By Mark Fong
Football head jigs have long been a part of Gary Dobyn's tournament winning arsenal. For years he was unable to find a jig that met his exacting standard, his solution, build his own. In response to the many requests from anglers and tackle dealers, Dobyns felt the time was right to create a signature line of structure style football jigs that paid homage to his past creations yet incorporated some new and innovative design elements. Recently the Inside Line caught up with the CEO of Dobyns Rods to talk about jig designs, trailers and of course jig sticks.
Building the Perfect Jig
The perfect jig starts with the perfect hook and for Dobyns that hook is the Gamakatsu 604 Round Bend Hook. “For years I have had a love affair with that hook, it's the best jig hook that's ever been made bar none in my opinion,” said Dobyns. “It's strong and super sharp, once you stick 'em, the fish won't come off. We had a lot of requests from guys wanting a EWG style, so I made one version (jig) with a 5/0 that we call the Extreme and one (jig) with a 4/0 which we call the Extreme Spotted Bass Special.”
As for the head itself, it is a traditional rounded football shape with a recessed 90 degree line tie. Dobyns put a lot of thought into the design of the weedguard. “With a lot of jigs, if you mash the weedguard, it'll just fall out. That just drives me crazy,” he lamented. “So I made the cavity of the head deeper so the fibers would fit into it deeper and I put a couple of millimeter collar outside of the jighead to put even more bite into the weedguard.”
Even with his original jigs, Dobyns never found the ideal solution for keeping his Yamamoto Twin Tail Grub attached. “I was insistent on making a keeper that would hold my trailer,” he said. Some jigs use wire, or a single barb. If you get a bite you end up twisting and tearing it. I don't like to glue my trailers, it's just too messy, so I designed a molded four barb lead system. On each corner there is a grabber. You need to rig the Twin Tail straight when you put in on, otherwise you're going to tear up the bait when you try to pull it off. Take the time to rig it perfectly straight because it's going to be on there until a fish bites off one of the tails.”
All Dobyns Rods Jigs are hand-tied with a combination of silicone and round rubber. The resulting skirt has a nice lively flowing action. Currently the company offers twelve proven colorways. “Each one of our jigs has a specific color location, with a backing color, a belly color and colors for the sides,” he explained. Every color has a spot. Finally they're trimmed and ready to go.”
Matching Trailers
“My favorite jig trailer is the Yamamoto Double Tail,” revealed Dobyns. “When the water is cold and I don't want a ton of action, I'll use a Yamamoto Crawdad. Our jig colors were designed to match up with the Yamamoto Trailers. The Two Tone Brown Crawdad pairs great with 176 (Cinnamon Pepper), 221 (Cinnamon Pepper w/ Black and Purple Flake), or 297 (Green Pumpkin Pepper). The Brown and Purple is just money with the 221. One of my old favorites is Green Weenie. It has five colors, black, brown, two tones of green and chartreuse. You can use any color you want but 297 with the tips of the tails dyed chartreuse is awesome. Of course we have the standard Black and Blue and Black and Red. Add a 021 (Black w/Blue Flake) and 051 (Black w/ Red Flake) and your all set. Black is a strong color in both clear and dirty water; it's really popular here in Texas and up in the Northern States.
In addition to the many skirted jigs, Dobyns Rods offers a selection of undressed, jig heads that match up perfectly with the Yamamoto Hula Grub.
Jig Sticks
Of course no discussion with Gary Dobyns would be complete with talking rods. So what makes the perfect jig rod? Ask ten anglers that question and you’re likely to get ten different answers. Rods can be very subjective, so Dobyns provided a few recommendations. “I like a sensitive casting rod with a fast or extra fast action with lots of back bone,” he offered. “It's gotta be at least 7' for casting distance, power and the ability to take up line on the hookset. I like a heavy action 4-5 power rod. Dobyns Rods makes a bunch of rods that meet this criteria throughout our many family of rods. The ultimate jig rod might be the Xtasy DRX 754C. The Champion DX 744C has always been one of my favorites and a lot of guys really like the Fury FR 704C or the Colt CL 704.”
Spool up a 200 series casting reel with a good quality fluorocarbon line such as P-Line Fluorocarbon and you're all set. Dobyns relies on 10lb or 12lb for most applications but upgrades to 20lb when fishing lakes with heavy cover and bigger fish.
Dobyns Rods Jigs are sold as both a single pack and a triple pack for added value. With well over a 100 different color, weight and hook variations to choose from, Dobyns Rods has a Football Head Jig to suit your fishing needs.
Tom Monsoor has a lot of crankbaits; several thousand, by his estimation. He has every style and color imaginable — some of which would fetch a tidy sum on the antique market. Despite this mini museum of crankbait collection, Monsoor’s tough bite go-to is actually a jig.