Affordable Jigs and Frogs

[KayakFish107]

Hey everyone, been lurking here for a while, and finally decided to create an account and join this awesome community! First and foremost, I'm looking to get a few jigs, but am unsure where to start! I've read lots of previous topics, and none of them address my question exactly, or not recently. I'm looking to get some jigs, preferably not very expensive. I've started to fish for bass more and more ever since I was exposed to the sport, but I just don't have very much money for a lot of gear. I now love to fish, but just can't afford very much. I have an extremely tight budget, and when I say tight, I mean it! With school payments and everything else, it's hard to afford anything. To say the least, I'm dead broke! 

 

For jigs, I would like a couple that work well in mostly any conditions. I usually fish lakes with lots of reeds, weed flats, and sand (Wisconsin lakes, so not the most prime of areas, but still great fishing to be had!) and a couple rivers. It looks like by what has been recommended in the past is generally black/blue and pumpkin/browns. I'm thinking of getting each of these colors in maybe a 3/8 oz. I am thinking it would be a good middle of the road weight that I could fish in shallower and if need be deeper water. For as far as brands, it looks like just about everyone recommends Mike's jigs, Siebert Outdoors or Northstar Custom Baits. I would love to get some jigs like these that everyone swears by, but with shipping and everything, it's looking like they are out of my budget. Would love to have a huge selection to choose from when I'm on the water, but it's not feasible. Are there any good but cheap brands that I should look into? 

 

Also, I'm also looking at getting a frog or two to try out. Looks like pad crashers and live target frogs are the way to go, but again, are there any good cheaper options? 

 

Any help would be very much appreciated, as I'm a little stuck at the moment. Thanks everyone, and tight lines!

[bigfruits]

siebert is a good place for jigs. pay attention if the hooks are heavy, medium or light wire. a heavy wire hook will not be easy to set with a medium light rod, for example. a light wire hook might not be the best choice for heavy cover and a heavy rod.

 

i buy quality jig heads (siebert,cadman,elken) and add skirts by using a $2 skirt tool. PM me if you are interested in putting your own jigs together and ill send you some links and info.

[CTBassin860]

First off welcome to the forum! Siebertoutdoors.com for all your jigging needs.If you dont want to order online the Strike King jigs are reasonable.As for frogs Scum frogs arent badly priced and the Booyah Pad Crashers are the best bang for the buck if you ask me.

[Bassn4fun]

I've had very good luck with the booyah boo jig, they're cheap and most walmarts sell them.  Also the booyah pad crusher for frogs.

[MittenMouth]

2 minutes ago, MassBassin508 said:

First off welcome to the forum! Siebertoutdoors.com for all your jigging needs.If you dont want to order online the Strike King jigs are reasonable.As for frogs Scum frogs arent badly priced and the Booyah Pad Crashers are the best bang for the buck if you ask me.

I haven't fished scum frogs before but this is pretty much was I was about to type. I like the wired option for jigs but I still use Strike King in some cases. They don't hold up very well though over time compared to some of the quality jigs out there. 

 

Originally I thought Siebert was going to be just ok jigs and that he was getting most of his business because of the sponsorship on the site- then I ordered some.  I pulled an order together for a bunch of "samples" to see how they were and I was impressed. I'll be putting together another order shortly that's more refined for how I typically fish jigs. 

[S. Sass]

1 minute ago, MassBassin508 said:

First off welcome to the forum! Siebertoutdoors.com for all your jigging needs.

^^^ This Mike is about as cheap as I have found for a jig that has any quality. The price he sells them for along with the quality components and the obvious deliberate care taken when making them make Mike's a very hard value to beat.

 

Sure you can find cheaper jigs and catch fish with them but you also get what you pay for. The materials are subpar especially the hooks not being near the quality. 

 

As for fishing the rivers I have nothing to offer as a suggestion I don't fish rivers. But lots of reeds, weed flats, and sand I have fished plenty and the Dredge Brush Jig has worked well for all around use. 

[CTBassin860]

1 minute ago, S. Sass said:

^^^ This Mike is about as cheap as I have found for a jig that has any quality. The price he sells them for along with the quality components and the obvious deliberate care taken when making them make Mike's a very hard value to beat.

 

Sure you can find cheaper jigs and catch fish with them but you also get what you pay for. The materials are subpar especially the hooks not being near the quality. 

 

As for fishing the rivers I have nothing to offer as a suggestion I don't fish rivers. But lots of reeds, weed flats, and sand I have fished plenty and the Dredge Brush Jig has worked well for all around use. 

Dredge brush jig,you can pitch it,flip it,swim it.Its the wonder jig.After buying from Mike i don't see myself buying from anywhere else.Quality is top notch.

[wisconsin heat]

There is no cheaper legitimate frog than the Booyah Pad Crasher. For less than 6 bucks you get a frog that has everything you need: Quality components including hook, skirt and body. Its heavy enough to cast long distances on baitcasting gear unlike scum frogs, and the bodies hold up to a lot of fish. 

 

Jigs are jigs, you're gonna pay $3/4 for one.

 

What I do is buy BOSS heads and I make my own skirts. However they also offer banded skirts for pretty cheap, to build your own. If you don't want to go that route, then I'd buy seiberts. Just a real quality jig and it is on the lower end of the price range when you compare them to like dirty jigs or other brands.

[ww2farmer]

5 minutes ago, wisconsin heat said:

There is no cheaper legitimate frog than the Booyah Pad Crasher. For less than 6 bucks you get a frog that has everything you need: Quality components including hook, skirt and body. Its heavy enough to cast long distances on baitcasting gear unlike scum frogs, and the bodies hold up to a lot of fish. 

 

What I do is buy BOSS heads and I make my own skirts. However they also offer banded skirts for pretty cheap, to build your own. 

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Exactly what I do. I am a big fan of the Booyah Frogs, and I also buy Boss jig heads, and Boss skirts and put them together in combinations that I like.

[hunterPRO1]

booyah pad crasher hands down for the frog.

 

 

[standman]

If you want to spend even less, try the Jawbone frogs from Dicks.  Tough to beat, when they have 5 for $10 deal going on. Yes, they do catch fish!  Trim the skirt a little, bend the hooks out a bit, and you're good to go. They are not very durable (biggest problem I found with them is the weight in the belly falling out), but other than that, they work just fine. 

 

[CTBassin860]

3 minutes ago, standman said:

If you want to spend even less, try the Jawbone frogs from Dicks.  Tough to beat, when they have 5 for $10 deal going on. Yes, they do catch fish!  Trim the skirt a little, bend the hooks out a bit, and you're good to go. They are not very durable (biggest problem I found with them is the weight in the belly falling out), but other than that, they work just fine. 

 

So you recommend he buy a bunch of frogs that fall apart??

[standman]

4 minutes ago, MassBassin508 said:

So you recommend he buy a bunch of frogs that fall apart??

They all fall apart eventually.  

 

[sully420]

51 minutes ago, wisconsin heat said:

There is no cheaper legitimate frog than the Booyah Pad Crasher. For less than 6 bucks you get a frog that has everything you need: Quality components including hook, skirt and body. Its heavy enough to cast long distances on baitcasting gear unlike scum frogs, and the bodies hold up to a lot of fish. 

 

Jigs are jigs, you're gonna pay $3/4 for one.

 

What I do is buy BOSS heads and I make my own skirts. However they also offer banded skirts for pretty cheap, to build your own. If you don't want to go that route, then I'd buy seiberts. Just a real quality jig and it is on the lower end of the price range when you compare them to like dirty jigs or other brands.

I love the boss lineup there jigs and skirts are cheap and awesome great colors.

[roadwarrior]

Send me a PM with your real name and mailing address.

 

 

 

[Rudy523]

I get great hand made Jigs at good prices  from frugal Jigs you can even design your own http://fishingfrugallures.com/

another place that make nice hybride Jigs is Double D Jigs good prices and nice quality www.double-d-jigs.com

[wisconsin heat]

Here's what I was talking about with the boss jigs. You can get them at tw or their website fishingskirts.com

 

 

4 pack of jigs $6

 

 

Then get a 5 pack of skirts for $3.50

 

So for a total of $9.50, you get four quality jigs. Comes out to $2.37 per jig.

[Munkin]

Cheap jigs that are available locally would be the Booyah Boo or Strike King Bitsy. Like others I make my own because I like what I like and it keeps the cost down.

 

Allen

[KayakFish107]

Wow, thanks for all of the replies! Some great info! 

 

It it sounds like definitely Siebert's is the most recommended. I'll try to get in contact with him to see what it maybe will cost for a couple two-three shipped to my door if I can afford them, and what colors he thinks would be the best. 

 

I also see strike king and booyah jigs mentioned a couple of times. Are their bitsy jigs going to be large enough, as I usually have only seen them in a 1/4 oz I believe. 

 

The third option that a lot of you guys recommended was making my own with boss jigs and skirts. I looked it up, and it looks like there's a very popular fishing skirt site that was mentioned (I'm not sure if I can post their site, so I'll play it safe!) that has everything that I would need. Would it be worth it to make them for 2.50-3$ a piece instead of just buying a couple strike king or booyah jigs, or a little more for Sieberts? Are the hooks and weed guards going to be much better?

 

It looks like I was spot on with the pad crusher frogs. I'll see if I can find some locally to check them out in person and maybe pick one up. I was thinking maybe the bullfrog color?  Second, would I be better off getting the popping version or the regular style? I'll probably only be able to get one if I can find them, so if one is a little more versatile than the other one, I'll go that route!

 

Thanks for all of your help everyone, can't thank you enough! Love this forum! Tight lines

[KayakFish107]

Also, for the trailers, I have a pack of havoc dark brown craws. Would these work fairly well on almost anything? Or should I pick up a pack of something a little different?

[RoLo]

 

If the Pad Crasher sold for 50% more, it would still be worth the price.

The soft, crushable body gives you the best hookup ratio you can expect from a frog.

Bass miss about 25% of the topwaters they attack, so hooking 3 out of 4 would be batting 1000.

 

My wife fashions all her own jigs using Gary Klein's Boss jigs.

It doesn't matter how much I pay for a jig, she still outfishes me  

 

Roger

[J Francho]

I've been on the Pad Crasher bus for a few years now.  Love them.

 

For jigs, you want to get some premium, wire tied jigs from Siebert.  They aren't real expensive, and the skirts last forever.

[Munkin]

If you are interested in making your own I am sure Seibert would sell you just the jigheads. 

 

Allen 

[frosty]

I'll throw my votes in for siebert and the booyaa pad crasher. I just got my first couple jigs from siebert a couple weeks ago, very impressed with the quality and the colors. Good luck, I know the pain of being a fisherman on a budget 

[S. Sass]

1 hour ago, Munkin said:

If you are interested in making your own I am sure Seibert would sell you just the jigheads. 

 

Allen 

He sells skirts and he sells just the naked jigs. Here is the page http://siebertoutdoors.com/Tackle-Making_c32.htm

 

Personally I get the wire tied completed jigs unless I am adding rattles. They have been holding up extremely well and I have thrown them everywhere. That wire tie Mike does is outstanding at holding the skirts. Just the fact I don't have to touch them before fishing makes it worth the few cents extra to me.