There are several different types of bass jigs on the market today that have a variety of designs and are made for specific applications and presentations.
Jigs are by far the most popular lure used in bass fishing today, and there are a plethora of different jig designs made by a wide array of companies.
In this article, we will break down the most popular types of jigs on the market and give you our top pick of the best jigs for bass in each category.
- Terminator Weedless Football Jig
- Strike King Tour Grade Football Jig
- BOOYAH Boo Jigs
- Missile Baits Ike’s Mini Flip Jig
- Strike King Swinging Swim Jig
- 6th Sense Divine Swim Jig
The Terminator Weedless Football Jig has gone through extensive field testing to give anglers a product that surpasses all expectations when it comes to jig fishing.
Designed by professional bass angler Mike “Ike” Iaconelli, the mini flip jig was used on Mike’s road to victory in the 2014 Bassmaster Elite series event on the Delaware River.
The Strike King Swinging Swim Jig has a unique feature being that the hook isn’t molded into the head of the jig. This design allows the hook to swing freely and gives the trailer of choice more actions and movement.
Best Football Jigs for Bass
Football jigs have a head as you could probably guess, and are shaped like a football. This head design gives the jig an enticing wobble on the fall as well as when it’s dragged and hopped across the bottom.
The wider head also gives the jig great balancing characteristics and keeps the hook in an upward position so that it’s always ready for bass to grab it, giving optimal hook placement at the top of the fish’s mouth.
This balance also helps eliminate the potential of snagging on things like rocks due to the hook contacting and getting snagged in places like crevasses.
The football jig is great for working in rocky areas for largemouth and especially smallmouth bass, mimicking a crayfish very well.
These jigs aren’t the best choice for thick vegetation; though they can have a tendency to get caught up in weeds, you can still get away with using them in situations that have you fishing in vegetation.
The Terminator weedless football jig has gone through extensive field testing to give anglers a product that surpasses all expectations when it comes to jig fishing.
The Football Jig head design is actually quite different from other football jig head designs, has even greater potential to reduce snagging, and forces the hook to sit upwards at a 30-degree angle for optimum hook-up performance.
The jig also features a lighter-wired mustad ultra point hook for greater and faster penetrations in deep water fishing situations, it also has recessed line tie eyelets to even further reduce the chance of snagging.
This jig is one of the best for deep-water fishing. It features the more classic football head design to produce the wobble effect and give great balance to ensure proper orientation even in deep water conditions.
The tour-grade jig also has a unique flay eye line tie to keep your knot and line in the proper position with less potential to shit to an awkward angle and create an undesired action or cause the jig to not sit in a perfect position on the bottom after the fall.
The jig also features a 60-degree round bend extra sharp Gamakatsu hook, color-coordinated weed guards, premium skirts, and a durable and long-lasting powder-coated jig head.
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The Terminator Pro's Jig is the ultimate tool for flipping, pitching, and casting in and around covers. With its universal design, this jig can handle any situation you throw at it. But that's not all - the Terminator Pro's Jig also features custom color patterns for the skirt and a color-matched brush guard for an ultra-realistic look. And with its heavy VMC Black Nickel hook and single rattle, you can be sure you'll land the biggest fish every time.
Best Flipping Jigs for Bass
Flipping jigs are the most common type of jig used in bass fishing and can cover pretty much every situation that other jigs specialize in.
It truly is the jack of all trades, but with that being said, it is really the master of no one specific tactic but works fairly well in all bass fishing jig applications. Let’s take a look at our top Flipping jig picks.
Booyah Boo jigs are impressive and an all-around great choice for a flipping jig. It’s made from high-quality silicone skirts that are upwards of 50 doubled strands, giving a large profile with a thick dense skirt.
This skirt also allows anglers to trim and thin it to their personal preference if needed or just leave it for a nice large profile.
The jig also uses a big round bend mustad hook which is bent at 18 degrees and a head is molded upright with a vertical inline line eyelet vs the more traditional horizontal line tie eyes.
This inline eyelet helps provide a straight non-deviated hop when jigging and helps the jig deflect off of structures such as wood or rock when combined with the streamlined-shaped head.
The jig also gestures a thick hefty weed guard to help eliminate snaps and collection of vegetation on the hook, and last but not least 2 rattle chambers to give more noise and vibration in the water which can also be easily removed if not wanted and reattached at any given time, making this one of the most versatile jigs on the market.
Designed by professional bass angler Mike “Ike” Iaconelli, the mini flip jig has been tested thoroughly, most notable when Ike used it on his road to victory in the 2014 Bassmaster Elite Series event on the Delaware river, cementing the effectiveness of this jig when the conditions call for it.
This Smaller sized jig is packed with unique features, for one, it has superb balance, this is due to the weight being centered around the shank of the hook, keeping it upright in all kinds of conditions.
The compact nature of this jig and precisely balanced weed guards help anglers fish this in the heaviest of cover, which is great when you need to decrease your bait size and trigger bass to eat when faced with adverse fishing conditions like cold fronts, or post-frontal weather patterns.
The compact and slim design while being smaller actually allows the jig to sink faster than larger jigs, giving you better bottom contact in current situations, as well as better contact to cover.
Best Swim Jigs for Bass
Swim jigs are my personal favorite jigs and are made specifically for, well, swimming. Straight retrievals with pauses and pops, bouncing them off of structure and timber or stumps and hang on.
Most anglers use curly tail grub trailers or paddle tail trailers on their swim jigs, as they are meant to imitate bait fish like shad and bluegills vs the typical craw style imitation. Let’s take a look at some of our favorite swim jigs.
The Strike King Swinging Swim Jig has a unique feature being that the hook isn’t molded into the head of the jig.
This design allows the hook to swing freely and gives the trailer of choice more actions and movement when compared to swim jigs that have hooks molded into the head, making it rigid with no ability to deviate during a retrieve.
The swim jig also has an incredible-looking life-like skirt and a balanced head design that is slim and slices through the water with ease.
The hook on the jig is black nickel coated and razor-sharp with needlepoint, and the free-swinging motion of the hook also helps improve hooksets.
The Divine swim jig went through three years of extensive testing with perfection in terms of creating the best swim jig on the market being the ultimate goal.
The head features incredible detail including recessed eye sockets with lifelike eyes, and gill plate details making the Divine one of the coolest-looking jigs on the market.
The Divine also has a keel-weighted and semi-flat belly giving it a secondary swimming action and making it incredibly easy to use when you want to skip under docks and cover.
This jig is also multi-functional and along with a cover deflection head has a wide base making it great for bed fishing like a standard jig. The jig features a high-quality super sharp 5/0 nickel hook and a screw lock to securely fasten your trailers.
Trailers
No jig is truly complete and ready to crush the bass without having trailers, and there is what seems to be an endless variety of designs on the market to accompany your jig.
While most jigs are worked in the bottom and use craw style trailers, don’t overlook the just of different styles like paddle tail trailers for bottom jigging baits and especially for swim jigs.
Curly tail grub style baits also can work well with bottom bouncing jigs, as well as being one of the pinnacle trailers for swim jig fishing.
When to Use Certain Types of Jigs
Most jigs excel at working the bottom, and that is primarily what they are designed for.
Jigs allow you to work in very thick and tight covers like weeds and other vegetation, reeds, brush piles, rock, docks, grass, and stumps, with a very low chance of snagging onto the cover or snagging and dragging weeds.
Swim jigs have the same cover working characteristics while being used more like a spinnerbait without the blades and can snake and slide through the thickest of vegetation.
Using Bass Jigs: Things to Consider
Selecting Jig Weight
Choosing the right jig weight is one of the most important things to get right in jig fishing. The most common weight is 3/8ths of an ounce. That will get the job done in depths through to 10 feet or so on calm days.
To get deeper than that, go to half an ounce to get your jig down in a reasonable time, particularly if the wind is blowing or the current is strong.
Remember, though, to use the lightest jig possible to get the most natural movement possible.
Fishing Cover
Jigs are ideal for targeting all types of cover because they are designed to be retrieved through cover, including weed beds, docks, and submerged trees, without getting hung up.
Bass jigs have a flexible weed guard in front of the hook that deflects weeds and sticks and makes them weedless.
You can choose the stiffness of the weed guards to suit the kind of cover you are fishing for.
Skipping Bass Jigs
By skipping the jig, you can get your lure into really hard-to-reach spots where the biggest bass often lives – such as overhanging trees and docks.
The further you can get the lure into these kinds of spots, the more likely you are to draw a strike from a bass sitting in there.
Jigs are one of the best lures for skipping and can be skipped long distances, particularly in calm water.
Flipping and Pitching
Flipping and pitching involves making accurate, underhand casts in close quarters. It allows you to slide the lure into the water without making a big splash and disturbing the fish.
You can flip jigs hard up against vertical structures such as docks, rock walls, weed bed edges, and big rocks or trees. It is an effective and efficient way to fish.
All you do is flip or pitch the jig to the spot and let it sink. Get as close to the structure as you can, and watch out for the bite.
Detecting Bites and Hooksets
Bass jigs are best fished slowly and patiently. Watch your line at all times and detect the bite either through the rod tip, and be sure to eliminate slack line to avoid missing the bite.
Then lift and wind to achieve the best hookset.
It is important to pay attention to hooksets when you are fishing with jigs. You have a limited time to strike, and the added complication of the weed guard makes the hookset even more challenging.
If in doubt, if you feel movement, it is better to strike. Once you get more experience, you’ll learn to discern the difference between natural movement and a bass eating your jig.
Conclusion
There is no shortage of jigs to choose from on the market, and there are also more types of designs than listed here, such as bladed chatterbait style jig presentations.
In this article, we chose to provide our best picks of the most common style of jigs used on the market today that are definitely capable of producing fish. The other option for cost-conscious anglers is to buy a lure-making kit and make your own jigs. It is fun and a great way to save money.
