Wire Tie vs. Line Tie vs. Rubber Collar for Jigs

[Nibbles]

I'm thinking about tying my own jigs, and ordered some skirting material and jigheads. These will be primarily for personal use. My question is, does tying a jig one way or another make any difference other than affecting the durability of the jig?

I know that rubber bands fall apart after awhile, but the thing is that I lose around 2-5 jigs every time I go fishing, so durability isn't my primary concern here. However, if line tying or wire tying a jig affects the action of the skirt, I might contemplate taking more time to tie them rather than snap a rubber collar on them.

Just wondering if it would be worth my time to hand tie all my jigs if their life span is only going to be an average of 2-4 weeks.

[Jigfishn10]

I hand tie the skirts to the jig only for the fact that rubber bands tend to stretch and the next thing you know it, you pull the jig out of water and the skirt slid off the collar.

Many members in this forum use wire and swear by that. So it's really a matter of preference and doesn't have any affects to the jig or skirt.

Good luck. I'm sure once the water in your area gets hard, you'll have plenty of time to make a seasons worth of jigs.  ;D

[Captain Obvious]

Wire Tie and here are the main reasons

- They make the skirt flair more

- They last longer

If  you are doing a jig with a rubber skirt then its a must to have it wired tied. Other wise you loose the advantage of the rubber skirt.

[Siebert Outdoors]

Like said above you will need to tie rubber skirts for the best use and durability. 

It is really a personal preference call.  If you are making your own and losing that many I would probably band them because of time and hassle.  Now I fish a jig alot and might lose 12 a year.  So alot of mine are wire tied or I band them and if it starts to rot I then wire tie it.  The benifit you have when you make your own is you can always just make a few more and dont have to keep a big stock of assembled jigs.

[Nibbles]

You only lose 12 a year? That's pretty impressive.

I think I ordered upwards of 30 jigs from you altogether a couple of months back - they're all at the bottom of the local lakes I fish now.  ;D

The lakes I fish are chock full of hidden snags. Sunken branches, sunken logs, sunken trees, lost trot lines, flat rocks, heck I even pulled out a rolled up chicken wire fence once! Plus I shore fish on these lakes, so it's not as easy to shake jigs loose once they've snagged something.

So every outing, I end up losing a couple. Some days I have really bad luck and get hung up with almost every cast.

[nanticoke]

The regular collars are ok unless you are skipping a jig alot then the wire tie is a must. You might try spreading the weedguard out a little if you are losing a lot of jigs, this will help.

[rubba bubba]

Wire is also great if you want a lot of strands - since you don't have to work them through an opening.  Having said that, I band mine as I only make as many as I need and then make more on the fly if required.

[Nibbles]

The regular collars are ok unless you are skipping a jig alot then the wire tie is a must. You might try spreading the weedguard out a little if you are losing a lot of jigs, this will help.

I've tried that. My problem is that I have a hair trigger and set the hook whenever I feel abnormal resistance. Half the time I get hung up real good because I set the hook right into the log or whatever thinking it was a fish.  ;D

[nanticoke]

There is no doubt it is a tough "feel" to learn.  But the reward is well worth all of the frustration. (and lost jigs)

[Siebert Outdoors]

I've tried that. My problem is that I have a hair trigger and set the hook whenever I feel abnormal resistance. Half the time I get hung up real good because I set the hook right into the log or whatever thinking it was a fish. ;D

LOL, thats how I use to do it and lost alot of jigs. I also have found techniques to get most of them back that are wedged in rocks and hung on rocks. 12 is an estimate but it has to be close. I dont know if you fish out of a boat but that helps retrieval also. Typically if you get behind the jig and pull it opposite the way you got hung it pops out of the wedge. When one gets hung as much as I use to and sometimes still do you learn tricks to get stuff back. ;D

[Nibbles]

I've tried that. My problem is that I have a hair trigger and set the hook whenever I feel abnormal resistance. Half the time I get hung up real good because I set the hook right into the log or whatever thinking it was a fish. ;D

LOL, thats how I use to do it and lost alot of jigs. I also have found techniques to get most of them back that are wedged in rocks and hung on rocks. 12 is an estimate but it has to be close. I dont know if you fish out of a boat but that helps retrieval also. Typically if you get behind the jig and pull it opposite the way you got hung it pops out of the wedge. When one gets hung as much as I use to and sometimes still do you learn tricks to get stuff back. ;D

I don't own a boat, but I do tag along with boaters from time to time. I don't really lose a lot of jigs on a boat because I can pull from different directions, and because I fish on a boat on larger lakes that are far less treacherous than the local park ponds I shore fish from in terms of hidden crap that I can snag on.

[Siebert Outdoors]

yeah, when I bank fish(rarely) i tend to do the same.  Unless its creek fishing then I just go get it.

[Jigfishn10]

I bank fish a lot as well and have lost my share of jigs. You'll get tto the point where you'll know when you snagged and when a fish hits. When you know you snagged, the worst thing you can do is to try an rip the jig out. Try a light jigging motion at different angles and your jig will come out of the snag more often than not. If all else fails, put the spurs to her and let it rip...LOL

Oh, and don't be like me and snag a snapping turtle. They don't like it very much... ;D