Collection: Assist Hooks

Assist hooks on metal wire and blue braid cord, grouped by build and sorted by size, for rigging vertical jigs.

Assist hooks are why modern vertical jigging works as well as it does. Instead of a treble hanging off the tail, a short cord carries the hook right at the head of the jig — the exact spot a fish attacks, because that is where the head of a wounded baitfish is.

The short cord also gives the hook freedom to swing and find purchase independently of the jig body. That matters on the drop, when a fish inhales a fluttering jig sideways and a rigidly mounted hook would simply be pointing the wrong way.

It cuts snags too. A jig with assists at the head fouls on bottom structure far less than one dragging trebles, which on a Gulf reef is the difference between fishing and re-rigging. Standard practice is two assists at the head.