Fishing with the versatile billed jig
by Wayne Wooten

A billed jig is a jig head with a single hook and an oval plastic bill attached to the head creating vibration and a wobbling action when retrieved. There are several manufacturers, colors, styles and weights. These are used with soft plastic fluke style baits and the Wild Goby by Wayne’s Baits.

Some of these are the Sworming Hornet Fish Head Dude, Fish Head Shaker, Shaky Fish by Davis Baits. The Dude has a fish shaped head with eyes. The Shaker is the same but has a willow leaf blade attached to the bottom. The Shaky Fish has a round head. These lures are available in a variety of weights allowing you to fish sub-surface to deep water with a slow or fast fall. The bill can also cause the lure to swim as it falls resulting in vicious strikes.

I use these for swimming around blow downs, sticks, submerged structure and it is deadly in grass, and the bill helps prevent hang ups. I use the Shaker when I need a faster retrieve and some flash provided by the willow leaf blade. For deeper water, I cast beyond the structure allowing them to sink to the bottom, and slow rolling it near the bottom and sometimes using a stop-start method allowing it to drop or give it a twitch while retrieving it.

This has been my go to lure teamed up with the Wild Goby since 2008. I usually start with a 3/8 ounce because I have found that it can be fished shallow to deep allowing me to find the bite. If the bite is shallow or sub-surface I will change to a 1/4 ounce, if the bite is 4 to 12 feet I stay with the 3/8 ounce and if the fish are deeper or you want a faster fall I go to a 1/2 ounce. In my opinion, the difference in these styles is the amount of vibration and action caused by the different bill and head designs. If I am not getting bites on a Dude I change to a Shaky Fish.

I suggest Pearl White with a Pearl White, or Green Bug Wild Goby with the Dude and Shaker. I prefer the un-painted Shaky Fish with the colors mentioned above. Colors, head styles and retrieving speed are subject to change with conditions and patterns.

I’m not saying that these lures work all of the time, but I will say they work more often that not. Like any other lure or method you must be patient and work with it. Don’t throw it a few times and go for the trick worm! It works on bass, and when you see hybrids or stripers are up feeding cast one out and hang on!

The next time you buy lures pick up some of these along with Some Wild Gobys for some rod bending action.

About the author: Wayne Wooten is a freelance writer, lure and lure kit designer at Wayne’s Baits, LLC. He has over 35 years sales experience and was Vice President at Custom Services Inc. Now retired he devotes his time to creating and promoting products for the outdoor industry. He has been fishing since 1960 and enjoys taking people fishing on his home lake, Lake Deerfield, and writing stories and sometimes filming these trips. He has also worked in television doing commercials on outdoor shows. He lives in Ila, GA with his wife, you can contact him at wayne@waynesbaits.com or (706) 255-8504