How do you rig a skirt on a football jig?

[andrewlamberson]

I seen the skirts rigged on football jigs two ways:
1. The basic "swim style"...with the strands at the top wrapping backwards
2. "Short and Stubby"...with the strands really short at front...sticking straight out, like a collar.

Does "short and stubby" help keep the football head from getting lodged in rocks?

 I fish a lot or rip rap along the banks of the river and even football jigs get wedged in the cracks. They seem to come out as soon as you get to the other side of them...but I can't dislodge them by shaking my rod tip like I can with some other types (like the Arky).

What is your preference on skirt rigging...and why?

I've always done them "swim style" because I think it looks nicer...but maybe I'm missing something!

Andy

[gone2long]

 if I understand your description that funny looking way is referred to as a finesse jig haven't made any yet but I haven't fished finesse jigs yet so have no experience with it

[Justin9j]

The short skirt is for finesse jigs. I do it because on small jig 1/8 I can get two jigs skirted out of three tabs. Saves little money.  On my 1/8 the hooks are little shorter so it does not take as much to cover. And finesse fishing to me is small stuff. So it makes the profile smaller. 

Now with that being said I don't see how it will keep you from being stuck in the rocks. 
If you do find a way to help that let me know.  I spend half my time fishing getting out if rocks and sometimes trees. 

[TheDreamer]

Now with that being said I don't see how it will keep you from being stuck in the rocks. 
If you do find a way to help that let me know.  I spend half my time fishing getting out if rocks and sometimes trees. 

"Fishing partner, partners fishing pole, stumps, face of a rock wall, grass, bug brush"
Ok I will stop there, but I am sure someone at table rock has a bloopers video of how many times we went on a retrieval mission HAHA!

As for the jigs, I like to do mine one of two ways. I make all the skirts with one side being longer than the other but about 1/2-1" depending on the look I am going for depends on what part is longer on the jig. Some I like to umbrella back down the shank (standard spinnerbait look), others I like it to flare up front, not as short as a finesse jig but with the same idea. I leave it long enough to come back and touch the skirt band vs. just a stout spiky like cone on the head. This allows the jig skirt to swim and flare when you want it to. I also like to add strands of Krystal Flash to my skirts.

Just my .02¢,

Drew

[biglewers]

You should message RTL  he knows how to do that really well.

[Justin9j]

Drew that gar almost ate me.

[Denny Welch]

I fish jigs quite a bit and I always tie my own. I prefer rubber over silicone skirts.  I also pour my own jig heads which gives me the ability to choose my own colors when powder coating them and when building the skirt.

 There are a bunch of different jig molds...just look at Do-It's catalogue.  My favorites are the football head (rocks) and the arky head (grass).  The snooty, ultra minnow, and poison tail are also in the line-up.  The common thread in all those heads is that they all have weed guards.  If you fish jigs you had better expect to get hung up a lot and you can can also expect to lose a lot of jigs.  The use of the weed guard will minimize that.

The beauty of the jig is the incredible number of trailers you can put on it.  That's why I got involved in pouring plastic. 

Oops.  They say when you write you have to know who the audience is.  I just read the above and realized that I'm preaching to the choir.  Sorry guys (and Buffy).  I'll leave now.

[t-billy]

 Hey Andy, It's been my experience the finesse skirts, " short and stubby" don't help prevent hangups. They do reduce your feel by cushioning the impact of the jig head though. I tried 'em and decided I prefer a traditional "swim style" skirt. If I want a less bulky looking bait, I just trim some strands from the skirt. I also fish rock alot. I've found brush jigs come through them quite well. I use brush puppy heads fom Lure Parts On Line, and wood walker jigs from Barlows. I'm very happy with the performance of both jigs in both rock, and wood. Using the lightest jig you can, for the depth your fishing will also help reduce hangups.---Tim.