I've had many experiences similar to David's, drifting clousers or jiggies, which are both head-weighted flies. On a swing, they perform really well on a floater or intermediate where you want the fly just a few feet down and don't want to mess with sinktips, leadcore, or the like. One tidal creek I fish with heavy current is tailor-made for this kind of fishing, and sometimes the extra foot or so seems to matter. Not deep, deep, fishing, but something that will sink a little more than a bucktail or saddle only type fly.
As to the "jig" distinction, the dumbell eyes on Clousers are not very heavy, even the big ones, and I find that the flies for the most part don't "jig" in the traditional sense. They do swim a little "nose heavy," but truth be told, the eyes often weigh less than the hook -- I know, I weighed them. Jiggies, especially when tied with tungston cone-heads or the "jiggy heads" specifically made for those flies, seem to dive head first more radically and in the tradition of a real jig. I don't know if it's the increased weight or just the fact that the weight is very streamlined vs. the slightly more water resistant dumbbell eyes. In any case, jiggies seem more jig-like to me than Clousers.
One final thought on these flies. I think a lot of their popularity has to do with the fact that they are very, very simple to tie and have a streamlined profile. A well tied jiggy is a pretty good sandeel imitation that can be drifted, bounced, or whatever, and they are as simple a fly as there is to tie.
One final, final thought. Expoxy flies with beads or cones at the head are another option. I've had fun with a bead headed epoxy fly with a bucktail or fur strip (rabbit, fox, etc.) tail. Kind of a mongrel fly that can be fun to fish.
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