Jig frustration

[SPOONMINNOW]

Consider casting short arm spinnerbaits and working them paralell to the rocky bottom. Short arm sb's can be used like jigs except the rate of fall is slower. Trailer design matters when it comes to drop rate or speed of retrieve. Too many snags like those of chunk rock make it less desirable to use bottom-bouncing lures.

[fluke1987]

Arkie head jigs are preferred for me especially around rock. I love fishing rip rap banks and a 1/4 oz arkie style jig is my go to. Same as you, if I switch over to a 3/8-1/2 oz football head or flipping style head I get hung up almost immediately. Lighter weight and the arkie head is the way to go.

[Mcjenson]

I've gotten lucky because Dobyn's had a blow sale of their football jigs for $1 each. That's right $1 per jig. I bought 276 jigs with the vast majority of them being 3/4 football jigs. I don't care about losing my jigs now because they aren't $5+ dollars each. Anyways, this has also made me a better jig fisherman as well because I've been experimenting with retrieves on to how to not get snagged in rip rap, and I throw them in the nastiest stuff without fear. I've lost a lot of jigs in the process, but I didn't care, and I have to say, out of all of the lures that I fish, I feel like jigs are the lures that I snag and lose the most. For this reason, I can't justify paying $5+ for a jig no matter how high quality the jig is.

Anyways, I fish these jigs in the worst rip rap that you can possibly imagine. The whole bottom floor, by the culvert that I fish them out of, is all just a pile of rocks. This is the type of area, where, I don't like dragging a football like you would typically do. The best retrieve to not get snagged in this environment is to use a "hop - hop" and pause retrieve from what I've found and never dragging it. It's counterintuitive because you'd think that you'd get the jig would get stuck in one of the holes in between the rocks, but it doesn't. Dragging is what will get it wedged. Even with my heavy 3/4oz footballs, I hardly snag using a hop-hop retrieve.

Heavy braid will also give you a better shot at unsnagging your jig by using the bow and arrow technique. Also, keep in contact with your lure. Try not to have any slack in the line.

If you want to drag your jig in an environment where there's chunk rock and the occasional boulders, get the most sensitive rod that you can afford. When you start to feel that jig starting to wedge, ease it out of the crevice that it's starting to get stuck on instead of pulling it further in. You need a very sensitive rod + braid to feel this effectively.

Those dobyns sales were insane. Solid jigs with good gammie hooks as well. I'm loaded for life on 3/4 and 1 ounce deep jigs.