It all started a little over 27 years ago. While fishing a small stream in Alaska and twitching small marabou jigs for Trophy Rainbows we ran into a problem and the problem was that the Silvers in the river liked the jigs better than the Rainbows. So it started with tying jigs in different colors to even better attract the silvers and in short order it was apparent that I had come up with something that would revolutionize my Salmon fishing. That same Fall I brought this new technique down to the Washington coast and for the following 15 or more years I had something special that allowed me to catch Fall Salmon with constancy that was matched by no other technique. However like all good things, time changes and now the Northwest fishing community knows about Twitching Jigs and it has also has become the go to technique for tons of other fisherman casting for Salmon.
In the quest to always be on the for front of fishing techniques and working with a tremendous company like Pautzke I was able to come up with a way to make my jigs a little different than the majority of the other Anglers.
Twitching Jigs is a representation of either squid or Shrimp and how they move through the water. With our ability to make or tie jigs in all sorts of colors and styles we are now able to catch salmon in all water flows and water colors, however the one thing we are still missing is making our jigs smell like that, that we are trying to imitate.
With the use of fresh Squid I can now have a jig that looks and swims like a squid but also smells like one, and we all know how well salmon smell. With a little sea salt, Pautzke Fire Brine, Pautzke Broaxo-fire and Pautzke Nectar I can make a squid tough and smell irrestible to Salmon.
Taking a fresh Squid and cutting the hood open, length wise and cleaning out the hood putting the tentacles in a bag to use later for steelhead (soon to be later blog). After cleaning the hood out take some scissors and cut hood into long thin strips roughly ¼ thick. You are now ready to cure.
Take a small Container and add
1/8 cup Sea Salt
1/8 cup Pink Fire Brine (or your color choice)
1/8 cup Pink Broaxo-fire (or your color choice)
Pautzke nectar – enough to just cover squid making your cure into a thin paste
Now add your squid into the cure and allow to sit overnight and you’re ready to fish.
Using your squid while Twitching for Salmon. Squid is already pretty tough but the curing makes it not only tougher but enhances its smell while adding the krill and egg smell overwhelming the salmon making your jig irresistible.
With your squid cut into skinny lengths you can now add to your jig. I like to cut my squid strips down to about 2” lengths. I now take the squid and simply push the tip of the squid onto my hook roughly a ¼ inch from the end of the strip. This will allow the squid strip to lay right along the tail and move with the tail not impeding the hook from sticking the salmon but all along adding the smell that salmon crave.
As more and more fisherman find out about twitching for salmon, it is these a little additions that will help you catch more salmon this fall. Now go get yourself some fresh squid and grab some Pautzke product and catch more salmon.