What Is A Jig? 2025

hoosierbass07 reply :

OK, I've been on this board for a good while now. I've got seven or eight books on fishing and I read Bass Master and In-Fisherman and other fishing magazines. And I watch tons of fishing videos. But there is something I'm not sure of. What is jig? I mean, I know what a jig is. Or at least I thought I new was a jig is. But now I'm not sure.

When YOU say jig, are you talking one of those jigs with weedguards? Or are you talking about jigs that are nothing more than a roundish ball of lead with a hook in it, like a shaky head jig?

I don't like jigs and I'm not planning on to use any this spring/summer. I had horrible results last year from them. But the jigs I'm talking about are those jigs with weedguards. Not those other jigs.

In fact, I bought some jigs without weedguards, wacky heads, and did catch a bass using that with a rubber worm last year and I'm sure, if I kept using it, I would have caught more bass on them.

I have some books bass fishing and when it shows "jigs" all the jigs shown are almost without weedguards. They are the simple ballhead and hook jigs. Now, I believe those will work and I plan using those kinds of jigs

this summer.

So when some of you say your favorite lure is a jig, what kind of jig are you talking about? A weedguard jig or a simple ballhead jig?

I swear, I hate those weedguard jigs. I used them so much last year and caught so little, I don't plan on using again this year. But those simple ballhead jigs, yeah, I think those will work good.

FlipnLimits reply :

Hoosierbass07

Both are jigs. The weedgaurd equipped jigs, with a skirt, are generally what bassfishermen refer to as jigs. The bald jigs are not commonly referred to as jigs by bassfishermen. More akin to "jigheads". Naked jigs used for crappies and bluegill/brim. It all depends who you talk to.

Regardless of their name, don't quit on jigs yet! A successful bass fisherman will master this weedgaurded monster. It's my #1 bait for quality bass. Learn it, love it, embrace it

Wbeadlescomb reply :

With the correct setup a swim jig with a weed guard is one of the fish catchinest baits there is

Xyndifor reply :

On 3/7/2014 at 10:56 AM, FlipnLimits said:

Hoosierbass07

Both are jigs. The weedgaurd equipped jigs, with a skirt, are generally what bassfishermen refer to as jigs. The bald jigs are not commonly referred to as jigs by bassfishermen. More akin to "jigheads". Naked jigs used for crappies and bluegill/brim. It all depends who you talk to.

Regardless of their name, don't quit on jigs yet! A successful bass fisherman will master this weedgaurded monster. It's my #1 bait for quality bass. Learn it, love it, embrace it

FL

Agreed. I got more serious into bass fishing last year including giving jigs a serious try and it got me 4 of my top 5 (the third biggest was on a spinnerbait in the fall) the biggest bass I caught in my entire life. Don't give up on jigs. This year it's nastering flipping and pitching and giving crankbaits of all types a real go.

mmrivera86 reply :

You tube "bassresource" and find their video on jigs. He has a few videos on jigs and all of them are very educational. I really enjoy jig fishing and I've used quite a few different kinds for the different scenarios. def agree to not give it up just yet.

gripnrip reply :

Don't give up on jigs. I haven't had much luck in them in the past. . . . . . . until last year! Something clicked! A jig is the most versatile bait in one's box IMO. You can imitate anything a bass will eat. And it will overall be one of the baits that you'll catch big fish with once mastered.

Tlaz reply :

Can someone explain to me the difference between a regular jig and a swim jig? I think swim jigs heads are just slightly different? Also, do you use a steady retrieve on swim jigs? I want to do more jigging this season.

Thanks

roadwarrior reply :

Any jig can be used, but what is called a swim jig has a slightly different head and

the hook shaft is horizontal without any vertical slant. I prefer 3/8 oz and a trailer

resembling a baitfish, not a craw. Examples are the Rage Tail Menace & Shellcracker,

Single Tail Grub and paddle tail swimbaits.

mnbassman23 reply :

On 3/7/2014 at 11:28 PM, Tlaz said:
Can someone explain to me the difference between a regular jig and a swim jig? I think swim jigs heads are just slightly different? Also, do you use a steady retrieve on swim jigs? I want to do more jigging this season.Thanks

You are correct the difference is the head shape. Most times a swim jig will have a cone shape. When I fish swim jigs it's usually on a steady retrieve with some short pops of the rod tip added in. Just enough to get the skirt to flare. There are a lot of ways to work a swim jig but this is standard for me.

roadwarrior reply :

Other than depth and the retrieve speed, I don't "work" a swim jig.

The action is all in the trailer.

Here is one little hint that also applies to fishig The Rig: If you feel a little

bump, keep reeling and maybe speed up. These "bumps" are baitfish

following the lure, not bites. You will ALWAYS know when you get a strike!

Catt reply :

One of the simplest lures made & yet the most overcomplicated by anglers.

K.I.S.S.!

MarksHooked reply :

Whenever someone mentions a jig here I picture a skirted weedless jig. I have yet to catch a fish on a skirted jig, but it seems to be so many people's confidence bait in so many threads! I'm going out one day this summer with nothing but them and some trailers this year

Tlaz reply :

Thanks all. That answers my question perfectly. Trying a swim jig this season!

Wbeadlescomb reply :

On 3/8/2014 at 12:25 AM, Tlaz said:
Thanks all. That answers my question perfectly. Trying a swim jig this season!

Braid is a must along with a medium heavy fast action rod. I prefer 1/4 ounce chartreuse and white swim jig

Wbeadlescomb reply :

Swim jig

gripnrip reply :

On 3/8/2014 at 12:03 AM, MarksHooked said:
Whenever someone mentions a jig here I picture a skirted weedless jig. I have yet to catch a fish on a skirted jig, but it seems to be so many people's confidence bait in so many threads! I'm going out one day this summer with nothing but them and some trailers this year

And that is how you learn! When I want to learn a new technique, I leave everything else at the house. It forces you to fish that bait and that bait only!

Example- When I first started shooting a rifle or shotgun, my pops handed me a single shot. He emphasized to make that shot count because you only have one. I had to prove myself with the single shot. In a way, fishing the jig only, is your single shot. Make it count because that's all you have to fish with. Get some confidence in the bait. When you do, then it will be another tool in the box you can use.

hoosierbass07 reply :

I may have mentioned this before, but I have to work friends (both are into fly fishing) and both say jigs don't catch bass. I said "I see them used on TV fishing shows all the time and they catch bass, and online people tell me they work and catch big bass." Both guys replied in words I can't say here. lol. They did say on TV they are fishing at stocked lakes and any person online that tells me they are great bass catchers are "full of it." lol. No, I'm not calling all you guys and gals liars. I believe you 75%. But from my one year of fishing (last year) I have a bad taste in my mouth over jigs. Particularly when I took my nephew fishing with me and let him use plastic worms while I focused on jigs and he ended up catching the bass while I caught nothing! In fact, in late summer while i was using a jig he caught a nice sized bass with a plastic worm. Now the jigs I'm talking about are those skirted weed guard jigs. Not those simple ball head jigs.

Maybe the lakes and ponds I fish it don't have jig friendly fish.

Munkin reply :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jig

Allen

TorqueConverter reply :

In bass fishing talk a "jig" is a weedless jig head dressed in either rubber, silicone or hair. It was developed as a stand alone lure but plastic trailers are commonly add to the bait for additional action and profile.

To outsiders they are known as "bass jigs".

Tyler j reply :

Really don't hate on weed less jigs, you can throw them right up in the trees or brush and work them out , plus they catch absolute giant bass

Tyler j reply :

On 3/8/2014 at 5:06 AM, hoosierbass07 said:

I may have mentioned this before, but I have to work friends (both are into fly fishing) and both say jigs don't catch bass. I said "I see them used on TV fishing shows all the time and they catch bass, and online people tell me they work and catch big bass." Both guys replied in words I can't say here. lol. They did say on TV they are fishing at stocked lakes and any person online that tells me they are great bass catchers are "full of it." lol. No, I'm not calling all you guys and gals liars. I believe you 75%. But from my one year of fishing (last year) I have a bad taste in my mouth over jigs. Particularly when I took my nephew fishing with me and let him use plastic worms while I focused on jigs and he ended up catching the bass while I caught nothing! In fact, in late summer while i was using a jig he caught a nice sized bass with a plastic worm. Now the jigs I'm talking about are those skirted weed guard jigs. Not those simple ball head jigs.

Maybe the lakes and ponds I fish it don't have jig friendly fish.

This may mean that you need to down size or change colors

hoosierbass07 reply :

Let me ask this - for those of you who catch bass on those jigs, what time of day do you use them, morning, midday, evening, night? Last year I only fished in the evening hours.

Xyndifor reply :

On 3/8/2014 at 5:06 AM, hoosierbass07 said:

I may have mentioned this before, but I have to work friends (both are into fly fishing) and both say jigs don't catch bass. I said "I see them used on TV fishing shows all the time and they catch bass, and online people tell me they work and catch big bass." Both guys replied in words I can't say here. lol. They did say on TV they are fishing at stocked lakes and any person online that tells me they are great bass catchers are "full of it." lol. No, I'm not calling all you guys and gals liars. I believe you 75%. But from my one year of fishing (last year) I have a bad taste in my mouth over jigs. Particularly when I took my nephew fishing with me and let him use plastic worms while I focused on jigs and he ended up catching the bass while I caught nothing! In fact, in late summer while i was using a jig he caught a nice sized bass with a plastic worm. Now the jigs I'm talking about are those skirted weed guard jigs. Not those simple ball head jigs.

Maybe the lakes and ponds I fish it don't have jig friendly fish.

Plastic worms will probably catch more fish than anything else but a jig will get you the big ones. Be patient and stick with it. Sorry for the multiquotes. Internet exploder was freezing on the cabelas website.

FlipnLimits reply :

On 3/8/2014 at 9:16 AM, hoosierbass07 said:
Let me ask this - for those of you who catch bass on those jigs, what time of day do you use them, morning, midday, evening, night? Last year I only fished in the evening hours.

Jigs are pretty versatile and tempting to bass most of the day (that's my belief and I'm sticking to it You surely will catch 'em morning and afternoon. Maybe some of the other guys who fish nights can speak to that.

What you'll find with jigs is the learning curve of where, how, and why to use them, moreso than what time of day. It's fun to learn and well worth the effort. I try to learn something new ever single time I head out, even if it's a new twig in the waters I often fish. There are different types of skirted bass jigs for grass, wood, swimming, etc, to consider. Choose your jigs by your cover and water clarity, for starters. Most of my lakes are shallow, murky, and have laydowns, so I fish dark colored jigs that will pull through wood, as an example. Ok, I'll quit rambling now, let others do some talking.

Xyndifor reply :

On 3/8/2014 at 9:16 AM, hoosierbass07 said:
Let me ask this - for those of you who catch bass on those jigs, what time of day do you use them, morning, midday, evening, night? Last year I only fished in the evening hours.

You can use jigs at any time of day. If it's nighttime you may want to use a darker color because bass see those better at night like black/blue for example and if you may want to use one with a rattle for added attention getting power since it'll be dark and their vision is really limited at night. They rely more on their other senses where during the day it's usually a sight thing that triggers the strike.

Grizzn N Bassin reply :

Youll catch the jig bite bug and be adicted. Dont give up on them

z7master167 reply :

Jigs are the number one bait i use, they are a blast to fish, i primarily use 2 colors green pumpkin and black/blue fish them like a shakey head or texas rig. I use crawdad trailers in a similar color or ill tear 2.5-3" off of a senko in the same color as the jig and use that as a trailer

WRB reply :

How could anyone be confused about the definition of a bass jig? Ask 10 bass anglers and get 12 different answers!

Tom

Do-It bass jig molds offers over a 100 different jig head styles just to keep you confused further.

Catt reply :

Simple lure that angles overcomplicate!

Jolly Green reply :

On 3/8/2014 at 5:06 AM, hoosierbass07 said:
Maybe the lakes and ponds I fish it don't have jig friendly fish.

Maybe your presentation isn't the best match for the depth and bottom composition of the lakes and ponds you fish.

I've only been fishing for a couple years and when I wanted to learn to fish jigs, I tried some of the most prevalent advice I found here and elsewhere, which was to let it fall --pay attention! Most strikes come on the fall!-- and then pop/twitch/hop/etc. a couple times, repeat. Well, I did that... in two feet of water that was packed with jungle-density weeds that choked at least a foot and a half of said water, and I was frustrated and went back my beloved spinnerbaits. Later that year the water dropped significantly and I was able to actually see what I was tossing a jig into, and I could immediately see that the presentation I was using in that water was a completely ridiculous mismatch; there was no fall to speak of, and once it did get down, that jig was buried, and all the pop/twitch/hop/etc. in the world wouldn't overcome the fact that it was essentially invisible to anything that swims. D'oh!

I fish from shore, so a lot of the water to which I have access is fairly shallow and it gets weedy all over its muck bottom fast... not ideal water for that style of jig fishing. But a swim jig (with one of those weed guards you hate) is often the perfect bait; I can let it dive down into the top of the weeds and swim it through without snagging a bunch of salad, ditto with letting it fall a little deeper and ripping it up and out, things you can't really do with a bare ball-head jig. A 1/4 oz. Strike King Bitsy Bug with a basic 2" or 3" curly- or paddle-tail trailer will catch fish like this almost any time of day in my experience, provided the fish are in the mood to track down something moving moderately fast with shorter pauses.

There are a few areas along my local river that are as deep as ten feet, and in the eddies of those areas I can fish the good old let-it-fall-then-hop-it technique because there is room for the jig to fall without the current sweeping it thirty feet downstream, and it works. I'm far from a jig expert, but I have had a couple of moments of sudden clarity that have enabled me to use them with confidence within the limits of the available water. Give fresh consideration to the parameters of the water you're fishing, and think about adjusting your presentation accordingly.

TorqueConverter reply :

I think the biggest mistake a lot of guys new to jigs make, is that they take the advice of seasoned jig fishermen targeting big bass with few bites in a highly specific presentations too seriously.

Better to cast a 1/4 Bitsy Bug and get bit like crazy to cut your teeth on jigs than to jump right into pitching/flipping a 3/4 jig into the shoreline IMO.

Ron G reply :

I thought the same thing as you when I first tried a weed gaurded jig and did not catch any bass on it the first few outings. I had stoped using it for a couple of seasons, but one day I told myself I would keep it on my rod untill I cought a bass on it. That forced me to fish it long enough that I did catch a good 3.5 lbs largemouth on it. caught quite a few more bass the next few weeks on it, all smaller fish. The next spring (April) I cought the bigest bass I have cought to date on an 1/4 oz all black jig and pork frog trailer. It weighed 8.25 lbs was 23.5 in L X 18.25 Girth. This was a PA. lake, a very good size fish for up here. I always have one tied on in the spring and continue to catch fish on them. Don't give up on it.

8040

What Is A Jig? 2025

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