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These lures are another versatile year round bait that should be a mainstay in every anglers tacklebox. They can be used in many ways from swimming or flipping to bouncing or dragging along the bottom.
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Jigs come in a few different styles that each serves its own purpose and fills a particualr niche. The primary types of jigs are flipping, football, finesse, mop, and swim jigs. There are dozens of manufacturers and homemade styles out there and you just have to find a brand you have confidence in.
Flipping jigs are the most commonly used and are designed to probe heavy cover. They are used for pitching or flipping into the cover and staying in close contact with it using a rounded triangular head they come through cover better than some other options. Most common colors used are Black and Blue, Green Pumpkin and Bream colored skirts. They usually provide a larger profile and are made to get a basses attention but sometimes a smaller jig can be more effective. They are known for catching big fish and are a common way to win tournaments because of the size fish you are targeting with them. You can fish it many different ways in the cover and need to pay attention when you get bites as to what the fish where reacting to, was the bait on a slow or fast fall, sitting on a branch or weedstems, flat on the bottom or did the bite come when pulling the bait from cover. Vary the way you fish the jig in cover til the fish tell you what they want. Most times the are reacting to the bait falling thru the cover and the speed can be changed by going to a heavier or lighter jig. Sometimes the fish wants it jigged towards the top of the cover or just sitting on the bottom when fishing deeper cover they may even be suspended in the cover and you may want to note how deep the bite came to repeat that in other locations. Bites may be a hard thump but a lot of the time the bait just gets heavier since the bass doesn't move with it at times. Learn to "weigh" your jig notate how it feels on your rod and if you feel a heavier sensation set the hook!
Finesse jigs are smaller jigs used primarily when casting to rocks or other cover that you want to make a smaller presentation to. I use these most times in colder weather when I need a bait that moves a little slower or I want to have a gliding action to. I particulary likes these when targeting smallmouth or kentuckys. They are usually are ball head type jig with a flared skirt around the collar tipped with a smaller trailer like a 3"craw or 4" senko or finesse worm. They are made to represent those smaller bait that they feed heavily on early in the year.
Football jigs are named because their head is shaped like a football. These are great for probing deepwater as the transmit the bottom stucture well and are usaully 1/2 -1oz in size. They lend well to quickly covering bottom structure and finding sweet spots on offshore structure. They can be dragged along the bottom but also can be "stroked" by raising the rod with a sharp tug upward, this causes the bait to move way up off the bottom and fall quickly causing a reaaction strike. Dragging is the most common method of fishing this jig and can even be used in lighter weights in shallow water around pea gravel or rocky points. The football shape of the head is designed to keep the jig from sticking in crevices within rock that flipping or swim type jigs would lodge in. Shakey heads in this type head have also gained increased popularity due to the increased ability to not hang up.
Mop head jigs much like football jigs are designed for deeper water and the skirt is what gives this jig its name. The longer skirt strands are designed for the jig to sit motionless on the bottom in the winter and heat of the summer with the skirt just undulating on the bottom not moving the jig. It is really for targeting small precise spots with finicky hard to catch bass and made to entice them because they just are sitting there not leaving the basses territory.
Swim jigs is the next category and frankly one of my favorites. This jig usually has a conical head and is designed to swim thru cover like grass or brush and ellicits great strikes similar to a spinnerbait. I use this bait with a swimbait or twin tail trailer typically in places where a spinnerbaits blades get tangled and don't spin well or on high pressure days and clearer water where you need a more natural presentation. The neat thing about it is when you come to a hole in the cover you can just stop the retrieve and just drop it to the bottom and let it sit. Most strikes come while reeling in the bait and feel much like a spinnerbait. I like to use shad colored skirts or bream colored skirts based on the forage the bass are feeding on.
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Bladed Jigs are a variation of a spinnerbait/jig and makes a great reaction bait that is very weedless and a great option for situations where a spinnerbait may not work well but need more vibration than a swim jig.
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Watch the above video for more information on bladed jigs and chatterbaits
Trailers to put on jigs are made in many styles and serve different purposes. They can be used to slow down a bait or to cause commontion with legs that kick or whatever. Just follow your gut and let the fish tell you what they like. The bulkier the trailer the more it will slow the fall of the jig, this is good when visibility is not good like muddy water, night, or dark days. Smaller trailers will allow the bait to fall faster and illicit that reaction strike on sunny or cold front type days. Most commonly trailers are shaped like crawfish as most people feel they are mimicing crawfish with this bait but minnow or worm style trailers can also be very effective at times.
Some other variations to consider are trimming the skirts to make them shorter to expose more of the trailer or to make the profile smaller. Also, on swimming jigs, cut back the bottom of the strands leaving the top longer to give the bait more of a shad profile. Color I think is important but dont make it overly complicated. Bright colors when needed for dark water or reaction. Natural colors when targeting feeding fish in cleaner water or bright days.
Hope you find this information helpful and I will periodically update videos and infromation so keep checking back. Good luck with your jig fishing and if your new to it give it some time and practice. You will catch some really good quality fish with these baits.
Some other variations to consider are trimming the skirts to make them shorter to expose more of the trailer or to make the profile smaller. Also, on swimming jigs, cut back the bottom of the strands leaving the top longer to give the bait more of a shad profile. Color I think is important but dont make it overly complicated. Bright colors when needed for dark water or reaction. Natural colors when targeting feeding fish in cleaner water or bright days.
Hope you find this information helpful and I will periodically update videos and infromation so keep checking back. Good luck with your jig fishing and if your new to it give it some time and practice. You will catch some really good quality fish with these baits.
