OUTDOOR LIFE March 2005

ON TENNESSEE'S DALE Hollow Lake, smallmouth guru Stephen Headrick has developed his own unorthodox method to entice big bronzebacks when they move to the shallows to spawn.

To coax strikes from these fussy fish, the Celina, Tenn., native uses 6-inch Zoom soft plastic lizards or salamanders he rigs using a "secret" style favored by local anglers.

First he removes a plug of plastic from the nose of a lizard with a .22 bullet cartridge. Then he inserts a 1/16-ounce bullet weight pointed-end first into the hole and seals it up by melting the plastic with a lighter or match.

Headrick then uses a length of thin wire, with a small eye bent into the wire at one end, to pull a length of line through the body of the lizard. He pushes the sharp end of the wire into the lizard between its front legs, then passes the end of the line through the loop and pushes the wire and line through the body and out at the base of the tail. Headrick reinserts the wire into the lizard at the base of the tail and draws the line out at the bend in the lizard's tail. Once a No. 6 short-shank hook is tied to the end of the line, the hook is then embedded in the tail or left exposed, depending on cover. The lizard will spin on retrieve and twist the line, so Headrick trims the rod end of the line to 3 inches and ties on a high-quality ball bearing. "You might think that little hook won't hang on to a five-pound smallmouth," says Headrick, "But trust me, it will."

LURE: Zoom Lizard (6-inch) in pumpkinseed or other bright colors.

TACKLE: G. Loomis Model BCR803 rod (6 feet 8 inches; medium-heavy action), 12-pound test Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon line and Abu Garcia Ambassadeur bait-casting reel with 6.2:1 gear ratio.

TECHNIQUE: "Cast the lure and let it sink to the bottom," says Headrick. "The weighted nose stays down and the tail with the hook in it stands straight up. Shake the rod tip slightly so the tail dances. You don't want to move the lizard much, if at all. Nine times out of ten, the bass will grab the tail of the lure first, which is why the hook is there."

I often get asked the specifics of how to fish the football head jig. I would like in the following article to lay out a few guidelines for the football head jig.

I would like to start off with a little history on the football head jig. I probably get a call a week from people saying that they would like to buy the new jig they saw on TV, the football head. This is a huge mistake; this jig has been around for decades. Mostly popular in the north and west and in its early days called a roller or rock jig. After a few bassmaster top finishes the football jig was finally recognized for what it has always been for decades a fish catching machine. The popular use of gps units and the new emphasis on fishing offshore structure has also led to the explosion in the football head jig market.

Before we get into the specifics of the football head jig I would like to say it is not a jig presentation for all applications. It is not made to flip heavy cover or fish brush piles with unless you would like to keep buying jigs. It is basically made to fish deep structure that has a rock or smooth bottom.