Each of us have a reason for making our own jigs, my story may not be much different from the next but I wanted to share. When I wa in college a friend of mine invited me to go fishing at the dam of Lake Proctor, near Comanche, Texas. Really good lake in the heart of Texas. I had never been vertical jig fishing for crappie before, just minnow fishing in ponds and local lakes where I grew up like Ray Roberts. First trip I did not catch anything but watched a man bring in fish after fish. So we went to Walmart that night and loaded up on jig heads and tube baits. Went back the next day and managed 8 keepers. I was hooked! I began fishing there every weekend during the winter for years to come. Of course there were regulars there every weekend and one of these men took me under his wing and started to share with me how to jig for crappie. His name was Lee from Brownwood, Texas. He was there every weekend! Very soon I started catching more fish with each trip under his guidance. During these trips I noticed another man who caught fish just as easily as Lee. He was using something different. His own jigs! Now these two men seem to be arch rivals, especially from how Lee world talk about him. They both would catch their limits almost every time I saw them. Seemed to be a nonverbal competition between the two men. I am a competitive person myself. So I wanted to know more! A couple years passed and we had to fish at another lake near by because the keepers had disappeared from Proctor. We began fishing a public dock at Lake Leon near Eastland, Texas which I fish to this day. That other man that tied his own jigs was there also, his name H.M. Chance. Again he would catch more than anyone else on the dock. So I wanting that same advantage began buying jigs from Mr. Chance. Still did not help catch what he was but I continued to buy, buy, buy! After a period of time I figured out that for the money I spent with him I could have very easily bought what I needed to do it myself. SO made the drive to bass pro and got what I thought I needed to start. Low and behold the first time I sat down to tie I did not have a bobbin. Makes it hard to make a jig!. So everything got put up in a box for another time in my life. That time came during the summer of 2002. I had began my professional career coaching and teaching in a small school in northwest Texas. Summer came and I needed something to do. Got the box out, ordered a few more things(a bobbin) and began this journey. My jigs do not look the same as Mr. Chance's but I do tie some things like his. I have a box full of his jigs that I have kept so I can look back at what he did. I have not fished with anything other than what I make since starting in 2001. Both of the men I have talked about inspired me to be a better fisherman, but better yet they inspired me to share with others what I have learned. Crappie fishing kept me in college to begin with and probably kept me there longer than I supposed to but I would not trade those experiences for anything. I will share Mr. Chances jig on the jig pictures thread to show you what he tied like. I hope that one day I have shared enough to some young fisherman that they feel the same way that I feel about those two men who shared so much with me.
Share your story if it moves you!
Patrick Corcoran
