The 5 Best Ice Fishing Jigs for 2023

Jigging is by far the most effective technique for catching fishing. The amount of fish that I have caught from jigging baits is exponentially higher than surface lures or even live bait and bobbers.

When it comes to topwater fishing, that is not an option for the ice fisherman. Live bait can often produce a good day on the ice, but jigging is always an option. Jigging gives you the ability to work a bait slow or fast and really figure the fish out.

To be most effective with jigs, you need to have the right ones. You need to have a variety of the right ones because color and size play a part in all of it.

We have gathered a collection of the best ice fishing jigs. You will see some simple but effective colored jigs and some incredible minnow imitations to drop down that ice hole and get the fish to bite.

Our Top Picks

Best Overall:
Tungsten Jig With Soft Plastic

Runner Up:
Rapala Jigging Rap

Best Budget:
Clam CPT TIKKA Minnow

Best Overall

Tungsten Jig With Soft Plastic

These jigs look like a sunset, and their large tungsten heads are enough to take your bait down deep into the water. I like this color set because it looks like a sunfish or a perch.

These fish are food for larger species and food for large specimens of the same species. These tungsten jigs can be purchased in 24 different color patterns. It is important not just to have the right jigs but also various colors and patterns.

These are straightforward jigs that can be rigged with live bait or soft plastics. Being made of tungsten means that you can throw these into the icy waters, reel up fish after fish, and have a jig that is mostly untouched. Tungsten is one of the toughest metal known to man.

This is a 5 pack of jigs in a single-color pattern. At this price, you can buy several packs of 5 in a variety of colors. Try this color, dark, and silver. These are simple but, by far, some of the best ice fishing jigs.

Runner Up

Rapala Jigging Rap

Rapala has long been the master of the hard plastic minnow. With wildly popular product lines like the X Rap they have dominated this space. When it comes to ice fishing, their Jigging Rap takes ice fishing minnow imitation to the next level.

Rapala is known for hyper-realistic designs along with the paint and profile on these designs are very true to that. The variety of designs features things like a perfect perch imitation, a baby bass, and even a rainbow trout. Not to mention a bunch of shiny silvery blue patterns.

Each has its place in your tacklebox, and a variety of these Jigging Raps would go a long way. Sometimes it’s not the bait that the fish don’t want but the color you have chosen.

This minnow has two reversed hooks at the front and back of the bait and a treble hook at the center. These hooks are razor-sharp out of the box. It will be almost impossible for you to lose a fish if you set the hook on it.

If you are stocking a tackle box with the very best ice fishing jigs you should have something in there by Rapala.

Best Budget

Clam CPT TIKKA Minnow

The minnow imitation is one of the oldest and most effective fishing baits. This is one of the rare minnow jigs that is not designed for diving or topwater work. Most minnows have a plastic lip, but this actually has a lip on the back end.

Like the Rapala Jig Rap, this ice fishing jig is light on action but big on color presentation. That said, we shouldn’t discount a good bounce-off bottom technique which can drive fish crazy.

The Clam Tikka has three hooks built into the bait. If a fish comes anywhere near this thing, it is going to get hooked. There are single hooks at the mouth and tail end of this fish. Then a single treble hook hangs off the bottom.

There is a massive variety of colors that you can choose from. Variety of color is everything when it comes to choosing the best ice fishing jigs. I would recommend something bright, something dark, and something with a little shine to it.

Acme Hyper Hammer TT

The Hyper Hammer is a very innovative bait. I feel like every time I look at this thing, I notice something else about it. It is a nice heavy swimming minnow at 1/8oz, so it will hit bottom for you. The shad-style body features a silver eye that is a great stimulator for fish.

The colors on these Hyper Hammers vary, but they are all brilliant patterns. Bright chartreuse to pink and anything else you can dream up. There is a single hook on the tail of this bait and a treble hook that sits under the head.

These swimming minnows are weighted to present with the nose down. It’s a very cool design and even has a little swivel at the center of the bait to make noise as it is jigged. Without a doubt a new design and one of the best ice fishing jigs.

This is a very cool bait that would work both for ice fishing and in open water when the ice melts. It is designed to jig up and down, but it also would swim and shine through the water in a way that fish would not be able to resist.

Demon Jig With Live Bait

Sometimes it’s the simplest design that can be the most effective. The beauty of jigging is that you do not need all the bells and whistles to be effective.

This type of jig can be effective on its own, but it would catch even more fish if it had a juicy worm or a live minnow on the back of it. It is designed to deliver a soft plastic or live bait.

When you look at the Demon Jig next to a piece of artwork like the Jigging Rap, you might think it is a no-brainer. Why would anyone take a simple two-nubbed jig with a bi-color presentation? The short answer is that fish don’t appreciate artwork they strike off of instinct.

Jigs like these are incredibly affordable, and they give you the ability to fill your tacklebox with a variety of colors to meet every situation. You want that variety when you are jigging because a simple change of color can make all the difference.

Demon jigs are regarded by many ice fishing anglers as some of the best ice fishing jigs you can use.