When I was younger I didn't have the patience to work a plastic bait, or a jig, slowly.  When I seriously got back into fishing about 16 or 17 years ago everyone was talking about jigs, so I bought a few.  I finally caught a bass after 6 months of playing around and I was hooked.

 

When I'm fishing from the bank and there is a line of vegetation that I know I won't be able to pull through without bringing in weeds I stop the retrieve, and let the jig drop down along the side of the weed line to the bottom.  Works good but you almost need a punch rig to get the bass out.

6 hours ago, LionHeart said:

I have spent many many hours trying to fish jigs (casting, pitching, dragging, hopping), and have had very little success.  I have gone out often with only a jig rod in hopes of forcing myself to become more effective.  

 

What have I learned? I prefer Texas rigged plastic.  It doesn't snag as easily, is cheaper, and maybe it is just the water I fish but for me it flat catches more fish under the same conditions, fished the same way.  

 

I still toss a jig every now and then but when people talk about how successful a jig is at catching bass I have to wonder why I haven't had that experience at all.

It sounds like you and I have about the same luck with jigs. I have caught some on jigs but just don't throw them very often for the same reasons you mentioned.

How long do you wait in between hopping a jig. Saw I cast it out, let it hit bottom, wait 5-10 seconds and give it 2-3 hops. Is it bad to wait too long or, be too fast and hop too often?

When the going gets tough I know I can catch a few on a jig. But like @Catt I fish shallow grassy lakes with a lot of covers. I know where the fish are. Just have to convince one to bite and a jig works best for me in that situation

 

Going back to the OP....I was lucky enough to grow up on a small lake with good fishing. Started throwing small jigs one summer when I was home from school. I became addicted with the “art” of the jig and detecting bites. And was rewarded with nice fish. 15 years later it’s still my favorite lure to fish and I suspect it will continue to be

26 minutes ago, Matt_3479 said:

How long do you wait in between hopping a jig. Saw I cast it out, let it hit bottom, wait 5-10 seconds and give it 2-3 hops. Is it bad to wait too long or, be too fast and hop too often?

I start slow for a few casts, and if nothing’s biting I speeded up for a few, but if that doesn’t work I slow it down again, etc. etc. until I get a hit.  I then can start trying to figure out what’s going to work that day.   

 

I’m slowly becoming of the opinion that a high enough percentage of hits happen on the fall or immediately after that it might not be, statistically  speaking, worth my time to work the jig all the way back to myself in a slow and deliberate manner.  I keep meaning to carry a little notebook with me and try to actually gather some data but I’ve never actually done it.

 

I do usualy speed it up as I get closer  to the bank/boat to try and force a reaction out of any bass that might be following it.  It works just often enough But I feel like I need to keep doing it.