Jigs

Jigs can be made of many different types of soluble metals, but majority are primarily made of Lead, but they can also be made with Antimony, Antimony is alloyed with lead to increase lead's durability making it harder for the fish to destroy the jig. Antimony alloys are also used in batteries, low friction metals, type metal and cable sheathing, among other products other than jigs.

A chain knot is the best for tying the leader to a solid brass ring, although a uni knot can also work for lighter leaders. Make sure you attach the leader to a solid brass ring, not a split ring or the jig itself. The jig can then be attached with a heavy split ring to the solid brass ring ensuring that the spit ring doesn’t come under any pressure during the fight. Beware of flattened brass rings often found on cheaper assist rigs as they can easily cut a leader whilst fighting fish. Avoid using snaps or swivels, they’ll inevitably fail no matter how strong they are.

Jigging is one of the most active fishing methods, requiring you to snap or pop the rod tip up quickly to move the lure vertically in the water column. When learning how to jig, you can try either jigging straight up and down as you drift, or casting the lure out and jig it back towards you horizontally while reeling. These jig fishing techniques create the look of an injured baitfish that a game fish would want to bite. Jig rigs come in all sizes, shapes and colours, allowing one to learn how to jig with or without live fishing bait. Many spoons are designed for jigging — they flutter as they fall enticing a fish. Soft plastic worms are also used for jig fishing as are painted lead-headed hook and feather combo jigs called Buck Tails.

Tip: As you learn how to jig, remember that if you are casting a jig out and retrieving while jigging, you’ll need to reel in slowly to keep the jig near the bottom.

A vertical jig, or speed jig, is made of a long and slender piece of lead or metal that cuts through the water mimicking an injured baitfish. Vertical jigs will have one or more dangling hooks attached to a split ring which can be attached to the top or the bottom of the jig. Vertical jigs range anywhere from 20g up to 500g and can also be referred to as "butterfly jigs."

To understand how to fish with jigs, it is important that the angler constantly jig the lure up and down by continually lifting and lowering the rod tip. One good method when learning how to jig is to drop the jig all the way down to the bottom and with a very rapid retrieval, twitch the rod tip erratically until the jig comes to the surface and repeat. No matter which type of jig you are using, knowing how to set up a jig is important. That means matching the weight of each jig to the depth at which you are fishing, normally going by a gram or 2 for each metre of depth depending on current. Deeper water will require heavier jigs to reach the bottom. It is also important to take the tides and current into consideration when choosing your jig weight.

Water filters light. And since all colour is actually colored light, water will filter colours. Certain colours cannot be seen below certain depths because light is broken apart when it hits the water and certain wavelengths (colours) are filtered out. The severity of this filter depends on the clarity of the water, wind conditions, time of day and lure depth; dirty water, high winds, deep water, and evening hours mean fewer colours. To understand these effects, we must first understand the relationship between light and water.

Keep in mind, however, that these water colour filtration rates assume that the water is crystal clear. Pollutants, sediment, and wind can drastically affect these numbers by rearranging the filtration order and decreasing the overall depths of all colours. Under these circumstances, red-orange seems to be the most visible, assuming that your lure depth is not greater than 6 metres. That said, here are some tips from anglers on how to pick lure colour:

• Super Clear: White or clear. Use glitter for colour. All colours are visible to 10 feet.
• Clear Water: Blue is most visible. White is visible. All colours are slightly visible to 10 feet.
• Green Water: Green is most visible.
• Stained Water: Orange, green, and chartreuse are most visible. Red is slightly visible.
• Muddy Water: Red is most visible.

Here are some additional suggestions to help with low light (first light until sunup), medium light (sunup until the sun reaches 20 degrees to the horizon), and highlight (from 20 degrees to the opposite horizon) conditions:

• Low Light: Blue, purple or black work best. Use with silver flash.
• Medium Light: Red and orange work best.
• High Light: Brown or grey work best. Use with fluorescent accents.