Kirk Bonanny

Howdy all! I've been pouring my own jig heads and such since I asked for and received my 1st mold (various sized round-head jig mold using Aberdeen hooks) along with a pack of 570 eagle claw #1 & 1/0 hooks for my 11th birthday as we lost at least a dozen every single time we went down the Susquehanna river in Exeter, Pa were I grew up as there was always three of us (at the minimum) with myself, my best friend and my brother virtually living down the river making a minimum of 250 trips to the river per year. Being pre-teens and from working class families, we had to earn our own money for fishing gear, which drove me to ask for a mold & hooks (started out melting lead on a Coleman gas stove in a small, old cast iron pot) and I taught myself how to tie marabou jigs, buck-tail jigs as well as countless 1/8 - 1/4 ounce jig heads for throwing grubs, worms etc etc. That was the only way we could afford to keep up with having enough lures to fish until I learned I could cross the river in hundreds of spots and be able to go out to retrieve my snags. I was cutting grass, shoveling snow and even delivering newspapers to come up with enough money to fuel my desire to go fishing just about every single day until ice flows made fishing impossible for a couple of months every year. I now have at least 30 molds and a couple thousand dollars worth of jig hooks, mold inserts etc on hand and probably pour at least 1000 jify igs/heads per year these days as I "supply" many of my friends as well as bass club members I've come to know through the years...I still hand tie at least 100 jigs per year, sell skirted jigs, dressed treble hooks etc etc as they're always in demand! There is one item I can't understand WHY it isn't available and that is a light wire, double wire weed guard such as those found on many commercial jig heads! This brings me to my question....does ANYONE know where I could source these weed guards by the hundreds or thousands??? I know there aren't any available molds for these to fit into, but I know I can easily modify a number of molds to make them accept a wire weed guard. I've already "customized" a few molds with my most in demand "custom" being ultra light tube jig heads (1/32, 1/16 ounce) utilizing hooks as large as 4/0 for bass sized tubes as a slower, erratic fall is often a game changer on heavily pressured waters! I must pour a couple hundred of these heads every year since i modified a mold to accept the larger hooks close to 20 years ago! I must have sold/given away/used several thousand of these heads alone since I devised this idea. I HOPE someone has some insight into these light wire (or even stranded wire) double wire weed guards. I greatly appreciate any and all information on this subject! Kirk Bonanny kbonanny@gmail.com **** I apologize for double posting this...I believe I posted this in the wrong category initially and *THINK* I have it in the right one now.

Hello! I have been pouring multiple styles of jig heads for almost 30 years now. I make all kind of jigs, jig heads, hair jigs, skirted jigs etc as well as tie dressed treble hooks & flies for the rare occasion I dig out my fly rod for Susquehanna River smallmouth. I throw a lot of buzzbaits and I am considering making the investment into a mold and supplies to make my own. I would like to know everyone's feelings about the molds available out there. I primarily throw 3/8 & 1/2 ounce buzzbaits though do throw lighter ones on occasion. I have a drawer full od skirt materials so would only need to buy the mold, wires forms, hooks, blades rivets etc. I greatly appreciate everyone's opinions. Thanks! Kirk.

I use old wheel weights for the majority of my pouring projects with no issues. The only time I've ever had a problem with this is with very small gated molds, such as a split shot mold. Pure soft lead resolves that problem, but being that 27 of my 28 molds work fine with the scrap lead, that is what I primarily use. To make life simple I use an old pot to melt the scrap and skim all of the slag off. Some wheel weight shave paint on them, they're all dirty and some use inferior metal. Once I "clean up" the scrap lead, I pour it into a home made ingot mold and it is ready to go into my big pot when I need to add more lead to it. I've been pouring for close to 30 years for myself and friends. If you have any questions...feel free to ask. Kirk

With crank baits I replace the split ring with the oval split rings that are designed so line can not get caught or cut where the rings open, though on many crank baits I simply remove the split ring altogether. I never use standard round split rings on my crank baits. the only good use I can think of for the round split rings is to use to connect hooks to lure bodies.

I tie my own jigs, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, so I always have loads of scrap strands from the skirts. I use them..the make a tool exactly alike the thread puller (for lack of the proper name) that pulls the thread through the bobbin.. simply slip that tool though the sinker that is already on your line, put a piece of skirt (rubber strands) material in the tool, and gently pull it back through the weight. Trim the excess and you're ready to go. The most expensive part of this is buying the thread puller (I don't know why I can not think of the right name at the moment) that will run $4-$6.00. You probably already have some spinnerbaits, jigs etc that have skirts that are falling apart, so the skirt material won't cost you a dime. Even if you had to buy a piece, it is cheap.

Tyler, if you're on a budget, now is the time to start scouring the sporting goods stores as this is the time of year when they have a decent clearance selection. I have bought most of my rods & reels this way, and in some case have saved well over $100.00. I don't know if your geographic location sees the same deals I see in NE Pa, but it is worth a shot. Last year I bought a $300.00 boat cover from Cabela's on clearance for $60.00. Granted, that is not the norm, but those kinds of deals do appear time to time. I have a Lamiglass 12' rod for float & fly fishing that retailed for over $200.00 that I paid $40.00 for... I'm not only married with 2 sons, but I am also disabled, so I have to stretch what ever I have carefully. I am fortunate in that I had a great business prior to getting sick and had almost everything I ever dreamed of, so now I rarely have to buy anything other than the typical yearly necessities like line, replace lost lures, re-stock my worms, jigs etc... The other way you could go is to scan the craigslist ads, as you'll almost always find some deals there. Hooking up with a local bass club can't hurt either. We had a small club up until 5 years ago, and had a couple of younger guys (college age, 18 or 19) that wished to join and fish but had very limited resources. A lot of us liked these guys and put together enough to get them started from equipment & lures each of us no longer used or wanted. We gave it to them, and they became fabulous members of the club.

I haven't even encountered the Uncle Josh Meat trailers, but in reading the description they have on their web page, it seems to be similar to what Super-Pork has had out there for years. I use the Super-Pork most of the time when I am jigging, and use the same brand in strips with spinnerbaits on a trailer hook.

About the only time I use a snap is for crankbaits. I throw a lot of jerk baits & top water lures where a snap would kill the action. I remove the split rings from my top water & jerk baits and tie directly to the eye loop. With a crankbait a snap allows for quick changes and allows the lure to achieve whatever action it was designed for with no adverse effects, at least none that I am aware of. My main lures aside from what I mentioned earlier I throw a lot of jigs and rubber, and a snap would certainly not be right (for me) on either. When I'm fishing the Susquehanna River (Pittston area) I throw a lot of spoons, some spinners etc, and with these I will through a snap/swivel to aid in reducing line twist. Hope this gives you some idea...feel free to ask me if you have any questions. Kirk

I wholeheartedly agree that lure prices are getting crazy, but our money doesn't go near as far as it did even 10-15 years ago, so it is a little bit of both. Prior to fishing in a tournament my most expensive lures were $5 to $8.00. I remember the first time I saw a Lucky Craft I thought to myself that I'd never spend that much for any lure... Until one day I drew a partner who was throwing a Pointer 78 and out fished my Rogue's & Rapala's 4:1 or better. That night I went out and bought two as this was a two day tournament and on the 2nd day I was able to slightly out fish him. I never dreamed that would have been possible, but seeing is believing! I now have more Lucky Craft (and other pricey lures) than I know what to do with, but I do use them very often. My main regret is that I have an old style Lucky Craft Crankbait I bought when I was afraid to spend that kind of money on a single lure. That lure has won me many a river tournament, and by the time I realized what I had that model was discontinued. I tried custom painting other cranks in the Nishiki (Clown) color but they do not produce anywhere near as well as that single lucky Craft. I always keep my eyes open hoping to encounter a few more of these, but I think that well dried up a long time ago.

I have quite a few brands of poppers, but I've had the most success with a Zell-Pop.. white belly, light gold sides, brownish back. I have thrown most brands that are out there and no other brand seem to come close to the one Zell-Pop. I must have changed the hooks on that popper 30-40 times over the years... this lure has many miles on it and is looking pretty ratty, but it is still a bass catching machine. I also throw chuggers, with the Chug-Bug nailing a number of tournament lunkers for me over the years. I don't quite know why, but on the Susquehanna River the Chug-Bug is a top 5 lure for me. I have had some good results with it on lakes as well, but they don't match what the same lure gets me on the river. I have a theory that the rattles on the river help as the bass there are not heavily pressured, whereas the vast majority of lakes I fish get pounded all of the time with tournaments and pleasure fishermen alike. Kirk

I prefer a neutral jerk bait myself, but have modified a couple to slowly rise, but none to sink. Many times I'll set it up so that the back of the lure is a fraction of an ounce lighter than it originally was so I can get that "nose down" look that seems to work quite well for me. I also fish a lot of clear water lakes and live in north-eastern Pennsylvania, so we fish similar types of water. I primarily use Lucky Craft Pointers as well with my main ones being the size 78 (I think)... I can't remember for the life of me at the moment if these have rattles, but I am split down the middle on the rattle aspect... sometimes they seem to help while at other times they seem to hinder. One piece of advice I'd like to add is to throw these whenever you have decent water visibility as they will load the boat in short order year round, at least around me they will. I can cover water with a jerk bait quite quickly..if that bite drops down I'll rework some of the spots I may have covered that showed some potential with worms, jigs etc... I have found in real clear water as you described you can call fish up from great depths or from a good distance with these lures. The colder the water, the slower you want to work these... An example would be 40 degree water not long after the ice clears up here... I may go 20-40 seconds (or longer) between twitches, and I want that lure to suspend. Water temperature will affect how the lure reacts, either rising, sinking or suspending, so be aware of that. One the water gets to 50 and above, I literally rip these all the way back to the boat. I have a 6' Browning Citori rod paired up with a Bass Pro Johnny Morris high speed reel specifically for jerk bait fishing. I am short (5'7") so anything longer than a 6' rod with this technique (same applies to me for topwater) is too long for me. I work my jerk baits with the tip down, right off the edge of the water and when ripping it I twitch twice and reel in the slack and repeat, quickly. Hope this helps..feel free to ask any questions if you would like. Kirk

I make finesse jigs down to 1/16th of an ounce, and all of my skirts will have between 18 to 24 strands on these, and I also cut them so they only extend past the hook of the jig by no more than 1/8". I only use these in black, brown & green pumpkin with a small piece of pork as an added attraction and to slow the rate of fall. I hammer both largemouth & smallmouth bass on these by throwing them around docks & pilings on a crystal clear lake that I fish. The smaller amount of strands keeps the profile of the bait on the small side which I've found to be important on highly pressured bass. I also thin out all of my buzzbaits and some of my spinnerbaits. It may be a confidence issue, but I feel very confident following up the docks the crankbait guys skim through in short order...and I've made a few of them mad by winching out some nice bass in the spot they just left. I also fish full skirted jigs, especially in dingy water. The Susquehanna River is one of my favorite places to fish, and unless it is early spring or late fall/winter the visibility there is a couple of feet at best, so the larger profile lure sends out more "waves" to let the bass know something is in the area. Kirk

Subtleness can often make the difference with topwater baits. I have the most success "walking the dog" (make the lure continually go left to right/side to side) by twitching the rod in quick, short, downward snaps. This is critical if using a cigar style bait such as a Zara Spook. With the spook alone I usually have 3 models of the same lure..one with no rattles, the standard issue spook with rattles and the one knocker spook, just let the bass tell you what they want. To generalize this, the clearer the water, the less noise I want from the lure. That is not a hard fast rule mind you, but it is a good starting point for me. You'd work a Lucky Craft Sammy the same way, and I can even work a popper the same way. The one thing I noticed when fishing poppers is that clear water requires a more subtle action and dingy water will find me making a commotion on the surface...again, not a hard & fast rule..... The other important part of this equation in my experience is structure or cover... an example would be fishing stick-up or wood that breaks the surface of the water... don't be afraid of snagging (I know, with the price of some of these lures this can be a scary proposition, but well worth the risk...besides, I've never snagged a topwater I couldn't retrieve after I was done fishing the area) as I want to bang that topwater off of any piece of structure that I can find. That really seems to trigger some vicious strikes from largemouth as well as smallmouth, though it is far more common with largemouth in my area. One pointer I offer to anyone fishing topwater is to be patient setting the hook. That took me a lot of missed hook-ups until I was able to settle myself down with the hook sets. I know wait until I feel the fish before setting the hook. I can't tell you how many times I hooked up on the second strike as the bass missed the lure on the 1st attempt... and if you set the hook as soon as you see the boil on the water you'll miss a lot of Bass. The easiest way to learn this when working a stick bait is to try not to focus on the lure... I will work mine back just going off of sound on days that I'm setting the hook too quickly and go strictly by feel. I usually have to do this for my 1st dozen casts with a topwater to allow myself to settle down. My other pointer is to make sure you continually stay up on your hooks. With treble hook lures I will wind up changing the hooks (or sharpening them in a pinch) every 3rd or 4th trip out when I use the same lure. I tie my own feathered trebles to boot and carry a variety of hook styles, sizes and dressing colors with me most of the time. No feeling is worse than losing a place in a tournament knowing you had the fish on but was unable to land it due to it becoming unbuttoned due to a slightly dull hook. Have a good one, Kirk.

I am a diehard topwater fisherman, and while I will agree that smallmouth will try to destroy these lures, I have had great success with largemouth as well. I can usually get either species at any time of the day so long as the water surface isn't too choppy. The only exception I've seen to this rule is with a buzzbait, as a light chop can actually be better with a buzzbait. For topwater largemouth I fish it in and around structure 75% of the time...especially with pads or grass. The other way I've had good success with for larger bass is to fish them over deep water (8-15') with clear water seemingly being preferred. The one difference between smallmouth & largemouth with topwaters is the action you impart on the lure.... smallmouth will generally nail a popper regardless of action, but largemouth seemingly prefer a more subtle action be it walking the dog or whatnot. Another ticket to largemouth would be a radical direction change, especially with a buzzbait. Running your lure into structure will also trigger a lot of strikes. Hope this helps, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Kirk

Howdy! I am Kirk Bonanny and live in north-eastern Pennsylvania in the greater Pittston area (Jenkins Twp). I grew up in Exeter, Pa which is just across the Susquehanna River from Pittston. I am a die-hard Susquehanna River rat, and have been fishing the same 5 mile stretch since I was 11. I first went fishing when I was a young child, most likely around age 6 or so with my dad. I used to fish the river around 125-150 days per year, but other responsibilities and health problems have curtailed that number significantly. I am 42, married and have 2 sons. Chris is 15 and Harrison is 12. Aside from fishing the river I fish numerous lakes, and I am on lakes more often than the river these days. I joined a small bass club in the mid 90's and met a lot of great people there. The club disbanded 5 years ago, but we're trying to fire it up again this year with the tournaments closer to home. I primarily am a bass fisherman, though I will go out for Walleye down the river when the mood catches me right. I make a lot of my own jigs & jig heads. I think I have close to 3 dozen lead molds. I also tie a lot of hair jigs, treble hooks, etc... have built a couple of rods and maintain & repair reels for just about everyone I know that fishes. I love the competitive nature of tournaments, though due to my health can not fish them as often as I'd like to . I was diagnosed with Adult Onset Stills Disease in 2004, and that wrecked my body that I spent years bulking up by lifting & running... these days I am happy when I can stand up straight. My personal best fish to date are: Largemouth Bass, 25.5" (estimated between 8-10 lbs... camera was in the boat but battery was dead as my friend left it on all day... biggest that I have a photo of is 23" and on a Berkley digital scale weighed 7 lbs, 11 ounces. Smallmouth Bass, 21" @ 4.01 lbs.. that one won me lunker on a Susquehanna River tournament. Walleye, 34", not weighed. My main lures are topwater (buzzbaits, Zara Spooks, Lucky Craft Sammies), jigs (hair jigs, tubes, skirted jigs, grubs etc..) rubber worms (zoom trick worms, Berkley power worms, many others).. Depending where I am I will also throw crankbaits, spoons (mainly on the Susquehanna), twitch baits and a host of others, though I am throwing topwater, worms or jigs 90% of the time. I have a 17' Sylvan aluminum V-hull. I primarily run the 50/35 Evinrude jet outboard, but have the same year Evinrude 50 prop motor as well. When I was heavily into tournaments I'd switch the outboards depending where we were fishing, and I used to be able to swap them out by myself in under an hour. I am an ASE Certified Master Auto Technician, owned an auto service garage for years but due to health can no longer reliably function. I still love to do anything related to mechanical, electrical & paint work to this day, but it takes me a lot longer than it used to. Oh well, enough for now. Hope to hear from some good people here, and thanks for having me.