Jig hooks and jig heads: Punch and grass jigs

A compact, cone-shaped head, often tungsten, that drops through a mat of grass where a normal jig would sit on top.

ItemDetail
HeadCompact cone, tungsten
Hook4/0–5/0 extra-heavy, heavy guard
Weight3/4–2 oz (21–57 g)
TrailerShort skirt, compact craw
WhereMatted grass, hyacinth; summer
HowDrop vertically through the mat, a couple of shakes, reel up, next hole
Rod / line7'6"–8' (2.29–2.44 m) XH, 65–80 lb braid
SpeciesLargemouth bass

The heavier the mat, the heavier the jig: if it hangs on top, go up a size.

Grass and brush jigs

Two cover-specific heads. A grass jig has a bullet or cone head that slides through stems; a brush jig has a pointed head and a tall guard that climb over branches.

ItemDetail
Grass jigBullet or cone head, line tie at the nose, 3/8–1 oz (10.6–28 g)
Brush jigPointed head, tall stiff guard, 3/8–1 oz (10.6–28 g)
Structure jigArkie-type head, heavy guard, strong hook: the general deep jig
TrailerStandard skirt and craw
HowPitch, hop, let it climb and fall over cover
Rod / lineH rod; braid in grass, FC in brush

A round head wedges in forks of branches; a pointed one slides through. Pick the head for the cover first.

Top 10 in four markets

United States

  1. Dirty Jigs Tour Level No-Jack Punchin' Jig — $5.99. Tackle Warehouse "Grass & Punch Jigs" sorted by Popularity: #1. Bullet head with recessed hook eye and flat underside that stands up, No-Jack Gamakatsu hook, fiber weedguard, no eyes. Head: bullet; eyes: no.
  2. Dirty Jigs JT Kenney Grass Wizard Jig — $5.99. Tackle Warehouse "Grass & Punch Jigs" sorted by Popularity: #2. Arrow-shaped belly-weighted head, Mustad hook, toothpick keeper collar, weedguard, no eyes; slices through grass. Head: pointed; eyes: no.
  3. GameChanger Lures Trashmaster Jigs — $5.99. Tackle Warehouse "Grass & Punch Jigs" sorted by Popularity: #3. Pointed head with a wide-gap hook and screw-lock keeper so the trailer rigs weedless (no fiber weedguard), wire-tied hand-tied silicone skirt, no eyes. Head: pointed; eyes: no.
  4. Toad Thumper Juggernaut Jig — $5.99. Tackle Warehouse "Grass & Punch Jigs" sorted by Popularity: #5. Triangular head with concave bottom that lands upright, 30-degree Gamakatsu sickle hook, J-lock keeper, low-angle weedguard, hand-tied skirt, no eyes (store #4 is a skirted punch weight, skipped). Head: pointed; eyes: no.
  5. Chompers Pro Skirted Brush Jig 2pk — $5.00 - $6.99. Tackle Warehouse "Grass & Punch Jigs" sorted by Popularity: #6. Heavy-duty Arkie brush head, trimmable weedguard, VMC black-nickel Sproat hook, no eyes. Head: Arkie; eyes: no.
  6. 6th Sense Axle Swinging Hybrid Jig — $7.99. Tackle Warehouse "Grass & Punch Jigs" sorted by Popularity: #7. Compact hybrid head (structure/grass/football cross) with a free-swinging EWG hook and screw-lock keeper, no weedguard (tex-posed trailer), hand-tied skirt, no eyes; a swinging jig the store files under Grass & Punch Jigs. Head: pointed; eyes: no.
  7. Santone Lures Big Pig Grass Jig — $6.19. Tackle Warehouse "Grass & Punch Jigs" sorted by Popularity: #8. Rounded bullet head with large 3D bubble eyes, extra-stout fiber weedguard, Gamakatsu Siwash 5/0 hook, recessed line tie, anti-twist keeper. Head: bullet; eyes: yes.
  8. D&M Custom Baits Mat Rat Punch Jig — $7.99. Tackle Warehouse "Grass & Punch Jigs" sorted by Popularity: #10. Weight-forward head with flat base and painted eyes, double weedguard, super-heavy Gamakatsu hook, compact tucked skirt (store #9 is a skirt weight, skipped). Head: bullet; eyes: yes.
  9. Strikezone Perfect Punch Jig — $4.89. Tackle Warehouse "Grass & Punch Jigs" sorted by Popularity: #12. Tapered bullet head, recessed line tie, stout fiber weedguard, beefy hook, barbed keeper, no eyes (store #11 is a tungsten punch rig, skipped). Head: bullet; eyes: no.
  10. 4x4 Bass Jigs Heavy Signature Series Jigs — $6.99. Tackle Warehouse "Grass & Punch Jigs" sorted by Popularity: #13. Heavy Arkie head, extra-stout hook with oversized eye for heavy line, large weedguard, wire keeper, no eyes. Head: Arkie; eyes: no.

Canada

  1. Dirty Jigs No-Jack Punchin' Jig — C$7.99. anglingsports.ca 'jigs' collection best-selling #50 and 'Flipping Jigs' #10; fishingworld.ca 'Flipping Jigs' #8 and 'all-jigs' #83 (1 1/4 oz listing); matted-grass punch jig: bullet-shaped head that slips in and out of vegetation and stays upright, gorilla-strong No-Jack hook, heavy fiber weedguard, 1-1 1/4 oz; no eyes. Neither store has a punch collection, both file it under flipping Head: bullet; eyes: no.
  2. Berkley Heavy Cover Jig — C$6.99. anglingsports.ca 'jigs' collection best-selling #43 and 'Flipping Jigs' collection #9 (not stocked by fishingworld.ca); Gary Klein heavy-cover jig sold in 3/4, 1 and 1 1/4 oz: heavy-duty pointed bullet head 'to penetrate the thickest vegetation', stout 0-degree heavy-cover hook for braid, heavy fiber weedguard; no eyes. Judgement call: the store files it under Flipping Jigs (it has no punch bucket), but 3/4-1 1/4 oz with a pointed vegetation head is a punch jig by design Head: bullet; eyes: no.

Japan

  1. Evergreen グラスリッパー — ¥868 (naturum list price, 1 jig; 5/8 oz). naturum ラバージグ genre page 2 (position 41–64), #2 for the keyword グラス; naturum returns nothing for パンチ / パンチング, so this grass jig is the only punch-type candidate. Kenta Onishi's grass jig: cone head that slips through weed with a deliberate touch of stack, hops straight up and down, brush guard, no eyes. Head: bullet; eyes: no.

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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).

  1. Bare jig hooks
  2. Skirted jigs
  3. Casting jigs
  4. Flipping jigs
  5. Football jigs
  6. Swim jigs
  7. Finesse jigs
  8. Punch and grass jigs
  9. Tuning a jig
  10. Weedguard length and trimming
  11. Modifying the weedguard
  12. Trimming the skirt
  13. Trailer and colour
  14. Fishing a jig
  15. Jig presentations
  16. Reading the bite
  17. Hook set and fish control in cover
  18. Swimbait heads
  19. Original swimbait heads
  20. Underspin heads
  21. Texas-rigged swimbait heads
  22. Weedless swimbait heads
  23. Swing swimbait heads
  24. Darter heads
  25. Damiki rig heads
  26. Ball jig heads
  27. Original ball heads
  28. Texas-rigged ball heads
  29. Weedless ball heads
  30. Swing ball heads
  31. Strolling jigs
  32. Shank-weighted heads
  33. Hover heads
  34. Raised-CoG heads
  35. Ned heads
  36. Original Ned heads
  37. Texas-rigged Ned heads
  38. Weedless Ned heads
  39. Swing Ned heads
  40. Football jig heads
  41. Original football heads
  42. Texas-rigged football heads
  43. Weedless football heads
  44. Swing football heads
  45. Shaky heads
  46. Original shaky heads
  47. Texas-rigged shaky heads
  48. Weedless shaky heads
  49. Swing shaky heads
  50. Stand-up jig heads
  51. Tube heads
  52. Swing heads

Jig hooks and jig heads