Jigging is the practice of fishing with a jig, a type of fishing lure. A jig consists of a lead sinker with a hook molded into it and usually covered by a soft body to attract fish. Jigs are intended to create a jerky, vertical motion, as opposed to spinnerbaits which move through the water horizontally. The jig is very versatile and can be used in both salt and fresh water. Many species are attracted to the lure which has made it popular among anglers for years.
For successful jigging, the jigger needs to use a rod which is good for feeling a strike, and needs to stay in contact with the lure and get it to where the fish are. Most fish caught by jigs are on or near the bottom.
The head
The head of a jig can consist of many different shapes and colors along with different features. The most common is the round head, but others include fish head shaped, coned shaped, or any number of varieties. The three most popular jighead shapes in bass fishing are the flipping jighead, the football jighead, and the grass jighead. These heads come in many different weights usually ranging from 1/80th of an ounce to nearly a pound for large saltwater bottomfish. They can also be found in a wide array of colors and patterns. The hooks also vary. These variances can be on the hook type, color, angle of the hook or the material of the hook. Some jig heads even offer a weed guard.
The body
There is a wide array of bodies for jigs. The most common is made out of rubber or silicone. These come in many shapes and can resemble a grub, frog, fish, paddle tail, lizard, or different insects. The colors of these can range from bright yellow to a transparent brown with silver and red flakes. Also, during summer months look at colors for the heat such as browns, or blue with black hair. Many others catch fish like smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. Bait such as minnows, leeches or night crawlers can also be used as jig bodies.
Other, more traditional types use dyed or natural whitetail deer tail hair on the outside. Called a bucktail jig, they are widely used in the northern and midwestern United States, where many are still hand tied by anglers.
Jigs
Other types of materials are also used in constructing jig bodies, such as a Chenille wrap on the hook shaft, various feather hackle, hairs or other fur, marabou, Flashabou, and other materials. Construction is often similar to the process of Fly tying. Some jigs are constructed identically to their artificial fly counterparts, one example a "Wooly Bugger" fly but tied on a jig head.
Bodies can be either brightly colored or subdued. They are often designed to mimic local prey fish or large local insects.
Jigging it is also one of the most active fishing methods, requiring you to snap or pop the rod tip up quickly to move the lure vertically in the water column. You can jig straight up and down as you drift, or cast the lure out and jig it back towards you horizontally while reeling. Jigging a lure or bait creates the look of an injured baitfish that a game fish would want to bite.
Jig rigs come in all sizes, shapes and colors, and can be used with or without live fishing bait. Many spoons are designed for jigging — they flutter as they fall enticing a fish. Soft plastic worms are also used for jigging as are painted lead-headed hook and feather combo jigs called buck tails.
Tip: If you are casting a jig out and retrieving while jigging, you’ll need to reel in slowly to keep the jig near the bottom.
JIGGING: STEPS
If you are learning how to fish by jigging, here are some simple steps:
- Cast out and let your jig hook sink to the bottom.
- Count a few seconds or wait until you feel the spoon hit the bottom
- Snap or pop your wrist and rod tip up quickly a short distance
- Let the lure drop back to the bottom
- You can jig up and down, side to side or up and down and sideways.
- Reel down a little bit to keep the line tight in case of a strike
- Repeat
SALTWATER JIGGING
Jigging lures, or 'jigs,' are some of the most versatile lures in that can be used in just about any place you find fish. Jigs comes in all shapes, colors, styles and weights and can be fished in a variety of different manners so that they mimic baitfish. The two most common jigs are probably the bucktail jig and the vertical jig.
A bucktail jig will typically consist of a lead head, that can be a variety of different shapes and sizes, which is molded onto a hook and has hair-like material tied to the bottom of the jig head. This hair-like material is where the name 'bucktail' comes from because many bucktail jigs are made using hair from a deer. The bucktail hair and jighead come in a variety of different colors. These bucktail jigs can be fished by themselves or they can be rigged with a rubber worm, live shrimp or other natural baits like strips of fish.
A vertical jig, or speed jig, is made of a long and slender piece of lead or metal that cuts through the water mimicking an injured baitfish. Vertical jigs will have one or more dangling hooks attached to a split ring which can be attached to the top or the bottom of the jig. Vertical jigs range anywhere from 1/8oz up to 14oz and are also referred to as "butterfly jigs."
When fishing with jigs, it is important that the angler constantly jig the lure up and down by constantly lifting the rod tip up and down. A good method for jigging is to drop the jig all the way down to the bottom and with a very rapid retrieval, twitch the rod tip erratically until the jig comes to the surface and repeat. No matter which type of jig you are using, it is important to match the weight of each jig to the depth at which you are fishing. Deeper water will require heavier jigs to reach the bottom. It is also important to take the tides and current into consideration when choosing your jig weight.
