Downeaster2010

I know most of you are heating your jigs with a heat gun. What do you consider a good gun and what to stay away from. Also what settings are you using, HI or Low when heating your jigs. I have been searching for adequate toaster ovens. I don't want one of those small one that cost 15 dollars, but the regular size, and has a place for the upper rack.. Any imput appreciated.

I built custom rods for many years, but no longer. Most prominent tackle shop know the rod builders, and those that can repair rods, and replace guides. Contact a Tackle shop in your area and inquire. It would be easy for you to build one yourself. Cabelas has a good source, and a tackle building handout similar to a fishing catalog. They generally send a how to, booklet with every rod kit that is purchased. There glues and finishes are also excellent. Great way to start, and get a superior product once you have finished.

That is exactly what I needed to know. It will mainly be used for spinner baits, and a variety of ideas that I have.

You did a pretty good job not being a rod builder. The rod is just a tool, and you should get a lot more workable years out of it. Most butts can be extended without too much trouble with a piece of rod that is a little bit larger. You need to take rod builders glue, and make wraps of masking tape on the original rod blank, then fit the new butt section on until the butt fits snug. You may need to tear a small piece of masking off until it is just right. Then put the glue to it, and slide on the new butt. Leave overnight, and you will never get it apart again. I used to build and repair rods for a local tackle shop. Just about anything can be done, with a little thought. I never throw away broken rods, as they are used again for repairs to other rods. One tool that a rod builder needs is a ream that will sand the inside of a blank. We make our own, by taking a piece of rod about 16 inches long cover it with glue, and roll it in black magic that you would use for sand blasting. Works great.

I had some that did, but those were early boxes. I believe most manufacturers today are aware of the worm problems and have adapted there boxes to accomodate worms without warping.

I am looking at getting the Boggs wire bender, and was wondering if anyone else uses one of these. If someone does, what wire would you recommend. I just don't want to take a stab in the dark.

Presently as I am new to the powder paint, I have been using a propane torch, and success has been fairly good. I can see a lot of tacklemakers use the heat gun, and i believe I will lean that direction. I did manage to pick up some good tips online that have helped me a lot. I fished the tournament scene back in the 80's and early 90's and of course made my own tackle and rods. Then I left it for tuna fishing, then retirement and now back to bass. Once I started to pour jigs again, I was amazed at all the new products available. Of course we didn't have computers to pass knowledge back and forth when I stopped building jigs in the early 90's. Having a fraternity of brothers building jigs is a wonderful thing. I hope to purchase 3 or 4 new jigs molds every year and powder paint and rubber in bulk. I caught hundreds of bass of my old jigs painted with rustoleum paint. I may not catch more with the new powder, but they sure will look a lot more appealing to me. I am looking for a toaster oven now, and plan on building the fluid bed right off. I am feeling a lot more confident now. Thanks my brothers.

Why not try to make them digestable to a fish that swallows one and gets away. Here in Maine, we constantly catch trout with rubber worms in the bellys. The trout have had the rubber in their stomach for months resulting in the eventual death of the trout from starvation. Either a rubber product that would breakdown after a few days in the water, or one that is digestable would work. None of us anglers want to get rid of rubber products, but the rubber presently used kills thousands of our hatchery, and wild trout. Most of the rubber the trout are consuming are pieces that broke off during fishing, or worms discarded overboard without regard for other fish. Ice fishermen in Maine are complaining loudly about rubber products.

I like them both. I caught many a bass on both your color setups. I was surprised at how well the black/blue pulled in a big largemouth.

Okay, I am in tune now. I plan on getting a cheap toaster over, and building a fluid bed for the powder paint. A lot of things have changed since I started back in the 80's. Luckily I have recovered 3 of my early Do-it molds from one of my friends that had them for 20 years. I never had my jigs look as good as they do with the powder dip, and I caught hundreds of fish off them. I may not catch any more fish, but the jigs will have a much better eye appeal. After leaving bass fishing for 20 years, I am back with a vengence.

Ok, I found some vids online, that show the baking of the jig. That problem is solved. Now some of the jigs I dipped are a few weeks old. Can I bake them, or leave them alone, and only cook the new pours.

Are you refering to cooking them in an oven for 15 or 20 mins. That would be no. Would that help.

I have been building bass jig lures for over 30 years. Back when I started we dipped the lures in Rustoleum paint, then hung them up to dry. Now I see there are many new paints. I have been on a seista for 20 years but now back making jigs. I have been using the new powder paint, and find that a pretty easy method. I don't find the paint very durable to dings. I want to put a hard finish on them. What do most of you use.

I bass fished Thousand islands, Candlewood, Connecticut river, Ticonderoga, Hopatcong years back.

My Avatar calls me a fry, but I have been building and tying jigs for over 20 years now. I used to bass fish tourneys up and down the east coast back in the 80's and 90's, but quit to Tuna fish for a few years. I live in the Western Mountains of Maine now, and back into the bass fishing, but pleasure only. A lot has changed in the past 10 years, with better molds, skirts, and color paints. It is easy for a new comer to build a nice looking jig today. I am retired, so I have a lot of time for hobbies. My bass fishing now is in the western mountains of Maine. Gin clear water, and deep. I like seeing a lot of us with the same hobby and in different parts of the country. Its a fraternity.

First of all Do-it makes most of the molds you would use today. Many different companies sell their molds and components that make up your jig. I happen to think Barlows Tackle sells their molds and components for a decent price. If you buy directly from Do-it the molds are about $15 more so that is a last choice. Building jigs is easy, if you screw up a couple of jigs just throw them back in the melting pot and redo them. Powder painting is good, but has a little learning curve to it. Watch some of the video's on Do-it molds site, and you can learn a lot.

Those jigs look great, and love the new rubber. I still have pounds of the older rubber in 4 or 5 colors so am tying mine with it. I will eventully purchase some of the newer color designs. Your jigs are very nice, and you will have to trim down your weedguards prior to fishing them. Otherwise you are an artist.

Here in Maine once you get 20' from shore most lakes and ponds are over 10' fow. Pretty much everyone likes to fish shallow first then go deep. Fishing deep water which I consider 15' to 40' requires a confidence factor. During midday during summer months most bass in Maine are on vertical ledges or rock piles in more than 20' fow. I do like a slow falling jig or worm when fishing shallow, and prefer the small jig while finise fishing. I have been bass fishing since 1972 and have over the years developed a confidence in about 15 different lures. I fortunately have about 15 lakes or ponds within a 20 drive from my home, and depths range from 40' to 150' fow. Of course we don't fish 150' fow, but do get down to 40' with regularity during warm months. I have caught many largemouth in 40' plus fow. The Snootie will not work here but I want it for soft presentation around shallow structure. I see that there is a big improvement in hooks and paints over the past few years, and can't wait to start pouring again. I used to have to use fingernail paint to paint and fingernail polish to secure my tying wraps after the build. What a change. One tip I like that I will pass on is I used to use a black or brown rubber, then add a small amount of pink to a black jig, and orange to a brown. I also like the black blue combo and don't know but that may be my fav. Years back in a tournament my partner and I fished a small cove and caught our limit in 30 minutes. We immediately left for some deep water ledges that worked up from 50 fow to 10 fow. I positioned the boat over the upper part of the ledge, and we pitched our jigs out to the bottom of the ledge and worked them up. We culled all our previous catch over and won the tournament in going away style. I tired of tournaments in the late 90's after winning one, and have never fished a tournament again. Now it is just for pleasure.

First off try to start simple. Purchase a mold from a reputable dealer, with 50 hooks of the size your mold calls for. Pouring is simple and easy. Buy some jig paint in what color you expect to use. Purchase some skirts, and you are a winner. I have quite a few molds that are 25 years old, and still working great. I started tying bass jigs in 1990 and still use them. Once you see how well they work you will want more molds. Consider what kind of hook you are going to want, and look closely at the mold. With Doit molds the hooks are listed on the mold itself. You don't have to be too artistic to catch bass.

Cadman I have been tying jigs for about 25 years, and have many Do-it molds but not the Snootie Jig. What mold size is the one you prefer. I would assume the smaller of the two. I recently put in a new order for more jigs including the brush jig and football. I haven't built jigs for a few years now, and molds and paints have changed for the better. But, I am into it again for my own pleasure. I use to tournament fish, but gave that up 20 years ago. I moved to an area where there are a lot of lakes and ponds, and it is a mixture of smallmouth and largemouth. Some lakes are 150 foot deep but most average less than 40 ft. I need the football for the lakes to 40 foot. Lakes here in Maine, all seem to have a lot of deep rocks and ledges left over from the ice age. Many are gin clear.

I have been tying jigs for over 25 years, and some of those look better than anything I ever put out. I also bought Do-it molds, back when they didn't have many different ones to choose from. We used to use fingernail paint, automotive paint in the small touch ups. They would catch fish just find, but never looked as good. I have a lot of molds but agree with Grizzn N Bassin, I too would like to pick up one of those molds and in the do-it catalog, the hooks don't look quite the same. Is it a Do-it mold. I would like one of these molds...

Find a local club that has a opening for a non boat owner. This is the fastest way for you to learn. There are usually a few boat owners that need a partner in club tournaments. Prepare yourself to pay for the fuel for the boat owner. You will make some life time friends in the clubs. Good luck.

Very nice job

You did fine. I have been tackle building for over 30 years, and rod building for 20. When I started a very professional builder helped me get started with rod building. Luckily I had a bunch of old rods laying around that had bad guides etc. You can remove the old guides and replace with new and better than the original. Cabelas makes an easy guide for you, and they also have some of the best finishs available. When doing small rods alway use the smallest thread usually size A. Size C is for larger saltwater rods. If you can purchase some older Dale Clemmons books, of which he wrote several you will gain a lot of knowledge from them. Strip down some of your old rods, Once stripped use some light sand paper and lightly sand the rod. Use some paint, like rustoleum black, etc, and spray the rod. I always used flat black, because when you put the finish on the rod, it will shine like new. The rod finish and glue from Cabelas is in small packets, and 1 is usually enough for one small rod. Cabelas has a nice rod building catalog, with most options for the biginner. Normally the rod won't be any cheaper in price, but will be of a better quality parts, and finish once completed. You will need some tools, all cheap. Get a burnishing tool, some thread cutter wihich is similar to hedge shears but on a smaller scale. Get some small plastic cups like what you would take medicine with in the hospital. Get some wooden stirrs. I used to use the stick from a popcycle, or ice cream on a stick. This will give you a reason to buy more ice cream. Ha. Build a small wooden rod wrapping bench. You can find many pics online. You do not need anything electrical to build a nice rod, so don't worry about something to turn the rod with. Most builders also build their own rod building setup, rather than purchase commercially made one. Experiment and have fun.