Pretty much all umbrella rigs are the same, as far as I’m concerned, but the jigheads and swimbaits you use with them aren’t. In my experience I’ve found that screw-lock heads are the best to use rather than the kind where you just worm the swimbait onto it.

After you’ve fished most swimbaits for a while on a regular jighead, and caught a fish or two, they’ll start getting torn, working down the hook and wadding up on the bend. That doesn’t happen with a screw-lock. Whether you make them yourself or buy them, screw-lock heads don’t cost much, but the best swimbaits do and you won’t go through nearly as many if you’ll fish them on screw-lock heads.

Also, there are a lot of covers and containers for umbrella rigs, but the best way I’ve found to store them is just to flex the arms around the central wire one at a time. Then put the central wire bait on your rod’s hook keeper and you’re set.

—- Castrol pro Philip Jarabeck, Lynchburg, Va.