Jig head with barbed belly weight

A jig head for fishing, the jig head comprising:

• a head portion, a neck portion, and a belly weight;
• the head portion comprising a tapered tip and a base;
• the jig head further comprising a hook comprising a point, a shank, and an eye, the eye being adapted for attachment to a fishing line;
• the shank of the hook extending coaxially through the neck portion;
• the belly weight comprising first and second ends, the first end extending from the base;
• the second end defining a space between the neck portion and the second end, the space being adapted to receive a portion of a bait;
• the belly weight being flexible such that the belly weight can be bent towards the neck portion so that, the belly weight, when a soft bait is threadedly positioned on the hook, contacts the soft bait and maintains the soft bait in position on the hook and such that the belly weight can be bent away from the shank so that the soft bait can be removed from the hook;
• the belly weight comprising one or more barbs, the one or more barbs being positioned between the first and second ends of the belly weight and being structured and arranged to face the neck portion;
• and
• the neck portion comprising first and second tapered bells structured and arranged to secure the soft bait in position when the soft bait is threadedly positioned on the hook, the first and second tapered bells each comprising first and second ends, the respective tapered bell first ends being wider than the respective tapered bell second ends, the respective tapered bell first ends being positioned closer to the tapered tip of the head portion than the respective tapered bell second ends.