Rig is a Jig

A basic rig needs a hook and a weight, but consider leaders and the reasons fishermen cite for using them. Livebaits have more room to swim and thump, attracting catfish from greater distances; cats are less likely to shy away from or drop a bait the farther it is from a bulky sinker; cutbaits and deadbaits have wider swing angles in current and when drift-fished, allowing them to move more naturally and send out more visual and vibration signals to catfish.

So much has the thinking about leaders been pored over that it’s become a habit to use leaders in just about every situation. For reasons described above, long leaders tend to be used more than short ones, yet there are many scenarios when going shorter can be better, even to eliminating the leader altogether. Zero it out—and you’re left with a rig called a jig.

Jigs in Theory

“Few catfishermen use jigs, but there are situations when they can be just as or more effective than traditional rigs with leaders,” says Doug Stange, among the first to experiment with jigs for catfish, praising their effectiveness in In-Fisherman books, magazines, and television. In Stange style, then, you first should understand the theory behind the thinking, in order to put it to best use.

“There’s a fundamental relationship that exists between leader length and how connected you are to your presentation,” Stange explains. “A long leader results in less feel and less-precise bait positioning. The longer a leader is, the more control you sacrifice. Shorten the leader from 2 feet to 6 inches and the presentation becomes a tighter package, giving you a more direct connection to the bait. Eliminate the leader altogether and you’re in direct and constant contact.

“Anglers generally don’t equate a jig with a rig,” he says, “but a jig is really nothing more than a fixed sinker rig with the weight directly molded on the hook, rather than positioned somewhere above a leader. It’s the most compact a rig can get.”

One of the reasons more catfish anglers don’t consider using jigs is that they fear that the added weight of the head might cause a fish to drop the bait. Most jigheads, though, weigh less than the items catfish usually eat; and if walleyes and other discriminating species from panfish and bass don’t mind the added mass, neither do cats.

Worrying about catfish being cautious around a jig is often unnecessary. Rarely does a catfish nose up to a bait and sample it with a pick-pick-pick. More often, a cat grabs it quickly. Flatheads like to mouth a bait before they run—that’s typically the initial thumps you see or feel with the rod. Channel cats tend to grab and run right away. Strikes on moving baits tend to be aggressive, which is why drifted baits are usually hit hard. With jigs, often enough you can set right away, but you sometimes need to let cats mouth the bait to allow time for the hook to get in the right spot for setting.

“The greater feel and control you get with jigs is important across all water types,” Stange says. “Considering water clarity alone, the ability of jigs to work on a catfish’s visual sense is greatest in moderately clear to clear conditions. Most anglers don’t realize how well catfish can see. Stationary rigs work across clarities, including big muddy rivers, because they tempt cats with scent and vibration,” he notes. “Jigs become a better visual trigger in cases where sight plays a larger role in feeding, which is mostly in the clearer conditions of bigger reservoirs and some small- to medium-sized rivers.”