Although I am still fairly new to the Spinning Rod/Tog jigging technique at about 3 years in, I must admit it is a blast catching these hard fighting fish on such light tackle. I also do not make my own jigs but do have a few observations about the store bought versions.
First, there is no doubt you want a 2X strong hook. Tog, especially the larger ones, have very powerful jaws that can bend out a lesser hook just like a big Bass. I landed a DD fish last year on a fairly inexpensive no name store bought jig, not a fancy brand name model, but it had the correct 2X hook. You should have seen how that Tog literally crushed the lead head all around the hook!
Second, I don't think color is all that important. I really believe the entire benefit to this method is the fact that the Tog cannot feel almost any weight with these tiny jigs when they pick it up as compared to a big sinker, conventional rig. Having said that, I'm sure some folks think the right color at the right time can make a difference. If you are one of those folks, I made this observation on a trip I just made yesterday. I started with a nice 1.5 oz. Tidal Tales jig which certainly caught several fish but within 30 minutes a lot of the paint had scuffed off on the rocks below. It is a fine jig with the proper shape and 2X strong hook but I was kind of surprised to see the paint coming off so quickly.
The tide picked up a little so I needed to change to a 2 oz. jig and picked up a homemade jig a friend had given me a bunch of last Christmas. I used that jig for the next 2 hours in on the same drop and not a single bit of paint came off the jig body. Just looking at the 2 jigs side by side you could see my friend had obviously used a much higher grade of epoxy style paint when constructing his jigs So, if color is important to you it might be wise to look closely at the type of finish on the jig you are planning to buy. I have not purchase any of the Magic Tail jigs yet so I cannot comment on their paint job. Perhaps someone else has had more experience with them that they can share.
Finally, like "All Hands" mentioned, I too use the Shimano Stradic 3000 with 20 # braid, but I use 40# leaders tied to my jig for just a little more abrasion resistance. Up until this season I had the reel mounted on one of my Dad's legacy Lamiglass spinning rods which was very sentimental for me but honestly weighed a ton. So, at Lep's suggestion, I just bought the Shimano Grappler J style rod in the M weight class and paired with the Stradic it feels light as a feather! Caught several fish just below and above the size limit with it yesterday and lost one that had to be well over 6# right at the boat; the rod handled this feisty Tog with no problems. Can't wait for the first 8#+ fish to test me on this exciting new set up!!
