Мастер наживок Коди Роллинс за три месяца изготовил более 2,3 тысячи приманок для своей компании

When it comes to jigs, Cody Rollings has more than a little experience. That’s not because he can cut a rug, but because he can tie a fly with the best of them. In the past three months, he says he’s tied more than 2,300 fishing jigs for his company Rusty Hook Custom Jigs. “I started fishing around age 4 when I was strong enough to hold a fishing rod,” says Rollings. “I grew up on the lake. My grandmother had a cabin on Duck Lake in south-central Minnesota. When she decided she could no longer take care of the lake property, my parents bought it from her back in 1991. Each summer we would pack up the house in Mankato and move to the cabin for the summer.” ADVERTISEMENT Rollings moved to Rochester from Mankato 17 years ago. “I met my wife while she was going to school at Minnesota State Mankato,” he says. “We dated for a couple of years and then she graduated and got a full-time job at IBM. Seeing we dated for so long, we had a decision to make. Either part ways, or I move to Rochester and continue our relationship, so I packed up my belongings and moved to Rochester.” A stay-at-home dad caring for his 9-year-old daughter, Rollings currently works on his Rusty Hook Custom Jigs company in his free time. He is in the process of expanding the business into a full-time enterprise. The natural aspect of fishing is something that really appeals to Rollings. “I love watching the sunrises and sunsets on the water,” he says. He sees fishing as a type of therapy for himself but also likes how it is a great family sport that can bring joy to parents and children alike. Though he loves fishing, Rollings got interested in tying jigs about nine years ago because he wanted to create lures that had more exciting colors than those he found in stores. “I wanted to make my own custom colors and sizes”’ he says. “I watched a few YouTube videos, bought some materials and equipment and started figuring out how to make them without falling apart.” When he first caught a fish on one of his jigs, Rollings says, “It was extremely satisfying. It felt really good to catch a fish on something I made. It wasn't anything big, but it was a nice 13-inch crappie on Lake Zumbro. After that fish, I was really excited to make more jigs and colors and see what else I could catch.” Rollings starts the process of creating a jig with a blank metal jig head which he heats up with a torch and dips into ProTec powder paint before hanging them to bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes to cure the paint and create durability. When the jig head cools, he wraps half of its shank with thread to create something for feathers to bind to. He adds saddle hack feathers from a rooster, some sparkling Flashabou (a tinsel material to reflect the sun), and finishes the jig with chenille, a whip finisher and a water-based cement to glue the chenille and thread for more durability. As he’s working, Rollings uses a tying vise, a bobbin for his thread, which has a 3-pound breaking strength allowing him to create a tight cinch on the lure, and a sharp scissors with a long point. ADVERTISEMENT Rollings says the jigs he ties are great for catching sunfish, crappie, large and smallmouth bass, white bass, perch, trout and walleye. He makes a 1/16 ounce jig that can be used to troll behind a boat at 1 mile per hour, to cast and retrieve, to vertical jig or use under a bobber. He also creates a 1/32 ounce jig that can additionally be used on a fly rod or for ice-fishing. “It’s a very universal jig,” says Rollings. He’s hoping to start introducing some new walleye sizes and styles in the coming months. As he creates jigs, Rollings says he tries to use colors that mimic bugs, dragonflies and caterpillars but that are also a bit “odd ball.” In addition, he uses a sickle-style hook that doesn’t damage the fish mouth as much in a catch-and-release situation. “The hardest part about tying jigs is getting your tension of the thread correct to keep everything tight and keep everything from unraveling,” says Rollings. “Figuring out your start and stop points and lining up the feathers and Flashabou keep it all neat and lined up straight.” Though Rollings has been tying jigs for almost a decade and during that time has occasionally sold some to acquaintances on social media, the official launch of Rusty Hook Custom Jigs was during this season’s weekly Thursdays Downtown festival in Rochester. “I wanted to start out small at a few vendor fairs and see how the response would be,” says Rollings. “I applied to Thursdays Downtown to see if I would get accepted, and I was accepted. The response was great.” Rollings says he sold close to 1,500 jigs at Thursdays Downtown over the course of the summer. For Rollings, part of the pleasure of tying jigs is that he finds it relieves tension and provides an outlet for his creativity. “What I love about tying is that it's relaxing and it's fun to be creative and come up with color combinations, trying out new techniques and adding other materials. A bonus is catching fish on something you made.” Not everyone can turn putting out the “gone fishing sign” into a job, but Rollings is excited that his custom jigs are finding their way into the hands of all kinds of people interested in catching fish. “I love the sport of fishing and introducing people to fishing,” he says. “Seeing the smiles of people catching fish on a lure I made is pretty awesome.” Rusty Hook Custom Jigs Learn more about Rusty Hook Custom Jigs at www.instagram.com/rusty_hook_custom_jigs or on facebook.com. ADVERTISEMENT