The In-Fisherman Staff Looks At Jigs

Rock Jigs

Rock Jigs

Rocky terrain often snags jigs, particularly on boulder reefs or in rivers. Riprap is the jig fisherman’s greatest challenge and frustration, but bass sometimes prefer jigs.

Choose lighter jigs with a broad center of balance. The head should be blunt and broad, not pointed like a weed jig. And the eye should be positioned atop the head, not directly on the nose. These characteristics help the lure stand up on individual rocks and swim over the tops of rocks.

Jigs with flatter heads keep the hook resting upright on bottom. On some models, the hook shank angles upwards, which may help hook bass that nip at a bait. It also positions the plastic or pork trailer pointing toward a bass approaching from behind the lure, an attitude mimicking the defensive posture of a crayfish.

Standup heads are most effective in pockets of sand on weedy flats and on sand or rock ledges beyond the deep weedline. Active bass often cruise these edges to flush out preyfish or craws. A standup jig offers more action and visual appeal in those conditions, as the plastic craw or pork rind and skirt undulate. Underwater tests also show that standup heads make a louder thump than more slender styles as they hit bottom. These cues help attract bass anywhere, but provide an extra benefit in murky water.

Timber Jigs

Jigs entice largemouths in fallen trees, as the leadhead stumbles from branch to branch, skirt billowing and pork chunk undulating with each bump. But they tend to hang up, so many anglers instead cast or pitch pegged plastic worms into fallen trees.

The best timber jigs have a somewhat flattened but still rounded head, which allows them to fall slowly through leaves and limbs. The Stanley and Arkie jig designs are examples of heads that work through the large, somewhat open branches of trees like oaks or older pines that have lost their scraggly branches.

On such designs, the eye is positioned at about a 45-degree angle for a better rocking action. The turned eye on models like U.S. Tackle’s new Rattling Jig and Alron’s Chatter Box help pivot the lure over limbs.

To penetrate the dense brush of newly felled trees like pines, maples, and willows, or to drop through Christmas tree brushpiles, jigs with pointed noses, like those designed for thick weeds, work best. Heavy models (3/4 to 11⁄4 ounces) punch through, though high-test super braids may be needed to extricate lure and bass.

Jigworms

A class of jigheads receiving less attention but equally productive are light jigheads that carry plastic worms into the fish zone and provide special actions not possible with standard bass jigs or Texas-rigged or Carolina-rigged plastics. Head shape and weight, and hook design determine the presentation they work with best.

The spread of jigworm fishing has been slow, as macho bassers view mini jigs and light spinning rods as a finesse tactic or one destined to catch small fish. But more anglers now recognize the need to downsize presentations in the face of fishing pressure or adverse weather conditions.