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Watermelon Chartreuse Color Jig Heads. The jig head colors above are watermelon green with chartreuse flake. Some photos show the chartreuse better or worse, but it's there. It adds an overall chartreuse accent to the green. The chartreuse flake flickers more when it is held underwater than held in your hand. Soft Plastic Bait Rigging SuggestionsThe triple cone cut keeper collar on the footballs lets you rig a silicone skirt and a soft plastic trailer - or use a bulky soft bait alone as in the rigging suggestions below.
Which One When? It's hard to say exactly when or why to pick which one of the three rigs shown above: 1) the Kreature, 2) the skirt and Flappin' Hog combo, and 3) the hula grub. Honestly, they're all somewhat similar. You may get a day, a week, a season when you seem to do better with one versus the others, and it may flip-flop back and forth which seems to outproduce the other, but there's really no way to say for sure. Just try 'em. Whatever seems to work best, that is the right thing to throw at that moment. These flat football jigs come in 3 sizes as shown: 3/8 oz (5/0), 1/2 oz (5/0) and 3/4 oz (6/0) sizes.
If a football jig does drop into a larger crevice, the head will be too wide across to fully wedge all the way deep down. The crosswise football shape does not let it get too deeply snagged, so you can usually shake or jiggle a loosely-stuck football jig out of snags. The "T" formation (that the head and the collar make) helps the jig resist rolling over, and the "T" shape causes the jig to perch on top of rugged bottom rubble rather than wedge its nose into debris. The football jig is at its very best on hard bottoms, gravel, sand, shell, in any and all rocks (especially round "river-washed" rocks as opposed to square chunk rock). Speaking of rivers, the football shape is incredible to bounce bottom in a flowing current or tide. Where a football jig is not best to use, a football is usually not as easy to fish as an Arkey jig in brush, standing timber, stumps, laydowns (or whatever wood), and the football jig fouls miserably in most vegetation. The shape of this flat football jig in photos may look different depending on the camera angles at which photos are taken, but these are football shape jig heads with a flattened face plate. Available in three sizes: 3/8 oz with a stout 5/0 Mustad Ultra Point hook; 1/2 oz and 3/4 oz sizes both have a heavy 6/0 Mustad Ultra Point hook.
Between the triple cone cut keeper collar, the in-line fiberguard, the heavy Mustad hook, the stand-up action, nosing down on bottom in a feeding posture, the plowing action, lift-and-fall glide, and strike-triggering slamming action, it's clear that this is no ordinary football jig. That's why I say, "You've seen football jigs before, just never like these!"More Rigging
Suggestions:
Flat Football Jigs for Bass Fishing ~ Skirt Color SuggestionsBlack Blues, Black RedsBlack Blue Skirt. Anglers tend to use football jigs in deeper clear to stained water, and often opt for brownish or greenish skirts and trailers. Occasionally, a savvy angler will throw a shad-colored football jig, but that's rare. Rarer still is to throw a black blue football jig, except at night. It also excels at dawn, dusk, on dark mornings, overcast days or when the wind smurs the surface so much it reduces light penetration below, or when the wind creates a mudline - throw the black blue football and score a touchdown!
Browns & Purples
 1/2 oz Football Jig ~ Brown Purple Brown Purple Skirt. Has 30 strands of purplish brown on the back and 20 strands of brownish purple on the belly. If you're not getting solid strikes that way, rotate the skirt so the purples on the back, the brown on the belly, and see if that turns the trick. One trailer color to try with this skirt is Yamamoto's #150 (smoke pepper). It makes a super subtle clear water combination.
PBJ Flash Skirt. Every strand (44 of them) are heavily metal-foiled on both sides with a lustrous purple metal foil. The photos do not reflect (pun intended) just how heavily-foiled and shimmery these skirts are. The foil does not make the skirts stiff in any way. They are super soft and supple. The gold grains you see in the photo are a left-over residue of the foiling process, and will wash off when used. One soft plastic trailer color to try is Yamamoto's #221 (cinnamon with purple).
Brown Sunfish Skirt. Brown orange skirts always remind me that most jig colors imitate sunfish as well as crawfish. The frosting you see on this skirt is actually highly-reflective gold glitter, but does not come across that way in my photos. The gold glitter is on every strand, including the orange. Under water, the gold frosting glistens and shimmers, and the mottled black bars heighten the sunfish illusion. A couple of soft plastic trailer colors that go with this skirt are Yamamoto's #194 (watermelon pepper) or #323 (watermelon pepper w/gold).
 1/2 oz Football Jig ~ Warmouth Sunfish
Warmouth Sunfish Skirt. Another sunfish pattern skirt inspired by the voracious Warmouth member of the clan. This skirt features a light greenish, almost yellowish belly, and every strand has orange copper glitter in each strand, plus an orange tail tip. Some soft plastic trailer colors to try with this skirt are Yamamoto's #236 (smoke rootbeer w/copper and green) or #330 (green pumpkin with copper and purple).
GreensThese are wide flat-bottomed football heads in 3/8, 1/2, 3/4 ounce sizes. They may not always look like footballs due to the photo angles, but they are all wide flat football heads.
Green Pumpkin, Watermelon and Watermelon Red Some soft bait manufacturers claim green pumpkin, watermelon and watermelon red are their three top-selling colors worldwide, and anglers who use twin-tail hula or spider grubs on football jigs, they favor green pumpkin, watermelon or watermelon red soft plastic hula or spider grubs on football jigs too. Yet when it comes to skirted jigs like those shown below, jig anglers use far less green than black or brown jigs. That's a big mistake. Use more green jigs - and catch more. Relatively few other jig anglers do.
Pro Football Jig HeadsThis jig head is known by the name of the "pro football" head. It is very popular - probably the most common football head on the market. It appears in a lot of places. The same one appears under several brand names, and in in different vendors' packaging with or without skirts, and also at mail order component catalogs like Jann's, Barlow's and Stamina. The manufacturer who molds and paints them has some flexibility to use different hook styles or sizes in the same mold. Almost always, when you see this football head on the shelf or in a catalog, it almost always has an oddly-angled jig hook. This odd-angled hook is sometimes called a "Big Bite" bend I think. This angled-in hook shape is very good for Texas-rigging soft plastics where you tex-skin the hook under the worm's (or whatever soft bait's) skin. On a jig however, where you are not burying the jig hook in a soft bait, I never really liked these odd-angled hooks on jigs myself. Still, many highly-successful anglers use these same football jigs with the oddly-angled jig hooks - and they score very well. So that brings up an important point - a lot of good anglers favor a lot of different football jigs. I guess it's the same with everything, different brands and styles appeal to different people who feel they all work swell for them. My preference, I highly prefer the standard round bend jig hook - not the oddly-angled jig hook on these pro football heads. I like to have the consistent hooking experience I am used to when a jig has the standard round bend hook in it. That works swell for me. So that's one difference that I really like between the pro football jigs shown here - and others that have that oddly-angled hook.
On the top ESPN/BASS and FLW pro tours the past two years (2006-2007), a paradigm shift has started in the baits used and spots fished by top pros in prestigious televised tournaments. Top pros are increasingly learning to probe deeper offshore spots for untapped bass. The pros are discovering new lures to them (like football jigs) will win deep tournaments. Consequently, the football jig has grown in popularity among local tournament and recreational anglers who pick up new techniques and tactics from the pros on TV and in magazine articles. The specific football head shown here is one of the most popular football jigs on the market. This same football jig has been on the market for years. If it looks like your favorite brand of football jig, it may have come out of the same series of molds. This same jig (and slight brand variations of it) sells under a variety of different brand names which are made in the same factory. As the molds that make the football jig become worn out by normal usage, new molds are made to replace the worn molds. When a new mold is made, it is also an opportunity to make changes to the football jig shape, upgrades to the jig collar and trailer keeper collar are made, and the fiberguard has changed dimensions over the years as better (thinner) fiberguard options became available. No trimming is required. So many aspects of this football jig shape have been refined over a number of years, making it one of the best and most popular football jigs today. For 2007, the round bend wide gap Mustad Ultra Point hook you see here is new. In prior years, the hook used in this football had a sharply angled bend (like a Sproat or O'Shaughnessy bend). For 2007, the new wide gap, round bend forged hook you see here consistently hooks and holds fish better. This new round bend hook is a step up from the hook formerly used in this jig in prior years.
Differences between the Football Jig and Other Jig Shapes More streamlined jig heads (most all other jig head shapes) will snag more on rocky bottom types than will the football jig. Even if a football jig does get lodged in a snag, it will not lodge as deeply, and can be unsnagged more easily than other jigs, especially if you are able to backpedal to get right over the snagged jig in order to get it out the same way or same angle that it went in. Many other jig heads will roll on their sides, putting the hook right on the bottom. Due to its oblong sideways head however, a football jig really cannot roll over. A football jig tends to keep the hook straight up most of the time, and it is hard to envision the hook snagging when it's upright. A hook tends to snag when it's rolled into the bottom or when the hook's rolled into a limb - but the football head tends not to roll over as much as other jigs. Standard Weight Sizes The 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 ounce sizes are great to use in rock bottom areas because the oblong head shape helps keep the jig head perched atop bottom rubble without slipping and sliding down deep into small cracks and openings amidst the debris. Heavy Football Jigs Really Come Into Their Own Where football heads really come into their own, however, is with the heavy 3/4 and 1 ounce sizes. The heavy heads really define what football jig fishing is. The heavyweight heads separate football jigging from all other types of jig tactics. The 3/4 and 1 ounce jigs have a big presence, they displace a lot of water and create a disturbance that doesn't go unnoticed by deep bass. They sink fast. They hit the bottom and hit any underwater obstacles hard, causing a fast-snapping reaction bite at times. Think of an apple tree. If a light leaf fell off the top of the apple tree and fluttered silently to the ground, you would hardly pay attention. You might not even notice at all. If a ponderous apple fell off the tree top and smashed the ground hard, you are very likely to turn your head to see what just happened there. That's why a heavy football jig works so well. It gets attention plummeting down and thudding the bottom hard, and when fish turn their heads to see what's happening, your football jig is on the scene, appearing edible or alive. Is the Football Jig a Crawdad Imitation? Many anglers pigeonhole the football jig as a crawdad imitation. Yet the football jig isn't exactly a true copy of a crawdad - or anything else. A bass may not know what a football jig represents, except that as the football bangs the bottom and crashes head-on into bottom debris - even when it just lays there immobile - it appears like something that is not a perfect, healthy specimen, therefore an easier meal to catch than a perfectly healthy craw or minnow. So the football jig imitates nothing in particular and everything in general. Depending on the color of the jig head, the color and kind of dressing you apply (you may dress it with a silicone skirt plus any kind of soft plastic or pork trailer - or just use soft baits like hula grubs, creatures, beavers or craws alone without skirts) and depending on the action that an angler uses, a football can give fish the impression of a craw, a panfish, a shad, a young-of-year walleye, trout, etc. So when you know that bass are feeding heavily on one particular kind of food source, it can help to try to match the hatch. For example, when bass are feeding heavily on shad, it can help to use a silver jig head, with a silvery white dressing (skirt and/or soft bait). Yet above all, a football jig is just something non-descript and moving - an easy target that bass strike. Hold Down the Head-Shaking or Else! In deep water, bass are notorious for racing to the top to leap out of the water as soon as they are hooked, often dislodging a heavy football jig when they jump. This is often unavoidable. It is almost impossible to reel in slack line as quickly as a fish can rocket straight to the top. Even if you do reel fast enough to keep the line tight as the fish races to the surface, it is never truly a tight line. Instead, there's a bowed "U" shape due to water drag tension. It may feel tight to you perhaps, but there's always enough slack in the U-bowed line for a fish can to rattle its gills and dislodge a heavy football jig by streaking up and leaping out instantly upon hookset. It's all part of the fun and excitement of fishing football jigs. Please enjoy! Customer Tag Watson and Team Partner Win First Place!Congratulations to Tag Watson and his team partner who took first place in a "Fall Open" over the weekend. Tag hails from Washington state where he often fishes (and wins) tournaments. Tag and his team partner certainly whacked some wonderful smallies using heavy one ounce football jigs over the weekend.
"We took first place and big fish this weekend with a winning weight of 22.85 pounds (5 fish). Your dark green pumpkin skirt fished on a 1 oz. Pro Football head jig tore them up! The next five fish we caught and released would have weighed a 19 pound limit as well." "A 5 inch 97-series Yamamoto double tail skirted hula grub in color 301 was the hot trailer of the day. We used a slow steady retrieve for most of our bites but brief pauses followed by short bursts were effective at times. We had several fish come unbuttoned that would have let us weigh a 25+ pound bag but we lost a few giants. Quite a few times, the jig would jump off a boulder and the smallmouth would hit the jig so hard it would knock a ton of slack in the line. A few times we just couldn't get our hooks set because of the excessive slack and ended up losing three 5 pound plus fish. Man, they just crush that jig. I love it!" - Tag Watson, a customer from Washington state. And Another Win! First place and Big Fish Prize
Swimming Football JigsThere's a renaissance of renewed interest in jig fishing the past few seasons. It's in large part due to top BASS and FLW pros who have been throwing more and different jigs than ever before. I'm not really talking about your father's flipping jigs either. There's a funny scene in the movie titled Forest Gump where the character Bubba is reciting to Gump all the different ways that shrimp may be served. The list seems to never end is the funny part. Likewise with jigs, there are endless ways to present jigs to fish - flipping jigs, Arkey jigs, finesse jigs, tube jigs, shakey jigs, wacky jigs, stand up jigs, darter jigs, jig'n worms, jig n' grubs, jig heads for swimbaits, jigs with spinners under their chins, Slider jigs, float'n fly jigs, hair jigs, bulky softball jigs and on and on. Two jig styles that pros have been using more often in recent years are: 1) swimming jigs and 2) football jigs. Many (not all) of the pros have really only started using these jig styles recently, but are doing swell with them, and their successes have not gone unnoticed by the ranks of avid bass anglers worldwide. Swimming Jigs. One pro angler in particular, Tom Monsoor from Wisconsin has dominated the north central regional tournaments whenever he fished them with his swimming jigs over the past decade. Some sources cite Monsoor tallied 100 wins with swimming jigs in regional events. When Monsoor stepped up to the national pro tour in 2004, he took his Wisconsin swimming jigs with him. Monsoor stuck several top finishes in quick order with his swimming jigs. That caused a panic and herd reaction among other top BASS and FLW pros who rushed to add swimming jigs to their bag of tricks. Indeed, pros that tried swimming jigs (which were fairly new to many of them) did quite well in top events at that time. Today, nation-wide swimming jig fever has cooled down. As Monsoor's win streak tailed off, swimming jig popularity ebbed also. It probably peaked about two years back (in 2004-2005). Nevertheless, swimming jigs for bass are here to stay, and it is fair to say it really wasn't done much before Monsoor. Football Jigs. Another region, the far West is the cradle of football jig fishing. I don't know who or how it first started, but the deep clear canyon lakes of Arizona, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and Southern California are considered the domain where heavy football jigging flourished for bass fishing. For instance, back in 1995, top pro Gary Yamamoto won the West's biggest event - the US Open in Las Vegas - with a one ounce football jig, a technique largely unknown to pros outside the far West until recently. In just the last couple seasons on the top BASS and FLW tours, the football jig has become an "overnight success" as one of the winning-est tactics today. Part of the reason is, tour schedule timing has shifted the past couple seasons to include more post-spawn dates when fish drift deeper after the spring. Another part of the reason is pros overall are turning more and more to deepwater methods throughout the season (not just during post-spawn events) and they're discovering the heavy football jig is one of the best deepwater lures. Will the current popularity of the football jig only last a season or two like so many other hot tactics that spurt then wither? Will intense interest in the football jig wane like with the swimming jig? It's too early to say. Right now the football jig is hot, at least until the next hot thing supersedes it. But one thing's for sure, neither the Western style football jig nor the Wisconsin style swimming jig will ever slip back into being a regional tactic anymore. Both swimming jigs and football jigs work too well and anglers everywhere know about them now. So they're here to stay. Swimming Football Jigs. One thing you hardly ever hear about (and I've even read articles that say it won't work) is swimming football jigs. Football jigs are supposed to be bottom-bounced or dragged across bottom in deep water. Swimming jigs are supposed to be kept moving up near the surface in thick, shallow vegetation. Honestly, swimming football jigs is fairly simple and effective. It combines 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ounce football jigs with baitfish-colored skirts and grub tail trailers used with a swimming (as opposed to bottom-bouncing) retrieve. Another "melding" of these techniques you may say are that these football jigs don't have a heavy wire flipping caliber hook. They have a medium (yet still strong) hook that helps set the hook with a swimming retrieve. For whatever reason, a swimming jig retrieve works best with a long cast. Some say in shallow grassy areas, the long cast with a swimming jig is needed not to alert fish to the angler's presence. But there's more to it than that because the long cast also gets more strikes in deep water swimming football jigs. Who knows why but it's true that a long cast is best when swimming jigs. Another helpful feature for swimming jigs is these footballs don't have the thick, super-stiff brushguards often found on football jigs. Again, the brushguard used here helps fish hook themselves when they hit these football jigs on the end of a long distance cast. No, these are not finesse jigs - nor are they flipping jigs. For instance, the gear I favor for them is either a Falcon Expert EC-7-MH rod (for the 1/2 oz size) and a Falcon Expert EC-7-H for the 3/4 and 1 ounce swimming football jigs. Both rods I use 16 pound test Yamamoto Sugoi gray fluorocarbon line with Shimano Chronarch 200 reels. So that's certainly not finesse fishing, but the medium/heavy hook wire and fiberguard are excellent in swimming jig situations with medium/heavy (as opposed to flipping) strength gear.
There are a lot of fancy fishing lures available for bass anglers today. If the truth be known, all the fancy stuff probably does not do any better at bagging bass than these humble baitfish pattern jigs. Swimming a baitfish pattern jig is a different presentation and gets a different reaction from fish compared to slowly bouncing the bottom with a black blue or brown purple or dark color jig. The swimming football jig is a faster, flashier style of jig fishing. Why not give these swimming football jigs a try today? You'll be glad you did. Tips for the Swimming Football Technique. It is a misconception that football jigs need to be used RIGHT ON THE VERY BOTTOM. I've even come across articles claiming you can't swim football jigs, but that's not true. Yes, these football jigs can be swam in very close proximity to the bottom, but the best approach is so the jigs rarely touch bottom except when YOU momentarily pause of purposely mend slack line to the jig that allows the jig to sink to seek the bottom in order so you may adjust the depth ABOVE BOTTOM at which you are making your swimming presentation. Otherwise, you really don't need to hit bottom at all, except to stop and let the jig touch down every so often to make sure you are near but not on the bottom. This is the case when you are retrieving down a downhill bottom contour. You will occasionally need to pause to let the jig sink to hunker close to the bottom. But once it touches down, start swimming it again. On an uphill bottom contour, you'll need to do the opposite. Quicken the retrieve until the football jig can no longer be felt bouncing the bottom. One way to help visualize this is to consider the football jig is like a jet plane taking off on a runway. You want the jig to get airborne (start swimming) and you need to accelerate the retrieve enough so that the jig takes off from bottom. Unlike the jet plane however, you want the jig to ideally hover close to bottom - with minimal subsequent touch-offs just to make sure the jig hasn't risen too high. You want to be off bottom but tracking close to it. What happens when you are swimming along and there's a sudden rise or obstacle such as a bush, a boulder, a ridge shelf jutting up higher than the rest of the terrain is that the swimming football jig will begin to clutch, bounce off and stutter over and through the object. As the football jig bulldozes its way through and past the object, it will start to get that "floating feeling" as it starts to swim smoothly again. That instant when it clears the obstruction as the grabby, snaggy feel turns into a floating swim feel is a high percentage strike point. As the jig bumbles through and pulls clear of whatever's down there, expect it to get belted hard. One other tip, if the water you fish has current or flow, the football jig excels when cast cross current and allowed to dead drift down current. Actually, cast slightly upcurrent, starting at a 45 degree angle upcurrent (depending on current speed and depth). The current sweeps the jig back down at you. The jig will sink down and start rolling and dragging along bottom if you don't do anything. If you start reeling in just a little line, the jig will perk up and start methodically bouncing bottom instead of rolling or dragging. If you increase the pace to wind in just a little more line, the jig will reluctantly start to "take off" from the "runway" and become temporarily "airborne." Like a plane that may be overloaded too much and cannot make it off the runway - gravity will return the jig to bottom occasionally until it is perpendicular to you (directly in front of you) in the current when water flow pressure neutralizes and overrides gravity's force, your jig should float away from bottom! That is often the moment when the connection is made between fisherman and fish, when the jig is no longer bouncing bottom, but floating freely above it buffeted by the swirling of the current. The jig is fairly neutral for an instant there, like an astronaut in a weightless environment! What happens next instant is the jig switches to being downcurrent from you. Immediately the jig does an about-face 180 turn and starts rising in the current. This sudden rise is a strike trigger. You can't really do it with the rod tip or with reel and line manipulation. It is only the current and the dead drifting tactic that makes these strike trigger moments possible. If there is any fish-holding boulder, hump, wood jam or whatever may hold fish, you really want to orchestrate the instant of the 180 turn-around and rise to happen right there. So, if you are going to be fishing current a bottom-bouncing approach like this is a good choice for these football jigs for clean (weed-free) sand, shellfish and rock bottoms, channels or whatever (except weedy bottoms). You will need some current flow from mild to strong, which can be matched with the 1/2, 3/4 and 1 oz weights depending on current flow. But keep in mind, you will rarely catch any fish on the bottom-bouncing part when the jig is coming down current. That's only the part used to set up and prepare for the free float when it gets directly in front of you, the turn-around and rise. Nor will you get many strikes once the jig drifts past that point and falls down current from you. Flipping Jigs Rule!People often ask, "What is flipping?"
Oh, yes, you'll also need a flipping jig that won't crumble under that kind of pressure. Season after season, an analysis of winning techniques shows that flipping jigs remain one of the most winningest baits on top level pro tours like BASS and FLW. It's always been a winner and always will. Who knows why, but big bass favor flipping jigs. It's not just top tour pros either. Right on down the line of any and all regional and local tournament trails, no matter where, the flipping jig is indubitably a winner. If you look at any regional or local tournament dominator, chances are more than good that the flipping jig is the tool used to win time after time. For many anglers, however, it's a hard lure to use, and you will not catch as many fish. If you do catch five bass (a limit), or if you just need to hang one good kicker to win, the flipping jig catches bigger bass on average than most any other lure. Who knows why, but it does. The flipping jig always has and will be a tournament-winning bait. This heavy duty Style T flipping jig head works best on heavy tackle. It's shaped especially for getting through grass, weeds and wiry brush. It comes in one size only - 1/2 ounce with a heavy Mustad Ultra Point 5/0 flipping hook. Around thick grass beds, reed berms, flooded brush banks, lily pads and the like, a streamlined bullet-nosed flipping jig has traditionally been high on an expert angler's options. I say a flipping jig is for an expert angler, because as deceptively simple as a flipping jig appears to be, it is difficult for a neophyte to use one. One problem is, many anglers underestimate the heaviness of the gear that's required to flip jigs. A good flipping rod, reel and line is one of the heaviest of all outfits required for effective bass fishing. The casual angler doesn't have the gear horsepower required to flip, to get a jig in and out of dense cover and to set the heavy hook despite the stiff deflective fiberguard. But the right outfit alone doesn't do much itself. You can acquire the very best flipping outfit in the world, however there's still the skill required to cast or flip a jig into barely open spots in the almost impenetrable tangles of thick cover. More often than not, the flip cast had to hit an area no larger than a tea cup - or you're out of luck. Most flipping casts need to be that precise, and many anglers aren't. The best flippers are not born that way but practice in their garage, pool or backyard, some for an hour daily, just flipping a jig into a teacup or coffee can. An expert flipper must also develop a knack of "preventing snags before they happen" and this skill can be practiced on dry land too. Just cast across an obstacle course that simulates the fishing situations you face. Oh yes, cut the fiberguard off first and run the jig through the obstacle course with the hook point exposed. You'll be a better flipper for it. This knack of "preventing snags before they happen" has very little to do with jig construction. Although a properly-designed jig helps, the knack's 80% operator skill. For anglers that have not mastered the knack of preventing snags before they happen, flipping jigs can be a frustratingly snaggy experience. Inevitably, even the best flipper will get snagged - in fact, often. This requires another skill. Not only must a flipper be a "master caster" to get into tight spots in the cover that few other anglers can fish, but must be a "master uncaster" also, meaning the knack to unsnag stuck jigs is truly a necessary ability that all flippers must master. If you aren't a "master uncaster" that means you must move the boat to the snag more often than not, to get it out, and you're just not going to catch many fish doing that all day. Being a master uncaster means getting a snag out without compromising your boat's fishing position and without blowing every bass out of the cover. I hope I haven't discouraged anyone who wants to try flipping jigs. As deceptively simple as jigs look, it is up to the flipper to make them work - or not. It may take years, even a lifetime, to master flipping jigs, but it is the ultimate accomplishment in bass fishing. No other bass lure takes as much skill or practice.
Flip, Pitch or Swim? You Decide. Up until a couple of years back, fishing jigs around shallow, thick vegetation meant flipping jigs into tiny spots where bass would be holed up deep in cover, and expecting to get hit even before the jig reaches bottom most times. If no hit, shake or hop the jig a couple of times and then extract it from the cover for another cast. If you're so close to the cover you can literally hit the bass on the head without even casting, that's called "flipping" in a nutshell. If you have to pitch an underhanded or semi-sidearm cast a short distance to hit the target, that's called "pitching" a jig. In the last few years, "swimming" a jig and specific versions of "swimming jigs" have become popular for fishing around thick grass beds also. In this case, the jig is kept swimming along, and the specific swimming jig designs are optimized to do that. The jig here flips and pitches into holes in grass and gets in and out of tight cover very well. It is also designed it to swim as good as any swimming jig. This heavy duty flipping jig is designed so it swims as good as it flips. Not one or the other, but both. So that's what this jig does best of all - both flipping and swimming. Especially in grass, thick weeds, tall reeds, wiry brush banks and fields of lily pads. Unconventional Jig Eye Bend. Unlike conventional jigs, the 30 degree bend jig hook is what helps make these jigs swim better than a jig with a traditional 60 degree or 90 degree jig hook. The 30 degree hook placement and the curve of the chin underneath it help bring the jig though grass better than other jigs, plus the collar (where the skirt goes) is much lower below the jig's center of gravity, which helps steer the eye over and through grass, helps the point stick on a strike and helps counterbalance the jig to stay upright when swimming. I've seen many ill-balanced flipping jigs that roll over on their sides when you try to swim them, and I've seen many swimming jigs just too light to flip - but the Style T jig swims and flips in grass better than most other flipping jigs out there, and it swims better than most other swimming jigs out there today. Premium Mustad Opti-Angle Ultra Point jig hook. This is one of Mustad's newest - and best - jig hook models. New hook models like this have a habit of leapfrogging over old hook models. Let's face it, you can't upgrade an old hook model since they are many existing molds and lure manufacturers worldwide depending on hook models to remain consistent. But you can learn what makes a jig hook better, and incorporate those ideas into a new hook model, which is what Mustad did with this hook. Every dimension is better than most any flipping jig hook built before it. The total length from the eye to the bend is longer than any flipping jig hook I know. Just like long shank hooks have become preferred on spinnerbaits, this new longer jig hook also puts the hook point back further into the mouth when engulfed - and also puts the hook point further back to hook more short-striking fish. The top of the hook eye is much lower than the point, thus less impediment caused by protruding hook eye blockage on the hookset. The "front length" (distance from the tip of the point to back of the bend) is longer, for more cant and leverage on the hookset. >From the tip of the point to the barb is longer, for more tentative hold upon initial penetration. The bend is wider, the gape is wider and the bite or throat is deeper. As I say, every dimension is designed better than most any flipping jig hook built before it. New hooks designs tend to be like that. It has a heavy flipping strength hook wire for landing big bass with medium/heavy to very heavy tackle. It is a 5/0 hook with a black nickel finish and an Opti-Angle Ultra Point designed to resist the point bending and rolling over when it meets gristly mouth material. Triple Cone Cut Keeper Collar. This is something you do not see much yet on bass lures. The Style T jig here is just about the first to implement it (on bass jigs). It is designed to hold a skirt (over the first cone) and the remaining two cones can hold a soft trailer securely. To get a skirt or soft bait onto the cones, it's best to wet the collar a little first. Lake water or any water will do. At home, I like to use a Q-Tip dipped in water and dishwashing liquid. Just dab the cones to wet them, then wriggle the skirt or soft bait gently side to side to get it seated properly on the cones. If you try it dry or apply too much direct force straight ahead, it's not as easy and results will be less than perfect. Wet the cones, and wriggle side to side gently, and your skirt and/or soft bait will enjoy the benefit of 360 degree all-around grip from each of the three cones. All together, that's 1,080 degrees of gripping power. Much better than a puny barb or bent wire keeper! The triple cone cut keeper collar is a significant advantage. First, there is one keeper cone for the skirt, and it is quite difficult for a fish to ever pull the skirt down. Second, there are two more cone keepers with a full 360 degrees of gripping power each (a total of 720 degrees of grip strength) that helps hold a soft plastic trailer far more securely than any spike or barb type keeper. Do the math. A spike or barb type keeper has at most 15 degrees of grip whereas the Style T jig has 720 degrees of grip. It's obvious the Style T will hold soft baits much more securely. Worst of all, most other flipping or swimming jigs on the market have absolutely no way to hold soft plastic trailers - just a bare hook shank behind the skirt! The Style T has not one but two full 360 degree trailer keeper cones! Closely Calibrated Fiberguard. The fiberguard is painstakingly calibrated to need no trimming. It wasn't so many years ago, there was practically only one size fiberguard, and it came the maximum length, very thick and very stiff, sort of a "one size fits all" which often meant that savvy anglers would need to trim, shorten and thin out some fibers to tailor the fiberguard to be just right for the snags they faced. Worst of all, less experienced anglers would use the fiberguard as is, and have problems hooking fish. No wonder novices would say jig fishing is hard to master. Remember, a fiberguard is only there to let the jig traverse terrain that an exposed hook can not. Nowadays, a manufacturer can practically custom order the length, stiffness, fiber diameter and number of fibers in a bundle that they desire. So we perfectly configured the fiberguard on the Style T jig so it does not need trimming. It's good to go right out of the box, and hooks a high percentage of fish while avoiding snags. Even inexperienced anglers will hook a lot of fish - and remarkably avoid snags like they're experts! You do want to fan the fibers out, just a little bit on both sides, to serve as side deflectors to usher the hook away from grass and snags from the sides. But you do not need to trim it. It is set up for grass and weeds and brush, and that's why the fiberguard is a little longer which helps the jig get through grass. However, if you fish relatively snag-free areas, you may want to clip 1/4" off the tip of the fiberguard. This is just to lower the protruding tip of the fiberguard, so it reduces any chance it's an impediment when a fish engulfs it. Power Fishing's Perfect PairThis the matching jig built to be used with the Style T spinnerbait. The Style T spinnerbait comes in two sizes only 1/2 oz and 3/4 ounce with a 5/0. Both this jig and the Style T spinnerbait were built together in order to be fished together. These two are like peas and carrots - the perfect pair for heavy tackle. How it works is when you power fish down a bank, you can use this jig to flip, pitch and swim this jig right in the thick grass, the heavy cover and tight spots. With a second rod on the deck, you can throw the Style T spinnerbait to the outside edges and ends of grass lines and the open water stretches in between thick cover patches. As you come across points or bowls you don't necessarily want to bring the boat into, you can still fish them with long casts with the heavy spinnerbait. You can get up close and in tight with the jig, and also cast across more open water, get a little more distance with the spinnerbait. These two are the same h-ea-v-y d-u-t-y power fishing lure design built as a jig and as the matching Style T spinnerbait.
The hook used is one of the latest flipping jig hook styles to be introduced to the market (last year). As a rule, all new hooks tend to leapfrog past earlier hook models. New hooks incorporate new understanding by the hookmaker of how anglers use them, more modern production methods and materials. This is a modern hook made to withstand the force of superlines (braid), but works equally swell with monofilament or fluorocarbon. That doesn't mean it will never bend under tremendous pressure of heavier braided lines, but it is designed to bend less than most other flipping hooks do. No matter how strong a heavy duty flipping hook looks and feels, most all can and will bend under intense pressure with heavy braid. The Mustad "Ultra Point" is also revolutionary for flipping jigs. Mustad came out with it a few years back. It is super-sharp right out of the box, but where it excels most is after a few fish are caught or after you've been flipping a few hours or all day. The tip of the point rarely bends. The Mustad Ultra Point holds its point better under hard flipping conditions and doesn't roll the point after a few fish or flipping tough stuff all day. Best of all, the huge hook gap can accommodate big trailers and still have enough hook gap left to hook and land fish well. The huge hook gap assures your hookset will take, even if at the end of a long flip or pitch. And it was designed for long distance casting-and-swimming as well as it flips and pitches.
This jig comes through grass weedless and snagless, better than any flipping jig I know. Try it and see for yourself. At the same time, it is designed to momentarily clutch grass. I love the way it grabs but let's go of grass. There's something fish find perfect about that at times. We often hear how fishing lipless rattling crankbaits (or any lure) in grass, how it's good to rip it off grass to get a strike. Well, this jig does that - briefly - so fast it is hardly noticeable. It acts more like an aquatic terrestrial creature, an amphibian, waterbug, larvae or crawdad that moves from stalk to stalk, briefly clutching on and pushing off to the next stalk. Once you know about this unique grab-and-go action, you'll find yourself intentionally fishing this jig to bring that action out of it.
Flipping Jig Skirt Color SuggestionsPeople often think of flipping jigs one way - as imitating crawdads, which jigs do. But they equally imitate sunfish and other panfish like perch or crappie, baby bass and other young-of-year of many fish species, frogs, or anything else that hides in grass and thick cover where you'd flip a jig. Bass eat them all, and these natural skirt colors represent a lot of what bass eat. So it's not just crawdads that a jig looks like.
With two tone skirts, there's no strict rule or requirement to have one or the other half as the back or belly color. True, it seems more natural to present a dark top, light belly. Yet there are days when turning the skirt around 180 degrees may cause fish to hit harder. Who knows why, but if you are getting weak hits or half-hearted bumps on a multi-colored skirted lure, try to turn the skirt colors upside down and see if it doesn't make a difference. It may not look "right" to you, but there are days when this simple trick convinces fish to strike more solidly.
This skirt overlays two irregular print patterns - both bars and spots - onto one skirt. It really gives a broken-up and non-descript looking pattern that's more irregular and life-like than the square-looking fish scale patterns. It gives a great mottled crawfish, baitfish or panfish look that breaths fresh new life into popular skirt patterns.
Many anglers mistakenly feel flash doesn't matter in dark water, low light or at night. Nothing could be further from the truth. Flash is often attractive in the right proportion, even in the darkest conditions. That's why this skirt is so heavily sparkled with blue and purple glitter. Black Blue Flash Skirt. New skirt foiling technique for 2007! Each and every one of the 44 strands are heavily foiled in a non-descript, irregular pattern on both sides with metallic blue foil flash.
Rain Frog Skirt. This color looks like warm |
The
definition of flipping includes:
