cadman

Mine is "Purple People Eater"

Thanks, for the info and I'll wait for your report. I was told as well to crawl it on the bottom, however I just haven't had a lot of success with it. I too have not really given it a lot of time to make an honest judgement about it. So I will have to do that this weekend.] Jigfishn10, that jig must work really well for you, looks like a lot of use on that one with a lot of battle scars. Even worn out jigs produce. BTW nice looking jig.

Keith, After looking at your hair jig, I really like the looks of it. Also you use one of my favorite hooks Owner 5304's. Can I ask you how well you do with hair jigs? I have tried them all year long, and I do not do welll with them at all. I must be missing something. I am a jig fisherman, so I do know how to use jigs. Thanks for any input.

I use Mend-It on all of my plastics (other than the elaztec plastic), from replacing claws to gluing Senko type baits split in half. I like it and it does work. Before I bought Mend-It, I used a small battery operated soldering iron, and that worked as well for me for years. Mend it takes a little getting used to, to work with, and you have to wait a bit for the glue to fuse the plastic pieces together. In another words, once you put the glue on, hold the two pieces together that need to be glued, and then I would wait a couple of hours before I would throw the bait, or preferably the next day. Before you use your bait, lightly pull on it to make sure that you don't have any spots on your bait that you didn't glue. If you missed a spot, just apply a little more Mend-It to the spot and your bait will be just as good as it was before.

You can easily make one out of a wire coat hanger or a metal piece of steel rod. Cut rod 6-8" long, bend hook for skirt end with long nose pliers. Then put a 90 degree bend other end so you can use it as a pull handle. That's it.

I would never make a statement saying there is no substitute for Rage Tail, because that is not true. These are all tools of the trade we need to assist us in catching fish. How you use them is up to you. There are many guys on this site that hand pour or use plastic injection systems that make craws. I've used them and they work just as well if not better than Rage Tail. So what makes Rage Tail so special, just because they are a sponsor and we have to promote them to our last dying breath. C'mon guys there is no one perfect plastic and many other brands catch a lot of fish as well. I would like to see what the response here would be if Netbait became a sponsor as well. What would would everyone say then? Would we have Rage Tail, Paca Chunk wars?????Just my persoanl opinion, if you want to delete this post go ahead. PS: With that kind of thinking since I own a Ranger than it's OK to make a general statement and say that there is no substitute for a Ranger boat? Senkosam, I like that you think outside the box and are trying new things and exposing everyone to new ideas. Job well done and I commend you on your ingenuity on posting other plastic baits as well in other threads on this site.

I don't know if the launch on Wilson road was open at the time and don't know if it is currently open. My friend has a house on there, and when we were out there, the water wasn't as high as the "Chain" was. Many docks were visible, we went slowly anyway. There was no water on any of the property as far as we saw on that day. BTW, they are planning to put in another ramp on the lake which will belong to the DNR. That is the word on the street so far.

I fished Long Lake two weeks ago with a buddy of mine. We fished for 6 hours on a cold and windy day. He got a 3.2 on a crankbait, which I personally think was a fluke. The rest of the day I fished with a jig, and got 4 fish, (2) 16", a 18" and my personal best which was a 5.1, which I was really shocked in the cold water . The water temp was 45 degrees. With that said I'm fishing Delavan this weekend, and will definitely be using a jig 90% of the time. I believe the fish will be hitting, however I don't expect neck snapping strikes. Just like Long Lake, I felt the fish, but they didn't have a lot of fight in them yet, but they are hungry. I either dragged my jig slowly on the bottom with pauses waiting for a pick-up or slowly swam my jigs. This is my take on the WI opener this weekend. Hope to see some of you guys out there. I'm from Northern IL.

I just picked up the garlic scent, regular and craw formula. Never fished it before, and am going to try it this weekend. I'll also report back on my findings. I unscrewed the cap on the garlic and could smell that, however I don't smell any difference between the regular and the craw formula. The real question is how do you know which one is which in the boat unless you mark the tubes. It would be nice to have the scent marked on the tubes from the manufacturer.

I used to tie with thread as well. If you are going to tie hair jigs then thread is the only way to go as it holds hair much better than anything else. If you want to tie silicone skirts on bass jigs, than wire is faster. I use .024 copper wire. You can find different colors at Michaels or Jo-Anne Fabrics. I use three wraps and tighten with small long nose pliers. Then trim with small side cutters.

Here are a few of mine, to start off my season. I started off with thread, and now I use wire for the silicone skirts. Much faster.

When you say hand tied. Are you referring to thread only or wire tied skirts as well.

You can use black indelible marker which is the easiest, and can be reapplied many times, however it won't last long. You can also dip your hooks in flat black powder paint up to the bend. Don't cover the hook point. Bake your hook, and it will last almost forever. Just like powder painted jigs. If you put a trailer on it , you will never see the shiny nickle color ever. I have done this in the past and it works really well. Do not torch your hooks. #1 you will lose the original temper of the steel, and #2you will not get the plating black, but more of a blue brown.

Siebert sells Arky jigs and they skip better than a brush jig. The flatter bottom glides really well on the surface of water and you can trim the skirt strands where they lay on the bottom of the jig to glide even better.

My jigs and a Netbait Paca chunk, wouldn't fish without them.

Grizzn Like mentioned throw the hooks out and replace with new. On the blades, if they are brass blades with a nickle finish, you can polish them out with some jeweler's rouge and a buffing wheel. You can also try rubbing compound followed by wax polish. Less abbrasive would be toothpaste. Now all this depends on how bad the rust is. if the nickle plating is throughj to the brass, you won't be able to polish this out except to re-plate. Finally also depends on how much time you want to spend. In all honesty, find someone to sell you som new blades, a lot cheaper in the long run.

Ben, Just some honest information here. If you have never poured lead before, I would suggest you be very very careful. Lead does burn and even the smallest splashes cause 3rd degree burns. So make sure you are paying attention to what you are doing. Although making your own jigs is fun and all, pouring the lead part is extremely dangerous. Don't take it for granted. One wrong step and you will get seriously burned. I'm not trying to scare you but it is what it is. The best way to learn how to pour is from someone that is already knowledgeable in this. Please be safe.

Ben, If you call up Do-It, they will send you a free jig mold catalog. In this catalog, they have all of their molds that they currently sell with the appropriate hook that the mold was originally made for. Another better source would be to go on Barlow's website, and when you find your mold, they will tell you every hook that will fit in that mold. It is an excellent source of information on molds and hooks.

Don, If you are trying to copy this jig for personal use only then fine. If you intend on copying it and then selling some than I strongly advise against it. If this is some companies jig that they currently make and sell on the market, than I would not do this. You will get sued. No-one wants their ideas stolen from them. Just some friendly advice.

Ben, Here is the deal on these molds. I have all of the Do-it molds, so I am 99% that I am correct. Weedless Football Jig $33.99 is Do-It's cross reference ##3318 model FBW-4-AF , 4 cavity mold 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4 oz.This mold accepts aberdeen hooks. Aberdeen hooks are meant to be bent and rebent if they get stuck. It is a weedless jig, that accepts a weedguard. If you are looking for a more versatile "Bass" foot ball jig buy the one below. Weedless Football Jig II $39.99 is Do-It's cross reference ##3434 model FBB-4H-AFM , 4 cavity mold 1/8, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 oz.This mold accepts two styles of hooks. Mustad #32786 (regular hook eye) and Mustad #32798 (flat eye). Both hooks are 60 degree. Also this mold will take a wide variety of other hooks along with different brands. It is a weedless jig, that accepts a weedguard. I strongly recommend this mold as it has a lot of flexibilty. Pm me I have some better pricing info for you to look into.

Definitely Jika rig, for the additional movement without doing much.

Wow, this is vary vague. Is this for school project or are you trying to come up with an idea for customization? If this is a school project, then I would suggest going to BPS, buy a spinnerbait and carefully dis-assemble it. The cost to make one will be way too expensive if you go component by component, because no-one sells just one of everything. I can explain to you how to make one from scratch, component by component, just PM me your e-mail.

Nothing wrong with trying. If you don't try you'll never know. I try not to follow the crowd on many things line was one of them. I didn't buy fire line or spider wire or anything else and always thought I was missing out. Until last year when I bought Power Pro braid. Just plain didn't like it and was disappointed. However some guy turned me on to Paca Chunks versus some of the other baits I used to use, and now my quantity of fish has doubled along with some bigger fish thrown in. So the moral is you never know unless you try.

What is the original paint on the jig head? Is triple thick an epoxy? I never heard of it so I can't comment on it. If you use epoxy, depends on what you use it will run. Some nail polish with its acetone base will soften paint, and will make it worse before better. I apply epoxy with a brush. I am really confused by all of this that you are doing and not familiar with this process. Are you making these jigs from scratch? If so a step by step explanation would help on how you go from a raw jig to the final finish and what specifically are you having problems with.

iabass8, Based on reading his description of how he puts his glitter on, it looks like he puts on the epoxy and covers the jig with fine glitter. I can't tell from his jig pics about his process, however if I had the jig in my hand I could tell you right away. There are several ways of applying glitter to a jig. If the jig is powder painted you can apply the glittered clear and then bake. You can also clear coat the jig with epoxy and sprinkle it on however, depending on the epoxy, it will sag and run, you can mix the glitter in the epoxy and then apply or you can spray it on with a spray can, and then clearcoat. Again it may run. I choose to powder paint the jig and then put on a glitter coat with a clear and then a clear epoxy coat to protect that if you want durability. I am confused by this statement "using triple thick to dip the jig head in" and "They are currently drying for 24 hours and then I need to coat them." Can you elaborate on these two statements you made and maybe I can help you further?