Micro jigging is all the rage now among local anglers

THE latest fishing trend, micro jigging has been found to be more effective and productive, in term of catches, to using vertical lures.

A micro jig, aside from being smaller and lighter, seems to be able to attract many different species of fish at different depths.

This vertical lure, made from metal, is easy to use and it basically uses the flick and retrieve method.

Its continuous action in creating a rhythmic erratic motion, similarly to the walk the dog action, entices fish to attack the lure.

Micro jigging is effective not only for schooling or pelagic fish but has been proven to be attractive to bottom dwellers and coral fishes.

However, this type of fishing is only effective near islands and places with plenty of coral, rocky seabeds, next to an unjam (a fish aggregating device) or artificial reefs.

Using micro jigs seems to be more popular on the east coast as the currents there are far milder than those in the Straits of Malacca.

However, micro jigging can still be used on the west coast but these activities are only confined to islands, where there are plenty of corals and weaker current.

Micro jig is cheaper than the long vertical metal jig, goes well with a jigging rod, which has a longer butt that enables an angler to grip on to the rod by placing its handle underneath the armpit when creating the jigging motion to retrieve the lure from the deep.

Personally, I prefer a 5.5ft or 6ft light power fast action rod for this type of fishing.

For the main line, I normally use between 8lb and 15lb braided line, depending where I fish and the type of species targeted, fitted to a 2,000 series light weight spinning reel.

For jigs, I use a range of between 18 and 38g with lures that come in many different colours and shape.

However, many said that the light green or green coloured jigs, in the shape of the ikan bilis (anchovies), are more suitable when jigging on the east coast.

Although I have not yet tried this, I believe the shape and colour of the lure, which resembles the bilis that are found in abundance there during the fishing season, would fool the fish into thinking that it is its food.

As for the hook, many people would remove the treble hook and replace it with a single hook.

One of the reasons for doing this is to reduce any chances of the lure getting hooked onto a snag, either on the coral or other structures in the water, when retrieving the jig.

Honestly, I found fishing with a micro jig is fun and more challenging especially with a much lighter setup as it gives plenty of adrenaline kick in a tug of war with the fish.

Happy fishing.