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Football Camp

Early October thru January, people across the nation spend their weekends cheering on their favorite college or professional football teams. Carefully, they choose the clothes and colors to be worn in an attempt to help propel their team to victory. Their pilgrimage entails the pre-game rituals of planning out the food and beverages for the day, to jockeying for a parking place or the choice recliner. And then, there is the remote control…this responsibility in most households ranks with the likes of being crowned a night in King Arthur’s Court. For those 16 weeks football fanatics eat, sleep, and breathe for game day. Although I enjoy the sport of football, I am a football fanatic of a different sort—football jigs.

When discussing the topic of jigs amongst your peers, multiple opinions are likely to surface. One indisputable fact though, is jigs work and work well. A jig can be presented and fished in multiple ways, year-round such as flipping to shallow cover, swam along the edges of docks for suspended fish, or used to probe the depths of rock ledges and points. With such versatility and a vast range of sizes, colors, and trailers available, one can easily become overwhelmed when comparing the many choices to the overall simplicity of the bait.

The football jig earns its name from the shape of its head…like that of a football. It came out of the need for anglers to be able to fish the deep reservoirs of the west. In doing so, anglers needed a jig that could not only get to where the fish are but also come over the rocks that occupy most southwestern lakes without losing their jig every other cast. Since the initial design and application, the football jig has caught on in all parts of the country.

Their effectiveness in catching fish and not just the fisherman is in part because of the design of the head. The oblong shape allows the jig to work in or around rocks and brush all the while minimizing snags. For example, when working the jig in a hopping presentation, the shape of the head helps it come out of cracks and crevices of rocks after its rapid descent. Other effective design factors include, a quality cross-eyed hook, a fiber weedguard, and a skirt made of live rubber.

As with any jig, regardless of style, I always trim each of my skirts slightly below the bend of the hook as well as cut the weedguard at approximately a 45-degree angle. In doing so, the bait not only remains uniform and compact around the hook, but also potentially reduces the bass detecting the feel of the weedguard as quickly.

The size or weight of football jigs ranges across the board. Although I normally employ the use of a football jig for depths beyond 10 feet, my rule of thumb is as follows. Use a ½ oz. model for the 5-10 ft. depth range, a 5/8-ounce version for the 10-20 ft. zone, and a ¾ oz. for 20 ft. and beyond. In addition, I remain fairly basic with my trailers using a twin tail grub when the bass prefer a more aggressive presentation and a craw or creature-type bait when a more subtle approach is warranted. Colors include the natural browns and greens with an occasional blue or red tint.

A football jig is not only diverse in the selection of size and color but also in the ways in which it can be fished. On deep clear lakes such as Table Rock, I will seek out rocky points and ledges in the fall. Often, I will drag the jig, working it in all directions around the point. On the ledges I often will work the jig off of the ledge allowing the bait to fall parallel with the ledge to entice suspended fish. Another very effective approach is to cast parallel with the ledge or channel swing and count down until the jig has reached the strike zone, then slowly swim the jig back to the boat.

Once the water warms, a football jig remains a deadly weapon to be applied on the flats. Casting it as you would a spinner bait or crank bait, I will vary my retrieve until the fish respond. I will normally make a few casts and drag the bait then change to more of a hopping presentation. As a result, I am able to cover a lot of water with two totally different approaches.

On a recent trip to Lake Fork in Texas, David Strahan and I located a heavy concentration of bass holding on an old submerged bridge and roadbed. Spending ample time dragging our jigs over and around the structure with no success, we re-evaluated the current conditions. In doing so, we noticed on the graph the bass were holding approximately 3 feet off of the bottom. Instead of continuing to drag the jig, I began hopping the jig off of the bottom with rapid jerks and pauses in between. The simple change in presentation went on to produce 3 quality fish with one over 8lbs.

Gear choice for a football jig includes a 7ft., medium-heavy action rod. All of my reels are the same high-speed gear ratio (6:3.1) in which allows me to control the retrieval speed without having to re-adjust every time I switch rods. My line of choice is 12-17 lb. fluorocarbon in which provides greater sensitivity, lower visibility, and less line stretch on a hookset.

One of the tremendous advantages of football jigs are they can be fished in so many different ways. In addition, most anglers don’t associate covering a lot of water and a jig in the same context. The next time you are out probing the depths of your favorite lake, take time to experiment with your retrieves and presentations and who knows…maybe football becomes your favorite year-round sport!