Trophy Chaser = Trophy Fish

If someone would have told me in June of 2023 I would have received the text message that I did, I would have told you “nice try.”

Little did I know this wasn’t a joke. I had a vision, some amazing people who gave me their time and opinions on designing a fishing bait, and a will to not give up. I never thought of myself as a true outdoorsman. Yeah, I grew up fishing and hunting, but I considered myself just an average Joe. Since I was a kid, I had this dream of somehow being involved in fishing. I never pursued that dream but did gain a wealth of knowledge in a similar field, the golf business. I had a niche for being creative in the merchandising world and sales. Whether it was making designs for hats, apparel, and other golf accessories, I was just always good at it. I’ve been very blessed with that experience and figured, why not? I had some great people who were willing to share their knowledge and thoughts on what works and what doesn’t. I shared with them the design I had come up with, and with several tweaks and years of testing, we hit a homerun.

I never take credit for the birth of the Trophy Chaser. Heck, I never even wanted to release it to the world. I fought with myself for months on that. I kept trying to convince the guys who helped me that I shouldn’t do it. They were kind enough to convince me to chase my dream. I will always be thankful and grateful for that. The joy of all the messages I have received from folks sharing their catch of a lifetime is worth more than any money this brand will ever make.

That’s a quick 360-degree look at the birth of the Trophy Chaser. Now let’s get into some features, rigging options, and fishing tips. First to tie up and drop is the 7” Trophy Chaser.

Features

The first Trophy Chaser was 7”. This is a larger bait and was initially designed for personal use targeting trophy Lake Trout. I mentioned I had some amazing people who were nice enough to get involved in this process, and they are some outstanding Lake Trout fishermen. They liked using a larger bait and are crazy enough to fish for 8–10 hours to get one bite. It used to amaze me, their true grit to slug it out with these stubborn fish. Although it sounded crazy to me, I trusted their opinions.

Like anything else, nothing comes easy or quick. After multiple discussions on everything we could think of — diameter, length, wing size, scales, eye, tail thickness, tube thickness, etc. — I submitted the drawing and had a mold cut. We wanted to get as close as we possibly could to creating a tube that would look like a baitfish trying to hide. I always had this vision of a baitfish laying in the mud or sand and trying to stay as hidden as possible. Well, I felt that wasn’t possible, and that’s where the wing design came to fruition. There’s no way a fish could stay absolutely still, and with those wings slightly fluttering, we were positive that would get that old Laker to strike.

Once the mold arrived, I immediately went out to my shop, shot a bait, cut the tail, glued on the eyes, slid a tube jig in it, and dropped it in the test tank. I recorded it and sent it to all the guys who helped. We were all just blown away by how it looked in the water.

This was only the start. Then came color building, which we will feature in future blogs.

Rigging

This can be a severely complex opinion. That’s why we don’t include jig heads with the tubes. I didn’t realize how particular folks were about jig heads. Between hooks, weight, line tie, etc., I was not about to go down that rabbit hole.

Andy and Stormy with GSO Fishing make some great, high-quality jig heads. When I found they were in the same state as me, I couldn’t wait to partner with them and have some jig heads for folks to choose from. Here is a basic rundown of jig head recommendations. These can be used to jig, cast and reel, troll, or simply drag on the bottom.

Gravedigger is a weight-forward design, fits the tube well, and the hook comes out right at the start of the tail. Weights come from 1.5 oz to 4 oz.

Mega Tube is a weight-balanced jig head that will help the bait stay in a balanced vertical presentation, keeping the bait in a natural posture at all depths of the water column. Weights come from 1.5 oz to 3 oz. This is your more traditional tube jig.

HeavySetter is the newest jig head out, featuring a sturdy short shank hook. This tube jig places the hook point closer to the middle of the body of the tube. The reason behind this design is Lake Trout like to hit the bait broadside. With the hook point being too far back, it can create misses when you go to set the hook. Weights come in 1/2 oz to 1.5 oz and can be used on multiple sized tubes.

These are the recommended riggings with a tube jig. There is no one way to rig the 7” Trophy Chaser.

You can also use a line-through rig option mainly used for trolling. Tie your line onto a long needle and poke it through the nose of the tube, pull the line through the tail end, and tie on a treble hook. Then hook the treble hook into the bottom of the body of the tube. This is a weightless feature that will allow you to troll the bait with blades or a downrigger.

Fishing Tips and Tricks

The biggest mistake people make is moving the bait too much. There is a time and place when the Lake Trout are “fired up” and like the bait moving. Nine times out of ten, the action of the tube will attract the fish to come investigate. If they strike it while you are actively jigging, then great. They are in the mood to play. Keep repeating.

The reality is that most of the time these fish don’t get 30-plus pounds by being dumb. So if you are not getting bites when they are coming in, then simply stop moving the bait. A lot of people don’t realize that the Trophy Chaser is still moving in the water even when you are doing nothing. Those wings make it move.

Just drop it to the bottom and let it sit there. As hard and boring as it can be, it more than likely is what the fish wants. They will sit there and stare at it until they are ready to bite. The sad truth is sometimes they are jerks and will just swim off. That is the Laker game and why they can drive a sane person to lose their mind.

More than likely, if you jig it too aggressively, they will just spook and swim off. Then they are really not interested. All you can do at that point is jig and hope they come back. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they just vanish.

Just always remember, sometimes less is better, and the tube design allows it to move on its own.

As always, thank you for the support and business. Tag our social media pages with your catches. We would love to share them with this community. Remember to enjoy God’s wonderful creation while out on the water, and tight lines.