The jig is perhaps the most versatile method of presenting either live or artificial bait to help catch just about anything that swims. I’m talking shark, wahoo, barracuda, permit, bass, sunfish, crappies, walleyes, northern pike, muskies, trout, perch… you get the drift. And yes, I’ve caught them all on a lead head jig of some kind!

The funny thing is, most anglers just do not understand the basics of jigging. Perhaps the most important factor in the effectiveness of a jig is its drop rate. If you want to bag a bunch of spring walleyes, then pay attention!

The drop rate of a jig is the speed at which it falls to the bottom. Fast rates can trigger negative fish, while slow rates can trigger neutral fish. The drop speed and its effectiveness are directly related to the activity levels of the fish.

The weight of the jig obviously has a lot to do with drop rate, but so does the resistance of the jig due to its physical size, head shape, the live or artificial bait attached to it, and even the diameter of the fishing line the jig is tied to. Now throw in hair jigs; confused yet?

There’s usually a reason why one or two anglers in the boat are out-fishing the others—even if everyone has a 1/8-ounce, green jig tied on the line. Perhaps the drop rate of the successful anglers is a bit slower than the others.

The basic rule of thumb is to use the lightest jig possible to maintain bottom contact, given the depth and speed of the bait. So, in other words, I don’t recommend a 1/4-ounce jig in 10 feet of water—unless we are talking snapjigging or power jigging—which is a whole different article.

Boat control is key. When trolling or drifting, the boat presents the jig, not the fishing rod. I can easily fish a 1/8-ounce jig tipped with a minnow on the bottom in 10 to 20 feet of water—moving slowly, of course. A 1/16-ounce jig is good from 5 to 10 feet deep, while a 1/32-ounce jig will cover 1 to 5 feet nicely. These basic jig weights are for a “naked” jig (no plastics, but maybe a medium-sized minnow).

I like to aim for a jig/line combo where the jig sinks at around 1 foot per second. This makes for a great “base line” and makes it easier to use the countdown method when fishing for suspended fish. For example, I know that a 1/8-ounce jig fished on 6-pound-test monofilament line will sink at 1-foot-per-second. So, say that I mark fish on my electronics suspended 10 feet below the surface, which means that I have to count to “10” as the jig sinks to hit the “zone.” The minute I start to alter my “base line,” the drop rate will change.

For example, let’s say that I switch from 6- to 17-pound line on the same jig. Guess what? The jig is going to fall at half the speed because of the resistance (like a parachute) the thick line has on the water or current. The opposite is true if I switch to 2- or 3-pound-test line; the drop rate will increase dramatically. Now throw in some more resistance like a plastic grub body or a minnow; it’s going to slow the drop rate even more. I would simply take all of your jigs to the local public swimming pool (wait till dark) and play with different combinations and start counting to determine drop rates.

So, let’s say its midsummer and the fish are looking for bigger bait profiles, but are not that aggressive due to a front passing or something like that. I’m thinking of slamming on the brakes by adding resistance to the jig by adding a plastic tail on the collar of the jig to slow it down enough so the lazy fish can catch it easier as it falls to the bottom. If I use a smaller jig of less weight to slow the drop rate instead, the bait profile shrinks, too, and the fish may not take it. Hence the first example. There is a fine line between heavy and fast, small and fast, small and slow, or big and slow. There are thousands of combinations that will alter the jigs action or drop rate. Let observation and experience be your teacher.

Another point to consider is the size of the live bait on the jig. A big minnow (or whatever) equals a slower drop rate, while a small minnow equals fast drop rate. Throw a plastic body on the jig with the small minnow, and now the drop rate of that combination is the same as the heavier jig tipped with a larger minnow with no plastics. It’s all in the details that most anglers don’t recognize. Even if everyone in the group has the same size and color jig on the line—that’s not good enough—everything has to be exact: line size, minnow/bait size, jig weight, jig head shape (round vs. flat) to create equal success for all.

If you enjoy walleye fishing, you’ll find plenty of helpful walleye fishing insight in every issue of MidWest Outdoors. Subscribe on our website.