March 03, 2020
By Ned Kehde
Eagle Claw Fishing Tackle introduced their Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jig and Trokar Tungsten Pro-V Finesse Jig to the angling world at the 2019 International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades show.
At the request of a fellow Midwest finesse angler, we talked to Wandee Kirkland of Denver who is the Product Manager at Wright & McGill Co. and Eagle Claw Fishing Tackle about these jigs. We also talked Mike Chaney of Denver who is the Logistics Manager at Wright & McGill Co. and Eagle Claw Fishing Tackle. And they sent us some 1/15-ounce Trokar Tungsten Pro-V Finesse Jigs and 1/16-ounce Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jigs for us to work with, examine, and eventually write a Midwest Finesse gear guide about them.
Here is what we discovered about the 1/16-ounce Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jig.
Even though it is not as expensive as the Trokar Tungsten Pro-V Finesse Jig, the Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jig has many of the same state-of-the-art features that the Trokar Tungsten Pro-V Finesse Jig possesses.
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It has a mushroom-style head. The size of its head is a tad larger than the head of the Trokar Tungsten Pro-V Finesse Jig, and that is because it is made with lead rather than tungsten. The head of the Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jig has a diameter of a quarter of an inch, a circumference of fifteen-sixteenths of an inch and a thickness of three-sixteenths of an inch. But it is small enough that it will not readily become snagged in the crevices between rocks and boulders when Midwest finesse anglers are employing a drag-and-shake presentation or a drag-and-deadstick presentation.
The 1 /16-ounce Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jig brandishes a size number one Eagle Claw Pro-V shape hook, which is also known as a sickle-style hook. The distance from the tip of the head to the apex of the bend of the number one hook is 1 5/16 inches. The eye of the hook extends about three-sixteenths of an inch above the lead head.
A bait keeper is situated on the shank of the hook. It is made of hard and molded plastic that possesses two reversed barbs. It is three-eighths of an inch long with a circumference of seven-sixteenths of an inch at the front barb. The front end of the keeper lies three-sixteenths of an inch from the back of the flat tungsten head, and the back end of the keeper lies a half of an inch from the apex of the bend of the hook. This double-barbed bait keeper was designed to hold soft-plastic baits more firmly in place than traditional bait keepers are able to accomplish.
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Three Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jigs affixed to three standard Midwest finesse soft-plastic baits. Eagle Claw also manufactures a Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jig with a wire weed guard, which is seven-eighths of an inch long and less than one millimeter thick. It radiates from the back of the head, directly below the eye of the hook, and slightly less than one-eighth of an inch below the top edge of the lead head. It extends to about one-quarter of an inch past the point of the hook, and it has about a 45-degree angle from the shank of the hook.
The weedless version of the Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jig. It is manufactured in the following hues: Black, Chartreuse, Green Pumpkin Red Flake, and unpainted.
A package of five 1/16-ounce Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jigs costs $3.99. They are also manufactured in 1/8- ounce and 3/16-ounce models.
A package of five weedless 1/16-ounce Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jigs costs $3.99.
Endnotes
Here is a link to Eagle Claw Fishing Tackle’s website: https://www.eagleclaw.com/lnj-lnjw-pro-v-finesse-jig. We noted above that the size of the Lazer Sharp Pro-V Finesse Jig’s head is small enough that it will not readily become snagged in the crevices between rocks and boulders when Midwest finesse anglers are employing a drag-and-shake presentation or a drag-and-deadstick presentation. But there will be times and locales when Midwest finesse anglers will encounter some rock- and boulder-cluttered underwater terrains that no 1/16-ounce jig can be methodically dragged across without becoming snagged. Therefore, at these snag-infested locales, these anglers will have to employ the swim-glide-and-shake presentation or the swim-glide-and-no-shake presentation, which allows the jig rig to swim and glide three to 12 inches above the rocks and boulders. For more information about how, when, and where to employ the six standard Midwest finesse retrieves, please read this Midwest Finesse column at this link: https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/six-midwest-finesse-retrieves/153946 .
