HOME | TACKLETOUR FORUMS  | EDITOR'S CHOICE | REVIEW ARCHIVE | ABOUT US | 

Reels | Rods | Lures | SwimbaitsBFS Lines | Term. Tackle | Tools | Storage | Apparel | Enthusiast | Watercraft | Interviews | Events | Autopsy


 


 

 


Lure Review

 

 

Bigfoot or Finesse? Nishine Lure Work's New Football Jig

 

Date: 8/12/20
Tackle Type: Lures
Manufacturer: Nishine Lure Works
Reviewer: Cal






Total Score: 7.83 - GOOD

Introduction:
There are few baits more basic and universal to fishing than the jig. For just about every species you could hope to pursue, there is a bait product involving some kind of skirt material tied to a hook usually weighted down by a head made of some form of dense metal like lead or tungsten. In the bass fishing world, this elemental bait is taken to a different level with all sorts of specialized versions made to be fished in countless different ways. You'd think by now, it'd be pretty difficult to have a different take. Well Nishine Lure Works has found a way by combining two terms that seem to be on different ends of the bass fishing spectrum: "football jig" and "finesse."

 

Nishine Lure Works Finesse Football Jig Specifications

Type Football
Skirt Material Checkered Pattern Silicone
Weight 1/2 oz
Colors/Patterns 4
Hook #2/0 Owner
Additional Features Hand tied skirt and wire keeper
MSRP $5.99


Introducing Nishine Lure Works's Finesse Football Jig

Impressions: The idea of a finesse football jig is intriguing. I've fished smaller football head jigs before, and generally speaking, finesse often just equates to small or smaller. So what makes the Nishine Lure Works Finesse Football Jig "finesse?" It's not very obvious at first. To begin, this bait is only available in one size, half an ounce. The head has a very odd, kind of oblong shape to it and is made of lead, so that means it is anything but small and doesn't speak to a finesse tuned product.

 


This jig's head doesn't much resemble a football

 

Looking past the oddly shaped head, however, we find traits that are more in line with what we'd consider finesse. This jig features a very small, 2/0 Owner hook. The skirt is hand tied and trimmed short using a minimal amount of material. There's a bait keeper made of wire that's hand wound and tied around the shaft of the hook just behind the jighead.

 

From the bottom, it looks more like an Arkie head or almost even the shape of a foot

 

All those items feel very finesse, but turning our attention back to that head, it's not really in the shape of a football. It has a wide profile like a typical football jig, but gone is that typical, oval shape when viewed from the bottom. Instead, the head tapers down back over the hook shank forming what almost resembles a heel. Viewed from the bottom, it looks more like an Arkie head or a clubbed foot with no toes.


Success was almost immediate with this jig

Real World Tests: Even though Nishine Lure Works classifies this jig as finesse, because of its weight, I fished it on board a more traditional jigging rod setup. I dusted off my Edge Rods, first generation Black Widow 787-1 flipping stick and paired it with my 2017 Shimano Scorpion DC spooled with 40lb PowerPro Hollow Ace braid paired with 16lb Sunline Crank FC as a leader. I originally set up my Scorpion DC with the intent of using it for some moving baits, but you know how plans go. The great thing about Sunline's Crank FC is, even though it's made with horizontal bait techniques in mind, it's still a fluorocarbon, so switching to vertical bait presentations is not a problem.


Skirts are hand tied

 

Once in the water, the Nishine jig's modified football head does a good job of staying snag free when you bounce and drag it over hard bottom surfaces. In fact, the only point I really got hung up with this jig was when the bait came in contact with weeds. This jig does not have a weedguard but even if it did, that wide stance in the head behaves almost like a magnet to weeds. It's a little difficult to work in situations where the weeds are established or even emerging.


The skirt material features a checkered texture

Next Section: How the skirt flares in the water...

 

   

Google
  Web
  TackleTour

 

 

 
 





 

 



Copyright 2000-2024 TackleTour LLC All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy information