Fantasy Football

Ken Cook finished 8th at last year's Grand Lake, Oklahoma Bassmaster Elite Series event. He's not sure if he could've finished higher if he had the exact bait he wanted, but he does know that the football jig he was using had "two problems," he said.

"One was that it had too heavy a hook. I was using 14-pound line and making long casts. I didn't lose a lot of fish, but I felt a smaller-wire hook would be better.

"I also couldn't keep the trailer up. I kept having to re-glue and re-rig."

The bottom line was he felt like he "could've been more efficient with a better product," and as all tournament anglers know, more casts can mean more fish.

So Cook started thinking about making the ultimate football jig. He was already working with Tru-Tungsten, and since Tru-Tungsten now owns Picasso, he approached them with his ideas for an ultimate -- or "fantasy" -- football jig.

The Design

Cook had used a variety of football jigs. "Some didn't have the capability to come through cover as much as I wanted, a lot didn't have a way to keep the trailer on the shank, and some didn't have the right hook," he said. "I thought a number of things could be improved on, and I focused on those."

Other than the "right dimensions" overall, here's what those things are.

"We used a high-quality Gamakatsu light-wire hook," he said. "A heavy or large-diameter hook is harder to poke through a fish's mouth, so you want a smaller diameter to get penetration with 10- to 14-pound line in deep water with long casts.

"You also need right length and size (of hook) for the bait -- not too short, and not too long. You want the right length to hold the trailer and create the proper dimensions profile-wise."

Cook also made sure the hook shank up near the head had a barb on it, to help hold the soft-plastic trailer. He also positioned the weedguard "optimally so it protects the hook but doesn't impede hook-ups."

The most noticeable feature of the jig is the basketball-like dimples on the bottom of the head. These give the jig "a little more traction on the bottom," Cook said, "so when you pull on the line, it makes (the jig) roll (forward). You're trying to create the waving pinchers of a crawfish by making the head roll on the bottom, and the dimples help that a little bit."

And because this jig, like all football jigs, is designed to sit up on its nose, Cook and Picasso recessed the line-tie into the head a little so it protects the knot, and presumably doesn't impede the action of the jig.

Last but not least, because this is a clear-water bait, color is important. The Fantasy Football Jig comes in 14 colors. "We went into the colors pretty deep because you want subtle differences in the colors," Cook said. "They're based in greens and browns -- natural crawfish colors.

"Some have a little purple, blue or chartreuse so you can increase the visibility of the bait in whatever light conditions you're fishing," he noted.

His favorite color is peanut butter and jelly (brown and purple).

How To Fish It

"The job that a football jig does better than most lures is that it's a structure-fishing tool," Cook said. "Think of it as an option instead of a Carolina rig, except (it's not for) grass. You want hard bottom, rocks. It's a heavy bait that sinks to the bottom and fishes the bottom really well."

He noted that the football jig's distinctive head shape "helps it not get snagged in the crevices. It came from rock-fishing in the West.

"There's two main techniques to fish it. The simplest is to throw it out, let it sink to the bottom and drag it. But it also works well as a hop or stroking jig, where you pull it off the bottom with a big stroke. Fish bite on the fall that way.

"You'll catch them one of those two ways. You kind of have to let the fish tell you."

Football Gear

Cook's typical footballing tackle is:

> Rod -- 7' Fenwick HMG (medium-heavy) rod

> Reel -- Abu Garcia Revo STX 6.4:1 high-speed retrieve reel

> Line -- 10- to 14-pound Berkley Vanish Transition fluorocarbon

> Trailer -- Berkley Power Bait Chigger Craw or Sabertail Bug "because both those baits have flapping claws and a good crawfish profile." In terms of trailer color, he likes it to "contrast a little bit" with the jig color "to get the claws to look a little different than the body of the jig." But it's usually a watermelon candy-type color.

As for the "Picasso Fantasy Football Jig endorsed by Ken Cook" (that's the full name), it's new but should be available now in local retailers. It comes in four sizes: 3/8-, 1/2-, 3/4- and 1-ounce.