Been jig fishing a while and I consider myself to be a pretty proficient jig fisherman. But...I just noticed something...Jigs actually come in 2 different styles. One has the line tie in a vertical position (90 degrees) and the others have the line tie in a horizontal position (180 degrees). 

 

Whats the difference between the vertical and horizontal line tie position...? Is one better than the other...? What are the pros and cons to both of these line tie positions when fishing a jig...? 

 

Been thinking about the differences for a couple weeks and my theory is...Since I fish jigs with a baitcaster...The horizontal or 180 degree line tie position seems like the better choice since baitcaster spools are horizontal/flat. Therefore...the horizontal line tie position in a jig would afford a more 'straighter'/accurate line of pull...thereby not creating any line twist (in theory)...correct...? 

Makes absolutely no difference!  ? 

The style or head shape makes a difference, flat eye vs standard eye is in my opinion a personal preference, where the eye is located and the hook is important. 

Tom

I prefer a line tie parallel to the hook shank (180) for fishing grassy vegetation. Although both styles will catch the grass, they seem to catch less than a perpendicular (90) line tie.  I do agree with Tom about the shape of the jig head being more important and I base that on the type or lack of cover. 

It doesn’t matter to me as long as they eye of the hook isn’t coated over with paint !

Placement of the eye, head shape, and "belly" of the jighead is most importsnt to me. But I do prefer Horizantal most of the time unless its a swim jig. 

I prefer the flat eye hooks, I know of at least one jig builder/designer that has stated that you apply more leverage to the hook with this design.  

I like horizontal line ties for things like shakey heads, football jigs, basically jigs I crawl along the bottom. I like vertical ties for swim jigs, flipping jigs and jigs that I move through vegetation. I'm not really sure how much difference it actually makes but that's what I do.

I remember fishing a Denny Brauer Pro Jig and the eye was turned 90* from then "standard", it made a difference to him (he made a lot of money selling those jigs to the public), but I never saw a difference.