smalljaw67

Big is a relative term and depends on the area you are fishing. Where I live, guys love throwing Pointer 78s in the spring, well when the fall jerkbait bite goes into action, the Pointer 100 is the preferred bait. I use the Pointer as it is easy to understand but say that you were catching good fish in the spring on a 3.5 or a 4" soft swim bait, in the fall go up to maybe a 4.5 to 5" model, remember, you still want to match the size of the forage, the deal is that in fall the forage is at its largest body size so go with that. Spinnerbaits are used a lot but an over looked item in fall is the swim jig, what I do here depends on water conditions, when fall hits and the water temp drops we get clear water so I'll use the the same 1/4oz swim jig but rather than a 3.5" grub or soft swim bait I'll use a 4" swim bait, it doesn't sound like much of a change but in my area the growing season is a few months and often you only have a half inch difference is size from spring until fall in forage so keep the size relative to the water you fish.

These rods are all going to be stiff, and it is what you are going to get for suggestions as you are looking for something to punch with, have you ever used the technique? How about pitching? What kind of cover and what weight of lures are you talking about? These kind of specifics will help because when we hear punching, the vision that comes to mind for just about everyone here is dropping 1oz to 2oz weights with a skirt and soft plastic rigged up through thick matts of milfoil or other emergent vegetation. The same thing for pitching, we see 3/8oz to 3/4oz jigs and texas rigs being pitched to docks and under over hangs and into tight places around brush, these type of places with the lures and techniques don't work to well with medium power, moderate action rods, the rod has to have enough power to drive home a heavy wire hook, sometimes though a lot of weeds and brush, if the weeds or brush are heavy enough, with a medium moderate tip rod the rod will load up before the hook even gets close to penetrating cutting down on the actual force needed. Based on your experience, it sounds as if most of your fishing has been in moderate to light cover and open water, so when you say you want a rod to punch and pitch, are you talking about the same stuff we are, this may help.

An extra fast tip will make the rod stiffer, what is your aversion to a rod with a fast action that is stiff? If you want to pitch and punch cover I would only recommend a moderate fast or moderate action rod only if you are using heavy braid or a good low stretch fluorocarbon line and those rods would be heavy power, not medium heavy and especially not medium, that is a cranking rod. I have a 7'2" casting rod I use for pitching, it is a stout MH with an xtra fast tip which makes it stiff but with a 3/8oz jig tied on it loads up just enough to really help me get good distance and accuracy plus I can move a big bass out of cover quickly. I just want to know why a stiff rod bothers you? Are you new to bass fishing or the techniques you want to learn, I just never heard of anyone looking for something other than a cranking rod that is hung up on the stiffness of a rod before, I'm not being smart, I just want to understand so I can help find you a good match in a rod.

That is a great job, the build is nice and the action is spot on!! Don't think the top water bite is gone, I remember an old B.A.S.S. invitational tournament that was in November were a guy by the name of Jim Morton won on a buzzbait , it was cold as there was all kinds of bad weather but a buzzbait in November. If the water temp is in the upper 50s to low 60s, you can get a topwater bite and with that big rat I bet it would call up a giant looking for a big meal before the real cold hits.

The Ballistic cranking rods are a great buy at the price point, the only knock on the Ballistic when they came out was that Daiwa enthusiast were looking at a rod that was going to compete with the Zillion and the look seemed really great but a lot were wondering with the $99.00 price point and while they are good rods, they didn't have the "wow" factor so if you need a shallow to mid depth cranking rod don't fear, you'll get a deal as they are pretty decent and a great value at the price point.

I found that both the Rapala lock-n-weigh, along with the Berkley digital lip grip are really accurate for the money, both can be had for under $50 and both are accurate witin 1oz to 2oz. and mine seem to be under rather than over. Boga Grips are the only ones I know of that are accurate enough to be certified but they are also fairly expensive. The X-Tools scale was really good until they discontinued them and for what it is worth, the lip grip scale model seem to be more accurate than the hook models, that is just from my experience.

I use a Cabelas utility binder along with a plano 3600 box. The binder holds my go to jigs which change depending on the body of water I'm fishing, I have the clear binder bags labeled with size, color and type of jig that makes them quick and easy to find. If I am going to fish a lake that has a lot of brush and I know based on the conditions that I will probably use a jig then I take my large binder and in it will be 10 bags of jigs, 3 bags of 1/4oz jigs, 1 bag will have arky heads, another will have a brush head, and another will have a round head, the same thing with the others, 3 bags of 3/8oz, 3 bags of 1/2oz, and 1 bag I have assorted skirts on a collar in case I have a jig skirt get ripped up or I need just a change in color. In my bag I have a 3600 plano box that has extra colors of each size jig, I normally will have 3 to 5 colors of each size and again, this is stuff I found over time so keeping a log will help down the road, it allows me to keep my gear down. I do keep a few extra "odd ball" colors and patterns just in case but the tackle binder allows you quick access to the most productive jigs in your arsenal, you can also add trailers to it if you limit the jigs or sizes.

When I buy a new bait, I usually get 2, either 1 color and 2 different sizes or 2 different colors, it depends on the bait. If I go out and find that the new bait was a good one, I'll often go and get at least 1 duplicate of what worked and maybe a few other colors so I have something for any condition. I restock hard baits as I go but when the water gets hard, that is when I go through my soft plastics and see which ones need to be restocked so I make it through the season.

I think they are the most under rated lipless cranks ever made and I'll give you some pros and cons. I prefer other lipless baits but Insanity told you the best tip you could get, they are great for high pressured lakes, if you have good conditions and are in an area where a lipless crank should work and you can't seem to get a bite, take off the bait you have on a put a rattlin' rapala on and you will get bit. I believe the smaller profile and quieter sound often are key, these are great to cover water with in the post spawn period, when the fish are scattered and spooky, and I'll agree with others that there are better baits on the market but the rattlin rapala is a good bait under tough conditions like post spawn.

Felix, my 7'6" flipping stick is a heavy power, fast action, my pitching rod is a medium heavy with an extra fast action, it is rated 3/8oz to 1oz, a fairly stout medium heavy and the extra fast tip makes it great to pitch with. There is differences to consider like the line type, on my flipping stick I have braid, the fast action is great but the extra fast action doesn't have enough give so I don't use braid to pitch, if I'm in heavy cover I will flip, and if I am going to make a pitch in heavy cover it is usually with 20# big game but if I was going with braid my rod would be a fast or moderate fast action.

I like Silver Thread AN40, super low memory and outstanding abrasion resistance, the same can be said for Excalibur, I use those up to 12# and when I go to 15# or 20# then I go with Berkley big game, memory is more than I like but it is very abrasion resistant and it is lower in stretch than a lot of others, I was quite impressed with it the first time I used itand now I have it in bulk spools.

I use shorter rods, my flipping stick is 7'6" but I pitch with a 7'2". A lot of people get flipping and pitching mixed up, the reason for the long rod when flipping is you get further reach, the line you use is out and the reel is engaged, kind of like dunking a worm with a cane pole. Pitching is normally done with the same rod but I don't, I find a slightly shorter rod works better with the way I pitch, which is with a good bit of line out, with the longer rod my bait ends up hitting the water when I begin to make the pitch so the 7'2" is great. I've used the 7'2" pitching rod as a close quarter flipping stickbut have the reach of a long rod lets you stay further out while putting the bait exactly where it needs to go.

I've been on the bio-silk since it came out, awesome stuff!! Flatline rubber and round rubber will melt and clump together to the point you can pull it apart when stored wet or for long periods of time, it is why I got away from using rubber but the bio-silk separates and moves better than regular silicone in the water, I make combination skirts using living image silicone as an accent color to the bio-silk.

Janns used to only carry 1 size, a #4 I believe, I used to get them from Lure Parts Online which was Stamina at the time and then Barlows but Barlows used to only have the hammered blades, they may have more by now. I may have some left but the ones I have will be smooth finish, not hammered.

I've made them before, it depends on what size but on a 3/8oz bait with 3 blades I use a size #3 bottom, a size #4 middle, and a size #6 top. For a 1/2oz bait I would go with a #4, #5 and a #7, you need to remember when using tomahawk blades the odd sizes,3,5, and 7 will point to the right and the even sizes, 4,6, and 8 will point left. Because of the design of the blades, to get 3 of them going the bottom blade is the odd one but it gives the bait a unique look, personally, I always liked the baits made with the tomahawk blade but they aren't popular as they have very little vibration, these are clear water blades and I can tell you from experience that in clear water they work great but the lack of vibration doesn't go well in stained water.

Yep, a pint of latex is less expensive than powder paint but then you have to apply a top coat so you just increased the price, 2 oz of powder will do anywhere from 400 to 900 jigs depending on the size. I also never heard of anyone using latex for lures, I've used vinyl and I know some who use epoxy paint but you are the first I ever heard of to use latex, and not to knock what you are doing but I would not recommend it unless the clear coat being used is super strong, the idea is for a tough finish that is water proof, maybe I'm behind the times but I would love some more information on this. Do you use 2 coats? do you need a white base coat like vinyl and epoxy? How long does it need to dry before adding a second color? This could be worth looking into.

I'll be honest with you, I have really liked the last 2 lines of the Fenwick rods, the ET smallmouth and the Aetos, I haven't had any experience with the new Cumara but I know based on the other rods from Shimano including the other Cumara that you will have to go with a heavy power for what you want to do, and I'm thinking that the new Cumara uses the Cumulus blank, if that is the case then that may even be too light. The Powell would be good as would the Aetos in MH and the only knock on the Recon 2 series is that the actions are still slower than what the rod lists which could be a benefit if using a super line. I know Phenix made the fast actions truer than the first generation but they are still slower than most other fast actions so if you are using a copoly or flouro I would say you either go with the Aetos or the Powell but the Fenwick MH has a lot of power in a light package that you could use without having to step up to a heavy power rod but I am biased as I have 5 Fenwick rods now.

The specs on lure weight are just a guide line and not specific, I can tell you with some manufactures you have more lee way while others are spot on. Falcon rod specs are generally right on the money, I was trying the Bukoo out, great rod by the way, and it was the medium cranker, 1/4oz to 1/2oz and those specs were very dialed in, any crank in the 1/4oz range would load the rod and it was no problem tried a 1/8oz Lucky-E-Strike RC series 1 and I found I could cast it but it was the reel, on the retrieve I had very little feel. On the high end, well it was spot on, a 5/8oz bait was about as heavy as I'd go and that even felt like I was pushing it. On the other hand my MH Fenwick is rated for 3/8oz to 1 oz. and I can throw a 1/4oz bait on pretty good, and 1 oz isn't a problem but 1 1/4oz is the heaviest I would go as you can feel how the rod is reacting. If you are using 1/4oz jigs in 10' of water, the rod you are looking at may be too much, look for a lighter action.

Great!!! I know it was long and boring but I've been making tackle for 17 years now and over that time I bought a lot of paint, wire, tools, and pounds of skirt material from guys that asked the exact same question as you did and rather than lose a chunk of change on something that may not generate the results you want and therefore cause you to stop and sell off your stuff, I figured I'd give you the whole story.

I know you are trying to get into making tackle in hopes of selling but unless you have a real passion to do it I would advise against it. The first thing is that you are not going to compete against big manufacturers, you aren't going to do the volume but, there is a niche, the custom lure crowd and tournament anglers, these groups pay more for a better made product as by doing low volume there is more attention to detail and often better components and hooks that what is mass produced. If you go into this looking for the cheaper way to do things, well it isn't going to get you to far, the market is saturated and there is a product at every price level so you have to make a great product at a reasonable price in a reasonable amount of time so have quality equipment is part of doing that. Another part is that you are going to have to use good hooks, be prepared to buy in lots of 1000 or more to get a price that will allow you a greater profit margin, if you can't buy in bulk and make a high quality jig, well your profit margin is going to be very thin, after you pay the excise tax you'll be looking at making a few cents per jig and that is why you have to have a passion for it because you will put in a lot of hours and get little for it, trust me. I love helping guys get into tackle making, I think it is a super rewarding hobby and I love to see all the different creations people come up with and the feeling you get catching a fish on a lure you made yourself is unbelievable but if you want to do it to save money or make money I will tell you the truth, you won't save money, well not right away, it will take years to recoup the start up cost, and as I already outlined, the profit margins are so low that you have to have a passion as often you will be getting less than minimum wage when you add up what you make versus the amount of hours. If you truly think you will like doing it and think you'll make money then consider investing at least $300, that will get you enough to make around 50 jigs. If you still think you will continue I will gladly help, I once had a side business while working a day job so I've been on that side as well as now being a hobbyist so I know how to begin but you can't go into it looking for cheap, especially when it comes to molds as that is your product, instead look on tackle making web sites for used molds, check ebay and the same tackle making web sites out for hooks and other things, often guys that had businesses or a big hobby looking to get out will sell their stuff at a discount but it will be far from cheap.

Hair jig in the 1/8oz to 3/16oz variety will work when the fish aren't active, as for moving baits, going into the cold water season try suspending jerkbaits, the rapala X-Rap XR-8 is glass ghost, clown, or silver will work great, if you have more expensive taste then the lucky craft pointer 78 will be more your style. You also have to include tubes, for that type of water I would go with either a 2.75" or 3" tube with anywhere from a 1/16 oz to 3/16oz jig head.

Tyler j, since you know about a vise and bobbin already I will move on to thread, I tie all my bass jigs with 210 denier UTC or Danville flat waxed nylon, I do occasionally use 140 denier for float-n-flies but that is another subject. To make smallmouth jigs you just need the jig head you want to use, the thread and then the type of hair you want, I recommend buck tail and rabbit, those are my main materials for making hair jigs for bass. I can't post pics here anymore or I would show you an example of tying hair with silicone or round rubber in the mix, for the rubber you can buy star flash skirts (round silicone) and then cut the band and use the strands to tie in with the hair. If you look on youtube under smalljaw, I have some tying videos covering the float-n-fly which uses mallard flank feathers, finesse rabbit hair jigs and buck tail jigs along with a football and a round head craw jig. Seeing it being done is easier than trying to put it in words.

You did it now, just wait, you'll get heads and skirt material and then it won't be long until you have a melting pot and a couple of molds. Welcome to the wonderful worl of tackle making, and I believe you have started the right way, do a little at first to see if it is for you or not and then slowly work your way up. I'm just kidding about the pouring part but it does sound like you really enjoyed using powder paint and if you liked that I'm going to guess you'll like making the skirt too but some are happy to do that, others like to go for the entire thing, I know I did and I love every minute of it and the winters will be much easier to take, good luck and enjoy, BTW, nice job with the jigs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cover water, that is what you need to do, if you see fish roaming a flat a square bill or spinnerbait will do wonders and put fish in the boat. If they move off the flat if the weather changes then look at yo-yoing a lipless crank off the first break. Smallmouth in lakes move differently than those in rivers, weather changes will affect smallies in a lake within an hour while it can a full day or longer to affect river fish in general as flowing water will stay more consistent. The other thing I would try is to slowly fish a swimbait, either a hollow body on a weighted hook or jig head or a soft plastic one on a jig head or on the back of a swim jig, those types baits can be killer right now on smallmouth and if the water gets down to the low 50s or upper 40s don't forget the suspending jerkbaits, larger 4" to 5" models are best in fall as forage fish are at their biggest.

The thing you need to remember is this bait makes little noise, you need to be on fish in order for it to work, a good friend of mine has used it almost the entire summer, he has caught some fish in stained water with about 2 feet of visibility, any worse and he didn't get bit so while it did work in off colored water, there did have to be some visibility, if you are dealing with less than 2' of visibility then go with a different bait.