Horizontal, angular, vertical

Now we will have a closer look at the selection criteria of the eye fixation. To practice you can hang your jig heads freely on a karabiner. The position of the jig heads now is very similar to the one they will have with the rubber lure in the water.

Central fixed jig heads have the eye exactly above the balance point. If the jig heads hangs down the karabiner the hook is horizontal. Therefore the rubber lure has the tendency to start horizontal. In doing so it keeps very good ground contact. An example for this form is the very popular Erie-head, as well as the football-jig, very popular with vertical anglers? On this photo you see the Erie-head at the bottom “nicely horizontal”…

Standard fixed jig heads are hung short before the balance point. A jig head which hangs like this has an angular position of the hook. With it you have the golden mean. The jig head has reasonably ground contact and it rises a little bit above the ground. The most famous jig head with standard fixation is the roundhead. One of my favourites, the fish-head, belongs to this category as well, also the arrowhead and the hammerhead. On this photo there are the fish-head (2nd from the bottom) and the roundhead (2nd from top).

Front fixed jig heads have the eye well at the front at the “nose”. The hook, fixed at the swivel, hangs down vertically. These jig heads have the ambition to rise from the ground immediately. The most known representative of this form is the “banana”. The Walleye-jig, stand-up-jig (not to confound with the Erie-head, which has also a stand-up opportunity!) and the slide-along-jig belong to this group also. Recently there are Erie-heads with front fixation on offer; but I don’t think much of those. For those who want these “physic” the banana or the Walleye-jig are better value because their heads are “rounder” and therefore the lure gets less stuck at boarder gravel… On this photo the top head is “the banana” – it hangs down almost vertical.

Near, middle, far

Which consequences do these different head forms respectively fixations have on the movements of the rubber fish and which advantages do they have? Most suitable I will explain this on the basis of my three favourites.

Banana-heads are front fixed and therefore rise even with an almost horizontal line. The rubber lure jumps up even on long distance where other jig heads only plough through the mud on the ground. The ideal operational area for banana-heads is with long distance casts and in shallow water (1-2 meter).

The banana-head has the ideal form for fishing in shallow water even with stones and wood. The form of the jig head and the fixation have an especially convenient effect. Ones lure gets less stuck at the ground and one has less weed on the hook.

Fish-heads are standard fixed and therefore don’t start to rise as easily as the front fixed heads. Due to their pointy form the fish-heads are perfect for strong currents and the trolling. If you want to bring the rubber fish to the depth in the current with as little sinker as possible the fish-head is a very good choice.

Due to the very little flow resistance at the head the rubber lure is circulated ideally. Therefore the lure has a perfect swimming movement. Additionally this head form creates especially provocative tilting of the lure, which is irresistible for many predators.

The eye of the Erie-head is fixed in the centre. Therefore it starts almost horizontal. So you always can keep very good ground contact. Erie-heads are right for very deep water bodies as well as stronger currents. The stand-up-capacity provides as well a very good rate of bites when the jig rests on the ground. With the vertical position of the hook Erie-heads are very good for vertical angling.

But there is a limitation for the different starting movements of the jig heads. The bigger the rubber fishes the smaller the differences in the movements because the enhancing water resistance neutralises the effect of the heads.

Pike, barb, fixation

A few other features have to be considered with jig heads except the form of fixation.

As important as a good head is a good hook. Nothing is worse than to slave away for hours on end, to get the long longed for bite and then to strike the void or, after a short time playing the fish, to experience the loss of the fish. The reason for such unwanted experiences is often cheap respectively bad hooks.

A good hook penetrates behind the barb very fast into the fish mouth. A super sharp hook point is as important as a good sliding surface way behind the barb. Only when the hook penetrated behind the barb our chances for a successful landing are high. If the hook has not penetrated as far as this there is a big risk that the predator shakes of the lure. In another article about jig-hooks I will reveal what is important very soon!