I brought up this jig since their was a discussion on another thread about what people feel are the top cod jigs.....but i should clarify here.
Out on the northwest coast, they have a number of speices that they call cod, from the Pacific Cod, to the Black Cod and Ling Cod. Pacific Cod, like Pacific Pollock, are pretty low on the rod and reel west coast fishermens list of desireable fish to catch, as you can see from what Willy G stated. Black cod are a deep water species which is usually exported, so that leaves the ling cod. This jig is basically used for the very aggressive ling cod, and other assorted and various rockfish.
Goliath you are most certainly correct that the 10 oz Angermann works so well since it is the smallest and lightest jig used on the boats up north. I know Codkiller or Willy G, can verify this. Yet as Codkiller has stated, the FISHERMEN OF THE YEAR on the Bunny Clark, exclusively uses a 16 oz angermann, as his main jig, no matter the depth. This lends weight to the theory that its all more important in the way you work the jig, then the size jig you are using.
I am not a fan of the Crippled Herring, yet i do know that they are very popular, and that one commercial rod and reel fishermen out of the Cape, now uses it as his main jig, and he has used the angermann in the past. So that does show me something on how good this jig must be.
Codkiller raises a excellent point....when jigging, we try to set up on drifts, and cast the jigs out, and work it in along the bottom. A jig rigged like the MUDRAKER, MIGHT have a tendency to foul when casting, and MAY have a greater probability of getting hung on the bottom, as its dragged along on its side. This jig may best be a simple toss out jig, that you want to go straight down top the bottom, to prevent fouling.
Another good point that Codkiller mentions, is that a simple large sinker, such as say, a big drail can be jury rigged in such a manner, with the teaser on the top. Just as on the west coast, where homemade WAHOO BOMBS are made from egg sinkers with mylar flash, a spinner and large hook, i do believe that you can very simply, make your own MUDRAKER style jigs, that work well and catch fish. As i stated in a post, years ago i have seen and used the old white pipe jigs (some were made out of the metal from shopping carts) that were used on the Montauk party boats, and caught cod very well on them.
Finally Goliath mentions something that every fishermen i know does with a lure...they get comfortable with it, and never experiment with anything else. I fall into that category when i fished the Cape for cod and used my S&G 97s and 12s exclusively, even though i had a bunch of norway jigs, vikes with me. Now i would bring angermanns, DBs, and other jigs with me, rigged, all in a different manner. By swithcing off from one different jig to the next, you learn, what works better when the fish are feeding close to the bottom, or chasing bait, or when the tide is running hard, and so on. This is really important in my book, and something that should be remembered. Great tip in my book Goliath.
EC NEWELL MAN*
