Let's talk jigs..

Okay pretend you're me.. you walk into bps to buy a few jigs but you don't really know what you're looking for. You're assaulted with brands, sizes, colors, head shapes, and pro endorsementshop! I ended up just walking out.

Ok yall. Im looking for 2 or 3 jigs for pitching pads and docks. What head shapes and weights should I be looking for? I think I'll just 3 of the same size just in different colors. Good or bad idea?

Any info is appreciated. Thanks yall

Get something with a good stout hook in it.

Some form of black jig and a green pumpkin jig are basically the only 2 colors I throw in a flipping jig.


There are many good jig makers in our areas and state, I am a fan of Santone jigs, they make some good jigs.

Not sure if they have it at bps but a 3/4 or 1/2 oz grandmaster jig in pb&j with a pb&j zman batwing trailer works good.

I know how you feel. I went to pick up a few myself and it took forever before I finally just grabbed a couple. That aisle is overload.

I have jigs by the hundredweight. Can't resist them. Come see me, I'll give you a hand full.

Keep it really simple. Get a couple of green pumpkin colored jigs in 3/8, 1/2, and 1 ounce and a couple of black in the same sizes. Maybe get a couple light colored jigs in a vertical line tie to use as swim jigs. Vary the colors of the jigs with trailers. For trailers, I like rage chunks and real pork chunks. Keep those colors simple too. Trust me. The bass don't decide to hit a jig based on color most of the time. Usually it's a reaction strike when flipping. When crawling it on long sloping deep points, it will need a more natural color and trailer.

BPS is not the best place to get jigs. I'm not a hater of BPS, but smaller companies make MUCH better jigs. You can have the make them with the hooks of your choice and colors. If your new start with three colors.
Black-Blue
Green Pumpkin
Brown
The get several different colors and types of trailers
FYI that Mark Perry guy ties a dang good jig too.
John Martin at Truesouth Lures makes my jigs. His Fathead jig is what a bunch of us folks who fish Lake Norman skip docks with.

I guess I am now a jig fisherman...my son and I both won 50$ gift certificates for Santone products...used the first certificate on spinner baits and jigs...I have seen jigs consistently produce all my life, just never been interested in fishing them till lately. The funny thing is, several years ago I took a jig only trip ( like a lot of folks say to do to build confidence) and I caught a huge crappie (almost 3lbs).now that I mainly crappie fish I catch a lot of big bass.

I agree with Steez - Keep it simple because once you gain confidence in a certain brand or color, you will find yourself leaning towards those most of the time and all the other ones you bought will rarely get used. I have 4 or 5 boxes of jigs, I fish with them alot. But there are certain ones that I end up going to, time and time again. Trailers are the same way, I have bags and bags and bags of trailers, most of which I doubt I will ever use. Speaking of trailers, with mend it and super glue you can repair and re-use trailers time and time again.

I guess I am now a jig fisherman...my son and I both won 50$ gift certificates for Santone products...used the first certificate on spinner baits and jigs...I have seen jigs consistently produce all my life, just never been interested in fishing them till lately. The funny thing is, several years ago I took a jig only trip ( like a lot of folks say to do to build confidence) and I caught a huge crappie (almost 3lbs).now that I mainly crappie fish I catch a lot of big bass.

You are in good shape since Santone is as good of a jig as you can get.

I fish jigs a LOT. I get mine from Jim Lewis, and they are awesome. He's got colors that you will never see from another company.

He's got a website and a facebook.

www.screwylewylures.com

Slade is correct. When you have success with a certain jig, the others just sit in the box. I am a big fan of giving the local guys as much business as possible, but Mike Siebert at Siebert Outdoors makes a jig with the Owner Deep Throat hook that I just can't put down. All of his jigs are made to order - you pick everything. http://www.siebertoutdoors.com/Dredge-Jigs_c6.htm

Without assaulting you with brand names... If you wanted one style and weight I'd go with 1/2 oz Flipping jig (arkie style head), just make sure it has a stout hook. Must have colors IMO are Black and Blue, Black Brown & Amber, and Green Pumpkin. Most jigs now days are balanced well enough that a flipping jig will also work pretty decent as a swim jig.

Best all around jig for the money are the War Eagle come wire tied and solid hooks and are 1/3 the price of most hand or wire tired jigs

Wrong eagle, edited it, WAR Eagle is my brand of choice

So what's the best head shape for pads and docks? When would you use a football head jig? How do you decide what weight you are going to tie if all you're doing is flipping?

For pitching to docs I love the strike king bitsy bugs.

Docks I would pitch/flip an "arkie" style head or something similar , 3/8-5/5oz should be plenty heavy, maybe even drop down to a 1/4oz if really shallow..

If I were going to fish pads slow it would be with a 1/2- 1 1/2 oz punching or slither rig and/or a big Texas rig with a STOUT hook and heavy line.

I like 25-30lb fluorocarbon or big game over braided line, if I can get away with it...

For docks I like a 3/8oz "flippin" head(styles vary brand to brand), I like a horizontal line tie, it will pull the jig over beams on docks without letting the jig roll over on its side, preventing hangups.

Pads(or any vegetation) (I like a vertical line tie due to the fact the eye is inline with the hook and line, making it easier to pull through vertical cover.

A football head jig comes into play when dragging across the bottom in more open/deeper water. The head design is made to transfer bottom compositions to the rod better than a slim head that would slide through the shells/rocks/mud/brush that's on the bottom. Hope this helps.

For Me- I follow a couple of guidelines. What is the water clarity on the lake I fish the most. Muddy or hazy water (Visibility < 2 ft.) the darker colors work best. Black, Black/Blue, Black/chartreuse, Brown/Black. For clearer water lakes (Visibility >2 ft) I use more natural colors- Green Pumpkin, Watermelon Red, Bream colors (PB&J, Okeechobee craw, Alabama craw, etc.) For trailers I generally try to match the color of the jig. Sometimes I will put Green Pumpkin rage tail behind a black jig.

There are basically 3 types of jig heads- Football, round, and pointed. Each has a unique action. The football head will wobble side to side as you drag it across the bottom. The Round had I like to hop up off the bottom and let fall. The pointed head comes thru cover the best of all. It is best used in vegetation, brush, around docks.

Hook size. The wire size on jigs very from Very Heavy Flipping hooks to light wire for open water fishing. Match your hook to the fishing you will be doing. When in doubt always err on the heavier hook.

Weight size- Since jigs come in an infinite number of weights I recommend keeping it simple. Buy a couple of 1/4 oz. for shallow water, a couple of 1/2 oz. for intermediate (10-15ft) and a couple of 3/4 oz. for deep points and ledges. I would recommend buying one of each color type (dark and bream) in each weight (total of 6 jigs and go see what works best for you. Play with the trailer a and trailer colors.

^^^^^^^ yes

Arkie style jig head would be a good middle of the road/versatile jig type for vegetation and docks. Sort of a 30 degree line tie between vertical and horizontal.

I've been using lots heavier swim jigs (vertical line tie) for flipping vegetation. For docks, you can go lighter.

Being very careful; swim jigs will work around docks/trees/brush also, but you have to slowly crawl it over horizontal cover or it can side roll and hang up. Crawling it over the letting it fall on semi slack line can trigger lots of bites.

White, black and blue, and green pumpkin.

Santone
Viper XP
MPack
Dirty jigs
V & M

are some of the best out there.

Colors to start with
black blue or black blue purple
shades of green pumpkin with accents of either orange or purple
peanut butter n jelly
black brown amber

That will give you a good start.

The Zoom ultra vibe speed craw is a good trailer to start with also but there are many others that are very good also.

Bass Pro has the speed craws but I don't think they carry any of the jig brands I listed.

Football jig when dragging in water 5-30ft deep flipping style when fishing docks and shallow cover. I don't like jigs around pads unless its a swim jig. When looking at jigs for docks pay attention to head some don't skip well if your fishing docks with no grass try a 1/2 oz football head this will not come through the brush as well but man can u skip it far

Thanks everyone!!!!!!

P.s. can anyone give me a guess on the weight of this one? Im sorry it's not much to go off but any guesses are appreciated

Nice! 4.25#

Ill give you 3.5 on it

PM sent, dreamweaver.