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[RiverBum101]

hey guys every time i fish with jigs they constantly get hung up on the bottom and that's alot of money to be losing.i use a simple float fishing set up with a snap swivel and tubing and lead any tips to help me catch a fish on a jig or just for them to stop getting hung up thanks.

[DionJL]

Shorten up.

[vancook]

Like Dion Said, shorten your depth...if you're getting hung up it means you're too deep. Jigs can be bottom magnets and hard to pull loose.
You want your presentation a foot to foot and a half from the bottom, the fish can see up

[NiceFish]

I fish my jigs no more than 18-24" or so under the surface, quite often less, any fish I get on the jigs are usually a hammered quite hard, so if they are in the mood to bite, they will go after them.

But, like you said, they are definitely bottom magnets, so you gotta be on high alert with your drifts.

[Dennis.t]

hey guys every time i fish with jigs they constantly get hung up on the bottom and that's alot of money to be losing.i use a simple float fishing set up with a snap swivel and tubing and lead any tips to help me catch a fish on a jig or just for them to stop getting hung up thanks.

Rock magnets.Stop using them and u will catch more fish and save money.

[ribolovac02]

Rock magnets.Stop using them and u will catch more fish and save money.

If you dont know how to use them,I use jigs all the time almost never get hung up and fairly often get rewarded with a nice fish,to catch stealhead and to fish jigs you need to know one of the most important factors and that is to know how to read water,and if you dont, fishing jigs and hunting for stealhead will cost you alot of money and days with no succes.

[steelie-slayer]

you want to have your jig a foot to 2 feet off the bottom and in clear water u can get away with fishing about 3 or more feet from the bottom but there is cheaper and more effective ways to get steelies 

[Fisherama]

I find that jigs work best in choppier water.  The movement of your float will give the jig some nice action.

[GENERAL-SHERMAN]

I despise jig fishing. they do have there advantages ie. they drop down into the zone very quick which can provoke an instant take or keep your presentation into the zone the entire time but I find that 99 percent of the time I can do the same things with my normal drift rig. what do you do when u need to fish a really fishy piece of water that's only 6 to 12 inches in off colored water (2 of my fish this season) and theres not enough current to hold back??? put on a 6 inch leader? jigs do work well don't get me wrong but I find there application more suitable to late season fishing... most people seem to waste their of money on expensive fancy jigs during the early season when the fish will take anything. I bet allot of people would have more confidence in them if they fished them more in the later months instead of wasting their money in DEC, JAN. personally the only time I fish jigs is to amuse myself with my hand tied creations... not to catch more fish. riverbum 101 if your fishing the lower stretches of the vedder your wasting your time and money.... unless your fishing deeper water.

[bigblue]

hey guys every time i fish with jigs they constantly get hung up on the bottom and that's alot of money to be losing.i use a simple float fishing set up with a snap swivel and tubing and lead any tips to help me catch a fish on a jig or just for them to stop getting hung up thanks.

When setting float depth we are so used to measuring it from float to last shot on the line.
In most cases, this is OK as most bait/artificials are semi boyant and don't sink that fast and would flow with the current.
In comparison, a jig is a lead weight of around 1/4 or 1/8 oz and sinks really fast and have little water resistance.
So think of it as your last shot on the line that needs to be off the bottom by at least 1 feet.
So when setting float depth measure from float to the jig, not to weight.
If water depth is 6 feet, set float to jig at 5 feet, which normally means that your weight would be at 3 to 4 feet depending on leader length.

[GENERAL-SHERMAN]

good advise.

[hue-nut]

I tie up jigs from RVRFSHR in Oregon which run me $.50 cents a piece, they come with pre poured lead heads and are the same hooks that Bent Rod uses. All in I figure that they cost me about $.75 a piece tied and painted. You can fish them short for sure but if you are on top of some stubborn fish you can also prompt a defensive bite by getting them right down in their face much like you would pulling plugs. I had a day two years ago where my buddy landed 8 steelies to my 0. He was fishing jigs, and I was fishing roe which they would not even sniff. They can be unbeatable in the right conditions. If people are telling you not to fish jigs because they are too expensive they most likely don't fish jigs. Just find a cheaper way to make them

[hue-nut]

ps they are so cheap because I get them in a pack of 50. I personally prefer to buy terminal tackle in bulk whenever possible because it is always much cheaper. If you really like fishing jigs order up a big batch and they will last you a few years.

[bigblue]

You can fish them short for sure but if you are on top of some stubborn fish you can also prompt a defensive bite by getting them right down in their face much like you would pulling plugs. I had a day two years ago where my buddy landed 8 steelies to my 0. He was fishing jigs, and I was fishing roe which they would not even sniff. They can be unbeatable in the right conditions.

Well said. I am new to jig fishing for steelhead, but see it's value.

On a typical river, nine out of ten steelhead float fisherman are using roe, shrimp, pink worm and/or blades, so steelhead in pressured rivers are sometimes turned off by these as they see a continuous parade of them all day long, especially on weekends. Jigs on the other hand are not so widely used and therein lies one of it's advantages.  This weekend I was fishing an undercut rock bank where I was quite sure there would be a steelhead. I covered it meticulously with shrimp, pink worm, blades, yarn ball and single eggs to no avail. I looked into my vest pocket and realised I had a pink jig. So I tied it on and slid it into the undercut rock bank and a steelhead just slammed the jig on the first cast. So something must have ticked it off. I am not sure why it hit the jig and not touch the others, but it sure was effective on that day. I lost the fish at my feet as I was careless, but sure did enjoy the fight with a feisty chrome.

[wizard]

I've found a jig to be most effective in walking pace/slightly faster then walking pace current.
When using a jig, there's no need to be hugging the bottom at all.  personally if I was fishing 6' of water, I'd have a 3-3.5 foot leader.  Fish will come up to jig, and this keeps it away from bottom debris.  the absolute key to fishing jig is to be DEAD DRIFTED.  Any resistance on the line, and your jig will swing up, and be for the most part be rendered useless.
I don't get how someone can say fishing a jig is a waste of money or time.  I often use the same jig all day...how is that expensive?  Not to mention there's no bait or mess involved, besides occasional adding of scent. 
It takes confidence to successfully fish any style, I can see how if you've never caught fish on jigs before,it would be easy to second guess yourself when starting to fish for steelies.  My advice would be to bust out some jigs when chums are around, figure out what works with those fish, then use those techniques for steelies.  good luck out there. and remember absolute dead drift.