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Gaithersburg,
Md. - A jig – whether it be a flipping model, a football head or some other variety – is known to be a versatile big fish bait and a staple of many winning catches on the pro tours. Just about every angler has one tied on and ready to go at every event.
Maryland
pro Grant Goldbeck may be taking his
jig-appreciation to a new level,
though. Where most of his colleagues
have one at the ready, he typically
has two to five tied on and poised
for action at all times.
"I'm big into jig fishing. I
try to make it happen everywhere,
even in Florida events. People say
that you can't catch them there that
way but I've had a lot of big
catches down there on a jig,"
he said. |
Given
his jig prowess and promotional savvy, it
was a natural fit for him to sign with Omega
Custom Tackle, for whom he will produce a
signature series flipping jig.
"I fished their tackle real heavily last year and I absolutely fell in love with it," he said. "They've allowed me to design a signature series 1/2-ounce flipping jig. Right now we're just waiting on the packaging. We plan to release it at the Classic in February."
"It's an incredible heavy cover jig. It
uses a sixty degree Mustad Ultra Point
flipping hook. You can bang it off of rocks
and wood and the tip doesn't roll over. I've
been fishing it a lot lately and the
majority of the fish are hooked in the roof
of the mouth."
The head design is also unique: "You
can bang it through the heavy stuff and it
stands straight up each time. It rocks
forward, back, then forward again and
settles in. The bottom is flat so you can
skip it way back under docks. I haven't been
able to do that as well with any other
flipping jig. It's the best dock fishing jig
I've ever used."
| The lure will be produced in 12 colors based on various natural shades. "I'm a big stickler for three or four natural colors and variations of those colors," Goldbeck said. "Omega put them together for me and for the first time in my life I have a jig where I don't have to make my own skirts for it. In fact, it's the first jig I haven't had to do any work on at all." |
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He'll generally flip it on 20 lb. Sunline FC Sniper and Shooter and the jig head design is specifically designed to avoid abrasion. "It has a 60 degree cross line tie instead of an eyelet. That helps it deflect off cover. It grabs on a lot less. Also, it means that your line doesn't get chewed up behind the tie."
It marries well to a variety of trailers, depending on the conditions at hand. When he wants a lot of action, he'll utilize a twin tail grub. In cold weather, a chunk (pork or plastic) is his preference. Under a variety of circumstances, he likes a plastic craw – while many of the major manufacturers' craws are good, he's also prone to use a super-soft west coast handpour.
Although it's cold in Maryland and the holidays are at hand, he's chomping at the bit to get out on tour. A few events in particular have him especially excited. "I'm looking forward to Amistad and Falcon. They'll have a lot of heavy bushes to flip. And the Mississippi River should have a lot of good flipping too."
Omega will also introduce a Derek Remitz Football Head jig in the near future. Remitz rode an Omega-wrapped Triton during the course of his rookie season, which included a win at Amistad on their existing football head jig.
Rookie Jay Fuller has also joined the Omega pro-staff.
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