How to properly work a jig for open water 2025

In its most basic form, a jig consists of nothing more than a light wire hook molded into a shaped piece of lead or tungsten. The round jig is the most popular, but there are other options such as stand-up, pill-shaped, football-shaped, and jigs that have built-in weed guards.

They come in a range of sizes and colors to cover species from panfish to lake trout. Jigs likely have accounted for more fish being caught than any other technique.

The jig’s simplicity, versatility, and fish-catching ability have kept it in anglers’ arsenals, despite having more refined lures in the tackle box.

So what’s the best way to work a jig? A better question: Can a jig be worked incorrectly? Probably not, but there are ways to maximize a jig’s versatility in any situation.

The most common approach is to cast a jig and retrieve it back to the boat. But what you do from the time it hits the water, until it’s back and ready to be tossed again, falls under the category of working it properly.

There’s nothing cutting edge here; let the fish dictate how they want you to present the jig. It doesn’t matter the species, they’ll tell you their trigger.

The general rule: Start small. Use the smallest jig given the conditions, such as wind, current or depth. An 1⁄8-ounce jig is a basic, but solid starting weight. Adjust based on conditions.

This is in the actual cast-and-retrieve situation when you want to work at or near the bottom. Suspended fish and jigs worked under slip bobber set-ups, are a different scenario.

So, back to that trigger mechanism, which can change day to day, hour to hour, and from one pod of fish to the next, so never get complacent with your jigging cadence. There’s no right or wrong jigging pattern/routine/cadence to start with, but you have options.

Once you find fish, start jigging somewhat aggressively. Cast and retrieve or drift and troll with some ambitious twitches and jerks.

This rip-jigging pattern accomplishes two things: You’ll pick off the most aggressive fish and you’ll instantly know their mood. If you keep getting hit, by all means stick with the ambitious approach. But if the bites stop after a few fish, slow down. You’ve probably triggered the most aggressive fish, the ones that might have bit out of a reactionary response, rather than a need to feed.

As they become less willing to chase, work them with surgeon-like precision. It’s almost like your force-feeding them with slow up-and-down drops, or simply drag the jig with slight lifts and pauses.

Other times, try incorporating a combo of aggressive and subtle with your jigging cadence, even in the same cast or drift. Start bold, then relax everything after a few snaps. Or vice versa.

In the end, there isn’t a right or wrong way to work a jig. The only certainty is that jigs produce fish, and they’ll let you know the best way to present it.