Effect of Jig Balance

[Kdog]

Was doing some water testing last night and seeing things that do not always attract my attention. One of those was head relationship to tail.
What I was seeing was some jigs hang head up, some level and some head down.
So I tried the same with raw jig heads and pretty much noticed the same orientation. This leads to my question.

Does balance matter and if so, when would you use the different conditions
Hook above head
Hook Level with head
Hook below head.

This may be an interesting thread or may go nowhere. But I figure some of the long term jig fishermen may be able to provide some insight.

 

[Radtexan]

I mainly do vertical jigging for crappie, and yes I think it does matter. I try to keep it as level as possible. It's adjusted with knot position on the head most of the time.

 

[AtticaFish]

I do believe it matters also.......... but i have a different preference. Always looking to find jigs (or have them made) that have the balance so the hooks point just a little down out the back below the head. With jigs for casting, having the hook eye a little forward helps keep the business end (hook/tail) straight and level out the back on the retrieve. For vertical jigging through the ice, i want the hook hanging down a hair because of the number of fish you watch on the flasher that come UP from below your bait and am always trying to get the fish to chase the jigs up. Thought is that you want the hook pointing just a hair down towards the fish. There is a ton of tiny jigs now marketed for ice fishing that have the slight down pointing hooks. You can get by with adjusting where the knot is sitting on the hook eye as RadTex mentioned.

All that said...... it probably doesn't matter as much in real life as it does in my head.

 

[Bucho]

I think it does matter if you fish vertically with a low lure speed. With a little speed on the retrieve however, the jig will soon straighten out no matter how it is balanced.

Unfortunately, most folks over here have known nothing else than plastics -wich need a high lure speed - and consider any kind of artifical lure under a float as childplay. I´m thinking about cutting down my range to banana heads as a general purpose lure.

 

[plateboater]

Makes a difference!

 

[Jig Man]

It has a lot to do with the knot...or not Seriously, I think it maters also. I like my jig level no matter how I fish it. I'm trying to imitate minnows or shad and most of them swim, or just hang around, level. Just an observation. I used to use a clinch knot and adjusted the jig when needed. Now I mostly fish a loop knot, and from what I have seen the jig is nearly always level. I think it also helps with the hook set. JMO

 

[LedHed]

Very important - especially with swim jigs. I like to use a Palomar and always check knot position on the eye of the hook. Loops work - need to try the snaps...
Wow - just realized how long I've been jig fishin - been a looooong time......

 

[hookup]

(speaking small mouth bass here ...)

Matters allot but very dependent on how the jig is fished.

If you're swimming a jig, I want it to imitate what the fish is feeding on. In most cases, I'm trying to imitate a minnow and you want the jig to 'swim' like a minnow and be balanced to swim horizontally in all parts of the water column.

If you're polishing the rocks, I want to imitate a craw or a minnow rummaging the bottom looking for food. In this case I want the back of the jig to float up and the weight to be in the head of the jig.

 

[earthworm77]

K.I.S.S.- it only matter, when it matters

 

[Bucko]

I always fish jigs so the bait will be horizontal. After a few casts I check to make sure the knot is in the right position. For ice fishing it's even more important.

 

[goodtimesfishing]

When fishing for steelhead with a jig and float I have found it makes a difference. Not to say if your jig is not horizontal you won't catch fish...just more action with it horizontal. Now with that said, here is a nice and easy method to keeping your jig horizontal. As others have said, knot placement. If you take some mono(test size depends on the size of the eye on the hook/jig. Tie a piece of mono onto the jig.....now clip off the tag end and the other end so that NO line is coming off the knot. Now when you tie your leader to the jig there will be a keeper of sorts to help hold your jig in a horizontal position. Your goal is to have the eye of the hook filled so that your leader can't move in the eye.
Not the greatest at explaining this so maybe I will post a pick later. Picture will make it much easier to visualize what I am trying to explain. The idea is to help prevent your line from moving in the eye of the hook.

 

[Hawnjigs]

As a lifetime member of the Association of Shoreline Stalkers, aka an A.S.S. man, I like my hook eye forward & close to the head. Since I don't level swim, preferring erratic movements, I THINK this line of pull facilitates imparted response and maybe hooksets.

For those who don't already, a double wrap on the hook eye with a clinch or uni also helps lock the line tie in a desired position.