Casting Jig (Arkie-style)

Versatile, moderate-weight all-purpose jig for prospecting mixed shallow-to-mid depth cover on a bank.

Also known as: Casting Jig (Arkie-style) · all-purpose jig · arkie jig · cover jig · structure jig

The big-fish bait: a jig and trailer has won more bass tournaments than any lure ever made.

• Flipping, casting, football, finesse, swim: five heads, five jobs
• The trailer sets the fall — craw for slow, chunk for glide, paddle for swim
• Heavy rod, braid or 17-20 lb fluoro: the hookset has to move a big hook
• Bites come on the fall and the first hop — watch the line

The casting jig — often called an Arkie-style jig — is the generalist of the family. Its rounded or flattened head shape isn't specialized for punching mats or standing up on rock; instead it balances well for casting and crawling through moderate cover like riprap, laydowns, dock pilings, and scattered rock without being as snag-prone as a football head or as compact as a flipping jig.

What sets it apart is that it's the jig you tie on when you don't know exactly where the fish are — it's meant to be cast and worked over a stretch of bank rather than pitched to a single, identified target. It covers a lot of water types in the 2-10 foot range and is the classic choice for prospecting a shoreline early in a day before dialing in a more specific pattern.

It shines when bass are loosely scattered along a bank with mixed cover — a little rock, a little wood, a dock here and there — and moderate depth. It fails in two directions: in matted heavy vegetation, where a true flipping jig's weed-guard and compact head do better, and offshore in deep water, where a football jig's stand-up design and bottom feel win out.

Gear is medium-heavy fast-action casting tackle with 12-17 lb fluorocarbon, light enough to cast repeatedly all day but strong enough to handle wood and rock.