How to Make a Jig & Pig

Jigs and pigs are effective for catching big bass.

If you asked a random sample of experienced bass fishermen about the one lure they would use if they had to choose one, it's a good bet that many of them would opt for a jig and pig. A lead-head, skirted jig with a fiber weedguard constitutes the jig, while a plastic or pork trailer constitutes the pig. When making a jig and pig, anglers can experiment with attaching different colors and sizes of plastics to the jigs.

Things You'll Need

• Skirted jig
• Plastic or pork trailer

Instructions

1. Select a jig. The most common jig and pig weight is 3/8 of an ounce, but they range from 1/4 of an ounce to more than 1 ounce. The jig should have a silicone skirt and have fiber strands that extend from the head of the jig to protect the hook.

2. Select a pig. In cold weather, many fishermen use a chunk of pork with two trailing appendages that look similar to crayfish claws. Anglers fishing in warm water tend to use plastic trailers. Some choose a plastic trailer that looks similar to a pork trailer. Others choose crayfish-looking plastic trailers, or single or double-tailed grubs.

3. Attach a pork pig –– or a piece of plastic designed to look like pork –– to the jig. Insert the hook through the middle of the pork and push it all the way through. The pork should rest in the middle of the bend of the hook.

4. Attach a plastic trailer. Thread the point of the hook into the head of the plastic bait and then thread the bait up the shank of the hook. Push the hook point out of the bait once the head of the bait is against the head of the jig, and the bait is straight on the hook.

References

• Bassdozer; Jig No Pig; Russ Bassdozer