Sometimes — actually most times — when Bill Lowen needs a bite he looks toward his Dough Ball Jig. It takes a couple of minutes to build one, but it's time well spent according to this Elite Series pro.
"It's one of the best lures I've used over the years when I can't get a bite but I know there are fish in my water," he says. "I've had times when I threw to a dock 10 times or more with the usual lures and never got a bite. I switched to my Dough Ball Jig and boated several fish from that same spot."
Here's what you need to make your own "dough ball jig."
Materials:
Toothpick
To put it all together, start by (1) sliding the jig skirt down the hook just enough to attach the HitchHiker and slide it up the hook. Then (2) replace the skirt so that the HitchHiker is above the skirt collar. That will hold it in place. (3) Screw a small piece — 1 inch is about right — of Berkley Gulp! Sinking Minnow onto the HitchHiker. Use the tail portion with the narrowest end down, toward the bend of the hook. You want a streamlined profile. Keep the plastic away from the gap in the hook.
(4) Insert the toothpick into the Berkley PowerBait Chunky Trailer horizontally, across the head, about 1/8-inch from the front of the trailer. Trim both ends of the toothpick flush with the plastic. (5) Attach the trailer to the hook with the bend of the hook behind the toothpick. The toothpick will help secure the plastic to the hook and prevent the trailer from easily tearing off.
"They take a time or two to get right, but after that they'll go together quickly," says Lowen. "Cast one around a weedline, rock, stump, drift or dock. Let it fall to the bottom and just sit there. Sometimes I let one soak for 30 seconds, doing nothing. This is the ultimate deadsticking technique. They'll find the Gulp! and eat it like candy."
Lowen recommends being creative when it comes to colors. He points out that no animal in nature is the same color from head to toe and no two animals of the same species are the same color. Each is uniquely colored. Why should your jigs be any different? Why not attach a green pumpkin trailer to a black and blue jig or a blue trailer to a green pumpkin jig? Mother Nature does.
