Don't fear the collar - A tutorial on tying on collared jigs

[Shoemoo]

The purpose of the tutorial is just to help people make use of the materials they have. I agree there's no reason to buy collared jigs over ones without collars as far as tying goes, but most commercially poured jigs come with collars. If you bought jigs at a store, 99% of the time they're going to have collars. That's just the way it is. So someone who has only fished with plastics probably has a lot of collared jig heads on hand. Plus you sometimes find nice sales on jigs with collars. I'd hate to see someone pass up a deal just because they think they can't tie on a collared jig head.

If a jig is rated 1/32 of an ounce, it's going to have 1/32 of an ounce of lead on it whether it has a collar or not, give or take a fraction for variances in manufacturing. A 1/32 ounce jig with no collar has a larger head than one with a collar. The weight is the same, the proportions are different. Keep in mind that the rated weight of a jig ONLY includes the weight of the lead, not the hook. There's no way for the mold manufacturer to tell what size hook will be used. So a 1/32 ounce jig actually weighs a bit more than 1/32 of an ounce. I don't have any jigs with collars and without with the same size/style hooks, but check out the weights on these 1/32 ounce minnow heads:



For comparison, 1/32 of an ounce is 0.9 grams.