

Unlike speed jigging, which is meant to imitate a fleeing baitfish and incite faster pelagic species, slow-pitch jigging imitates a wounded or dying baitfish. His seminars and instruction have helped make the tactic more accessible to anglers of all experience levels, and his input has helped tackle manufacturers create lures and gear for the tactic. Ortiz, a pioneer of slow-pitch jigging in the U.S., and has used the tactic to catch more than 80 species while fishing depths from 50 to 2,000 feet. “Benny loves this color for Pulley Ridge,” or, “I think Benny will be on my trip later this summer,” and, my favorite, “Don’t let Benny know you were using bait!” Though he was not on that particular trip, anglers mentioned his name reverently the entire time, giving the impression I was hearing celebrity gossip more than fishing talk. If we’re going to continue the cult analogy, then I should mention the high priest of slow pitch jigging, Benny Ortiz.

Tuna, from this blackfin in the Gulf of Mexico to school bluefin in the Northeast, aggressively attack slow-pitch jigs, often on the initial descent.

I couldn’t wait to try it on my home waters in the Northeast. However, by the end of the trip, after catching a variety of snapper, grouper, and blackfin tuna with the gear, I had a much better idea of what slow-pitch jigging was all about. On the ride out, I heard plenty of examples of what slow-pitch jigging wasn’t, including, “Can you believe Mike fishes bucktails for fluke on his slow-pitch rod and thinks he’s slow-pitch jigging!” Much like poor Mike, I’d packed along several bucktail jigs I intended to use, but perhaps not in front of that crowd.
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The whole atmosphere made slow-pitch jigging feel more like a cult than a fishing technique.ĭespite having all the necessary tackle and a basic knowledge of how to use it, I still wasn’t totally sure what differentiated slow pitch jigging from regular old vertical jigging.

One fisherman ran a jig under his nose, as if sniffing a cigar, before pocketing it. On the 10-hour ride out, anglers talked late into the night, showing off their slow-pitch jigs, often hiding them behind cupped hands as they were passed around. The jolthead porgy, a larger cousin of the Northeast’s scup, was among nearly a dozen species that fell to slow-pitch jigs on a trip aboard the Yankee Capts headboat out of Key West, Florida.
