In the world of bass fishing, jig fishermen are surgeons and jigs their scalpels. Using the proper tool, an experienced bass angler makes the precise and penetrating presentations needed to draw strikes from reluctant, cover-hugging bass. Like a surgeon’s tools, jigs are designed for specific jobs.

By design, jigs differ in components and proportion. As a result, no single jig serves best in all applications. A jig designed for probing open-water structure won’t be efficient for flipping heavy cover. Consistently successful jig fishermen must understand both the function and application of each jig’s design and components.

Head First

Arguably, the greatest differences among jig designs occur in the head. Head shape strongly influences how a lure passes through cover, falls through the water column, and rests on the bottom. The weight of the head affects the jig’s rate of fall, too.

A heavy, faster-falling jig can entice a reactive strike from reluctant bass and is efficient for covering water fast. Conversely, the slower fall of a light jig is desirable when pitching to shallower targets or when bass disposition requires it.

Jig heads molded in a bullet shape are best for flipping and pitching in soft cover, including weeds and soft brush, as the streamlined head penetrates the cover. But this cone-shape design is less effective at pulling through a dense canopy of standing timber. The pointed nose that allows the jig to slip through grass has a knack for snagging the forks of limbs. A round, broad head is a better design for thick wood, allowing the jig to deflect off limbs.

That round, broad head design also works for hopping over riprap or rocky substrate. The stand-up head is another good design for fishing around rock. Its flat bottom makes the jig sit upright on the bottom. Combined with a crawdadlike trailer, this bait accurately imitates the crustacean’s defensive posturing.

One advantage of a streamlined head also is a disadvantage. Its slithering motion fails to telegraph information about the bottom. Conversely, a round, broad head design (like a stand-up or football jig) far more effectively conveys information about cover and bottom type.

Jigs with rounded, broad heads are ideal for fishing deep structure with a dragging retrieve. One of the traditionally popular head designs, the “Arkie”-style, is a compromise between the cone and broad head designs. It works quite well in timber, vegetation, and rock.

Hookup

While head designs vary greatly, hook choices are more limited. Most bass jigs sport heavy-gauge, wide-gap hooks. The deeper bite and large gauge of these strong 3/0 to 5/0 jig hooks are ideal for flipping and pitching. The strong hooks hold up to the tremendous force of stout “flippin’ sticks,” unyielding superlines, and the weight of giant bass surging in thick cover.

On the flip-side, heavy gauge, wide-gap hooks are heavy and fall fast. When combined with a soft weedguard, a wide-gap jig hook is less effective in wood. The hook gap allows the cover to leverage too much pressure against the fiberguard, eventually snagging the lure.

Unlike jigs designed for flipping and pitching, those made for casting to deeper structure and rocky environs often are equipped with smaller hooks. The clear water normally associated with deep, rocky lakes often requires finesse presentations, and the smaller hooks allow a more compact look.

The gap or throat on a casting jig is considerably smaller than on flipping and pitching models. Smaller hooks on casting jigs normally are made from lighter wire. The lighter wire more easily penetrates a bass’ mouth, making these hooks ideal for light-line applications in deep water.

Dressed for the Dance

Many diehard jig fishermen pay as much attention to skirts as to head design and hook type. They believe skirt and trailer selection should match water color and temperature. Also, the bass’ activity level can dictate adjustments in skirt and trailer selection.

Today’s skirts are chiefly made from silicone, which is pliable and offers a wide range of colors. Some top anglers still favor living rubber skirts, however, for their flared look and action.

Hair jigs are made of various natural materials—deer, bear, fox, or elk hair. These baits create a more subtle profile and so are popular where water clarity favors a downsized approach. Hair also continues to flare and “breathe” in the coldest water.

Most bass pros alter jig skirts. When bass are relatively active and when water conditions are stained to slightly muddy, the large profile of a full skirt is desirable. When bass are inactive or the water clear, many pros shorten the skirt so it extends just barely beyond the bend of the hook, or they remove a number of strands in the skirt to create a sparser look.

Compared to worms or crankbaits, jig color selection should be relatively simple. Jigs represent two of the bass’ common food sources—crawdads and baitfish. Natural colors—browns, greens, and oranges—are most often used to imitate crawdads. When bass are feeding on baitfish like shad, light colors are better producers.

Jigs often are used to draw reaction strikes from inactive, cover-hugging bass. Under these conditions, darker colors work best at drawing attention to the falling lure silhouetted against the light surface. Thus, the black-blue combination outsells all other jig colors.

Other popular colors include black-purple, purple-brown, black-red, and black-chartreuse. Of course, darker combinations also work well under lowlight conditions. At night, a touch of a lighter hue creates contrast.

Rattles

Today, most jig models—casting and flipping—have rattles. It’s widely thought that a loud rattle enhances the presentation, though at times bass prefer a quieter bait. Sometimes a rattle can even turn fish off. Typically, when a lake is under heavy angling pressure and bass aren’t cooperating, savvy anglers give nonrattling jigs a try.

Rattle packs attached under the jighead make noise only when the lure is shaken with the rod tip or when it bumps something. Lately, lure manufacturers have used free swinging rattle pods to produce sound. Pods are connected to the jig by a flexible arm of heavy monofilament, plastic, rubber, or wire, placing the rattles out and away from the jig body.

This design allows the rattles to move independent of the head, and they strike cover as the lure falls. Many models use this rattle system—Northland’s Jungle Jig, Cyclone Baits’ Thunder Rattle Jigs, Johnson’s Jigs Rattlin’ Reptile Jig, the SoSlo Jig, Accent’s Premium Rattle Jigs, Terminator’s Pro’s Top Secret, Rippler Lures’ RattleLeg Jig.

Weedguards

Not all jigs come with weedguards. Many casting jigs—designed for fishing deep, rocky structure—don’t have guards as they can interfere with a solid hookset. Others use a single or double fiberguard or wireguard. Most jigs designed for timber and grass have a stiff multifiber weedguard.

Anglers often fish a jig right from the package. Confident in their hook-setting abilities, they like the typically stiffer, multifiber guards that resist snags. Many experienced jig fishermen massage and trim stiff weedguards, however, to increase their odds of a good hookup. Flexing the fibers back and forth weakens them, making the guard more pliable to bend under light bites.

Many anglers also trim the end of a fiberguard so it stops short of the hook point. Using a pair of scissors, they trim the guard at an angle parallel to the hook, to prevent a fiber from catching the point. Note, though, that shortening the fibers stiffens them.

New Designs

One of the most innovative jigs on the market is SoSlo Performance Lures’ SoSlo Jig. This jig features an interchangeable weight and rattle system, which allows anglers to determine the lure’s rate of fall. Without the 1/32-ounce rattle packs and interchangeable weights, the SoSlo Jig actually floats. The jig also features a weedguard of “cable flex,” a plastic-coated steel cable.

For ages, jig fishermen have faced the problem of trailers slipping down the hook shank and catching on the hook tip. When this occurs, the hookset has to drive the hook through both the trailer and the bass’ mouth. Often, the fouled trailer results in lost fish. Moreover, slipping down the hook tears plastic trailers.

Several recent designs solve the fouled-hook problem. Nichol’s Mango Jig uses a patent pending “toothpick collar” to secure plastic trailers. Terminator’s Pro’s Top Secret Jig features a Nitinol trailer keeper that holds plastic or pork trailers in place. Strike King’s Pro Model Jigs, Dave’s Tournament Tackle Bubba Jig, Hart’s Rattling Pro-ducer Jig, and Lunker Lure’s Rattleback Jig use a tooth on the fixed rattle system to secure a plastic trailer.

Two new jigs, Bullet Weights’ Ultra Jigging Rig and Cyclone’s Slip-N-Jig, combine a skirted bullet weight and an offset worm hook to make a weedless rig, like Gopher Tackle’s Worm Dancer. Slide on the skirted weight, tie on a worm hook, and Texas-rig a favorite plastic bait. A similar rig, the Owner Sled Head, has a grooved head to secure a jig skirt and a “screw-lock” spiral wire running along the hook shank that acts as a trailer-keeper.

The variety of jig designs reflects the effectiveness of this lure in a variety of waters and situations. Also, the varied designs also reflect the diverse opinions among experienced jig fishermen regarding design and function. The angler is best served by first taking an inventory of the water conditions, assessing likely structure and cover, then selecting a tool that fits the job.

*Paul Cañada is an outdoor writer from Irving, Texas.