Football-head jigs hold a special place in my heart, simply because I've been around them so long and have so much confidence with them.


Back in the '90s, I was a fishing writer/editor in Minnesota around the time when Jim Moynagh first brought football-heads back east. He'd discovered them in the West while on assignment for the Hunting and Fishing Library, and they became a big, big deal almost immediately within the inner circles of the Minnesota scene.

Then I lived in Arizona where again I was a fishing writer/editor. That's when I began to fish advanced designs in the desert lakes. Those were the days when Big Boys and Weapon jigs, plus Yamamoto Spider jigs and custom Japanese designs were all the rage west of the Mississippi, but nobody else was fishing them.

Then I moved back home to the shores of Lake Erie – a few hours west of the deep, clear Finger Lakes of central New York, a few hours south of the Canadian Shield, and a day's drive from classic deep-water fisheries like Kentucky Lake.

Another way to put it is that, for the past 10 years, I've spent 90% of my time fishing deep water. And of that time, I've spent probably 30% of it throwing a football head.

What I Look For

As I piece through my photo-sample jig boxes, I'd estimate that I own at least 40 different models of football jigs. Some of them date back 15 years, others are brand new, a few others are homemade and a few aren't yet available to the public.

But when I look at my tacklebox, there's only four or five different models there. There is a method to the madness, and a reason I don't take 50 different jigs on the water each trip. Like BassFans everywhere, I want to hone my selection down to a few choices. I'd rather second-guess my location or boat position than my bait. So although I experiment, because I have to for my job, I have those four or five different football-heads that I fish day in and day out.

Several factors separate the jigs I fish from the ones I leave at home. One is cost. I personally believe fishing tackle is too expensive. It's fine to spend $18 on a crankbait or two that you probably won't lose, but when you're talking football-heads, you know you're going to lose a bunch, so cost is a major factor. If a jig costs $3.75, it's probably not going to make my tacklebox.

Two is the hook. All premium football heads come with a good hook, but "bargain" heads don't. I look for a strong, sharp, round-bend hook with a flat line-tie, and I tend to prefer Gamakatsu and Mustad.

Then there's the skirt. I've seen it over and over again – standard, uniform skirts just don't catch as many fish in very clear water as do mixed skirts. By that I mean skirts with thinner and thicker rubber mixed. And for color blends, I don't like thicker rubber to be all the same color, and thinner rubber to be all the same color. I want brown and purple in both rubber styles in the same skirt, or brown/green-pumpkin, or black/blue. And I like the weedguard to match the skirt color as much as possible.

Lastly there's the keeper. I want a good, solid keeper near the head. It doesn't have to be some kinky new design. It just needs to work.

Makes The Grade

I won't mention all the football-heads that made my tacklebox, because it'll defeat the purpose of this review. What I will say is that over the past 2 years, the Strike King Tour Grade Football has been one of the two football-heads I fished the most. They're with me every time I'm on the water, and I throw the heck out of 'em.

First, the Tour Grade Footballs aren't dirt-cheap, but they're not overpriced. With a little digging, you can find them for under $3.00, so they fall right in the middle of the jig price market. With everything the jig offers, I feel the price is reasonable.

Tour Grade footballs come with a 60-degree round-bend Gamakatsu hook with a flat line tie. Perfect.

The five different premium skirt colors are well designed, with a mix and match of rubber sizes and colors and integrated metal flake. The heads are powder-coated to match the dominant skirt color, and the trailer keeper works fine. The brown jigs come with a brown weedguard – a nice touch.

And the jigs just plain catch the heck out of fish.

Any BassFan who wants a solid jig with plenty of extras at a mid-level price should certainly look at the Strike King Tour Grade Football. It'll give you the confidence that you're fishing the right jig, and let you work on location and boat position without the nagging question of whether you should be fishing a different jig.

Notable

> Strike King Tour Grade Footballs come in five colors: black/blue, black/brown/amber, peanut-butter & jelly, green-pumpkin/craw, and Texas craw.

> Available sizes are: 1/4-, 3/8-, 1/2-, 3/4-and 1-ounce. The 1-ounce size is new.

> The BassFan store carries them for $2.89. Click here for the info/order page.