Jigging for salmon takes quite a bit of patience. It is usually done by people who don’t have live bait around and don’t enjoy trolling. It is a real art and takes a while to master it. Most peoples tackle boxes included a Buzz Bomb in the 1980’s and 1990’s if they were thinking about jigging and hence the name “buzz bombing” took effect. The Buzz Bomb was a lure that created a “buzzing” or vibrating noize that was supposed to irritate the salmon and cause them to strike.

Buzz Bombs are not as popular as they used to be. People generally use a lure that imitates a small herring or needlefish now. Mac Deeps, which are local to Vancouver Island, are one of the more popular salmon fishing lures in that area. Washington and California use varied jigs, but all are supposed to imitate an injured herring that will dart up and then flutter downwards as if injured.

The art to jigging is in the attention and touch. It is important to have a rod that is limber enough to feel little nips as a salmon may take a pass and barely touch it as it passes. First time fisherman rarely have good success doing this technique and will have to exert a fair amount of patience  while fishing.