4 minute read
FISH ON WITH LANCER JIGS
from 2022 Fjord Spring
by Imagination
FISH ON WITH LANCER JIGS
My grandparents own a fishing lodge on the west coast of British Columbia. Visiting with my family every summer and fall, my earliest memories are fishing in those waters with my granddad and my dad. A hot thermos of coffee would cut the damp, cold mornings and the down riggers sliced the water and the waves knocked arrhythmically into the hull while we trolled for salmon or jigged for cod.
Little is as exciting as hooking a fish and confirming the catch as it is netted alongside a boat, but I have never committed to the more involved, technical nuances of fishing. I excuse a skunked boat for having bad luck and credit a lucky boat for the hungry fish it found. As causal as those reasons seem, my nonchalance and ignorance are spared only by the salmon and cod filled seas of Canada and Alaska, a fisherman in the Puget Sound knows better. Here it is not ‘easy’ fishing, and my take would leave me empty handed.
Fishing with Duane Wilson I have learn’t of two types of fishermen: those like myself who hope for hungry fish, and those like Duane who respect the trade as a science, understanding the biology of the species they are after and the chemistry affected by the environment around them. Differences in the seasons, weather conditions, sun light, water and air temperatures, tidal changes, and storms and winds are only some of the variables accounted for by these fisherman.
These variables change and gear and methods used when they cast their lines. Man controlled variables like the depth and colors of the lure, the type of lure, the number of hooks, the boats troll speed, and the length of the liter can be used to match those of the environment and result in hooking fish better than anyone else on the water.
To Tony Benner and his son Andrew, fishing is a science and a life passion. Their family owns Lancer Jigs, a lure company in Mason County. Tony started moulding jigs after his favorite lure stopped production—he’d buy and modify them, altering its shape and leaded weight to create a more perfect lure. Now with a shop of lead moulds and rooms shelved with beads and hooks and paints and plastics, the family produces an economic and locally made jig.
The jigs are hand painted by Tony’s wife, Terry, with sometimes more than twelve coats around the lead base. Unlike most products available, the paint used does not delaminate from the lead. In salt water, even new jigs will oxidize beneath the coating and flake off, Lancers do not.
Several of the jig moulds are hand made by Tony, he carves extra notches into the mould to create additional prongs that secure the rubber worms of the lures.Lancer Jigs supply lures designed for fresh and salt
water fishing, salmon and steelhead jigs and steelhead soft beads in an array of subtle, vibrant colors. They use UV coatings and glow powder, intended for the deeper and darker waters when fishing for halibut.
For proof of the lures’ efficacy, check out lancerjigs.com. Andrew tests out the colors, weights, and action of the lures, the photographs of their trophy fish speak for themselves.
You can order your jigs directly from their website, lancerjigs.com. Specify colors desired in your message and they will respond promptly. Pricing: 1oz Jigs - $2.00, 1.5 oz jigs - $2.50, 2oz Jigs - $3.00, 4oz Jigs - $5.00. Jig pricing includes the lead head and the plastic tail.