I need some education on jigs please

[NavyVet1204]

UPDATE: 

4/14/22

Went today with the wife and kiddo to the lake and armed with knowledge from you all on this thread I caught my first fish of the season and my first Jig fish! It was about a 6# catfish! Lol

I was using a 1/2oz black blue flake jig with a rage craw trailer of matching color and hopping it on the bottom. I want to post a picture but can’t figure out how to get from 10MB down to the required 1.46MB.
 

 

 

Can I fish any jig by hopping it off the bottom just as I do a shakey head setup? What I mean to be exact is, is there a “correct” style jig for hopping up and down on the bottom like I would with the shakey head technique? 

 

About a year ago I went off half cocked and bought a dozen or so different style jigs(football,finesse, etc.) without taking note of the different types of heads thinking that a jig was just that…a jig. Some of them are tapered looking and the football is obviously shaped so and the finesse is round. There is also the vertical/horizontal line tie on the heads and I don’t understand the difference there either. 

[Chaos10691]

Just now, NavyVet1204 said:

Can I fish any jig by hopping it off the bottom just as I do a shakey head setup? What I mean to be exact is, is there a “correct” style jig for hopping up and down on the bottom like I would with the shakey head technique? 

 

About a year ago I went off half cocked and bought a dozen or so different style jigs(football,finesse, etc.) without taking note of the different types of heads thinking that a jig was just that…a jig. Some of them are tapered looking and the football is obviously shaped so and the finesse is round. There is also the vertical/horizontal line tie on the heads and I don’t understand the difference there either. 

You can work them however you want. The different heads and hooks are for different types of structure.

The finesse jigs typically have a lighter hook so they can be thrown on lighter line and a lighter rod. They’re good for smaller presentation if say you’re in a pressured area or the fish just don’t want something large. They don’t usually have a stout weedguard so they’re ok for light cover.

 

 The football jigs come through rock really well and they have finesse and regular hooks depending which you get. Personally they’re my winter jig of choice because in my mind I do consider them to be the ‘dragging’ type of jig.

 

The tapered head you mentioned is a casting or pitching jig I assume. Great all around jig if you had to go with just one style in my opinion.

 

There’s another type of jig called a flipping jig that is more sharply tapered almost a triangle shaped head. They’re great for wood and grass and usually have stouter hooks cause they’re intended to fished in heavier cover.

 

As for the line ties over honestly never paid much attention to that when deciding which jig to buy. Someone could school me on what orientation is used for what.

 

I am 100% sure I glossed over a ton and maybe even got something wrong so anyone feel free to correct me. 

[WRB]

A shaky head is also a jig designed for worm. The bass isn’t interested in the jig head they are attracted to the movement of the trailer 1st, a jig skirt is part of the trailer moments.

You can shake any jig including a Ned rig jig.

The difference is you can’t cast every jig into cover successfully.

Hop, drag, swim, shake are presentation choices to determine what the bass may react to. Try em all.

Tom

[NavyVet1204]

Thank you friends.I appreciate your response and it has greatly helped me. I feel much better about blindly buying those jigs now lol

 

 

[padon]

in general use the football heads in rock. they will work in wood or grass but get hung up much more.

[WRB]

WI have approximately 65 years experience fishing Bass jigs of all types. 

My 1st bass just was 3/8 oz ball head Doll fly black hair jig with red threads. I remember this jig very clearly because we sold them at the boat landing my brother worked at and had to earn getting the jig by working all day like a shave.

At the end of the boat landing there was a small shake were the spare outboard motors were stored that were not locked onto boats. We had a board in the middle of the shake to left I lift out for emergencies to pee into. Big crappie often hung out under the shake and-sometimes a bass would swim passed.

My 1st jig bass was caught on the black doll fly jig fishing through the opening in the motor shake. Being shaded and dark the opening in the shake floor you could see fish very clear. I dropped down the doll fly in front of a big crappie and out of nowhere a 3 lb bass engulfed that jig. Hooked on jigs for life.

Tom

 

[RDB]

22 hours ago, NavyVet1204 said:

What I mean to be exact is, is there a “correct” style jig for hopping up and down on the bottom like I would with the shakey head technique? 

I’m more curious about how you are fishing your shakey head.  While it can be worked a number of ways, it is a subtle, finesse presentation.  The vast majority of the time, I work a shakey head very slowly and shake the rod tip on semi slack line to impart action.  Typically I never lose contact with the bottom.  I believe most shakey head anglers work them too fast.  As far as jigs, I use many more retrieves from do nothing dead sticking all the way to stroking.

[WRB]

Why do bass anglers have a difficult time catching bass on jigs?

1. strike detection.

2. Wrong weight.

3. Wrong jig head design for the presentation.

4. Dull or wrong size hook.

5. Weak hook set.

Strike detection is #1. Nearly bass angler I have fished with, including a few pro’s, miss strike often! Bass strike jigs most of the time and reject it in a few seconds. The bass that are caught usually hook themselves or swim off with the jig.

I can hear you saying not me I can detect jig strikes every time. I am saying you miss most Jig strikes if you don’t catch Jig bass consistently and you bigger bass are not jig fish.

Unfortunately the bigger the basses mouth is the more difficult the+strike detection is.

Wrong  weight jig for the conditions. Ideally you want a jig that you can keep in contact with and have the rate of fall That triggers strikes. Most bass jig anglers use jigs that are too heavy for the depth and conditions.

Wrong jig head design that snags too often. Jigs shouldn’t snag often if you keep in contact with it. If the jig keeps snagging change to a different head design or little weight.

The most important component with a jig is the hook. I can’t overstate this, a sharp jig hook is essential. If you don’t have sharp hooks the bass will not hook itself temporarily indicating a strike. Too heavy a hook wire requires more force to penetrate, too small or light wire the hook misses tissues.

Weak hook set because the rod isn’t stiff enough to transfer force or the hook set doesn’t move enough line to penetrate the hook. Line stretch is overstated, you only need a few pounds of force to drive a sharp hook past the barb.  

Tom 

 

[NavyVet1204]

7 minutes ago, RDB said:

I’m more curious about how you are fishing your shakey head.  While it can be worked a number of ways, it is a subtle, finesse presentation.  The vast majority of the time, I work a shakey head very slowly and shake the rod tip on semi slack line to impart action.  Typically I never lose contact with the bottom.  I believe most shakey head anglers work them too fast.  As far as jigs, I use many more retrieves from do nothing dead sticking all the way to stroking.

Normally my shakeys get bit on the fall, but when they don’t I’ll let them hit the bottom and then bump the rod about every 3-4 seconds until I’m ready to retrieve the last bit in.

[Boomstick]

Some good advice above. I'll just add that if I am working the bottom, I will either use a pitching jig (also commonly referred to as an army head jig) or a football jig. If there is a flat bottom with minimal weeds, the football head works great because it tends not to lodge itself into rocks and is made for dragging and if there are weeds around then go with the pitching. Both work with wood but football heads often get stuck - but often get bites when you pop them to get them unstuck. Finally if the bottom is all sloped, I generally go with a pitching jig since they are preferable for vertically dragging where football jigs are meant to be horizontally dragged and stay on the bottom.

 

Finally, the trailer is everything. I usually like a chunk trailer for fishing structure as the arms will flap around and give action when sitting still. When flipping and pitching, I will usually go with a rage bug.

 

Finally, I rarely use more than a 1/2oz jig and the 3/8oz is what's usually tied on. I agree with @WRB (our resident jig expert) that many people use far more weight than they need. I opt to fish them on a lighter rod as well. A MH-H rod covers 90%+ of my jig needs very well and pets me throw them in moderate cover or around wood and have enough power to get them out. For the real heavy cover, you'll want a heavy rod but not for bottom fishing unless you are throwing a real heavy jig.

[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!

[Catt]

I pretty much throw one jig

 

Hack Attack Fluorocarbon Jig 

 

I cast it, pitch it, flip it, swim it, in every imaginable type of cover.

 

Look at the hook eye in relationship to the hook point, it almost like a Texas Rig, straight in line.

 

The head is wider than it is tall so it doesn't fall over when sitting on the bottom. 

 

[Boomstick]

16 hours ago, Catt said:

I pretty much throw one jig

 

Hack Attack Fluorocarbon Jig 

You ever use the SK skipping jig? That has a nice flat head that stands right up on the bottom too.

[Munkin]

I take pictures with my phone then email them to myself. While in draft it gives me the option to resize. Go with medium as that always seems to work. 

 

Allen 

[Aaron_H]

1 hour ago, Boomstick said:

You ever use the SK skipping jig? That has a nice flat head that stands right up on the bottom too.

 

Caught my biggest jig fish (7lb 15oz) on that SK skipping jig in watermelon/red. Big fan of them as well as the Hack Attack jigs.

[NavyVet1204]

I still can’t get it to work. It’s a 10 mb picture on my phone and even after screen shotting it and emailing it to myself it’s still too large to attach. Oh well.

[Aaron_H]

If you can open the picture in Paint, you have the option to resize it (I typically do around 50%). When you save it make sure to do so as a jpeg and not a PNG, this will reduce the filesize to under 1mb.

[NavyVet1204]

2 minutes ago, Aaron_H said:

If you can open the picture in Paint, you have the option to resize it (I typically do around 50%). When you save it make sure to do so as a jpeg and not a PNG, this will reduce the filesize to under 1mb.

I only have an iPhone. Is paint an app for the iPhone? I’ll check and see.

[Aaron_H]

Just now, NavyVet1204 said:

I only have an iPhone. Is paint an app for the iPhone? I’ll check and see.

 

It's an application on Windows. I figured if you were emailing it to yourself you would be able to access it on a desktop, my fault for assuming.

[TnRiver46]

18 hours ago, Catt said:

I pretty much throw one jig

 

Hack Attack Fluorocarbon Jig 

 

I cast it, pitch it, flip it, swim it, in every imaginable type of cover.

 

Look at the hook eye in relationship to the hook point, it almost like a Texas Rig, straight in line.

 

The head is wider than it is tall so it doesn't fall over when sitting on the bottom. 

 

I find it ironic that your fav jig is called fluorocarbon jig 

[NavyVet1204]

There we go!! I had to download an app that let me resize it. I guess the catfish to be about 6ish pounds. Caught it on the lure that I will post next.

[Sphynx]

There's two boxes I never, ever leave home without, one is the terminal tackle box, the other is the jig box, the only situation I've encountered that a jig isn't a respectable option is when the fish are on a topwater bite, other than that, there's a jig made somewhere that will fit whatever conditions your fishing.

[NavyVet1204]

The jig itself I never used until today. I think it’s 1/2oz and it also has a plastic box on it with rattles. I put a matching blue/black rage craw on it which is torn pretty good in the picture. I was highly surprised that I got a catfish on this thing even though I was hopping it on and off the bottom in about 15’ of water in a slough and not in shade to boot.

[NavyVet1204]

When that catfish hit the lure it felt like a mac truck was pulling against me and I was thinking “oh lord here it is!! First fish of the season and it’s gonna be my PB!!!” 

[Mobasser]

I first bought  Arkie jigs and #11 pork frogs after reading about Bo Dowdens Classic win with the jig and pig years ago. I bought them at Wal Mart, and set out learning to fish them.                                           In all honesty, I almost gave up on them.  I thought I'd never learn to fish a bass jig, and nicknamed them the bait of 1000 cast.                             One late Spring day I cast a brn Arkie jig with brn pork frog near a blowdown in about 4ft deep water.                       When I slowly lifted the rod, something felt heavy, and different. I ended up catching a 3lb bass on the jig. I've fished them ever since, and have caught many bass over the years. It's a great bait to learn, and add to your arsenal. But, as Catt says above, it's not a sure fire thing every time. Some days, the jig is the best thing. Other days you may catch more fish on something else. And, as WRB says above, sharp hooks are a must, and strike detection is the key.             NavyVet1204, stick to it. You will learn this. Best of luck to you on your jig fishing.