Doing The Jig - Fish Style

Everyone has their favorite lures for catching anything. The 'go-to' lure if you will. But of all the lures available on the market today, not too many can compare in usability and flexibility as the standard Jig.

We all know what the jig is, a small piece of lead thats molded around a hook of some kind. Small, cheap, and effective; the jig can be fished in any situation for all species. Lets gander at some jig uses.

• By itself (no brainer there)
• With a hair or plastic trailer
• Rigged INSIDE a soft-plastic body
• Weedless

By itself - Most commonly used in ice fishing... you know... where you sit over a frozen chunk of lake waiting for the fish to drop by. Not my cup of tea exactly, but most fishermen turn to a Jig as their primary weapon of choice for cold winter fishing.

Hair or Plastic Trailer - Any box store will carry soft plastic bodies that you can run a jig through. Stab with hook, and your done. Hair on the other hand might be harder to find. Some smaller tackle shops may have a tackle component section where various hair-like material can be found. Watch out... sometimes this isn't the cheapest route to go! Ties some hair over the hook with thread. Red is a popular color for thread-choice. To do this, you'll also need the type of jigs that have a 'blank' area, a little less than a 1/4", thats flat. You'll know it when you see it.

Rigged Inside Plastic - This is a very popular set up lately, especially in the Bass fishing world, however, in this case we're looking for plastics that can 'float' relatively easily. So you need plastics with a bit of air inside, or a very light weight lead. Sometimes folks just use a hook, no lead attached, however, we want the tip of the jig to lay on the lake bottom, yet allowing the worm to 'float' upwards. Scavenging bass can't resist! Try it out at home in a fish tank or bath tub to make sure your rig is working.

Weedless - These jigs are manufactured with a lightweight weed-guard, usually made of stiff plastic. Fishing them in the weed beds alone, or add some skirting for extra attention. Great for searching the thick for bass.

Other than that, you'll need some skill to fish this multi-species lure. 'Jigging' is precisely what it implies, however it may take some time on the learning curve if you plan on casting and retrieving. Play around with it, and have fun!