A Great New Jig Idea

[Mitch f]

The jig is called "Perfect Strike Jig" , Zipstick turned me on to this a couple of years ago and I have been following it's development since. I actually make a twin wire weedguard version of this that I use for myself. The twin weedguards he refers to as "guides" perfectly place the hook upright every time in the fish's mouth. He has even designed a contraption that simulates a fish's mouth to prove his point. Just a smart guy with some "native shrewdness" as my father used to say. Here is the video link:

[duckydoty]

Cool!

[eric1978]

Simple but ingenious. Gotta love engineering in fishing.

[Mitch f]

This is not new, Mitch. Double weed-guard (wire) jig heads have been around for decades. I used them for a long time, until I started making all my own jigs. Double guard heads are more expensive, so they fell out of favor with the average fisherman (cost), and because the average fisherman wanted very stiff plastic fiber guards, simply because he didn't want to get hung up and lose jigs. But what I figured out from fishing every day, is that the more "weedless" you make a bait the more "fishless" it is too. In order for a jig hook with a stiff weed guard to penetrate, there must be enough pressure on the top of the jig to bend the stiff guard down and out of the way of the hook point, and that is not going to happen very often inside a largemouth's mouth.

If a bass' mouth is clamped shut, with the jig inside, there is plenty of pressure at the lips, and in that scenerio, this guy's assumptions are right, and that is the reason I preferred the double weed guards. However, along the lip is the worst place to hook a largemouth, because it is almost all bone, especially on bigger bass, and on bigger bass that bone often is too large for the hook gap to bite below it, even if the jig comes through upright as his contraption demonstrates.

So it is a catch-22 situation: If your jigs are weedless enough that you rarely or never get hung up, you are going to miss a lot of strikes (except when flippin', where you are pulling at a more upward angle), so when I designed my Flair Hair Jigs I searched around for a compromise and settled upon an Arkie stand-up head with a single wire guard. I put a lot of thought and research into this selection. I make them only on 1/8 and 1/4 mostly for a slower fall, which I think is always more productive, and I love the way the jig "stands up" at rest. The lighter jigs don't get hung in brush as badly as a heavier head, but with one thin wire for a guard, it does get hung up more than jigs with heavy and stiff guards. My catch rate, however, is much higher (rarely missing a strike) and more often than not, the hook is buried inside the mouth, not around the lips, so I don't lose many of them during the fight either.

The beauty of this Arkie jig head is the strength of the hook. With 12-pound-test line or heavier, the hook will straighten out on a steady pull when snagged and can be bent back into shape, yet it is strong enough to hold big bass. I've landed plenty up to 8 pounds and had a fish straighten one out only once. Never saw the fish, but it was very heavy and may have been a big gar for all I know.

Ron, I too have tied my own jigs for years and I'm fully aware that double weedguards have been around for years. This is different in the sense that the separation at the base makes the effect more pronounced. That's why Bo was able to obtain a patent.

[Gavin]

Like your style Ron. I use that jighead allot...Gotta sharpen it, but it seems to get the job done.

[dtrs5kprs]

My 90 cents worth (at least for comparison). Some 1/16oz and 1/8oz dbl wire heads. Old but still works.

Problem I see with the "perfect" jig is there is not any protection from a branch/cable going between the guards parallel to the hook shank.

Does anyone remember the old Brush Wing Jig from the mid eighties? Had the standard guard up top, but also two smaller, about FG12 size, guards coming out the sides of an arkie style head. Pretty nice head in rocks.

[Mitch f]

My 90 cents worth (at least for comparison). Some 1/16oz and 1/8oz dbl wire heads. Old but still works.

Problem I see with the "perfect" jig is there is not any protection from a branch/cable going between the guards parallel to the hook shank.

Does anyone remember the old Brush Wing Jig from the mid eighties? Had the standard guard up top, but also two smaller, about FG12 size, guards coming out the sides of an arkie style head. Pretty nice head in rocks.

You guys all have fantastic looking jigs!

[Gavin]

Thanks for the tips Ron...Will have to tie a few w/o the dressing for use with plastic. FWIW, this is one of the jigs that I use to fish for smallmouth in the Meramec Red Ribbon TMA. No plastic allowed, so I fish hair jigs, spinners, and buzzers dressed with bucktail.

[Mitch f]

Ron,

It's interesting that as of a couple of years ago, Fred McClintock never was a big advocate of the float n fly. Anyway, I agree, Iove this discussion. I also love the fact that the deer hair you use holds the scent and doesnt affect the action. It also may add a little "crunch" when the fish grabs it. That extra 2 seconds of holding on will get him hooked!

Ps. I have a crawfish trailer about the same size as the picture........

Gavin, I heard of 2 people who almost got busted for plastics there last week!! The agents were tipped off

[rps]

Billy and his Fly N Rind. It was about an 1/8 ounce wasn't it?