#1 Way To Rig A Soft Plastic Lure On A Jighead
- By: Pat Ogletree
- on November 23, 2022

Without a doubt, this is the BEST way to rig a soft plastic lure on a jighead.
Not only that, but this rigging method will save you time and, more importantly, money.
Take a look!!
#1 Way To Rig A Soft Plastic Lure On A Jighead [VIDEO]
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First, slide the hook point of the jighead into the head of the soft plastic as you normally would.
Make sure the hook comes out through the center of the lure.
Stop once you get to the barbs of the jighead.
Don’t push the lure over the barbs just yet.
Twist the lure 90 degrees and then push it up and over the barbs.
Then, twist the lure back into place.
This is what we call the 90-degree load.
All of the plastic in front of the hook and between the jighead has never been touched.
Therefore, the connection is stronger and extends the life of your soft plastics.
It’s not as easy for fish to steal your lures and you don’t have to change the action at all.
Get Hoss Football Weedless Jigheads
Do you have any further questions about the 90-degree load technique or how to rig a soft plastic lure on a jighead in general?
Let me know if you do anything similar or different when rigging your soft plastics on a jighead!!
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Good information !
Hey Pat…any recommendations for Z Man ElaZtech? Best I’ve found are the Z Man Finesse jig heads. Any others with double barbs are really tough to position close to the jig head past the barbs
Honestly when it comes to Zman products I like the Texas Eye or Chin Lockz to rig those just because of the issues you stated. But for open jig heads here’s a video on the best way to rig Z man products on them:
https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/rig-z-man-lures-on-jigheads/
Thanks Pat. Appreciate the feedback 👍
Use death grip jig heads made in Louisiana and the soft plastic lure will never move on the jig head.Hard to even pull off.
I’ll have to check those out! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Pat!
No problem Mark!
Great tip! This will help me save a lot of lures! Thanks!!
Thanks for watching and glad you liked it!
Great job. Very helpful
Question:
Seems simple but is confusing!
I see people doing it differently on every video.
Does the hook come out the belly or the back of the lure?
I understand some of the different ways to rig the soft plastics depend on if you are trying to make it weedless. But even with exposed hook rigging. I see the hook coming out the bottom and the back? I understand that seem plastic shapes have a pronounced back and belly and others don’t.
The way the jig head works is that the hook will point upwards while being retrieved. So even if you ran the hook through the belly the jig head will run the way it does making the lure upside down. Even at that, a paddle tail will still work and catch fish that way.
But to keep it simple, any lure I rig with an open jig head like the one shown I will run the hook through the lures back.
Good tip Pat , thanks
Thank you!
Thanks for that one!
No Problem Jan! Glad you liked it!
I like to add a dab of the gel super glue to the nose of the solt plastic. Another suggestion depending in the type of soft plastic. If the lure has an angled nose, clip off the nose and it will give you a thicker bait for the barbs to hold on to.
Great tips! I like the one about cutting the nose off. That would make those baits easier to rig. Thanks for sharing that Mark!
I see your slam shady 2.0 has a slight bend in it. Would you still use it? I would but Luke seems like a stickler for ultra straight.
Hey Dennis!
It was actually straight just looked a little off because of the angle and lighting. But if you’re ever questioning if your lure is rigged up right, just run it in the water next to you and watch it. If it’s off then it will twist and you can make corrections then.
Thanks for watching!