Real Fine Custom Lures Bass Jig Basics

Choosing the right jig is often thought of as a complicated process if you're new to bass fishing. There are thousands of jigs on the market and they all have a purpose and application where they excel. Here we will cover basic jig styles and what conditions they are best suited for. 

"Arkie" Style Jigs - Jigs with an Arkie style head encompass the majority of jigs on the market. They feature a wide flattened head design that can navigate through cover quite well. These are the best types of jigs for anglers that fish lakes with diverse types of cover such as brush piles, laydowns, weedbeds, docks, and etc. They can handle just about anything and give anglers the best versatility. There are a lot of variances throughout Arkie style jigs. For example a "flipping" jig and "casting" jig have very similar head shapes. A "flipping" jig is typically outfitted with a heavier wire hook and thicker weedguard so it can go into heavier cover without getting snagged and anglers can use heavier line or braid.  A "casting" jig usually features a more regular wire hook and a standard weedguard, which makes it a better "all purpose" jig. If you could have only one jig to do everything with, it would be an regular Arkie style casting jig. 

"Football" Style Jigs - Simply and as the name implies Football jigs are shaped like footballs. They work really well picking their way through rocky bottom terrain because the wide head shape helps them get through structure without snagging. Most football jigs also allows your trailer to point upward to keep your trailer in a defensive crawdad position. These are perfect for dragging and hopping along the bottom for lake bottom feeding bass. 

"Swim" Style Jigs - Swim jigs are built for swimming through the middle of the water column and covering water.  Swim jigs feature thinner and narrower head shapes that are made to go through vegetation and cover water by a steady constant retrieve. 

Additional Jig Information - Within these three basic jig types there are also additional terms used such as "finnese" and "Punching" jigs. Finesse jigs are designed for lightweight fishing tactics, which are often thought as a great choice for finicky bass, and often also works well when the water is cold, as the bass often are more sluggish. Punching jigs are often oversized lead or tungsten heads to penetrate heavy dense vegetation, including tangled grass beds, and laydowns. 

The above information is a very broad explanation of the basic most common bass jigs. Bass jig fishing can at first be an intimating technique to inexperienced anglers who often think it is a complicated technique. However in reality it is almost impossible to fish a jig "wrong". Once a new jig angler gets over the misconception that there is dead set right and wrong way to fish jigs, and just start using them, they will often find that it is one of the most productive fishing technique and lure style they have ever used. The other aspect new jig anglers will often realize is that jigs will often produce strikes from bigger bass than some other lure types.

As a quote once made by one of Real Fine Custom Lures favorite Pro Anglers Edwin Evers of Bassmasters said "The wrong lure in the right place will still often catch bass" 

So tie on a jig, and start experiencing how fun and productive jig fishing can be.