Slow pitch jigging has become the go-to offshore technique for Queensland fishing educator Ryan Moody, who has released a full tutorial on the method that he says converts refused bait bites into hookups on demersal species in moderate-depth water.
"It's my favourite form of fishing in offshore waters cuz you can get fish to bite when they're not biting on bait," Moody said in the opening of his ten-minute instructional video. The tutorial is aimed at anglers new to the method and carefully distinguishes slow pitch jigging from mechanical jigging — the latter relying on 200-to-400-gram pencil jigs, heavy tackle and an erratic bobbing action aimed at pelagic species such as kingfish and dogtooth tuna.
The slow pitch approach uses lighter keel-weighted levitator jigs that flutter sideways on the fall, mimicking an injured baitfish or squid. Connection is via loop knot to the solid ring on the assist hooks — never the split ring, which Moody warned can unseat from the solid ring mid-fight and lose the fish.
Jig weight choice is a function of depth and tidal flow. An 80-gram jig is Moody's maximum in calm conditions — he is willing to push it to 50 or 60 metres of water if current allows — but he upgrades to 100 or 120 grams when run builds, and switches to drift fishing when current becomes excessive.
The core retrieve is subtle. Small upward jig movements of around two metres above the bottom are paired with a brief slack period on the fall that allows the lure to flutter naturally. "It's all about letting the lure do its own thing by maintaining a bit of slack," Moody said, emphasising that strikes frequently come during the fall and register as either a jolt transmitted through braid or a line that stays dead slack after the expected tightness.
For anglers dealing with overwhelming current, Moody demonstrated a drift-past strategy using GPS track observation to line up a vertical drop 30 to 50 metres up-current of the target structure. "The jig is remaining pretty much straight up and down below us. And that's what we want," he said, noting the technique allows a full vertical presentation while the boat tracks naturally past the spot.
The tutorial also flags a useful dual-purpose feature of slow pitch jigs: cranked quickly back to the surface, they behave like a metal slice and can convert an incidental pelagic encounter into a trevally or mackerel catch on the way up.