Yo Yo Jig for Yellowtail | How To Catch More Fish

Yellowtail Love the Yo Yo

You have probably heard the term Yo Yo Jigging before. If you are an offshore fisherman in Southern California, it is something that we hear constantly. Especially with the influx of tuna over the past decade or so. But one fish that really like the Yo Yo Jig are Yellowtail!

Yo Yo Jig – What is it?

To get you going in the right direction, I guess it would make sense if you know what I mean when I say Yo Yo Jig. Yo Yo Jigging is actually a style of fishing rather than a bait itself. It is a technique that is highly effective for these predators and pretty easy to do. It just takes some patience and persistence.

The technique itself is pretty straight forward and simple. You drop you jig down to the fish zone and wind, wind wind! Wind fast and furiously until you are up out of the zone, drop it back down, and do it all over again. You do this over and over until you get bit, or have drifted out of the zone and the captain tells you to wind them up, it’s time to move.

My Yo Yo Jig Gear

Jigging for big yellowtail doesn’t necessarily require you to go out and purchase all new gear. It does require you to have gear capable of hooking one of these brutes, turning their head and ultimately getting them to the boat though. If you are out at the islands, or out fishing tuna you probably have gear that is good to go. You want a rod with a nice backbone capable of putting the hurt on these fish, a reel with enough power to slow the fish and turn their head and the right line.

My go-to yo yo jig set up consists of an Okuma PCH Custom 7′ Heavy or X-Heavy rod paired up with an Okuma Tesoro 12S spooled up with 65lb Soft Steel Eminent Braid and a 40lb Soft Steel Fluoro-Stretch Fluorocarbon leader. There is some thought behind my madness and I’ll tell you why.

The Rod

On the rod, I mentioned that I like the Okuma PCH Custom 7′ Heavy or X-Heavy rod. These rods have a somewhat fast action and a good amount of backbone for getting a firm hookset, turning the fish and ultimately doing a lot of the work for me. These rods are nice, and priced great. Many a fish has donated their lives to my freezer on these rods.

The Reel

For my reel I like the Tesoro. They are compact, well built and what I like, High Speed. You don’t necessarily need a high speed reel for Yo Yo Jig fishing, but the older and lazier I get, I like it. Here is my thinking behind the Tesoro and why I like these high speed reels.

First off is the build. It is a fully machined aluminum star drag reel that is very stout but light weight. It puts out over 22lbs of drag, which is plenty of stopping power for these fish.

Next, the Tesoro 12S holds 475 yards of 65lb Soft Steel Eminent Braid plus the top shot that I like to use which is generally about 7′ or so of that Soft Steel 40lb Fluoro-Stretch.

Lastly and most importantly, I get close to 4 FEET of line per every crank of the handle. This is where the high speed gear ratio comes in. You read that right, 4 FEET! Actually, it is listed at 46″ of line per crank of the handle. Let me be clear why I like that. Lets say we are fishing in 120 feet of water out at San Clemente Island and the captain says he sees fish down at roughly 90 feet down to the bottom. That is a 30 foot span of water that the fish are schooled up in. If I drop my heavy jig down to the bottom, touch dirt, and start to crank, it only takes me 8 cranks to cover that entire water column. 8 cranks x 4-feet equals 32 feet of water that is covered in those 8 cranks. Make sense? I hope so.

My Jigs

Now as far as the actual jigs go for Yo Yo Jig fishing, that is completely up to the angler. Personal choice goes a long way. I like to fish the heavy jigs a lot, and have a good selection with me at all times. You can fish the Yo Yo with lots of different brands and styles. Knife Jigs work fine, but I personally like the standard iron shapes when I am fishing this technique.

I mentioned that I have a good selection with me and I do. Usually my selection will consist of a couple of different size jigs as well as many different colors.

Size and Color

For sizes, generally you will find 4/0, 45, 9, A2, AA, C and TLC jigs. This basically refers to size/length. Just be sure when you are looking to purchase your jigs that you are looking for the Heavy versions of these jigs. The most common Jig you will find are the 4/0 heavy jigs. These are roughly 6″ in length and weigh roughly 6 ounces. You can fish the lighter surface version, but they generally take too long to sink to the bottom to be effective. And on a long drift, that can be bad as the scope of your line will get you quite a ways from the boat, and most likely out of the zone.

As far as color goes, there are some key colors that I will always have with me. Scrambled Egg, Blue & White, Green & Yellow, Dorado, Mint & White, Blue Chrome and I like Reds. Dark, deep reds. I find those to resemble red crab when it is around.

As far as hook configurations go, you will find either Treble Hook (most common) or single hook. Personally I like the treble hook, but it becomes personal preference.

Showing the Technique

In this short video I describe and show you exactly how to Yo Yo Jig for yellowtail and other predators. There are a few what not to do’s in there as well.

I hope this video gives you a little more understanding on fishing the Yo Yo Jig. It is crazy good! Tiring, but good.

Good luck out there and hope to see you on the water!
Davey

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