the wind and the tide and jig is going away from you quickly, use a heavier, slimmer, smoother profiled jig. Also consider using a more powerful, longer rod. However, sometimes it can be impossible to stay vertical for long so ideally the skipper needs to shorten the drift and start a bit tighter to the structure and fish, allowing for any angles that lines may take and position the boat accordingly. This scenario with boat position and larger angles is often more common with lure fishing on tougher days, but when you’re dead keen on jigging it’s surprising what conditions you can still catch fish in!
Another top tip is to rotate with other Slow Pitch Jigging anglers across the stern, this is ideal on my small group charters onboard Silver Halo. Simply take it in turns to throw the jig up-tide (normally the way I set up a drift it will be throwing the jig to the port side) so it then falls back toward the boat, you will gain precious vertical time as you fish the jig across the stern and off to the starboard side, moving across the deck as you do it. Once again, the ideal scenario is to make sure this vertical window of fishing time is timed with the ‘strike zone’, you want your jig to arrive in the fish holding area in its best shape and line most vertical! Once it looks like it’s streamed away, say about 10m or so away from vertical, get it back up, reposition and throw it uptide and fish again, either that or wait for the next drift. When fishing in just 35m to 70m this doesnt take too long to achieve, however, when fishing in over 250m it’s a bit of a nightmare, but each day is different and it’s all part of the fun (or frustration).
So together, having a focused skipper, using team work, quality tackle (set up correctly), the understanding of Slow Pitch Jigging starts to grow, these are real game changers. When it all comes together you’ll catch a lot more fish and you really just can’t beat it!

Other Notes
I’ve put together dozens of slow pitch jigging videos, many provide tips and advice on the technique and you can see all of the great JOKER tackle in use. You’ll find ‘JOKER Jigs and Lures’ over at YouTube on this LINK.
JOKER also has a great Facebook page and group, please take a look and give a ‘like’ HERE
Whilst here please don’t forget to check out the awesome JOKER Catches Gallery, it’s a great place to find inspiration with over 500 great images of fish caught on JOKER JIGS AND LURES! You can find that right HERE
Over time I’ve appeared in both Sea Angler and Saltwater Boat Angler magazines with articles covering my charters and use of SPJ in UK waters. Please ask the publishers for the relevant back issues.
If your a novice, new to Slow Pitch Jigging or even an experienced sea angler, don’t worry, I’m happy to provide tuition, tackle, advice and tips onboard my charters. You can try before you buy, with no obligation, but please note dates and spaces are in high demand.
If like to know more or have any questions please use the contact form and if you’re keen to grab a date then please use the booking form over at Silver Halo Charters to get booked in, however, if dates aren’t available there, please message me direct.
Thanks Matt Forrester, owner of JOKER Jigs and Lures / Silver Halo Charters. 07970 176604.
Matt, Skipper
