Birth And Growth: Sworming Hornet Goes National

BassFans may recall last year's Bassmaster American Major. That's when winner Dave Wolak said one of the baits he threw was a Sworming Hornet Fish Head Spin. He wasn't on the company's bankroll – he just threw it. So did Gerald Swindle, who finished 3rd.

And don't forget last year's Lanier FLW Series, when winner Tim Farley and runner-up Terry Baksay both threw the Fish Head Spin.

While the bait has started to take off heavily at the tour level, a lot of the country hasn't seen it on the shelves, and most BassFans really have more questions about the bait than answers. That's where BassFan comes in.

The Fish Head Spin is the flagship product from Sworming Hornet Lures – a relatively new Georgia-based company that has just made its push into national sales. It was founded by hardcore Lanier bass-head Rick Steckelberg, but recently became a two-man operation with the addition of Joe Crosby – a competitive angler turned redfish nut who migrated from JDC Marketing.

The Fish Head Spin certainly isn't a new class of bait, since the Road Runner has been around seemingly forever, but it's a different take on the compact spinnerhead, and like anything else in bass fishing, it's the little details that make all the difference.

Head Origins

The history of the Fish Head Spin started back in the late '90s. That's when Steckelberg wanted a jig with a better hook, so he made his own. He and his fishing partner began winning tournaments on it, and some local stores picked up the product. He then made a spinnerbait, and through it all, stayed local for about 4 years.

Then people came to him and said they wanted him to make a horsey-head, and that's when some of the difficulties set in.

Steckelberg began making horsey-heads from a Do-it mold. "To keep from having any issues, I called Blakemore," he noted. "I told (them) we're in desperate need of a product in the South with a bigger hook and willow-leaf blade for Fluke-type bodies in white. At that particular time, they were in no way interested."

Steckelberg said Blakemore gave him "the green light" to make his product locally, even though it likely infringed on the Blakemore patent. So he took a standard horsey-head, added inverted holographic eyes, moved the nose some, and put in a bigger hook – a 32746 BLN Mustad.

"We had very good success," he said. "We put in an order for 10,000 units, and then got the call from Blakemore."

The problem, he said, was his bait was growing outside of the local markets, and Blakemore objected to that. He was served a cease and desist, and stopped making the bait entirely.

"I'm not trying to get into this to copy products," he noted. "I told (Blakemore) we'd cease and desist."

The Inspiration

Steckelberg, of course, was pretty down and out after the cease and desist. His wife suggested that he just go fishing.

He went out on Lanier and it only took him about a half-hour to come up with another idea.

"I was throwing a spinnerbait across a point when I caught a fish, and the fish spit up a 3-inch shad," he said of that outing. "I looked at the shad and thought, 'This will work.'

"At that time, the shakey-head was real popular on Lanier. We made a shakey ball-head with a Gamakatsu (hook), so I took one, melted the lead, stuck it into the shad, took a swivel-blade off the spinnerbait, put it right underneath the belly, and knew it would work if I could get the balance right."

He returned home after only a half-hour on the water, he said, and went to draw up plans for what would become the Fish Head Spin.

What's Different?

So why is the Fish Head spin different from, say, a conventional Road Runner (still an excellent bait) or the new pro-designed Rollin' Runner (likewise an excellent bait)?

Sworming Hornet principal Crosby said: "The head design is the best head design out there. It looks more natural, and puts the blade right under the hook. You'll notice with some baits, the blade is more forward, or too far below and back.

"Our blade is right under the hook, which is where they're going to strike most of the time – they see that flash. Even with spinnerbaits, you do better when the blade is right over the hook. And it allows the Fish Head Spin, for some reason, to come through brush and grass really well for an open-hook bait."

About his design principles, Steckelberg said: "I went through about 10 prototypes for the Fish Head Spin before I got the balance right, because the only thing I didn't like about what I consider Road Runner-style baits is their nose weight makes the hook ride in the air, and the blade travels parallel with the water.

"I wanted our bait to where the blade would ride right underneath the hook."

He also dressed the Fish Head spin with precise colors, used a quality swivel on the blade, and poured them with 4/0 and 5/0 hooks. As he began to test them, he said he and his partner Farley won three boats before anyone knew what the two were throwing.

Future Plans

The Fish Head Spin, as noted, is Sworming Hornet's flagship lure, and the one it initially brought to the national-sales level. With success already at hand, Steckelberg and Crosby are hard at work on other bait designs, to be launched at various times throughout the next few years.

"We have products designed (to launch) all the way up until 2012," Steckelberg said. "People can order our new dropshot jig right now, and we plan to have a new bait for the (Bassmaster) Classic, which will be coming out probably in mid- to late-2007. And we have other products we're making for the middle of 2008 or 2009."

The Drop Shot Fish Head looks similar to the Fish Head Spin, but doesn't include a blade, and features a hole and line guard to horizontally position the head on a vertical line.

But Crosby noted that the new products won't take away from the allure or effectiveness of the original Fish Head Spin. "We're getting a lot of calls from pros on the trails, asking us to send them (Fish Head Spins)," he said. "I think we've had so many calls because it's so versatile. I put it in the class of a Rat-L-Trap. Everybody who fishes has a Rat-L-Trap.

"This isn't a flash-in-the-pan type of bait. It'll continue to put fish in the boat for people, whether they're bank-fisherman, or weekend competitors, or all the way up at the pro level. It's that good of a bait."

Notable

> For tips on how to fish the Fish Head Spin, including advice from Gerald Swindle, click here to read the newest Pro Fishing Tip.

> To order Fish Head spins, click here.

> As noted, Crosby's a redfish nut. He fishes redfish events, and throws the Fish Head Spin in the salt quite a bit. The company is currently expanding its saltwater lineup.

> Fish Head spins are available in 12 colors in sizes from 1/8- to 1/2-ounce. They're most often paired with varieties of Zoom Flukes, and many of the Zoom colors are perfect matches to the Fish Head Spin patterns. Drop Shot heads come in two sizes and seven colors.