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The One Ounce Jig - The $75,000 Rig
By Jerry Puckett

Leadhead

No ordinary head; this is a football head produced for Gary that incorporates an Owner hook with its patented triple-edge cutting point. The lead shank area of the jig is much longer than normal; rather than a molded spike to hold the grub this head incorporates two recessed areas. The first securely holds a full double skirt in place. The second recess terminates in a reversed truncated cone at the hook shank. This reversed cone allows the soft skirt and grub to be slid onto the head without damage but holds the grub body firmly once it is in place.

Skirt

For the one ounce rig Gary chose the separate double skirt rather than the one piece Hula Grub. This not only added bulk, but allowed him the opportunity to customize the color combination. For Lake Mead, he was utilizing the smoke/salt & pepper skirt (11-20-177).

Grub

Gary tried a variety of grub trailers including the single and double-tail "Baccarac Special" before settling on the standard 16-series five-inch double-tail. Although colors 150 and 135 produced fish, he settled on color 177 as the top producer. This smoke/salt & pepper grub (16-20-177) was perfect in combination with the 177 skirt.

Scent

The use of the Yamamoto Fish Attractant was a vital part of the combination. Once the fish got the bait in their mouth they would not spit it out. It was amazing to bring a fish up in the clear water of Lake Mead and not be able to see any part of the huge jig head or bait. They just ate this bait. In addition to applying the scent to the grubs and skirts in a plastic bag each night (the salt impregnated grubs will absorb the scent) he re-applied the scent every 10-20 casts.

Presentation

The one ounce jig is used to cover a large area in a fast and efficient manner. The jig is worked along the bottom in much the same fashion that you would slow roll a heavy spinnerbait, but at a faster speed than would be possible with the spinner. At Lake Mead he was keying on chunk rock and gravel banks that sloped at about a 45-degree angle or less to a normal target depth of about 35 feet. As the weather got hotter and the bite toughened up the fish went even deeper. By day three the winning fish we caught at nearly 50 feet. Jig fishing at these depths places the ultimate demand on the sensitivity of fisherman, rod and line.

Gary simply stood on the trolling motor at about quarter speed as he worked down these banks, positioning the boat about 40 to 50 feet from the bank as he moved steadily along. Quartering casts were made at about a 30-degree to 45-degree angle to the bank. The fast dropping one ounce jig would pendulum toward the boat quickly as it closely followed the bottom contour, kicking up silt, gravel and banging into rocky structure as it sped its way downward. Line was retrieved as necessary to maintain the tight-line slide down the bank.

When the bait would stop, the tight line and sensitive rod would let you know immediately with a resounding thump. Gary would immediately retrieve any slack and sharply snap the bait over the ledge or obstruction. Even though the bait was making a sharp jump of a couple of feet its weight would place it immediately back in touch with the bottom as it continued the tight-line slide.

If you will visualize the quartering cast to the bank and the tight-line slide down the structure as the boat is in constant motion, you can see that by the time the bait has worked down to the maximum target depth of 50 feet the line is perpendicular to the bottom and the bait is under the boat. A few fast turns on the high speed reel and you're making your next presentation.

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