Many seasons ago, when Phillips first met Dave Fladd, neither angler had lure design on his mind. Instead, the friendship was all about exploring the Lowcountry for the big redfish and trout that haunted its immense network of tidal creeks. It’s a bond between fishing buddies that remains today — years after the anglers laid claim to one of the most popular saltwater jigheads ever made.
The challenge in designing the Trout Eye, recalls Fladd, an optical engineer by trade, “was to make a jig whose head was predominantly a big pair of 3-D eyeballs. At first, we just made the jig for ourselves — sort of the ultimate trout and redfish jig that married perfectly with our favorite Z-Man softbaits. We started by pouring the jigheads six at a time on Ralph’s back porch. We had no idea what would happen next . . .”
