The X-Factor In Better Jig Fishing

BassFan recently reported that Bassmaster Elite Series pro Randy Howell signed a new sponsorship deal with South Carolina-based Vertical Lures for 2008. The deal was a couple years in the works - each side had been admiring the other from afar ever since Howell won the inaugural Bassmaster Elite 50 event at Lake Dardanelle in 2004 - but the time was finally right to ink a contract.

About the deal, Howell said: "Swimming a jig is something I love to do. It works great at certain times of the year, especially in standing shoreline grass like we have in Alabama on the Coosa River lakes. I was swimming a white jig fast along the banks at Dardanelle when I won.

"Eric Harrell, owner of Vertical Lures, saw that TV show and designed a jig to do things like that. He contacted me several times over the last 2 seasons, and this time it worked out for us to do this. I'm looking forward to working with them and representing them this year."

Harrell's innovation became known as the JigX.

The X-Factor

A jig is a jig is a jig - or is it? Howell feels the new JigX, especially when combined with the patented ChunkX Sling, is a new and different way to get more out of his jig fishing.

"The line tie is hidden - totally concealed under the jighead," he said. "It doesn't stick out like other jigs. When you're casting, or even pitching and flipping, it goes through cover really well since there's no line tie or knot to hang up. It's the first one I've ever seen that's so innovative and different."

But there's a small price to pay for the no-snag benefit. You can't use a palomar knot, because after you slide the jig onto your line, you can't drop it through a loop to cinch a knot, but he said it was easy to adjust to the difference.

"Just go to their website at VerticalLures.com and look at how they recommend to tie to the JigX," he said.

"I took it out on some test trips on Lay Lake back in October. I was up where I fished in the last Classic we had there. It's really rocky with some laydown trees. I didn't break off near as many in the current as I usually do with normal (exposed line-tie) jigs. I lost one where I might have lost five or six before. It also has a good hook and weedguard on it, and the balance is good too.

"I think it falls a little straighter because of the way the line comes out the nose of the jig," he added. "When I first saw it, I thought it'd be good for grass. It's a good punching jig (for fishing mats). They make it in several weights up to an ounce. It's been out for 2 years now, and I saw several Elite Series guys using them on the tour last year punching grass."

He does his share of blasting heavy metal through overhead cover, but what really got him excited was the ChunkX Sling system that uniquely positions and holds the plastic chunk he uses as a jig trailer.

"The Sling will work on any jig, not just theirs. You can go to their website to see how it works. It holds the ChunkX (a plastic jig trailer also available from Vertical Lures) and keeps it from sliding down or coming off. It's really simple, but you wouldn't think of it until you saw it.

"It also keeps the chunk off the hook so you get a better hookup," he added. "The Chunk won't get sideways or where you don't want it. I like how it helps me with dock fishing. The JigX with the ChunkX Sling skips really well under docks. And you don't have to reposition the chunk after each cast."

Buzzing a Jig

Now, back to that Dardanelle winning technique. "When I'm swimming a jig in standing shoreline grass, I like to keep the jig just under the surface where it makes a flicker on the surface," Howell said. "I point the rod toward the bait, but hold it at about an 11 o'clock position. I keep shaking the rodtip with my wrist and reeling fast.

"It's like fishing a buzzbait, but it's quieter. I think you get a better hookup with the jig than a buzzbait too."

He uses 50-pound Spiderwire Stealth braided line, a 7-foot medium-heavy rod, and a fast reel like the Quantum 1170PT with the 7.1:1 gear ratio. He starts off with a fast retrieve, but if the bites are slow in coming, he said he'll slow down his retrieve and lift and drop the jig over the stalks to get a bit of vertical fall.

Notable

> Vertical Lures makes football-head jigs too, with the same through-the-head line-tie design, and a plastic bait called the TubeX.

> The recommended knot for the JigX is essentially a clinch knot tied to the eye after passing the line through the jighead.