Product Review: OT Jig

By Mark Gercovich

Jigging in deepwater and closer inshore is an angling method that seems to be experiencing a resurgence in popularity over the past few years. Some jigs these days are beginning to push hardbody lures in quality of finish and design, but also in price. This is all very well and good, until the barracuda, tailor or mackerel move in to steal your jig.

The new Daiwa OT jigs are a welcome arrival to jig throwing anglers like me. While primarily designed as a cast and retrieve lure with a couple of adjustments they can be effectively fished vertically and used to tempt the deepwater jig loving species.                                      

The OT Jig is nicer designed and looking that most cast and retrieve jigs, have some great looking colour options and don’t break the bank when you lose them.

Before fishing the OT jig vertically, I usually make an adjustment to the hook set up. This is done simply by removing the treble for the rear of the lure and adding some form of assist hook to the top of the lure in a traditional “jigging” style. Daiwa Retro fit- Assists hooks work well on the 20g jig for light jigging. This is then beefed up to BKK Sea Ranger assist hooks in size S for the 40g or M for the 60g in deeper water applications or bigger fish. The UV strip on the white flash pattern is definitely my favorite in the OT range for jigging the depths. 

I will always happily fish the lure with the treble straight out of the box when casting and retrieving but once it has had its life, I'll often then replace it with a single. The strength and size of that single will be determined by the fish I'm targeting. The same 30g or 40g OT jig that can be perfect for fish the size of salmon and tailor, can also be used for fish as big as school tuna or mackerel, with a larger hook on it. Particularly when these larger species are honed in on small bait fish, casting a small profile metal can bring them undone when they are refusing larger offerings.

At the other end of the jig, I always like to add a ring and a swivel to the set-up, particularly in cases of repetitive or long casing. This seems to help protect the connection between the mainline and the lure as well as giving a little more insurance to the razor gang without going full wire trace.

So, whether you are casting or working your jig vertical the OT Jig is a great lure to add to your lure collection.