Iaconelli's winning techniques: VMC Rugby Head

After last week's Bassmaster Elite Series event on the Delaware River, VMC sent out a press release about some of the tackle Mike Iaconelli used to win. It included much of the "Ike Approved" lineup. I was most intrigued about the Rugby Head, it sounds like a great improvement over a regular shaky-head. I have seen it, but haven't used it yet...maybe it is time to check it out.

Here are a few snippets from the press release:

Rugby Head Survives Some Serious Scrums

When the bite “got tough” on the first and last day of the four-day tournament on Ike’s home water, he tempted up some fish with a fresh twist on the finesse tactic of shaky-heading. Targeting hard-bottom current breaks, he threw a flaked blue-black straight-tail soft-plastic worm rigged on a 3/16 oz. VMC Ike Approved Rugby Head.

“That Rugby Head is a special head on a shaky-head set-up, because it gets through tough cover easily,” Ike explained. “Your more-traditional shaky heads can really get snagged in the rocks. I don’t want to be battling that thing. I want it crawling over the rock. And I was able to do that on the river and have it account for a few of my keepers. And that was important.”

A cross between a traditional round-ball-head jig and a football-head jig, the Rugby Jig is “the most versatile jig out there,” Ike said. “And if you look at it, it does look like a rugby ball.” An extra-wide-gap hook with an offset just below the jig head secures Texas-rigged soft plastics on the Rugby Jig, creating a lifelike presentation even at rest.

They also just came out with the Swinging Rugby Head and it is now available.