Western Creations
When Bass Master Elite Series Pro Fred Roumbanis had the idea for a new vibrating jig bait, Covello was quick to respond. He sent Roumbanis a number of prototypes while Roumbanis was out on Tour and the two went back and forth until they got the bait to perform to his liking. Roumbanis wanted a bait that he could use a swimbait body as a trailer and that would still produce a strong tail action. “With the blade being uniquely extended from the head allows for more vibration and body roll, creating more strikes when fishing for tight lipped fish,” said Roumbanis. The end result is that Fred’s Long Neck Roumbler has a distinctly different wobble than other bladed swim jigs. On the heels of the Roumbler, the two teamed up again to de- velop the Fred Roubmanis Signature Swim Jig. “We designed the jig to come thru heavy cover, the head is narrow with a flattened bottom and a vertical line tie,” said Covello. “The jig swims true and its design makes it a good grass jig as well. When stopped it will lie flat on the bottom.” In a recent conversation, Roumbanis informed Covello of yet another use for the swim jig. It turns out that Roumbanis is fishing the jig five at a time on the business end of an Alabama Rig.
TOur grade
Blades
Perhaps one of the company’s best kept secrets is that of the long list of anglers who quietly rely on Pepper Spinnerbaits to put fish in their Livewells, Western Tournament Legend Gary Dobyns, is
known for his mastery with a blade. His blade of choice, the Pepper Hawg. “The willow leaf blades do an excellent job of imitating the shad,” said Dobyns. “They track better then any blade on the market and they just get bit.” Covello calls Lake Powell his home body of water. Powell’s ul- tra clear water can make spinnerbait fishing challenging to say the least making conventional spinnerbaits less than effective. “The fish on Powell just get too good a look at the bait in the clear wa- ter,” said Covello. “We came up with the Clear Water Elite just for these conditions. It is a small profile finesse blade that is made for power fishing. The detailed head and fine rubber intricate silicone skirt creates a very realistic appearance. We downsized the willow blades to tone down the flash a bit and allow the bait to be burned or slow rolled.” In 2007, Pepper Pro Staffer Jamie Cyphers was in contention to win the US Open on Lake Mead. Part of his pattern was to burn a spinnerbait around the grass. The fish were slamming the bait but not staying pinned. Half way thru the second day Cyphers made a key adjustment and added a feathered hook treble as a trailer. This decision proved wise and Cyphers went on to finish third overall. “I had experimented with a feathered treble trailer with great success on Lake Powell,” said Cyphers. “At Mead I was concerned with the treble fouling in the grass, once I made the modification I was surprised at how weedless the bait was.” Had Cyphers made the change sooner, perhaps the outcome of the tournament would have been different. Shortly after the tournament, Cyphers relayed his experience to Covello. The two began work on developing a spinnerbait that
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Spring 2012