Star Ledger

THE STAR LEDGER

June 29, 1993

Jerseyan’s Lure Proves Mettle On Canadian Bass

By Howard Brant

DEEP RIVER, Ontario - When Jeff Cammerino of Lyndhurst, N.J., told us about his new bass lure, the Jersey Rigg, we believed he was trying to con unsuspecting fishermen. But at K/O Lodge we learned the lure’s fish-catching ability was as good, if not better, than Cammerino professed.

Although the technique used by Cammerino with his Jersey Rigg is not new, his new plastic worm imitation has surely enhanced its fish-catching attributes.

Cammerino’s Jersey Rigg is nothing more than a three-inch plastic worm which Cammerino has created in such a fashion that its sink-rate is controlled in a most effective fashion. However, when impaled on a 1/0 hook in its middle it doesn’t look like it would catch anything. But it sure does.

Deep River has gained fame as a prime smallmouth bass fishing site. The deluxe five-star rated lodge, owned and operated by the Carlin family (all U.S. citizens) borers the 2,900 square-mile Algonquin Provincial Park and within this vast wilderness are lakes loaded with trophy bronzebacks.

Just ask Billy Westmoreland, the famed bass pro from Dale Hollow, TN. Westmoreland annually fishes the waters about the lodge and says it offers some of the best smallmouth action in North America.

But back to the lure. To be perfectly honest when Cammerino gave us a handful of his plastic worms and some 1/9 hooks to try during our visit, we thanked him politely, put them in the bottom of our tackle box and promptly forgot about them.

When we arrived, we soon discovered a number of Jersey anglers had arrived a few days earlier including Willie Harzula of Middlesex and Joe Vitelli of Glen Gardner plus Paul Pear, Jeff Hummel and Charlie Martina, all of North Plainfield.

Each evening we’d discuss the day’s fishing action with the Jersey gang in the lodge’s main meeting room. But it wasn’t until the evening prior to our last day of fishing that we thought about the lure.

We immediately inquired if anyone had heard of or fished with the Jersey Rigg. All answered they were not familiar with such a lure so we proceeded to display the rig.

“The lure doesn’t look very appealing,” we offered. Nevertheless, we handed Charlie Martina a pair of Jersey Riggs and told him to give them a try and let us know what he thought of them.

The following evening as we mustered in the lodge we inquired of Martina about the lure. Martina merely smiled and said, “It sure does work and works extremely well. But you got to fish it slowly and over known structure.”

Martina said he caught 16 bass on the two Jersey Riggs before they were eventually destroyed by the bronzebacks.

“Yes, there’s no question I’ll be using the Jersey Rigg more often,” Martina said.

The Jersey Rigg must be fished slowly. It should be cast over known structure and allowed to sink just below the surface. Then simply give the rod tip a slight twitch and watch the rig. It does produce bass. If you’d like more information about the Jersey Rigg, call Cammerino at (570) 226-6304, or write him at 75 Mountain Lake Estates, Hawley, PA 18428.

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