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Jigging

Method · Last reviewed 2026-08-10

Working a weighted lure with a rising-and-falling motion, usually vertically, so it behaves like a wounded or fleeing baitfish.

A jig is a hook with weight at the head, usually dressed with a soft plastic body or hair. What makes jigging distinct is not the lure but the motion: the angler lifts the rod to make the jig dart upwards, then lowers it and lets the jig fall on a controlled line. That fall is where almost all takes happen, because a fluttering, falling object is exactly what an injured baitfish looks like.

That has one very practical consequence: a take on the drop registers as the line going slack or stopping short, not as a pull. Anglers used to feeling a bite miss most of their takes when they first jig, because nothing pulls — the weight simply stops arriving.

Jigging is used vertically over marks in the sea and over deep water in lakes, and horizontally as a hop-and-drop retrieve along the bottom.

What it is

Fishing a weighted lure with a repeated lift-and-drop action so that it rises and then falls, imitating a wounded or fleeing baitfish. The weight is at or near the head, which makes the lure fall nose-down with a flutter rather than sinking level, and that fall is the part of the cycle the fish responds to. It is worked vertically beneath a boat, over a wreck or reef or down a steep drop-off, or through a hole in ice; and horizontally, cast out and brought back in a series of hops along the bottom. The name covers both, and the two share a motion rather than a set of tackle.

What it is for

To present a lure in a chosen part of the water column, repeatedly, with an action that triggers a predatory response rather than an interested inspection. Vertical jigging is the standard method over deep marks, wrecks, reefs and the edges of banks, where a cast achieves nothing because the fish are below the boat rather than away from it, and where a sounder can tell you the depth to fish before you fish it. Horizontal jigging does the same job along the bottom in fresh water for perch, zander and pike, and over clean ground at sea. In both cases the point is control: the angler decides the depth and then works it properly, instead of hoping a retrieve passes through it.

Setting it up

  • Use enough weight to reach and hold the depth in the current — too light and you are fishing an angle, not a depth.
  • Watch the line rather than feeling for a pull; a take on the drop shows as the line stopping or going slack early.
  • Keep contact with the jig on the fall by lowering the rod rather than opening the bale arm.
  • Vary the height and speed of the lift until you find what triggers a response, then repeat it exactly.
  • Use braid rather than monofilament: stretch destroys the ability to feel a jig working at depth.

What it catches

28 more

What you fish it with

How it works

The lift accelerates the jig upwards and away; the drop lets it fall, with the head-weighted design making it fall nose-down with a flutter. Predators overwhelmingly attack on the fall, because a falling object is not swimming and therefore looks damaged. Because the line is going slack as the jig falls, a take does not pull — it interrupts the fall, so the line stops moving or falls slack early.

Conditions

Vertical jigging needs depth and a controlled drift, or an anchored position. Wind and tide are the limiting factors, and they limit it together: when the boat moves faster than the jig can sink, the line streams away at an angle, the lure is no longer at the depth the sounder showed and the fluttering fall the method depends on flattens into a tow. The usual remedy is more weight, and there is a point past which more weight stops working and the drift has to be controlled instead — with a drogue, with the engine, or by waiting for the tide. In fresh water it suits deep margins, drop-offs, the outsides of bends and cold-water fish holding tight to the bottom, which is why it comes into its own from late autumn through winter when a horizontal retrieve passes over their heads.

Common mistakes

  • Fishing too light a jig for the depth and current, so the lure never reaches the fish.
  • Letting the jig fall on a completely slack line, so a take on the drop is invisible and unhookable.
  • Working the rod too violently, which moves the jig far more than a wounded fish would move.
  • Using stretchy monofilament at depth and feeling nothing.
  • Giving up on a depth before working it properly — jigging rewards systematic coverage of the column.

Advantages

  • Extremely effective at triggering predatory takes.
  • Fishes a precise depth, which matters over structure.
  • Works in deep water where casting achieves nothing.
  • Very direct contact with the lure, so the angler knows what it is doing.

Limitations

  • Takes on the drop are easy to miss until you learn to watch for slack.
  • Physically repetitive over a long session.
  • Snags readily on rough ground.
  • Requires low-stretch line and a reasonably sensitive rod to work properly.

Terms you will meet

On the drop
During the fall, as opposed to during the lift. Most jigging takes happen here, and because the line is slackening as the jig falls, they register as the fall stopping early or the line going soft rather than as a pull.
Slow pitch
A Japanese school of vertical jigging in which the rod is loaded and unloaded to control how the jig flutters downward, rather than driven upward to provoke a chase. It catches fish that will not chase, and it needs its own rods and its own jigs.
Speed jigging
The opposite school: a fast, rhythmic lift-and-wind that provokes a reaction strike from an active fish, usually on the rise. Physically punishing and not sustainable for a whole day.
Butterfly or flutter jig
A jig shaped and balanced to fall sideways with an erratic flutter instead of dropping straight. The shape is the working part; a plain lead of the same weight falls dead and catches far less.
Sabiki or feathers
A string of small dressed hooks jigged for bait fish. It is jigging in the strict sense and is usually the first thing anybody does on a boat, though most anglers do not think of it as jigging at all.

Where people fish it

80 places FishingHQ holds name this among the ways they are fished, across 30 coasts and systems. Being named here describes what sources report, not that the method is permitted — check the local rules before you fish.

22 further coasts and systems are not listed here. Browse every place FishingHQ holds.

Speed jigging and slow pitch: two philosophies, not two speeds

Vertical jigging in deep water has developed into two approaches that are genuinely different disciplines rather than variations of effort, and using the tackle of one to attempt the other simply does not work.

SPEED JIGGING uses a fast, hard, rhythmic retrieve — a co-ordinated rod lift and reel wind repeated continuously — to provoke a reaction strike from active predators. The lure darts upward and the take almost always comes on the rise. It is physically punishing, closer to an athletic activity than to fishing, and nobody sustains it for a full day.

SLOW PITCH JIGGING, developed in Japan, inverts the priority. The jig is designed to flutter on the fall, and the rod is loaded and unloaded to control that fall rather than to drive the lure upward. The take comes on the drop, which means it registers as slack line or as the fall simply stopping, and detecting that requires a completely different kind of attention. It catches fish that will not chase — including the ones a speed jigger has already passed over.

What both share is a dependence on the line being near-vertical. A jig streaming away at an angle is not fishing the depth the sounder showed, and it will not have the action the technique depends on. That, rather than the choice of lure, is why the weight is set by depth and tide and changed when either does.

Both also require braided line. Monofilament stretch absorbs the rod action before it reaches the lure and hides the take at depth, so the technique becomes physically impossible to perform properly rather than merely less effective.

What experienced anglers do — why, and the sources (2)

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: The distinction between fast, provocative jigging retrieves and slow, fall-focused presentations, and the tackle requirements of each as described in the sea angling press.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The widely restated practitioner position that braid rather than monofilament is required for vertical jigging at depth, and that the line must stay near-vertical.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Where to go next

Related techniques

Skills behind it

Compared with

Sources and evidence

Why the 50 connections on this page are here, and the sources

What it catches

What experienced anglers do — 36 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Almaco jack

    Fished with fast-worked jigs, large soft plastics and live baits over deeper reef. On a steep oceanic island the same fishing is possible from the shore, and the practitioner account is consistent that the problem is not hooking the fish but stopping it reaching rock afterwards.

    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Identification, distribution, habitat and fishery description from the FAO species identification guides for fishery purposes.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The widely restated practitioner account of how this species is fished.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Atlantic cod

    An established way this species is taken recreationally in north-west European waters.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Shore and boat practice in north-west European sea angling for the species and method described, presented across multiple independent contributors.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species to this method, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Atlantic halibut

    The page names jigs beside large baits. On Norwegian and Icelandic ground the jigged fishery is distinct enough to be run as its own trip.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Black crappie

    A practitioner claim about the dominant method for the species.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of jig fishing for crappie around structure and at located depths.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary treatment of small jig and soft plastic technique.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Black rockfish

    A practitioner claim about how Sebastes melanops is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for black rockfish.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for black rockfish and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Black sea bass

    A practitioner claim about how Centropristis striata is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for black sea bass.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for black sea bass and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Blue cod

    A practitioner claim about how Parapercis colias is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for blue cod.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for blue cod and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Bluefin trevally

    The page names metal jigs among the techniques. Jigging reaches the fish holding below the popping range on the same structure.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Common whitefish

    A statement about how a species is fished outside Europe, resting on restated international practice rather than on the British angling literature.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: International recreational angling practice and the record framework that documents which species are pursued and how.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Coral trout

    A practitioner claim about how Plectropomus leopardus is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for coral trout.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for coral trout and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Dogtooth tuna

    A reef-associated predator holding beside pinnacle and drop-off, taken on heavy metal jigs worked fast through the water column. The tackle used is heavier than the fish's weight suggests because the contest is decided in the first seconds, when the fish drives back into structure.

    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Identification, distribution, habitat and fishery description from the FAO species identification guides for fishery purposes.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The widely restated practitioner account of how this species is fished.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Gag grouper

    The page names jigs as the second technique. It matters separately because area closures protecting spawning aggregations apply to the fishery rather than to the bait.

    • Florida saltwater fishing regulations and Keys sanctuary rules — Florida state wildlife authority and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Greater amberjack

    A practitioner claim about the principal method for the species.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of vertical jigging for amberjack and other deep structure predators.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: The tackle classes used for large marine predators fished vertically.Passage read and verified

  • Green jobfish

    Taken on vertical jigs worked fast beside reef edge and drop-off across the Indo-Pacific. It is an active pursuit predator over structure rather than an ambusher within it, so the jig is worked in open water above the reef as much as against it.

    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Identification, distribution, habitat and fishery description from the FAO species identification guides for fishery purposes.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The widely restated practitioner account of how this species is fished.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Grey gurnard

    A statement about how a species is fished, which is angling convention rather than biology and is labelled as such.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK and European sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Hapuku

    A practitioner claim about how Polyprion oxygeneios is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for hapuku.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for hapuku and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Island grouper

    The Canary material describes jigging over rock and reef for the larger demersal predators, and the island grouper's usual band of 20 to 30 m is exactly the water that method covers.

    • Canary Islands regional angling guidance sites — Various Canary-based angling and island guidance publishers (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Canary shore angling practice: the techniques and tackle used from rock, mole and beach, and the species each is used for.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Guías de zonas de pesca en Canarias — Tenerife, Gran Canaria y Lanzarote — GuíaCanarias (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The techniques named for Canarian fishing — rockfishing, jigging, light bottom fishing and squid jigs — and the species attached to them.States this directlyPassage read and verified

  • Japanese amberjack

    A practitioner claim about how Seriola quinqueradiata is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for japanese amberjack.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for japanese amberjack and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • John Dory

    A statement about how a species is fished, which is angling convention rather than biology and is labelled as such.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK and European sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Korean rockfish

    A practitioner claim about how Sebastes schlegelii is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for korean rockfish.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for korean rockfish and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Lake trout

    Established angling practice for this species, recorded as convention. The note states the property of the animal or its water that makes the method the answer.

    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Recognition of the species as an established sport fish and the angling methods and tackle classes conventionally used for it.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species and method.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Ling

    The page names heavy pirks alongside large baits, and says the fish is strong enough that heavy tackle is required rather than preferred.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Lingcod

    A practitioner claim about how Ophiodon elongatus is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for lingcod.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for lingcod and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Northern red snapper

    The page names jigs beside bait as the two ways the species is fished. Jigging is separated because it is a lure fishery with a different selectivity and a different release profile.

    • Florida saltwater fishing regulations and Keys sanctuary rules — Florida state wildlife authority and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Documents which fishery and which technique takes this species.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Independently corroborates the species' recreational capture and range.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Payara

    A practitioner claim about how Hydrolycus scomberoides is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for payara.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for payara and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Pink dentex

    The Canary material describes jigging and heavy bottom fishing over reef edge for the large sparids, and the sama's band of 20 to 220 m is the water that fishing covers.

    • Canary Islands regional angling guidance sites — Various Canary-based angling and island guidance publishers (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Canary shore angling practice: the techniques and tackle used from rock, mole and beach, and the species each is used for.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Guías de zonas de pesca en Canarias — Tenerife, Gran Canaria y Lanzarote — GuíaCanarias (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The techniques named for Canarian fishing — rockfishing, jigging, light bottom fishing and squid jigs — and the species attached to them.States this directlyPassage read and verified

  • Pollack

    An established way this species is taken recreationally in north-west European waters.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Shore and boat practice in north-west European sea angling for the species and method described, presented across multiple independent contributors.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practice connecting this species to this method, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Red porgy

    Jigging is named by the Canary guidance as one of the two prevailing island techniques, worked over the rocky volcanic bottom and shallows for the sparids and the amberjacks together.

    • Canary Islands regional angling guidance sites — Various Canary-based angling and island guidance publishers (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Canary shore angling practice: the techniques and tackle used from rock, mole and beach, and the species each is used for.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Guías de zonas de pesca en Canarias — Tenerife, Gran Canaria y Lanzarote — GuíaCanarias (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The techniques named for Canarian shore fishing — rockfishing, jigging, light bottom fishing and squid jigs — and the species attached to them.States this directlyPassage read and verified

  • Saithe

    A practitioner claim following from the species' verified pelagic feeding.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of jigging and feathering for saithe and other midwater gadoids over wrecks.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fast retrieves for saithe.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Sauger

    A statement about how a species is fished outside Europe, resting on restated international practice rather than on the British angling literature.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: International recreational angling practice and the record framework that documents which species are pursued and how.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

  • Silver trevally

    A practitioner claim about how Pseudocaranx georgianus is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for silver trevally.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for silver trevally and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Tub gurnard

    A statement about how a species is fished, which is angling convention rather than biology and is labelled as such.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK and European sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Veined squid

    A statement about how a species is fished, which is angling convention rather than biology and is labelled as such.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK sea angling and shore gathering practice as reported by practitioners: ground, seasonal timing, tackle, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of technique, fish behaviour and regional practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • White bass

    A practitioner claim about how Morone chrysops is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for white bass.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for white bass and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • White crappie

    A practitioner claim about how Pomoxis annularis is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for white crappie.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for white crappie and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Yellowtail kingfish

    A practitioner claim about a species that genuinely spans the methods.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of vertical jigging for reef and pinnacle predators.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: The tackle classes used for large marine predators fished vertically and on the troll.Passage read and verified

Related techniques

What experienced anglers do — 1 connection

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Lure fishing

    How the discipline classifies it, rather than a claim about how it is fished.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Jigging within sea lure practice.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary categorisation of jigging in freshwater lure practice.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

What you fish it with

What experienced anglers do — 5 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Jigs and jig heads

    The jig-head page describes weight moulded at the eye so the lure falls nose-first and depth is controlled precisely. That is a description of what a jigging retrieve requires, written from the tackle's side.

    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Specialist treatment of which bait or lure family this technique is fished with.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The independently restated practitioner pairing of this technique with this family.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Metal jigs

    The jigging page describes speed and slow-pitch presentations, and the metal-jig page describes the weight distribution that produces each of them. The two describe one subject from opposite ends.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of which lure or bait family this technique is fished with.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The widely restated practitioner pairing of this technique with this family.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Multiplier and baitcasting reels

    That a practice conventionally depends on a piece of equipment, drawn from published description of practice rather than from testing.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British sea angling practice, including reels, casting, rough-ground technique and terminal arrangement.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of equipment convention and its use, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Palomar knot

    Which knot a kind of fishing conventionally uses is established practitioner knowledge that converges across independent traditions and independent state agency guides, and it is labelled as consensus rather than as tested result. Nothing here ranks knots by strength: see `why-knot-strength-tables-disagree` for why that number does not exist.

    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK lure and predator angling practice as reported by practitioners, including braid-to-lure connections and finesse rigging.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • How to Tie Fishing Knots — uni, blood, improved blood, surgeon's and loop knots — Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (Take Me Fishing) (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: A contemporary national angling-participation body's knot guide, covering the connections used in modern lure fishing and the materials they are tied in.States this directlyPassage read and verified

  • Soft plastics

    Jigging works the lure on the drop and the lift rather than across; a soft plastic supplies a tail action on a vertical fall that a rigid metal cannot, which is why the two are fished together rather than alternately.

    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Specialist treatment of which bait or lure family this technique is fished with.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The independently restated practitioner pairing of this technique with this family.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Skills behind it

What experienced anglers do — 4 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Gear ratio and retrieve rate

    Lower gearing for deep and heavy work is consistent practice in boat angling.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Sea angling practice on tackle and presentation in tidal water.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comparable reasoning from the freshwater tradition, independently arrived at.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Jig weight and fall rate

    Counting the drop to return to a productive depth is standard jigging practice.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Sea angling practice on tackle and presentation in tidal water.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comparable reasoning from the freshwater tradition, independently arrived at.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Retrieve speed and the pause

    The productive phase of a jigging retrieve is consistently identified as the drop.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Sea angling practice on tackle and presentation in tidal water.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comparable reasoning from the freshwater tradition, independently arrived at.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • The kinds of lure, and what each imitates

    A link from a practice or a piece of equipment to the explanation of what it is for. The two records are halves of one answer and the edge is what lets a reader arriving at either find the other.

    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK coarse, match and predator practice as reported by practitioners, including lure and line convention.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of contemporary tackle convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Official guidance — 1 connection

Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.

  • Jigging: a word covering several different techniques

    Tackle advice for jigging is meaningless without saying which jigging.

    • FAO fishing gear types and fishing technology information — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Vertical line fishing methods and gear classification.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Backed by research — 1 connection

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Thermoclines and stratification

    A link from a practice, an environment or a geography to the mechanism it rests on. It asserts that the mechanism is load-bearing here rather than merely relevant, which is the test applied throughout this file.

    • ICES Advice on fishing opportunities, catch and effort — International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Hydrography, stratification, salinity structure and stock distribution across the European sea areas assessed, which is the physical basis for the mechanism named.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • NOAA National Ocean Service education on estuaries and the National Estuarine Research Reserve System — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Estuarine and coastal process: salt wedges, stratification, tidal exchange and the way water of different densities behaves where it meets.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Compared with

What experienced anglers do — 2 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Drift fishing

    A practical interaction between two methods that a boat angler resolves on every session.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of drift control in relation to vertical jigging.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: The widely restated practitioner position that a jig must stay near-vertical to fish the depth intended.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Ice fishing

    Vertical jigging is the principal ice fishing presentation.

    • Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Ice fishing presentation practice.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Vertical jigging technique from a separate tradition.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.

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