Finesse Jigs

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

Lost both of my jigs today so will buy more soon.  Was considering getting some finesse jigs to throw in the thick stuff.  Anyone use these?  Football heads seem more for open water from what I understand.  The ones I had before were swim jigs but I mainly dragged them on the bottom.

[gulfcaptain]

Kietech makes some smaller jigs that you could throw into the thick stuff if it's a smaller jig you're looking for.  Little more money since they are tungsten, but they are nice and might be what you're looking for.

[Mr_Scrogg]

Define "thick stuff"

Brush, timber, weeds, grass, rock?

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

Define "thick stuff"

Brush, timber, weeds, grass, rock?

wood mainly, but also vegetation coming up out of the water

[Mr_Scrogg]

Vegetation/grass, I'd swim a jig over it if its submerged. Wood, Arkies or brush jigs work well.

Finesse jigs would work as well, If you want a smaller profile, for finicky fish.

[deep]

Finesse jig to me means the finesse cut; you snip off the outer layer of skirt real short so that it flares out. You can do the finesse cut on ANY jig- any jighead, any hookstyle.

 

Jighead style depends on type of cover you're fishing; hook style (angle, shank length, gap, gauge) depends on if you're fishing them on long casts or short-line situations. Choose your weedguard depending on the cover type too.

 

P.S. for pitching/ flipping around wood, the usual "brush jig" might work well.

[ClackerBuzz]

how many lures did you break off today    i up my line test when bank fishing to prevent so many break offs. plus sometimes you really gotta put muscle on bass when on the shore to stop him from running into cover.  And you have hogs in Texas. If i lived there I'd be using minimum 15lb fluoro from shore.  Straight 65lb braid around weeds.

[camo]

What weight of jigs are you throwing?

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

What weight of jigs are you throwing?

 

The two I lost today were this lure http://www.basspro.com/Hart-Tackle-Justice-Jig-with-Chunk-Trailer/product/10209660/

[gulfcaptain]

That's not really a finesse jig.  When I think finesse jig, I'm thinking smaller jig, hook size in the 2/0 range and 1/4 to 3/8oz.  Small and compact.  Guess to me it's more of a scaled down jig.  What are you throwing the jigs on, FC, Mono, Braid?  What pound test?  I would probably fish the smaller jigs on 20-30lb braid staight, but if needed 15lb FC topshot.  You could also go with one of the SK structure swing heads and rig a creature/craw behind it.  Give you a weedless option as well as a bait you can drag and keep bottom contact with.

[kickerfish1]

Not a bad jig. I have fished some of those before. For wood and weed combinations I like the Alien Head or Flipping style jig. Both Siebert and Northstar makes some great jigs in this head style. They come through cover quite well with the only type of cover they struggle with a bit is rock though they aren't that bad. When you say finesse jig usually I am thinking something like an Eakins style jig that has a smaller weight, a round head, skirt collar flared in front and smaller trailer. You can find these on TW or Sieberts website. Two other options would be the NorthStar Hair jigs in the Alienhead design or their Flip and Swim jig which excels at coming through cover.

 

I basically break down my hundreds of jigs as follows:

1. Football Jigs
2. Flipping/Alien head jigs
3. Swim jigs
4. Flip and Swim jigs
5. Arky head jigs
6. Hair jigs
7. Mop/Hippy jigs/Living rubber jigs
8. Eakins style jigs
9. Finesse hair/bucktail/rabbit hair jigs
10. Chatterbait or bladed swim jigs

These categories while still under the label of "jig" all behave different and have different designs and triggering qualities that make them successful at different times during the year. I also will use different trailers, trailer sizes, and styles depending upon the style of jig I am using though there isn't any cut and dry rules and sometimes going against the grain and selecting something unusual for that style of jig could be just as productive as a more common trailer choice.

[Texas Hawg Hunter]

That's not really a finesse jig.  When I think finesse jig, I'm thinking smaller jig, hook size in the 2/0 range and 1/4 to 3/8oz.  Small and compact.  Guess to me it's more of a scaled down jig.  What are you throwing the jigs on, FC, Mono, Braid?  What pound test?  I would probably fish the smaller jigs on 20-30lb braid staight, but if needed 15lb FC topshot.  You could also go with one of the SK structure swing heads and rig a creature/craw behind it.  Give you a weedless option as well as a bait you can drag and keep bottom contact with.

I know...I was saying I was thinking about trying out some finesse jigs.

[smalljaw67]

I make my own, I use a round head with a 60 degree flat eye hook so my finesse jigs look like the Eakins jigs which I purposely copied as they work great. There are 3 finesse jigs that I like and if I didn't make my own these would be the ones I would use, the Siebert Outdoors finesse jig, the Jewel Bait Finesse jig, and the Ezee Jigs Finesse jig. I tried a lot of different head styles and weights when trying to find a good finesse jig and when I used the Eakins jig, well that was great and it was perfect to fish in the places that I throw a finesse jig like shallow rock flats and boat docks, the edge of grass flats and shallow drop offs where the water changes depth. The 60 degree flat eye provides a good pull point while keeping the knot off the bottom, my favorite weights are different that the Eakins jig which is why I started making my own, I like 1/8oz in cold water but after that I like the 3/16oz to 5/16oz range the best.

[OkobojiEagle]

There is a little known jig named the "Hairy Bug" that I've grown fond of.  The only place I've found it is a small website named Redshad.xxx

 

 

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[Darren.]

Todd, you can try out the Booyah Baby Boo jigs.

 

http://www.basspro.com/BOOYAH-Baby-Boo-Jig/product/51623/

 

I've got some, lost some, but they're nice. Silicone

skirt, good hook. 3/16 and 5/16 oz.

 

Any jig can hang up in sticks, etc. I've found some 

when the water was really low that were tied on with 

some rope-thick braid.

[ww2farmer]

Todd, you can try out the Booyah Baby Boo jigs.

 

http://www.basspro.com/BOOYAH-Baby-Boo-Jig/product/51623/

 

I've got some, lost some, but they're nice. Silicone

skirt, good hook. 3/16 and 5/16 oz.

 

Any jig can hang up in sticks, etc. I've found some 

when the water was really low that were tied on with 

some rope-thick braid.

The Booyah jigs are decent......BUT they have a really light wire hook that is very prone to bending, and I am not the biggest fan of the ultra fine silicone skirts they use, I still like "regular" thickness skirt strands on my finesse jigs (just not as many). Of coarse there is the SK Bitsy Flip, but they are kind of junk. I have switched to the Boss finesse flip heads, good stout hook, cheap, and readily available at TW or from Boss directly. They even have them in light wire hook versions if you like a lighter hook. Boss makes jigs skirts that come with a rattle band in a 5 pack for $4, in over 40 different color combos, I put those on the finesse flip heads, and trim and thin as needed to make a "finesse" skirt. That's a pretty decent jig for about $2 IMHO.

[PersicoTrotaVA]

Any of the Keitech jigs.  The tungsten gives them a smaller profile.  The MONO Spin Jig and the GUARD Spin Jig really take it to the extreme, but guess what?  They catch fish, big fish.

[Bluebasser86]

I pour my own finesse jig with a heavier wire hook and it works great in thicker cover. Also like to build a 1/4 or 3/8 ounce brush jig with a finesse cut skirt for fish in heavy cover that want a smaller profile. 

[War Eagle 44]

These are my favorite finesse jigs. They are made by PJ's jigs and if I remember correctly their proper name is Lil' Brush Jig. They are quite small with a small, but very sturdy, Mustad Ultra Point hook. I've fished them on 30# braid and never bent a hook. I've caught tons of spots on these little guys and our local tackle shop has a hard time keeping these in stock, especially this color. I tied the skirts with braid myself as they come with a rubber band style collar. They really are very good finesse jigs.