The "JoePa" Jig

Think this is just a novelty lure?  Wrong.  Think again!  Here's a pic (10/01/09) and an excerpt from an email I received:  


























"... I tried the PSU (JoePa) jigs really just because you gave me a couple to try. A little skeptical, but today it got really dark out before the storm so I put one on and I did catch 5 bass in the 12" to 14" range. My clients got a good laugh from the little PSU football helmet. One was from Ohio and the other from Maryland. They wanted to know where their state helmet colors were! "  - Lance Dunham

So now you know they catch bass.  But why?  (Are the bass Penn State fans?)  I'll share my little secret...  it's all about CONES!  No, not ice cream cones.... or traffic cones... but the cones found within the eyes of a bass.  What kind of cones are we talking about?

In simple terms: cones are the eye's light receptors that help the bass see things that are colored.  Just like we, as humans, can see subtle differences in colors due to the cones in our eyes.  The light receptor cones in fish eyes are also extremely sensitive to color. The greater the light, the more important the cones are to bass vision. As light penetration diminishes either as a result of increased depth or turbidity, some colors fade more rapidly than others. Color is a function of reflected light, and some light waves are absorbed by water more rapidly than others. 

Remember the color spectrum we all learned in junior high school? 


Colors at the end of the spectrum – ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) – are filtered out first. Basically, blue and green colors penetrate deepest. The deeper or more turbid the water, the more monochromatic things appear; that is, the more that everything becomes “one-colored.” Thus, the only lures that will retain their colors are those that match the water color (green)... and those that are white!  

Your in luck, because this jig is both blue and white.  The blue will penetrate the deepest and the bass will always see the white color.  So the bass will be able to see this jig whether it's in shallow water, deep water, clear or stained water!  It's great that the white colors are the soft tail and hackle...  the white color that the bass will see will be moving pulsating hackles in the current.  That will make the bass think that it's alive!  Using this color combo is scientifically proven to be what the bass will be able to see the farthest... and the deepest.  Besides don't you want to show off your Penn State pride as well?  I think Coach Paterno would have beeen proud of this jig!  A great man has left us.  Well, Joe, I will never forget the man behind the black Nike shoes.  Rest in peace, Joe.  Thank you for being...   Penn State.  

"Believe deep down in your heart that you are destined to do great things!" 
                                                                                 - Joe Paterno




















Pic above is from Nov 6, 2010 - Coach Paterno's 400th win as head coach of the Nittany Lions.  PSU beat Northwestern, 35 to 21.  On October 30, 2011, it took all 60 minutes on a snowy, sloppy Saturday in Happy Valley, but JoePa broke legendary Grambling coach Eddie Robinson's record with victory No. 409 as No. 21 Penn State defeated Illinois 10-7.  At 409 wins Coach Paterno became the  "Winningest Coach In Division I College Football." 

The "JoePa" Jig can be fished deep or shallow and fast or slow but is especially effective when worked slowly around cover. Be especially alert to subtle takes on the fall with this jig.

I ALSO DO CUSTOM JIGS IN OTHER SPORTS TEAMS, AND NASCAR COLORS.  Recently I finished a dozen of Pittsburgh Steelers colored jigs.  I have done the Arizona Cardinals, Oklahoma State University, Sayre Redskins, Waverly, Wolverines, Towanda Black Knights, and the Philadelphia Eagles.  (Shown below is my Steeler Jig.)