I am a Clawhammer banjo player & I LOVE to play jigs. Although I play guitar & bouzouki I much rather play them on 5 string clawhammer banjo. Give a listen to Ken Perlman & he does some nice jigs clawhammer style.
I don't know why some folks avoid jigs. I think it is mostly because there is little out there that leads a beginning banjo player to give it a go. Perlman's "Basic Clawhammer Banjo" book & tape is about the only one that I know of & doesn't really explain it to folks who have trouble comprhending 6/8 time. His set also is not geared for beginners.
I learned my first jig from Russ Barenburg's guitar tutoring material on Homespun tapes. He didn't really explain it in depth but it did help me get a grasp on the concepts of jigs. From there it sorta flowed over to my banjo.
I do know that Tony Sullivan says that if you want to play jigs you should use a tenor banjo & not the 5 string ( He says this in his book "the five string or G banjo") He mentions tuning changes & such, but that is common for me anyway. That's why I use two 5 strings. I keep them tuned differently. Makes my shows flow better
Charcloth