Never done it. Been reading up on it and haven't found an answer to one question: How do you hold the jig when you bend the rod back to shoot? By the jig head or curve of the hook? I would think holding it by the head allows the chance of the hook being buried in your thumb or finger upon release... am I worrying too much about this?

hold it by the head from the bottom side of the jig.

I Always hold the jig @ the bend in the Hook.If you hold it at the Head you are asking for trouble.Jigs are known to get wet & slippery and by holding it above the barb ,you increase your chances of it slipping and catching you by accident.If you hold it at the bend and it slips, the barb slips away and out of your hand.If it slips while you are holding it by the head ,that barb is in a trailing position and most likely to find something ............ YOU! I`m not sayin I`m jus sayin

I have done it several ways...I started out the way fishbonz recommends, but have ended up holding it by the head with the hook bend pointed toward where I want the jig to go and the head pointed at you...doesn't make sense till someone shows you then it makes perfect sense...There are some really good dock shooters out there that can give you advice (try eric or Jigum or Chuck), i am not one of them...but I haven't hooked my self, either (so far)

Here's a video by the Dock Shooting Master, Ernest Paty. Enjoy.

Ernest knows

I hold it by the back of the head as do all the shooters I know.

Oh there are so many ways I could twist this into something else..... but I won't.

Hold it right beside the eye of the jig near the top. When you draw your rod back it will allow you to hold it there. Make sure the hook is facing the dock. Once you do it enough it will become a fluid movement and you wont even have to look at the jig. I just slide my fingers down the line as I prepare to draw the rod back. If done correctly it will never hook you.
We are lucky enough here on CC to do lots of dock shooting. We get lots of practice. I can remember in the years past when I ran 2 months of trips only shooting docks. I love it when the lake is full and we have to skip them to make them go far enough back.

Thanks for the information, guys! I actually recently just got married and the new mother and father in laws have a house in GBC right on Cedar Creek so its very nice to hear that I'm going to get a lot of practice in shooting docks over there this coming Spring and Summer!

Thanks yall

I guess Someone will have to show me the correct way then.

Search Youtube for Wally Marshall Dock Shooting. There's a Part1 & 2. He'll show you the right way.

IMHO, jig pitching is a tool that behooves every Crappie fisherman to have in his toolbelt, even if you never shoot a dock. I find it handy for fishing under low bridges, and for fishing lakes with lots of live timber, like Caddo.

Also, shooting the jig into a stiff wind keeps much of the "bow" out of the line, and therefore in better contact with your lure.

Having fished crappie my entire life; I hadn't shot a jig until 1996. That's when Ernest, who is much much older than me, showed me how The proper way is to hold the jig by the head with the hook pointed away from you. Holding it any other way could be hazardous to your health