Jig hooks and jig heads: Jig presentations

Presentation	How	When
Pitch and fall	Underhand pitch past the target, thumb the spool so it enters quietly, let it fall on semi-slack line, watch the line	Docks, laydowns, bushes: the jig's home
Flip	Short, silent drop into a hole with the rod only, 3–5 m (10–15 ft) of line	Thick cover you can reach; heavy line, no cast
Hop and drag	Two short hops, drag 30 cm (1 ft), pause; repeat	Rock, points, ledges; football jig
Stroke	Sharp upward rips of 1 m (3 ft), let it fall on slack	Deep offshore rock in summer: reaction bite
Swim	Steady retrieve just over grass or wood, twitch, kill it next to cover	Swim jig, casting jig in spring and fall
Dead-stick	Let it sit 5–15 s after the fall, shake in place	Cold water, pressured fish
Punch	Drop through the mat vertically, shake twice, reel up, next hole	Matted grass, 1–2 oz (28–57 g)
Skip	Sidearm cast so it skips like a stone under docks and overhangs	Shade the boat cannot reach; compact head, trimmed skirt

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Jig hooks and jig heads

Hooks whose shank bends at the eye so a head can be poured on: the bare jig hook, and weighted jig heads for soft plastics classified by head shape and build (ball in four builds, strolling jigs by mechanism, football, swing, stand-up, Ned in four builds, shaky, darter, swimbait, underspin, tube, weedless, grass), because each fishes differently; and the skirted jig itself, by head shape (casting, flipping, football, swim, finesse, punch).

Jig hooks and jig heads