Shortfloating Jigs for Chum Salmon

As we creep towards October the chum salmon start moving into most of the lower mainland flows and they are readily catchable on the fly or with gear.  Fresh chum tend to be quite aggressive biters and although you may see people flossing or snagging these fish it is entirely unnecessary.  Short floating for chum with blades or jigs generally results in hookups with cleaner/fresher fish and decreases the risk for lost and broken gear that can result from foul hooking these large strong fish.

Jigs are a great lure to use for short floating because they are durable, ride hook point up which reduces hang ups, and are very effective in any system that you can find chum residing in.

Do it yourself jig kits are available in most lower mainland tackle shops and if you already tie flies for salmon you will most likely have all of the materials you need to tie up some jigs.

Basic jigs can be tied with a strip of crosscut rabbit wrapped forward along the shank from the hook bend to the head and finished with the webby portion of a Schlappen feather.  Purple and pink are the most popular colors associated with targeting chum, but you really have unlimited options when it comes to color combinations.  Think about orange, red, chartreuse and black combinations as well.

Flash can be added to patterns in several ways.  The easiest way is to add 10-20 strands of crystal flash, flashabou accent, or flashabou along the hook shank so that it extends beyond the end of the rabbit strip.  This addition is subtle and if you do not like it, you can simply cut out the flash without impacting the jig in any way.

 
Material substitutions add to the flexibility of these patterns.  My favorite substitution is dropping the crosscut rabbit and using UV polar chenille palmered forward with all of the fibers pulled backwards with each wrap.  Crystal hackle, normal polar chenille, and large palmer chenille will also work well for this application.




Try a few of these out in the coming month and you will be pleasantly surprised at how well they work.


Cheers,

J