Is a Jighead just a Jighead by Shaun Murphy

I must start this article out by saying I am by no means an expert on any form of angling and there are definantly anglers out there who know a significant amount more than me on the subject matter, but generally anglers being anglers are very reluctant to share their vast knowledge.

Having been an avid artificial lure angler for almost 10 years now and having been involved in the manufacturer and development of jig heads and poppers over the last 5 years, I thought it would be useful to impart some of my knowledge on the general un accomplished anglers out there. If any of you have reviewed sealine there is huge amount of anglers out there thirsty for information.

Is a jig head just a jig head? This is a very frequently asked question in my line of work. On entering the so called drop shot section of tackle store anglers are generally faced with several different shape options, and I am frequently asked which one is best? Or Why do you prefer this one?

At mad mullet we manufacture 4 different style of jig head; shad head, arrow head, ball head and the very peculiar rap head. Each of these jig heads has in my opinion very different actions and roles to play in drop shot angling. So lets start.

From Top to bottom Ball Jighead Rap Jighead Arrow Jighead Shad Jighead

Shad head
The shad head gets its name from bass circles where anglers fish with shad bodies which are very similar to our paddle tails that we use extensively in drop shot angling. A shad body is generally a fattish shaped minnow with a large paddle like tail. In the USA these lures seldom have heads on them and generally come to a flat head finish. The shad head serves as the head to the shad body lure. As one can see from the shape of the lure it is a rather narrow flat profile head, which if retrieved very quickly will dart from side to side as the profile cuts through the water. One thing to bear in mind when fishing with paddle tails is that a paddle tail acts like a rudder on a boat and straightens or eliminates any of this wobble in the head by virtue of the paddle at the rears action. Another interesting point to look at is where the eye of the hook protrudes from the jig head, this has two impacts, 1 it either lengthens or reduces the length of the hook or the point at which the hook exits the paddle tail and secondly it impacts the speed at which the lure lifts up when called upon to do so by the angler to bring it over structure. In summation the shad head jig head is predominantly meant for paddle tail type of plastics with a broader head than say a jerk shad which has a very narrow profile head. Its hook exit point is well situated by virtue of the eye of the hook exiting in the middle of the head however this will result in less responsiveness to being lifted over structure as the nose will tend to dig in first before lifting.

Arrow head
The arrow head is a personal favourite of many anglers for various reasons, the most common reason I get told is the fact that it appears to get snagged less quickly than other lures, this was queried with me by a very serious jig head angler who has been fishing with lead heads and jig heads before I even started fishing and a man that is no stranger to writing articles for various well known tackle publications. The reason for this is as explained above, the eye of the hook exits right at the front of the lure and when lifted responds immediately without any digging of the nose. The protrusion of the eye of the hook also plays a role in casting distance as the nylon comes straight off the nose it tends to stream line the jig head and bait and has less of a tendency to tumble. The obvious negative attached to where the eye of the hook protrudes on the arrow head is that the shank of the hook is shortened and as a result the hook exists the minnow a lot closer to the head, this has resulted in missed fish as kob in particular tend to bite just behind the hook and when measuring the shad head against the arrow head hook exit point on a 6 inch paddle tail the 5mm difference is what counts on a fish on and not when the fish are not committing properly and only having one go at the lure. The arrow head jig head is a good foul area jig head that can be fished with either a paddle tail or a jerk shad and casts very well.

On the left Shad Jighead. On the right Arrow Jighead

Ball head
The ball head is an interesting selection, it is one that in my opinion is best fished with jerk shad type lures or lures that one wishes to work off the bottom with various jerks and strokes of the rod. Remember paddle tails can be deadly in this manner as the paddle slows the drop down between jerks. The ball head has fantastic balance when it hits the floor and with a jerk shad or paddle tail attached will take the longest of the three mentioned heads to roll over onto its side hence giving you the best chance for that shy bottom bite that is sometimes the flavour of the moment for kob. Very similar to the arrow head the eye of the hook protrudes very near the front so it lifts well, but due to its profile has more water resistance than the arrow head so not as well in that regard. It also casts well too.

Rap Head
This little creation adds a bit extra to a paddle tail in terms of action as the two scoops on either side of the head result in a rapala like wobble to the head with a paddle tail paddle at the rear. When fishing off deeper water points and the wave action sucks back against this jig head one will feel the vibrations in the tip of the rod exactly like that of the rapala type lipped lures. It is also extremely balanced when fished off the floor due to its large flat bottom shape and it’s almost impossible for it to land hook side down. However due to this action it is the least responsive to being lifted over structure as it will dig in significantly at first and if anything diver a little deeper initially when pulled a bit harder. The eye protrusion is in the middle of the head so the hook protrusion in the minnow is good but as mentioned above structure is a problem for this jig head. Use with caution around the bricks, much better off deep water areas and extra depth is available.

That is a bit of extra info on the range that we at mad mullet produce, one last jig head that is extremely popular amongst anglers is the boat hull, developed by Berkley as the Nitro. This was one of the first jig heads to be sold on the market and as such is a firm favourite with many anglers. The boat hull when analysed against the above scenarios presents itself as follows. Eye protrusion is in the middle of the head, its top profile is also very wide so resistance and a bit of nose dig are inevitable, however once the boat hull shape is lifted it glides to the surface no problem, but the initial movement will be met with resistance and a bit of a dip. The bottom flat profile will assist in presenting a well-balanced jig head that should land hook side up when worked close to the bottom; this makes it a very useful lure with both jerk shads and paddle tails. Due to its even head profile like that of the arrow head it will cast well too.

We at mad mullet have over the years developed an extensive range of jig heads for the South African market, with 4 different shapes and almost 20 different hook and weight combinations per shape there is most definantly a jig head to suite every angler out there. This gives us a range of over 80 different shape weight and hook size combinations.

In next months issue we will cover an aspect not written about often, what is in the drop shot anglers tackle bag? This will be a personal account of what I carry with myself when going on an outing for a morning and may give you some ideas for you own tackle bag.