Jig Advice

[Brett's_daddy]

Okay, I am new to jig fishing and would like to try it and place a small order through @Siebert Outdoors. My setup would be a 7ft. - 7ft. 3in M/F or MH/F rod with a new BPS Pro Qualifier 2 reel (I would also be using a Pflueger President Limited Edition spinning reel size 30 at times w/a 7ft. MH/F rod) in the 6.8:1 (28 IPT) gear ratio spooled with 12lb. Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon. My question is this, there are so many jig types and weights for different applications (rocky, grassy/weedy, brush, muddy etc.) which kind/style should I get and what size/weight? I'm fishing mostly for LMB. Should I get a few of each type at first or just concentrate on a specific type (i.e.-brush) for now until I get accustomed to it? At first I was thinking like maybe 3 or 4 each of Brush, G2 Football and maybe a couple of Sniper but if that's overkill for a beginning jig fisherman i could scale back...what do you think?

[RichF]

I use jigs more than any other bait.  There are definitely different style jigs specifically designed for different types of cover but I pretty much ignore all that.  I'm a big fan of keeping it as simple as possible so I use the same style jig for pretty much all cover: wood, grass, rock.  One of my favorites is the All Terrain Tackle jig in 1/2 oz and 3/4 oz.  It has a super basic head with a recessed line tie, which I really like.  I fish these jigs on medium-heavy and heavy baitcasting rods with 17-20lb fluoro and 40-65lb braid (depending on cover).  Most guys will think that's overkill, but it's what I'm comfortable with.  

 

Since you're just starting out with jigs, I'd suggest 3/8 - 1/2 oz on your 7 med-heavy baitcasting.  I don't like line less than 15lb test for jigs so I'd suggest around that or heavier.  If you plan to fish around a lot of grass, I recommend braid.  If you want to throw jigs on your spinning outfit, go with a finesse jig.  They should have a lighter wire hook which will make penetrating the fishes' mouth easier with lighter tackle. 

 

 

[roadwarrior]

Start with these:  http://www.siebertoutdoors.com/Extreme-G2-Football-Jig-1031.htm

 

[jimf]

I'm with @RichFin keeping it simple.  It's amazing the options with jigs now, compared to 30 years ago when there was like one jig on the market.   I like the BPS Enticer jigs, sturdy hook, simple, and right how less than $3 a pop on sale.   I do have a few cone shaped heads, but mostly what I use are the football heads.  

[WRB]

My advice is this, start with a high percent style jig suitable for the type of structure and or cover where you fish.

Rocky steep sloping banks and structure with sparse weed cover a football jig works good. Recommend GYCB weedless black plain 3/8 and 1/2 oz FB jig / Gamakatsu 4/0 hook, no skirt and use 4" or 5" Hula grub. $4 for 4 jigs plus Hula grubs, can't do better quality per $.

Heavier cover areas with brush and or weeds use Sieberts Arkie style jig 3/8 and 1/2 oz with weed guard and skirt with 4" Chigger craw or Rage twin tail crawls. Colors; black- blue and green- purple combinations.

Fish the jigs using the same technique as a sliding weight Texas rig worm.

No reason to get more jig styles for a few seasons, learn the above few before adding more variables.

Tom

 

 

[NHBull]

A FB and a swim jig is where I started and glad I did so.

Soon, you will find a preference and a line or 2 you like

 

I keep it simple...open water, slightly small Guage hook,.......grass, slightly larger.

Brown

Green pumpkin 

Black/ blue

[Oklahoma Mike]

What kind of water are you fishing? That Seiberts G2 that roadwarrior posted is a good choice (though I prefer the Gridiorn G2 because I am an Owner hooks guy). You might also look at grabbing a couple of brush jigs. Those two will cover most situations you're likely to fish.

 

if you're fishing deeper water then you might want the 1/2 oz. For pond fishing 3/8 will be my preferred weight unless it is really deep or if I'm fishing through some thicker stuff where I might need more weight to get it to fall down through the cover.

 

I'd skip the sniper for now unless you're fishing really clear water. 

[CTBassin860]

Grab a few of those dredge brush jigs with the Owner Deep Throats while your at it.He makes a very nice looking jig.

[Fish the Mitt]

@Brett's_daddy

In my opinion, choosing a jig is solely dependent on the body of water you're fishing. Sure, they make a million types of jigs, but each does have it's place (ie: technique specific application). There are structure jigs, brush jigs, flippin jigs, finesse jigs, hair jigs, swimjigs, bladed jigs, etc.. and each of these have a purpose or an ideal application. However, like all things starting out, keep it simple. Don't get too caught up in the 1 million types of jigs and focus solely on just learning how to fish a jig (the jig you choose). Paying attention to not only how and where but also when.

 

BUT, before you do that, it would be best to choose a starting jig based on the water in which you're fishing. 

 

-Dragging/jigging it across hard bottom? Football head style jig

-Pitching into submerged brush/cover? Choose a jig meant for cover/deflection (generally a more narrow taper on the head)

-Riddled with heavy/dense cover? Flipping jig or a punch/assault skirt

-Swimming it through lots of grass? Perhaps a swimjig or bladed jig is more your style.

- etc etc etc

 

While I am extremely partial to Kustom Kicker Jigs and their selection/quality, I would imagine most any jig manufacturer has a lineup that can accompany an angler pretty much wherever he/she goes. 

 

So again, don't go out and buy 25 jigs if you're just starting out. Choose a handful and start from there. Don't over complicate things before even starting. 

 

[S. Sass]

2 hours ago, MassBassin508 said:

Grab a few of those dredge brush jigs with the Owner Deep Throats while your at it.He makes a very nice looking jig.

I totally agree. ^^^  

Dredge Brush Jig from http://www.siebertoutdoors.com is a excellent product, very reasonably priced, hand made, and a forum sponsor. I also love the Owner Deep Throat jig hook. There are all sorts of options and Mike has always been very very helpful. 

 

 

[WRB]

The jig hook and design needs to be compatible to the rod, reel and line being used...read the OP's initial post. Brush jigs with heavy wire hooks may not be appropriate.

Tom

[S. Sass]

2 minutes ago, WRB said:

The jig hook and design needs to be compatible to the rod, reel and line being used...read the OP's initial post. Brush jigs with heavy wire hooks may not be appropriate.

Tom

Maybe I should have been more specific. 

15 hours ago, Brett's_daddy said:

My setup would be a 7ft. - 7ft. 3in M/F or MH/F rod with a new BPS Pro Qualifier 2 reel (I would also be using a Pflueger President Limited Edition spinning reel size 30 at times w/a 7ft. MH/F rod) in the 6.8:1 (28 IPT) gear ratio spooled with 12lb. Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon.

Using a 7ft. - 7ft. 3in MH/F rod with a new BPS Pro Qualifier 2 reel with around 15# or stronger line will work fine for a 3/8 oz to 1/2 oz Dredge Brush Jig.  I have used very similar setups mainly with the 3/8 oz to 1/2 oz Dredge Brush Jig with no issues. I suggest to stay in the specs of the rod for the lure weight and line weight of your specific rod though.  My MH/F rods fit in this style just fine hopefully yours will as well.

 

 

[Catt]

The Jig is one of the most productive lures for fishing heavy cover of any type known to anglers.

The Jig is one of the most productive lures for catching larger than average bass.

But despite its pure awesomeness the angler must keep in mind there will be days when the bass simply do not want a jig.

So to all the young anglers (not chronological but experientially) struggling when casting, flipping, pitching, or punching with the Awesome Jig keep in mind there will be times when the Jig aint gonna be that AWESOME.

[RichF]

4 hours ago, Catt said:

The Jig is one of the most productive lures for fishing heavy cover of any type known to anglers.

The Jig is one of the most productive lures for catching larger than average bass.

But despite its pure awesomeness the angler must keep in mind there will be days when the bass simply do not want a jig.

So to all the young anglers (not chronological but experientially) struggling when casting, flipping, pitching, or punching with the Awesome Jig keep in mind there will be times when the Jig aint gonna be that AWESOME.

 

 

Nonsense! 

[WRB]

9 hours ago, S. Sass said:

Maybe I should have been more specific. 

Using a 7ft. - 7ft. 3in MH/F rod with a new BPS Pro Qualifier 2 reel with around 15# or stronger line will work fine for a 3/8 oz to 1/2 oz Dredge Brush Jig.  I have used very similar setups mainly with the 3/8 oz to 1/2 oz Dredge Brush Jig with no issues. I suggest to stay in the specs of the rod for the lure weight and line weight of your specific rod though.  My MH/F rods fit in this style just fine hopefully yours will as well.

 

 

12 lb isn't 15, Medium or MH rod tends towards lighter power jig/worm rods, both compromise hook sets using .078 wire heavy hooks typical with flipping or brush jigs. Just trying to educate a few folks the higher power rods work better with some types of jigs. My personal jigs are are 5 and 6 power with line from 10 to 20 lb depending on the jig and hook type used.

Tom

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

12 lb isn't 15, Medium or MH rod tends towards lighter power jig/worm rods,

both compromise hook sets using .078 wire heavy hooks typical with flipping or brush jigs. 

 

    0.078" Wire ?            I would fish that jig with a broom handle    

[Siebert Outdoors]

For just starting out I would keep it simple.  I would go with a Grid Iron Arky package 3/8.  2 Dredge footballs 1/2 in black blue and bama craw.  Then probably 2 Sniper Jigs in Bama Craw, black blue  in 5/16. ***/8 oz bluegill swim jig.

This is roughly $30 and will get you started to see how it fits your style and test out many of the different ways of fishing a jig.

[WRB]

1 hour ago, RoLo said:

 

    0.078" Wire ?            I would fish that jig with a broom handle    

Unless Siebert is using the Owner 5304 hook .055 dia wire or Mustad 32786 .060 wire, brush jigs have XXX heavy wire hooks.

Tom

[S. Sass]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

12 lb isn't 15, Medium or MH rod tends towards lighter power jig/worm rods, both compromise hook sets using .078 wire heavy hooks typical with flipping or brush jigs. Just trying to educate a few folks the higher power rods work better with some types of jigs. My personal jigs are are 5 and 6 power with line from 10 to 20 lb depending on the jig and hook type used.

Tom

The way I read what the OP wrote was he stated no line suggestion for the BPS Pro Qualifier 2 reel that he had not decided if he was either going to use a Medium or a Medium Heavy rod with. I read his line size of 12# was for his spinning reel?

On 3/27/2017 at 8:53 AM, Brett's_daddy said:

(I would also be using a Pflueger President Limited Edition spinning reel size 30 at times w/a 7ft. MH/F rod) in the 6.8:1 (28 IPT) gear ratio spooled with 12lb. Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon.

As I specifically stated the MH not the M in my recommendation along with #15 or stronger line for the BPQ reel. 

11 hours ago, S. Sass said:

Using a 7ft. - 7ft. 3in MH/F rod with a new BPS Pro Qualifier 2 reel with around 15# or stronger line will work fine for a 3/8 oz to 1/2 oz Dredge Brush Jig.

I also stated 

11 hours ago, S. Sass said:

stay in the specs of the rod for the lure weight and line weight of your specific rod though.

So I really don't see where the issue with what I said and with you "trying to educate a few folks". 

 

The wire diameter on 5/0 is .048 in the ones I have from Mike. I have no problem with hook sets with 15# or higher Big Game mono on my MH Aetos or Ethos rods using these hooks. This has been my experience sure it could have been tweaked in a perfect world but we are far from perfect on this planet. 

 

 

 

[WRB]

No issue with standard wire .045/.050 premium jig hooks, I use .046 5/0 Gamakatsu #114 for my jigs using 10 lb to 16 lb line. If that is the wire dia Siebert uses on his brush jigs there shouldn't be any issues with the OP's tackle he plans to use. It's the heavy wire hooks common on flipping and brush jigs that needs skilled hook set with 12 lb FC so the line doesn't break trying to penetrate the basses mouth.

Tom

[papajoe222]

Don't let your head start spinning with all the choices because it will never stop. Try a couple of Mike's suggestions and become confident in their ability to produce for you the way you prefer to present them. If you begin with too many, you'll be second guessing your choices when you can't find one that does work. An arkie, or football and a swiming head are good places to begin.