There probably hasn’t been a more successful jig that has caught more doggies in a shorter period of time in my time in its existence than the Trophy Hunter The Jet jig. One of the most common questions we get especially this time of year when many people aim to make their pilgrimage to the reef and/or the Pacific countries to tackle these absolute beasts of a fish. After many years and trips of targeting these fish I have refined my ideal dogtooth jig to 3 main factors
1. Profile
Although not technically a true ‘tuna’ they certainly seem to have the tendency to like eating small things. If you look at some of the jigs we have caught our biggest dogtooth on it looks smaller than a toothpick in the mouth of a monster class doggie! Not only does the smaller profile make the jig easier to work but you generally get a better hook up rate with smaller lures.
2. Fast Sink Rate In the beginning we were all about the slower, flutter style jigs mainly due to the ideal profile we were getting bites from. Upon the obvious realisation that we were getting 95% of bites on the retrieve NOT on the way down which pretty much rendered the action on the drop not really useful we started to try to lightly finger the braid on the drop to try to hurry the descent of these 'slow' jigs! Nowadays we just opt for the jig that does it for you, not only starting jigging faster but less tangles as you don’t have a jig corkscrewing on the way down!
3. Easy to work There is no doubt the main preference of speed is exactly that - speed! Coming from the mechanical kingfish background this was no problem, although with the smaller size and weights it was actually a lovely change jigging these with pace! The smaller profile of doggie jigs are easier to work and although I don’t think you need to be absolutely going at breakneck speed at all time I do believe the consistency of the tempo definitely triggers the reaction bite. Jigs that are easy to work will fatigue you less and you can save the energy for the main battle, remember dogtooth jigging is usually a marathon not a sprint! Days of jigging in the tropics can be sapping and the fishing itself is just about paying your dues and being patient (and lucky!).
