do you tie wire right to the jig?

[Roger]

I use a 40# leader for a few reasons:
It imakes it easier to lift a short, or bluefish over the gunwale by grabbing the leader - no glove needed.
The wire does not kink if the fish starts thrashing on the deck (esp bluefish)
A few wraps of mono that ends up over the wire on the reel seems to prevent it from getting sprung and loose.