How to Use a Jig for Fishing

• 1). Use a spinning reel with light monofilament line to get the best action on a jig. Jigging for freshwater species such as bass, crappies and walleyes involves an angler making the jig hop along the bottom, swim through the water or bounce off structure. These movements are best accomplished with light tackle.
  
  
• 2). Make a jig bounce along the bottom to attract fish. Let the jig hit the bottom and then simply lift up on your fishing rod tip to make the jig come upward. While reeling in, let the jig float back down to the bottom and then raise it up with the rod tip to make it look as if it is skipping along the bottom of the river or lake. Use a short jerking motion on the rod tip when the jig is off the bottom to give it a motion that makes it look alive.
  
  
• 3). Use a heavier jig when the water is deep or the wind is high. Jigs come in different sizes and weights. To cast one a long distance, you will need a jig that is at least a quarter of an ounce and maybe more. The lighter jigs can be employed when the water is shallow and calm.
  
  
• 4). Be alert for a fish to bite a jig as it drops to the bottom. Experienced fisherman can feel these bites or see that the line is moving toward one side as the jig is on its trip down to the bottom. Set the hook if you detect a bite.
  
  
• 5). Tip your jig with a piece of live bait. Attach a small piece of a shiner, crayfish or night crawler onto the hook of the jig and cast it out. Panfish prefer smaller bites of bait and tend to concentrate on the jig itself. Larger fish like bass and walleyes react eagerly when they see a big piece of night crawler on a jig.
  
  
• 6). Cast a jig downstream into a current. Lift the rod tip up and down without reeling in. If the current is strong enough, it will give the jig life-like motion and allow you to keep your jig in the water longer. Reel it in slowly against the pull of the current and let it stop in spots where you have had bites. Remember to keep the rod tip moving so the jig doesn't snag in the crevices of the rocky bottom.
  
  
• 7). Try using a jig when you go ice fishing. Using your ice fishing rod, drop a jig tipped with a piece of a shiner down a hole and let it hit the bottom. Lift it up a foot or so and then twitch the rod tip up and down. Perch, crappies and bluegills are frequently caught this way.