Pro Football Jig Heads with Weedguards

by Russ Bassdozer

This shows and tells product photos, product descriptions and information for the lure models and colors that are (or have been) available at BassdozerStore.com. Not all models and colors shown are currently available, and exact specifications are subject to change.

Note: Some of the following configurations may not all be currently in stock. Some may be sold out at this time. Please check online at www.BassdozerStore.com for current availability of specific items below. Thank you for your business.

Pro Football Jig Heads with Weedguards

Pro Football Jig Head ~ Black ~ Comes in sizes: (1/4 oz 3/0). (3/8 oz 4/0). (1/2 oz 5/0). (3/4 oz 5/0). (1 oz 5/0).

Pro Football Jig Head ~ Green Pumpkin ~ Comes in sizes: (1/4 oz 3/0). (3/8 oz 4/0). (1/2 oz 5/0). (3/4 oz 5/0). (1 oz 5/0).

Pro Football Jig Head ~ Brown ~ Comes in sizes: (1/4 oz 3/0). (3/8 oz 4/0). (1/2 oz 5/0). (3/4 oz 5/0). (1 oz 5/0).

Pro Football Jig Head ~ Silver ~ Comes in sizes: (1/4 oz 3/0). (3/8 oz 4/0). (1/2 oz 5/0). (3/4 oz 5/0). (1 oz 5/0).

Football jigs have always been most popular in the western USA, and to a lesser degree, in isolated pockets in the north central and southeast regions mainly.

Within recent years, however, on the top pro tours, a shift has been made to deeper baits and deeper spots fished by top pros in prestigious televised tournaments. Top pros are increasingly learning to probe deeper offshore spots for untapped bass. The pros are discovering new lures to them (like football jigs) will win deep tournaments country-wide. Consequently, the football jig has grown in popularity among local tournament and recreational anglers who pick up new techniques and tactics (like football jig fishing) from the pros on TV and in magazine articles.

L to R: Silver, Green Pumpkin, Brown, Green Pumpkin, Black. (Items sold separately. Items in photo not included with item for sale.)

These have a premium Mustad UltraPoint round bend hook model.

You'll appreciate the consistent hooking experience provided by a jig with the standard round bend hook in it (as opposed to other angled or irregular jig hook bends). This wide gap, round bend forged Mustad hook consistently hooks and holds fish better.

Recommended Gear: These jigs are best used with medium to medium/heavy gear from 10 to 16 pound test mono, fluoro or braided line. The hook is stout, but it is not intended for heavy flipping gear or heavy braided line.

Rigging Method: Start by optionally dressing a football jig with or without a silicone skirt (shown above). In either case (withor without a skirt), always add a soft plastic bait of your choice (not shown). Items in photo not included with item for sale.

Differences Between Football Jigs and Other Jig Shapes

More streamlined jig heads (most all other jig head shapes) will snag more on rocky bottom types than will the football jig. Even if a football jig does get lodged in a snag, it will not lodge as deeply, and can be unsnagged more easily than other jigs, especially if you are able to backpedal to get right over the snagged jig in order to get it out the same way or same angle that it went in.

Many other jig heads will roll on their sides, putting the hook right on the bottom. Due to its oblong sideways head however, a football jig really cannot roll over. A football jig tends to keep the hook straight up most of the time, and it is hard to envision the hook snagging when it's upright. A hook tends to snag when it's rolled into the bottom or when the hook's rolled into a limb - but the football head tends not to roll over as much as other jigs.

Use of Standard Weight Sizes

The 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 ounce sizes are great to use in rock bottom areas because the oblong head shape helps keep the jig head perched atop bottom rubble without slipping and sliding down deep into small cracks and openings amidst the debris.

When Heavy Football Jigs Really Come Into Their Own

Where football heads really come into their own, however, is with the heavy 3/4 and 1 ounce sizes. The heavy heads really define what football jig fishing is. The heavyweight heads separate football jigging from all other types of jig tactics. The 3/4 and 1 ounce jigs have a big presence, they displace a lot of water and create a disturbance that doesn't go unnoticed by deep bass. They sink fast. They hit the bottom and hit any underwater obstacles hard, causing a fast-snapping reaction bite at times. Think of an apple tree. If a light leaf fell off the top of the apple tree and fluttered silently to the ground, you would hardly pay attention. You might not even notice at all. If a ponderous apple fell off the tree top and smashed the ground hard, you are very likely to turn your head to see what just happened there. That's why a heavy football jig works so well. It gets attention plummeting down and thudding the bottom hard, and when fish turn their heads to see what's happening, your football jig is on the scene, appearing edible or alive.

Is the Football Jig a Crawdad Imitation?

Many anglers pigeonhole the football jig as a crawdad imitation. Yet the football jig isn't exactly a true copy of a crawdad - or anything else. A bass may not know what a football jig represents, except that as the football bangs the bottom and crashes head-on into bottom debris - even when it just lays there immobile - it appears like something that is not a perfect, healthy specimen, therefore an easier meal to catch than a perfectly healthy craw or minnow.

So the football jig imitates nothing in particular and everything in general. Depending on the color of the jig head, the color and kind of dressing you apply (you may dress it with a silicone skirt plus any kind of soft plastic or pork trailer - or just use soft baits like hula grubs, creatures, beavers or craws alone without skirts) and depending on the action that an angler uses, a football can give fish the impression of a craw, a panfish, a shad, a young-of-year walleye, trout, etc. So when you know that bass are feeding heavily on one particular kind of food source, it can help to try to match the hatch. For example, when bass are feeding heavily on shad, it can help to use a silver jig head, with a silvery white dressing (skirt and/or soft bait). Yet above all, a football jig is just something non-descript and moving - an easy target that bass strike.

Hold Down the Head-Shaking or Else!

In deep water, bass are notorious for racing to the top to leap out of the water as soon as they are hooked, often dislodging a heavy football jig when they jump. This is often unavoidable. It is almost impossible to reel in slack line as quickly as a fish can rocket straight to the top. Even if you do reel fast enough to keep the line tight as the fish races to the surface, it is never truly a tight line. Instead, there's a bowed "U" shape due to water drag tension. It may feel tight to you perhaps, but there's always enough slack in the U-bowed line for a fish can to rattle its gills and dislodge a heavy football jig by streaking up and leaping out instantly upon hookset.

It's all part of the fun and excitement of fishing football jigs. Please enjoy!