The best advice I can give you is to experiment. I know you will (or can) get 20 different responses from 20 different people as everyone has that ONE technique they have the most confidence in. As far as a consistent producer (for me at least), dead sticking is hard to beat. Basically, I drop the jig to an appropriate depth, let it sit still for a few seconds ( can be up to 10 seconds), give the jig a gentle twitch or two, let it sit still again, then twitch, sit still....etc...
Some will drop to the bottom (or top of the brush)....let the jig rest for a few seconds, raise their rod tip slowly a foot or two, lower the jig back down, repeat...
Some will pitch their jig past a target and let it slowly fall to and through the strike zone (could be brush, bridge pilings, etc...)
The bottom line is this....typically, slower is better no matter what the presentation. Of course as with everything in life, there are always exceptions to that rule. When I started fishing, I would watch what other fisherman were doing, and I would mimic the most successful ones. There is certain" feel" to jig fishing that just cannot be explained for sure. I for one learned as much from unproductive fishing trips as I did from the best trips.
How's all of that for dodging a question??? LOL
Just keep at it and I am sure others with more experience will chime in.

Chris

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Very well explained SlabbedSilly....

Sumthing else that helps a ton is have "confidence" in what your doing....
When I lower my jig I'm waiting on that thump cause I "KNOW" it's comin..

I'll often drop down, let it sit for little while and then slowly raise my jig using my left hand to pull the line sideways away from the rod. Keeps the rod in a better position to set the hook and keeps my finger on the line. Just seems more natural to me than lifting up the end of the rod. Then again, I've always been a little different...