This lure review on the
Explosive Tackle Company’s Football Jig has been a while in development. But during the process, I have had the opportunity to fully utilize this jig in a number of different techniques and situations, all of which have been successful in any number of ways.
My experience with jig fishing has given me abilities and confidence I would not otherwise have, if it weren’t for the shear numbers of large bass the jig catches, even for the most novice of anglers on any given day. From weekend fun fishing, to club tournaments, and my eventual Delaware B.A.S.S. State Championship in 2007, it has been the jig that has brought the fish to the boat for me and continues to do so on a regular basis.
The Explosive Tackle Football jig in Eastern Shore tipped with a Berkley Chigger Craw, my favorite….Here I will highlight the Explosive Tackle football jig. Explosive Tackle manufactures both football jigs and flipping jigs, but the content of this review will focus primarily on the football jig and all of its many applications.
The Explosive Tackle Company, founded on the Maryland eastern shore in 2008 by friend and local Upper Bay tournament fisherman Ryan Abey, has made great strides in providing quality fishing lures at affordable prices in just their 2nd year of operation.
Through promotion of Explosive Tackle ’s products in tournament reports, outdoor shows, and exposure to anglers in regional events such as the B.A.S.S. Northern Open, Northeast Divisional BFL’s, and the Delaware and Maryland club, team and federation trails, Explosive Tackle is growing .
Now, starting with the concept design of the football jig, Explosive Tackle has implemented an Arkie style dish shaped lead head jig. The heads are pre-molded and painted with a durable toughcoat finish and can withstand a beating from dock pilings, seawalls, laydowns and rock. The Arkie style head allows the jig to stand on its own and present itself in an upright position.
Coupled with a 30-degree bend Eagle Claw flat eye hook, the head stands in the ready position and is well suited for the “roof of the mouth” hook set needed to get that fish and hold him. The 30-degree offset gives the angler more penetrating control on the hookset with the rocking motion of the head itself at the slightest tension using the rod tip. I would personally say that 9 out of 10 hooksets have buried the hook in the roof of the fish’s mouth, and kept that fish pinned during the fight.
The skirts used are typically a multi-strand silicone skirt material, standard in the industry, mostly at a 50-60 strand count. This is where I have been able to work with Ryan and he has accommodated me in a number of ways. Explosive Tackle sells the jigs in a number of colors, but I have varied skirt designs over the last year and come up with a killer…the “easternshore”.
My own namesake, well my online forum tag anyway, is a purple and chartreuse skirt that has been really catching the fish. The skirt is probably ¾ purple and ¼ chartreuse, with the chartreuse at the bottom (as you lay the jig flat). I feel it’s a matter of shade versus color, and the lighter underside (belly) contrasts well with the darker purple (topside). Its no secret that a dark color, typically your black and blue, or Junebug colors are well suited for the area’s stained water. The purple is a similar concept, but something just slightly different.
When throwing the Explosive Tackle football jig, I prefer a ½ oz jig tipped with a craw trailer, typically a Zoom Big Salty Chunk or Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw, both in a sapphire blue. It’s quite the sight to behold when you see this color combination, and you may have your doubts as well, but let me tell you…this color combination works.
I prefer the ½ oz football jig primarily because I fish a lot of rivers with moving water, mostly a tidal influence. The ½ oz jig just holds a little better and gives me a better feel for cover and structure on the bottom. Not to mention the larger jig adds a larger profile, and in stained to murky water, this provides better visibility to the fish and an opportunity for a larger meal.
In the Delaware ponds, I will throw the 3/8 oz jig. The smaller jig will add a slower fall rate and help entice the more pressured fish, and yes, the smaller fish when the bite gets tough. I’ll also use the 1/4 oz for the same reasons, but will trim the top half of the skirt above the collar. This is a great move for clearer water, and the trimmed head adds the look of a crawfish tail to the overall profile of the bait.
I use the football head jig because I feel the flatter shape again, allows the head to stand on its own and present itself as a crawfish in a scurrying defensive position. The ½ oz provides better castability when I am pitching with my heavy equipment. I always match the ½ oz football head jig with my 7’6” Powell Max 766 XHT flippin stick and 20 lb test Trilene Big Game monofilament. No other rod in my experience has handled the jig as well, either flippin from ground zero or pitching to a small target from 20 feet. Besides, when you’re flipping and pitching as much as I am, you’ll want that lightweight heavy-action stick with added sensitivity. A cumbersome rod will wear you out by the end of the season. The 20lb test Trilene Big Game is spooled on my reels pretty much all of the time when jig fishing, unless on the Upper Bay. Then you have to spool up with your favorite braid because the barnacles on the dock pilings will cut your mono, fluoro, or any other super line, braid will at least give you a fighting chance.
So what’s my game many ask? Put me on a summer pattern with fish holding on dock pilings in the heat of the day and it’s on! I’ll pitch the football jig to dock pilings all day. As I mentioned before, I use the heavier jig to pin it to the bottom. Cast up current and allow the bait to drift back to me with slight hops and dragging the bottom. The current is a natural conduit for washing bait past a predator lying in wait.
Laydowns are also key. Pitching to a laydown from about 15 feet, I can work the football head jig with relative ease. I have had the jig in the thickest of cover and it worked through nicely, either by myself or at the mercy of the toad that picked it up off a short hop or flutter through the limbs. You can use the flipping jig for swimming through limbs much easier, but when I drop that bait to the bottom and the bass is checking it out, considering making a move on it, the last thing that should happen is your bait rolling over on its side.
Our only concern about the football head jig currently is the location of the hook eye. I wrote about swimming the jig through brush piles and tree limbs. On occasion the location of the hook eye on the head will allow the jig to snag, but mostly I am fishing in water 6 feet or less and can easily fish the bait out of the snag. For all intents and purposes this jig was primarily designed for open water. Should you lose one though…that’s the beauty of Explosive Tackle. The jigs are much less expensive than other comparable jigs sold on the market, easily by a dollar give or take some change.
