After heavy use when do you guys usually toss out your jigs and replace them? This one war eagle jig I've used for awhile has seen probably close to 50 fish already and the pait is all chipped and the skirt is beginning to break plus the hook is dulling out, what about you guys? When do you start to replace your jigs? Or do you try to save them by replacing skirts and sharpening hooks? 

If it's still catching fish it's still good.  If I’m getting bites but having trouble getting a good hook sets then I sharpen the hook.

 

P.S.  Don't tell the bait monkey I told you this. 

13 minutes ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

After heavy use when do you guys usually toss out your jigs and replace them? This one war eagle jig I've used for awhile has seen probably close to 50 fish already and the pait is all chipped and the skirt is beginning to break plus the hook is dulling out, what about you guys? When do you start to replace your jigs? Or do you try to save them by replacing skirts and sharpening hooks? 

 

I have a jig disposal unit present in all my favorite weedlines, the northern pike.  

 

When I ever get to that point though, I'd sharpen the hook and keep fishing it.  I would replace a skirt eventually too, but sometimes the straggly ones have good mojo.

 

scott

I replace when the hook breaks off.

Mine are usually fished where they have a short life expectancy so they get lost way before they get worn out.

Sharpen the hook, replace skirts if needed, touch up the paint with enamels.

 

Only time I toss away jigs is

A: An ESOX steals it

B: Line snaps on the cast.

When I stop losing them on wood or in rocks, I’ll let you know. 

I lose mine in wood too frequently to wear them out. I do have one I may need to sharpen soon, checked it this weekend and it still drew blood but not as fast as the others… 

The wire, head, and hook are all rusted on this jig. I keep it for the memories to be honest. I might be able to doctor it up, but the rust is pretty thick on the hook. 
 

This jig annihilated NY pond bass swimming in the springtime 

 

Yeah most of the time though, if I wind up using a jig a lot, I’m bound to lose it. They are good at coming through cover, but I will find a way to lose one. Same thing with Texas rigs. I’ll find a way to lose a worm

Hook file fixes dull hooks. A new skirt will take the place of a thin one, or zip tie the original in place when the bait is new. Fish don't care about the paint on the head, only we do ?

 

Fish them until I lose them. 

When I can’t reach them in the trees or get them unsnagged. But really I usually lose them way before they need retired. I will even pick out the older ones when I’m going to fish in a high risk area. 

No comprehend ?

so if no one ever retires jigs, why is there such a market to buy new ones.....

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Hook file fixes dull hooks. A new skirt will take the place of a thin one, or zip tie the original in place when the bait is new. Fish don't care about the paint on the head.

This is close to me ^^
 

I resharpen hooks regularly, but every time you do, you remove a little metal, and eventually you reach a point where it just won't take a satisfactory point for me, or you alter the point angle too much - then it’s gone.

 

Skirts always get replaced once they're destroyed, and I’m a bit OCD on skirt counts, colors, and trimming, so every new skirt is the same as the last old one. Keeps mental confidence high.

 

Someone else mentioned rust, and if I get surface rust on the hook the bait is tossed. I’ve broken enough hooks over the years to know you’re playing with fire in those situations.

 

Otherwise, chips/scrapes/exposed lead - who cares? Same goes for loose heads. 

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

so if no one ever retires jigs, why is there such a market to buy new ones.....

 

Because I have days where I lose a half a dozen!

50 casts is the average life expectancy for most of my bass jigs.

50 fish is more like catching crappie then bass.

If the hook eye is rusted it’s toast toss it!

Tom

20 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Because I have days where I lose a half a dozen!

We just don't have that level of cover up here.  I imagine cypress knees have to be bad for it.  Also deep current washed brush piles.  We're lucky if we get a few trees to fall over and lay down in the water.  I've lost one jig the past two years and it was to a toothy critter.

42 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

We just don't have that level of cover up here.

 

Life expectancy for my jigs is maybe a day around timber or brush. Even in our grass fields there is landowns & stumps.  

3 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Life expectancy for my jigs is maybe a day around timber or brush. Even in our grass fields there is landowns & stumps.  

I can usually get my jigs out of the submerged stumps up here but that's only because the stump field on my lake is only 5ft lol. 

Definitely better to replace the skirt and sharpen the hook then just buying a new one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I dont know wth happened with the previous reply.  Can a mod please delete? TYIA

Same as @Catt, my main lake is filled with timber and rocks that eat jigs. I might loose 2 or 3 each time. 

8 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

so if no one ever retires jigs, why is there such a market to buy new ones.....

Only the bait monkey holds this knowledge.

Sometimes I toss my jigs out at a stump, rock, laydown, open water, or vegetation, but with two kids I mostly just toss them underhanded at a coffee cup on the floor in the living room.

10 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Because I have days where I lose a half a dozen!

Felt that. These lakes down here will eat up any lure you try. The cover is so thick in a lot of places, it begins to make sense why a Texas rig owes its namesake to this state.
 

You fish Toledo and that is close enough to TX. I can’t imagine LA is much different anyway