Jig tips?

[Mj89]

I have caught several nice bass on jigs but I spend more time snagged on the bottom than actually fishing them. I have stopped buying them because I keep losing them. Any tips on avoiding this?

[fish devil]

As the saying goes " If you ain't losing them, you ain't fishing them properly".  Its just part of fishing jigs. They are fairly cheap compared to hard lures.  

[Turkey sandwich]

What style of jig are you fishing and what type of cover? Also, how heavy? Are you fishing from shore or in a boat?

 

There's also a lot of feel to jig fishing, and once you get it down, life will get easier. 

[Mj89]

Mostly an arkie style jig. 3/8 and 1/2 oz mostly. Cover is mostly wood and rock

[NorthE97]

1 minute ago, Mj89 said:

Mostly an arkie style jig. 3/8 and 1/2 oz mostly. Cover is mostly wood and rock

Try n u t e c h jigs. Rarely loose them.

[Catt]

Most anglers try forcing jigs through cover which is all wrong, ya gotta finesse em through.

 

When you feel the jig starting to load up...stop!

 

Release the pressure, pull up until you feel heaviness again but apply slightly more pressure, then release; repeat until the jig breaks free. You want the motion to be similar to & as fast as working a shaky head, you're just applying more pressure each time.

 

Once the jig slips free...ya might wanna hold on...tight!

 

Will work with all jig types

[S. Sass]

Are you modifying the weed guard? I don't cut the guards on mine and they work fine.

 

I fish with forum sponsored SeibertOutdoors jigs and have lost a few but caught way more fish than I've lost jigs. The best part of using his jigs is the quality of jig for the price. 

[bigfruits]

over time you will lose less jigs. do as exactly as Catt suggests. finessing them through is the perfect way to describe it.

 

when you hit the log or rock, stop. shake in place. when you are ready to move on, give it a small hop to clear the rock or second higher branch. start with you short drags, hops, shakes again.

 

little shakes usually pull it free. move the boat to the other side of the snag and shake a bit. that should should free the jig 95% of the time.  a lure retriever is the 3rd option. cheap and pays for itself very quickly.

 

jigs are what I mostly use. i lose less than half the amt i did when i first started fishing them now.       

 

buying quality jigheads, a $2 skirt tool and some skirts will save you a lot of money in the long run.  

[RoLo]

 

For starters, be sure to use a streamlined jig with a spire-point jighead (swim-jig)

and low-swept weedguard (avoid weedguards that form a square corner with the jighead).

When your jig stalls in cover, instead of bulling it thru the sticking point,

coax it gently by applying and releasing pressure until the jig makes it to a clearing. 

In addition, drop down to a 1/4 oz jig or less to negotiate a troubled bottom.

 

Roger

 

 

[jr231]

I have a couple tips for ya... 

 

 

Fish a jig more often ! Because even in the north I've found them to work year round... 

 

 

You don't need many colors... Black, green, brown will get it done everywhere. 

 

Rage tails and zoom pro chunk are all I need really . Lots of action and then a more subtle action. (Swim jigs I like single tail grubs) 

 

Try the strike king bitsy bug with a rage chunk this summer. You'll catch numbers and some nice ones. Green pumpkin with a black chunk is my favorite. 

[ClackerBuzz]

use lighter jigs, especially if ur fishing rocky bottoms.  and when ur snagged don't pull forward.  lift upward with the rod tip.  i'd guess ur fishing from the bank b/c you can get most snags back from a kayak/boat.

 

only buy jigs with vertical eyes b/c they pull over obstacles better.  around rocks or thick weeds I use a glass bead in front of my senko b/c it allows them to pull thru like butter.  you could do the same with jigs. if there is no current you can just go weightless with a T rigged senko or beaver. it's the same slow drag presentation

[Todd2]

Shaking works more times than not.....and yes after the shake do nothing but line watch for a bit. If that doesn't free it..the old bow and arrow trick might work although it seems to work better with treble hooks for me. In either case, after it frees up..just stop and watch your line for ANYTHING..then feel down fast and swing for the fences.

[Fishes in trees]

IMO football heads work way better than arkie heads fishing around rock.  That's what they were designed for.   IMO fishing a pointy headed swim jigs around rocks & wood is just asking for it.   Jig fishing to me is an acquired skill and for me it comes & goes.   I have days with jigs when I'm throwing them everywhere and the feel is right and I go all day and never lose a jig.    Other days the feel is off and I donate one to the lake gods every 5 minutes or so.

[Catt]

When it comes to jigs everyone has their own personal repertoire of confusion!

 

What I look for in a jig is a smooth transition from the line to the eye & around the belly, which requires the eye (either one) to be slightly rolled forward. The reasoning is I want my jig to follow the line up to the cover & then slide over or through the cover smoothly. I want a quality brush/weed guard & a quality hook, both are more important to me than head design.

 

If I'm working a shoreline or offshore structure I do not switch jigs just because the cover changed; I can cast, swim, flip, pitch, or punch any style jig!

[WRB]

We have 19 pages of Q & A on jig fishing at the top of this forum page....

I hate to lose jigs and you don't need to lose them every outing. The OP is new to jig fishing and using a good style Arkie Jig that shouldn't be snagging a lot. Catt has some excellent advice and I will add that anyone who can work a Texas rigged worm with a bullet weight through the same structure /cover without hanging it up should be able to fish a jig through the same stuff. 

The problem is usually too heavy of a jig and letting it settle down on the bottom without controlling the line tension, losing contact with what the jig is going through. This should only happen if you get a backlash and have lots of slack line, shouldn't happen during a retrieve.

You will in time develop a technique to free snagged jigs and T-rigged bullet weights. My method is similar to Catt and first try not to allow the jig to get snagged by working it through cover or rocks carefully. If the jig stops I almost always know it's going happen and first shake the rod tip with a little slack line to free it, works 90% of the time. If shaking it doesn't free the jig then I use Catts technique, if that doesn't work I change angles if possible and try the opposite direction or directly over the snag. On a good day the snag pulls back!

Tom