What makes a good jig.

[Jigger]

I love to Jig fish, thus my handle. It's my go to bait. What makes a good jig? Describe it. Who makes the one you use? Why do you fish it rather than some other brand?
Robert

[pig n jig]

Its a difficult question. First of all , it depends on whether you use mono , or braided line,what type of structure you fish. For example I primarily fish matted milfoil weedbeds.I use a 1/2 0z. - 1 1/2 oz. All terrain grassmaster jig with 50 lb braid line.During the Fall season, I fish bare banks that have breakoffs on them, so there is just sparse weeds here and there.I use a strikezone Woo Daves jig on 16 lb fluorocarbon line.The jigs are 2 completely different in design, better suited for a specific purpose. I hope this helps. BTW I prefer a heavy shanked roundbend hook when using braid and will use a lighter wire wide gap hook for mono, or fluorocarbon, but never with braided line .You will lose bigger fish with stout braid and a very thin wired hookshank. P N J

[Captmikestarrett]

Six Jager bombs and some good ole irish beer. Add some lively music and the jig will dance it's way out of you..

Slancha!!

Capt Mike

[senkosam]

Good advice from J n P.

Design is important for the various structure you chose to fish. One type doesn't fit all situations.

As far as quality, a medium stiff weed guard will save you a lot of weed pick'n. Softer bristles are useless. A thin strong hook works better for me than thicker steel. Paint jobs chip, but the better ones have epoxy coating for more chip resistance. Silicone skirt or living rubber skirts should be long enough to allow you the option of trimming. Sometimes bass like a longer skirt and trailer. Collars should be of a good rubber because nothing gets me more p.o'd than seeing a bunch of skirt strands lying on the floor of my boat because the rubber collar was old or cheap and tore.

I like rattles that have a barb to hold the trailer in place. Rattles are nice to have, but not always useful IMO.

This year I've been tying more football head jigs with weed guard for rocky areas and I've notice fewer hang-ups. I like wedge heads for weeds, but use the standard club-shaped head shape for swimming jigs and working pebble bottoms, rock walls, steep slopes and casting under overhangs.

[Jigger]

Thanks guys this is the type info I was looking for. Good web site.
Robert

[Bass_fishing_girl]

My husband makes some jigs and i have him make them with dark colored feathers and little rubbery stuff that has sparkles and dots. He thinks i go overboard on choosing too many things to tie onto one jig. He prefers simple jigs. He made my daughter a red,white and blue jig that was very cute.

San

[Jigger]

Originally Posted by Bass_fishing_girl

My husband makes some jigs and i have him make them with dark colored feathers and little rubbery stuff that has sparkles and dots. He thinks i go overboard on choosing too many things to tie onto one jig. He prefers simple jigs. He made my daughter a red,white and blue jig that was very cute.

San

Interesting.

[jigfisherman]

I fish my own, the reason is there is nothing like catching a fish on your own baits but also I have the jigs just like I want them without haveing to modify them and also it is alot cheaper doing this.

[mont_lunker_hunter]

I agree with Jigfisherman. I buy heads and skirts seperate and usually add a few strands to customize the skirts. Also, buy buying the heads separate I can file grooves into the lead along the shank to add a "naked" skirt colar under the skirt to make the skirt flare more. I also like the flat eye football head. It seems to make the jig pivet easily with out moving the jig along the bottom. I even use the football head in timber and try to rock it back and forth on limbs, it works pretty well in the winter. The football head gets caught in the forks of the limbs, but doesn't wedge so you can usually pop it free easier than some other heads. In my opinion this makes it better than the traditional arkie style for fishing timber. As for weedguards, i'd go with the thickest possible because you can always trim it, but you can't add to it.

[BigBassin144]

I haven't actually tried this, but someone told me about it at a reservior we fish. take the skirt off a jig and tie on Marabou. Supposedly, it works great. The guy who told me didn't have one with him, but he says they work good for him. I normally don't fish weeds, no I trim my weedguard just to enough to keep the occasional weed off, but enough to increase hook rate.

[mont_lunker_hunter]

I've made a couple marabou/hair jigs but waiting till winter to try them. I also baught some hair streamer, cut 2 peices 3" long and tied one on each side of a 1/2" piece of plastic worm to use as a trailer. It looks awesome in the bathtub but haven't thrown one yet. I like how the slightest bump makes the hair "pulsate".

[lizardsrule]

Originally Posted by Bass_fishing_girl

My husband makes some jigs and i have him make them with dark colored feathers and little rubbery stuff that has sparkles and dots. He thinks i go overboard on choosing too many things to tie onto one jig. He prefers simple jigs. He made my daughter a red,white and blue jig that was very cute.

San

WOW, haven't seen ya around in awhile. Hope your catching fish, good to hear from ya.

I can't offer anything other than PNJ is the "JIG KING" IMHO. I use Grassmaster jigs 90% of the time here in Florida, because of the "GRASS/WEEDS". I prefer Green Pumpkin in color, but will use browns and golds also. I'm unusual I guess, as I will no longer fish a Black and Blue Jig. Can't seem to catch a cold on that color, but many swear by it.

Lizards

[pig n jig]

All Terrain also makes a football head jig.The jig was designed by Jim Moynagh.Sevaral years ago,I used his original jig. The Walker brand Roll'r rock jig.I had a good amount of success by using a unconventional rod. I used a 8'6" medium Penn Fathom master downrigger rod.It was limber and the way I fished the jig was to keep the rod tip low to the water, on the retreive.This allowed the jighead to snag on the bottom and then I would sweep the rod tip with enough pressure to pop the jig loose, then let the jig settle back to the bottom and repeat the process.2 spider grub brands that worked best for me were Arkie crawlin grub brand and Chompers brand.the appendages were thinner on those 2 brands of spider grub, they created alot of movement with little jig movement.Here is the All terrain football jig,Its designed to catch the bottom just as I was taught to use the jig many years ago.

It's funny how you change from what used to produce so well for something newer on the market ?I still have my old penn fathommaster rods, might have to pick up a few of the football jigs again. P N J

Arkie website http://www.arkiejigs.com/Merchant2/m...tegory_Code=CG

A website that sells Chompers http://www.buyfishingstuff.com/chompersplastics.html

[3dkicker]

I use many different brands that meet the type of cover or structure that I fish. I flip a lot of grass beds so I use one that has a cone head that comes through the grass well. I also fish laydowns so I look for a rounder, flatter head. I like Woo's jig and the S&W jig for this. I have been working on skipping a jig under docks so I throw a Gerkin's Jig due to the skipping action it has which is similar to the KidLizard Gecko Jig. Dave's Tournament sells a huge varitey of jig heads with some very different skirt colors. He used to have a spring craw that was amazing but can't get it made any more.
I'm thinking of buying the Hibdon trailer kit and make some myself. I'd like to see it before I buy it online though. Anyone see one yet? Is it worth the effort to get one?

[zooker]

got to go with daves tourny tackle also.. i use his football head jig alot..

zooker

[mont_lunker_hunter]

Here are a few that i've put together. They're football heads but with a stand-up style flat-eye gamakatsu.

[mont_lunker_hunter]

I tried the blue/black one Saturday. Air Temps in the 40's with a stiff wind out of the North-Northeast. Water temps in the upper 60's to low 70's. Three days after a cold front. I caught two and missed two (not paying attention), biggest being 3 pounds. I fished a creek channel that's about 14' deep in about 10' of water with tons of wood. I only got hung once where i couldn't pop it loose.