The era of the round head jig is history. These days jigs are special purpose fishing weapons that come in a wealth of shapes, sizes and head designs ideal for casting, vertical jigging, swimming, dragging or even fishing below floats. No more does the fisherman focused on success make one jig type work for every application. 

     The ordinary round head jig is a workhorse, but even this timeless design can’t meet the demands of the modern angler. Not using specific jig designs for different fishing situations is like trying to pound nails with a sledge hammer. A little finesse goes a long ways toward putting more fish in the boat.

STAND UP HEADS

     Stand up head designs are very useful for dragging, vertical jigging and ice fishing applications. Because the hook point is always positioned upwards, fish that bite are much more likely to get hooked compared to other jig designs. My favorite stand-up jig is the Odd Ball produced by Bait Rigs Tackle. These jigs feature a long shank Mustad hook with barbs on the shank to hold plastic in place, a super large eye-tie that’s never painted shut and they come in all the necessary sizes including 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 5/8 and even 3/4 ounce!

     Other good stand-up designs include the Northland Lipstick Jig and Fin-tech Nuckle Ball jig.

SWIMMING JIGS

     Jigs designed for swimming are created with the eye tie coming out the nose of the jighead instead of out the top of the head like an ordinary roundhead jig. This minor modification allows the jig to swim through weeds, brush and rocks without handing up or constantly fouling on bottom debris.

     The Bait Rigs Slo-Poke started this craze in jig fishing many years ago and a wealth of other jigs now micic the swimming action of this classic. The Slo-Poke has a collar to hold soft plastics in place, but this compact jig has live bait fishing written all over it. I fish the Slo-Poke often with minnows, leeches and my personal favorite -- a two inch piece of nightcrawler lightly tipped onto the hook.

     A new product from Bait Rigs the Slo-Poke LS or Long Shank is similar in design, but features a much longer hook shank more suited to fishing a wealth of 3-5 inch long soft plastics commonly used for catching largemouth, smallmouth and walleye.

ACTION JIGS

     Jigs that have a prop or blade to generate additional flash, gurgle and action are also a useful special purpose jig. The Northland Whistler Jig started this craze some years ago and today anglers can pick from a wealth of others including the Blakemore Roadrunner, Reel Bait Walleye Flasher and the Mann’s Little George.

     Because prop jigs create a little more resistance in the water, it’s a good idea to use a slightly heavier model than normal. For example, in water eight feet deep, a 1/8 ounce jig is normally about right. When using prop jigs a 1/4 ounce model would be a better choice in this situation.

     The down side of prop jigs is they don’t function well in weeds or on bottoms that have a lot of debris like rotting leaves or vegetation. The debris tends to clog up the blade’s ability to rotate and flash, lending this design useless.

LINE OPTIONS

     Fishing jigs two line types shine as the best choices. Because jigging is a contact sport, for most applications a low stretch super line like Vicious Fishing Braid is a good choice. For small jigs 10 pound test with a 2 pound diameter is a good choice. For larger jigs like swimbait heads, 15 pound test is the perfect choice.

     Some clear water applications really cry out for low visibility lines. In this department nothing beats fluorocarbon line for disappearing in the water. 

     The problem is most fluorocarbon lines are formulated to be overly stiff and hard to manage on a spinning reel. Vicious Fishing solved that problem with their new Pro Elite Fluorocarbon line that soft enough to fish on a spinning reel, yet tough enough to ward off abrasion issues. 

     Absolutely invisible in the water, this new line is the top choice for fishing clear water environments or super spooky fish like trout and steelhead.

     Use six or eight pound test for most walleye, bass and steelhead applications and 10 or 12 pound test for pitching larger swimbaits.

SUMMING IT UP

     Special purpose jigs are the hot ticket to catching more and bigger fish. Modest in cost, but high in performance this year step outside the ordinary and use jigs that match the fishing situation perfectly. Guaranteed once these special purpose jigs get wet, those ordinary roundhead jigs are going to draw dust in the tackle box.