• IN THE MEMORY OF DAVID SUMMERS

    Written by Richard Williams



    TeeZur Jigs has become as much a house hold name in crappie fishing circles as corn flakes has around the breakfast table. A classic, a regional, and several qualifying tournaments have been won by using these jigs. There are several reasons why these jigs are so special to the anglers that use them. The brilliant colors, the quality, and the service of the makers are just a few. I have never seen any one take as much pride in making a product as David Summers and his wife Jackie. Each and every jig has to be right or it won’t be put into a bag for someone to use. The hook must be right, the lead head must be right, the paint, the eyes, even the paint has to be cleaned out of the eye of the jig or it won’t make the grade. Others and myself have offered to help several times, but every jig had to pass a strict inspection. Even when they had more orders than they could fill, they would still take the time to do it right. They felt that the only way to make sure every thing was right, would be to do it themselves.

    David started making jigs for himself and a few friends just as a hobby. After many trials and errors, he came up with a jig that not only looked good, but also worked very well. Nothing pleased him more than catching fish on a jig that he made with his own two hands. He enjoyed making these jigs so much, he decided to make a few to sell to other fishermen. He bought a trailer to put his jigs in and took it to the lake on the weekends in March and April during the peak crappie season. It did not take long before the local fishermen and people vacationing from out of town were using TeeZur Jigs and started asking for more. At first, you would either have to wait until he took his trailer to the lake or go to his house to get his jigs. Then people started calling him at home to get jigs sent to them in the mail. They had order forms made and sent them to any one that wanted one. In just a few months, they had enough orders to keep them busy for several weeks.

    The first few years, they were selling around 3000 jigs per year. In 2003, they moved over 200,000 jigs and still had orders coming in daily. David decided that he was going to retire from his teaching job and devote all his time to making crappie jigs. He retired on a Monday in June of 2003 and the very next day found out that he had pancreatic cancer that had already spread to his liver. The doctors told him he would have six month to a year. After the initial shock of this terrible news, he decided that he was going to continue to make jigs until his health made him quit. David continued to pour the jigs and Jackie continued to paint, bag, and mail them to their customers. Even in his final days, his thoughts were with his family and the crappie anglers that he loved so much.

    On April 25, 2004 David Summers lost a hard fought battle with a monster called cancer. This monster may have taken his life, but it never took his high spirit or his love for life itself. There were two things in this world that this man really loved. One was his family and the other was making crappie jigs. David loved to laugh and make others laugh with him. He never met a stranger and would tell stories for hours to anyone that would listen. David was a good family man, a good businessman, and a good friend to all. I am proud to call him my friend and my brother.

    I would like to thank every one for supporting David and his family through this difficult time. Jackie is going to continue on with the TeeZur Jig business. You can contact her at 731-692-3908.





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