bassfishing

I'm a coastal saltwater kinda guy and by no means a bass expert, I'll give translating a try and maybe a little bit of coastal spin. I'll let everyone else tell me if I'm off the mark.

• I've picked up, I think, on a jig (noun) being a hook with a lead head on it, right? You can get several sizes, shapes, and colors, or small bottles of paint.

This could refer to a lead head or bucktail type piece of tackle. Sometimes the lead head will have a little bit plastic or other natural/synthetic material "hiding" the hook. It could also mean spoon type rigs too.

• Tipping a jig refers to sticking some other lure or bait on the hook -- you can use worms, minnows, shrimp, crayfish, or a multitude of plastic and other artificial attractants.

Right on! The first Jig 'n Pig I ever used (saltwater BTW) was blue porkskin. Also tipping usually means just barely hooking the "pig" so that it trails behind the jig. It's not the same as using lead head on a mister twister or the like.

• What's a booyah? Is that a particular brand of jig? What makes it special?

Just one of the better known brand names. Like many have said on here before...sometimes baits are made to attract fisherman not fish. I have no affinity for the brand, but then again you know how I feel about my ECs. I'll let the fans of Booyah Baits fill you in on the second part.

• Jig, the verb, just means to bounce the lure vertically, is that right? I guess that's typically how you fish a jig (noun) rather than cast-and-retrieve?

Not just vertically.....you can cast a jig or texas-rigged bait or carolina-rigged bait or anything that'll sink really, let it go to the bottom and "jig" it back. Usually a quick jerk, let it sink, take up slack, repeat. You can also cast and retrieve a jig at varying speeds.

• What's a finesse worm? How does it differ from a brute-force worm?

They also have finesse minnows. It's usually a fairly plainly shaped plastic. The action comes from the technique(s) used to retrieve or "finesse" the rig back. These baits are also usually rigged with a hook only or texas-rigged. One of the better know saltwater finesse baits are "Fin-S" shads. They're basically fat-bodied minnow shapes with a narrow straight or split tail.

Well that's my opinion, for what it's worth.

A jig is indeed a lead head, but when refering to large mouth bass, it also means skirted lead head ( ususally in dark colors ). Tipping or trailing is to put something on it to increase size and appearance. IE, crawfish, frog cut out, pork tail etc.
Booyah is a manufacturer of lures, they produce jigs, spinner baits, and a few other things.
When you jig for bass, you toss a leadhead hook with skirt and weed guard into heavy cover usually near the edge of the water. Like cypress knees, weed beds stumps, logs, etc. then bounce it a softly a little, then move it about six inches, then bounce again.. do this until you are just about 2 or 3 feet from teh cover, retrieve, move on to the next hole and repeat as needed.
Not sure what a brute force lure is, but a finess worm is a semi floating rubber worm that is fished either by drop shot or without a weight like a jerk bait. Cast, and just tip it along and it'll bounce and dart side to side and use much its own action. It's fished slow and usually used to tease cold water bass into striking, or lathargic bass into action.

Hope this helps

rye