--------------------------------------
Editor's note: This is just one article from a recent issue of FLW Outdoors Magazine, which publishes both a Bass Edition and a Walleye Edition. To learn more about the magazine and how to subscribe, click here.
--------------------------------------
Every year I anxiously anticipate new introductions on the walleye scene. With the wide variety of components used by walleye anglers, you can bet that someone somewhere will come up with a new innovation in shape, application or color.
When it comes to jigs, new color schemes are fairly common as manufacturers add hot colors or forage-imitating patterns to their existing lineups. But to me, beautiful paint jobs are only skin deep. The true test comes when a fundamental improvement in jighead design allows me to fish jigs more effectively under certain conditions.
In my opinion, the biggest improvements in walleye jigs are with new head styles designed to be fished with biodegradable soft baits like Trigger X and Berkley Gulp! The soft, almost puttylike composition of some of these soft baits creates the special presentation challenge of holding them in place during the retrieve. Unlike traditional soft plastics that firmly grip lead jig collars, the new soft baits tend to slide off the collar and down the hook shank, lodging in the bend of the hook. This leaves kinked soft baits that spiral on the drop, twist your line, and fail to swim and perform as intended.
The best solution, thus far, is adding a wire keeper that extends from the back of the jighead along the shank of the hook. When the soft bait is threaded over this hook and keeper it locks in tight. It can then be worked aggressively and can catch multiple walleyes before needing to be replaced. I’ll go as far as saying it makes all the difference between effective fishing and ineffective frustration.
With this in mind, here is a look at several jigheads designed to be fished with soft baits, as well as some other new offerings designed to spice up your jigging repertoire. They are not listed alphabetically, nor grouped by manufacturer. Rather, they are roughly classified by application.
VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig
The jig has the wire gripper mentioned earlier that makes such a difference in fishing soft baits. It also has an aspirin-style head, meaning it is molded narrower on the sides than a traditional round head. This makes it do several things differently than a round head.
As you might assume, it tends to cut water better in current. It also doesn’t plane, rise and “float” when retrieved quickly. However, imparting a series of hard snaps with the rod tip will get more action out of this jig than with a round head. The shaved sides make the jig and soft bait swing, glide and wobble on the fall for a presentation that moves left and right as much as it does up and down.
The Neon Moon Eye Jig is available in 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 ounce and four colors. Its sharp VMC tin red hook is large enough to accommodate the bulk of a 4-inch soft bait. The 3-D eyes help focus the strikes at the head, and I think the eyes make it appear bigger in the water than it really is, making it resemble a sizeable baitfish. (vmchooks.com)
Northland Eye-Ball Jig
This jig isn’t new, but it deserves a strong mention because of its similarities to the Neon Moon Eye Jig. It is more round than the Neon Moon Eye Jig and has similar holographic eyes. Plus, its combination of a lead barbed collar and a “Barb-Wire” worm-and-grub collar provides extra grip for soft and live bait. It is available in 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 ounce and four metallic finishes. An Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp hook makes up the business end that, once again, has a large enough hook gap for fishing soft baits. (northlandtackle.com)
Northland Slurp! Jighead
The head is shaped like a fathead minnow, which creates a very natural look when paired with a swimbait or other soft-bait tail. However, what makes this jig great for soft baits is the double-barbed “Barb-Wire” bait-holder collar along the 4/0 Mustad Ultra Point hook. The dual barbs securely lock any bait in place for good. The Slurp! is available in 3/32, 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 ounce and six forage patterns. (northlandtackle.com)
VMC Dominator Smoochin’ Minnow
The wedge-shaped forage-minnow head featured on the Smoochin’ Minnow is similar to the Slurp!, making for another natural hook. It also has a single-wire keeper like the Neon Moon Eye Jig. However, a unique aspect on this jig is its 60-degree rotated eye for better control and hooking. It is available in 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 ounce and in four forage patterns. (vmchooks.com)
Fin-tech Title SHot ‘Metallic Series’ Jig
Virtually weedless, the jig is a cross between a bullet-style and stand-up jighead. It is popular with redfish anglers for inshore saltwater applications, but it applies to walleyes, as well.
The Title SHot Jig features a patented collapsible Retainer/Guard System that keeps rigged soft baits in place but releases during the strike to fully expose a Mustad Ultrapoint hook. The head design makes sure the jig will not rotate on the retrieve, eliminating line twist and making it an excellent swim jig for soft baits. Skirts and rattles are optional.
The smaller 1/16-ounce size has a 2/0 hook, while the 1/8- and 3/16-ounce versions have 3/0 hooks. Other sizes are also available. Heads come in four new metallic finishes with 3-D eyes.
A freshwater Title SHot “Shorty” Jig is also available. It features a smaller head in five bright Walleye Series colors. (jigfish.com)
Lindy X-Change Jig System
Designed for quickly and easily changing jig weight or color, X-Change Jigs feature innovative inserts that grip the hooks and allow special jigheads to snap firmly in place on them. With four sizes and 20 head patterns in solid, glow, two-tone and metallic finishes, there is an almost endless combination of sizes and colors at your fingertips.
The X-Change Jig System is great in cold weather conditions when fingers are numb and the last thing you want to do is retie a knot. Simply snap off the old head and snap on a new size or color. The system is perfect for changing jig weight to match changes in depth, current or wind conditions. It is also great for varying retrieve style, drop speed and trolling speed, along with the unending ability to experiment with new colors.
X-Change Jigheads are available in 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 ounce. They are packaged either by uniform size or as a kit system with a hook, insert and one head of each size. Size 2/0 Max Gap hooks with inserts come in four color options. These hooks feature slightly expanded hook gaps for better hooking. (lindyfishingtackle.com)
Fin-tech Nuckle Ball Jig
To its existing Nuckle Ball Jig line, Fin-tech has added three smaller sizes – 1/32, 1/16 and 1/8 ounce – with smaller No. 6 and No. 2 hooks geared toward walleye and panfish applications. The unique cupped head and wrinkled hook shank enable a variety of rigging options with live bait or soft baits. The new sizes are available in 24 color options, including day-brite metallic, nite-lite glow, two-tone and solid colors. (jigfish.com)
Berkley PowerBait Power Packs
Berkley offers K and P’s Jig Minnow Kits with two jighead sizes and 10 PowerBait Minnows in a choice of black shad, chartreuse shad, firetiger or smelt patterns. The combination provides the essentials an angler needs to get started jigging in a single pack. (berkley-fishing.com)
Bait Rigs Odd’ball Jig and Slo-Poke Jig
Bait Rigs recently added several new colors to its existing lineup. The Odd’ball Jig (stand-up) is now available in 14kt gold, purple tiger glow and red metallic. Meanwhile, the Slo-Poke (slender head with barbed collar) is now available in purple tiger glow and firetiger glow. (baitrigs.com)
VMC Hot Skirt Glow Jig
The Hot Skirt Glow Jig is a traditional minnow-style jighead with a rather unique skirt dressing. The skirt combines glow-in-the-dark pearl-a-glow with flashabou fibers to reflect light and create a very natural presentation. You can fish it tipped with live bait, soft baits or undressed, and it is effective casting and trolling. I’d have to say it is my all-around favorite walleye jig for a wide variety of conditions.
Two-packs are available in three sizes and four high-visibility glow patterns. However, two added sizes are available in kits that contain four jigs, one in each color. (vmchooks.com)
Fin-tech Nuckle Ball ‘Jitt-R’ Jig
The “Jitt-R” Jig is a combination of the classic Fin-tech Nuckle Ball Jig stand-up design and a highly reflective blade. It can be rigged in a variety of ways, included weedless with soft baits. The 1/16- and 1/8-ounce models have No. 2 hooks, while the 1/4- and 3/8-ounce sizes come with 1/0 hooks. It is available in seven coordinated head and metallic blade finishes. It is the kind of jig you’d use if you need increased visibility and commotion, such as in dirty water. (jigfish.com)
Northland Thumper Jig
This jig excels in dirty water, and for swimming and fluttering retrieves. It has a sleek minnow head and thumper blade for added flash and vibration. It has also been redesigned with a “Barb-Wire” holder for fishing with soft baits and a blood-red Lip-Stick Wounded Bait Hook. It is available in five sizes – 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 ounce – and six forage patterns. (northlandtackle.com)
Northland Vegas Glitter Jig
Las Vegas is known for its bright lights, glitz and glitter. Northland aptly named this jig because it certainly has the latter. It has a round head with a barbed lead collar, molded with a premium Matzuo hook. But it is the jig’s sparkling metallic FishFlakes that flash, shimmer and shine like the scales of a baitfish. It is available in seven glitter patterns and 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 ounce. (northlandtackle.com)
Fin-tech Nuckle Ball 'Zone-R' Jig
The “Zone-R” Jig is a heavy, flat-sided jighead that is well-suited for vertical fishing in deep water or river current. The head design features a nook that, when combined with a bend in the shank of the hook, holds soft plastics in place without need for a keeper. The 3/8- and 1/2-ounce sizes have 1/0 hooks, while the 3/4-ounce size has a 3/0 hook. The jig comes in six solid and six two-tone colors. (jigfish.com)
VMC Dominator Hammer Head Jig
The short-shank Power Gap hook on this jig locks live bait tight up against the head, which is complete with 3D eyes, rather than allowing it to flop loosely behind on a longer hook shank. It is available in 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 ounce and comes in eight colors.
The Hammer Head is also designed to be fished with a VMC Quick Strike Trailer Hook for short-strikers that nip the tail of the minnow and miss the short main hook. The Quick Strike comes in 2- and 3-inch versions with a quick-snap connector and is tied with a 12-pound fluorocarbon leader with either a tin red or black nickel treble hook. (vmchooks.com)
Custom Walleye Jigs Blood Shot Jigs
These are just regular round-head jigs. However, the white and yellow jigs are painted with intriguing blood splatter patterns that are very eye-catching. They are available in 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 and 5/8 ounce with a choice of three hook styles: standard, red or premium Matzuo hooks. (customwalleyejigs.com)
