Hi Tffers'
My question is, when lowering jig to the bottom, what reel speed do you use when bringing the jig back up non-stop? How many seconds per handle turn do you start with? Especially when the bite is slow using other methods.

I rarely get bit reeling up. I get lots of bites on the fall . I use baitcasters,
I will put it in free spool , thumb the spool and strip a foot or so of line at a time
and let it fall. If I get bit , I set the hook ,keeping the spool thumbed hard till I can
turn the crank and engage the reel. This works better for me than letting a bait fall
free spool from a spinning reel . I will say over 90% of my bites are while deadsticking
the bait. The other 10 % are a combo of on the fall , a 6 inch " hop ".
and a 2 ft lift and drop, and the pitch and pendulum . The last method was
actually the best on a couple of trips this spring, but not lately.
All of the above apply to fishing over brushpiles , which is about all I do these days.

PS
I am no expert >

Mo

Not sure I understand what you are asking. I don't worry about reel speed when I am reeling up. Are you talking about vertical jigging or casting?

I usually pull the line with my left hand while holding the rod with my right. Like a fly rod. I don't reel unless I'm moving, changing baits, or making large adjustments in depth.

I do this as well. Slow pull up with a twitch every once and a while. I do find this works better and more often on vertical structure and sometimes the fish just don't want it like that. It's all trial and error to see what they want on a given day.

If I don't know exactly how deep the fish are holding and I'm just prospecting, instead of just slowly reeling up through the water column, I work one section of water at a time. I break it down into about 4'-5' sections of water and will work top to bottom or bottom to top, depending on what type of structure I'm fishing. If I'm working bottom to top I drop my jig to the bottom, lift it about 1'-2' and dead stick for 15-30 seconds. Then move it up another couple feet and dead stick again. If no bites, I do a slow lift and lower through that 4' section of water. If no bites again, reel up about 4-5' and work the next section of water column. If I haven't got any bites after making it back to the top, I move on to the next spot.

I have found active fish that wanted a jig reeled up slowly and have done just what the OP described, but only on a couple occasions. When I did that I reeled so slowly it was painful. One turn of the handle in about 30 seconds.

Lots of good techniques mentioned.
I like to lower the jig with the rod tip, fishing top down to begin with. A very slow slow fall. Bait has to look like it's swimming down, so I'm lowering it really slow. If no takers, then it's to the bottom and reel up very very slowly. Pick the jig up one ft and hold it for 10-15 seconds, then reeling up very very slowly stopping every 2 ft, then very light twitch. Sometimes the pendulum swing is the best for that day. Just have to experiment.

I agree with Miles, I'm moving the bait so slow sometimes it's painful. But getting in a big hurry with fast movements of a jig is usually not going to pay off except when the fish are really aggressive.

If you have 360 and can see the fish, you can determine how deep they are holding. After you establish the depth they are holding that day, then peel off that depth minus 1 ft. And slowly lower the jig to that depth. If no hit, slowly move the jig sideways like the jig is swimming off.

No matter what technique you use, it's imperative you know how deep you are catching the fish on a given day. Repeating that depth is a key factor in catching that day.

If I am dead sticking a JIG vertical I seldom get to the bottom.Whether I`m fishing a Bridge Pilling or a BRUSH PILE, after using my electronics to get the actual depth of water I`m sitting in ,I use my Rods length to determine the initial depth I want to start(unless I see fish images at a specific depth) and pull off line @ 1ft increments until I get a thump. ie. If I`m using an 8ft rod my initial depth will be 8ft.I will hold it there for 15-20 sec`s... no bite.. repete the process etc. etc.If they are there and they are in an aggressive mode my jig won`t see the bottom.If my jig does make it to the bottom, & I don`t see fish images on my electronics,I won`t be stubborn and waste my time I`ll just move to another Pilling or BP. If I do see images..... then it becomes a little bit more interesting & all you jigging guys know what I mean!Let the Experimentation Games begin!

Wow! Thank every one of you! Exactly the answers I was looking for. I usually deadstick or pitch the jig. Reason I was asking is when my techniques weren't getting bit another gentleman was by reeling steadily off the bottom.I couldn't duplicate it. What I've picked up on from y'all is painfully slow may be the key. Thank y'all, greatly appreciated!

If I'm confident that I'm in the strike zone but not getting bit then I will raise the jig slowly just by lifting my rod tip a few feet and then quickly dropping the rod tip back to the water surface and let the jig free fall. Sometimes I'll get bit when raising the jig but mostly when it falls.

I agree I never dead stick
I use bait casters with a flippin switch never have to turn handle to enguage.Always bottom up for me

I only dead stick live bait and start at the depth that I see them.Ha!

A Tadpole is nothing but a baby Frog! Get you some of that DW!

Let's go!!!!!!

Got me some swim froggey swim.

What dw said.