Bass Junke

Just purchased a Curado K and Curado MGL. Both have magnetic and centrifugal brakes. Like most here. The internals, half on half off. External brakes set at minimal-2. I never touch either again. I do adjust the spool tension knob occasionally, but my thumb does most of the work.

I read the instructions on fishingskirtsunlimitied, their website has changed. So has the instructions for jig armor. A torch and heat gun is no longer mentioned. New instructions basically read: bake, dip, then bake again. Their instructions are kind of screwy, depending which paint you click on temp ranges are from 325- 400 degrees. I can't see why a torch would not be a good way to pre-heat the jig to dip into the powder. The baking process in the end cures the paint.

It is impossible to pick only 5 members. Would want to fish with everyone. As far as pro go, why would I want to fish with them when I could fish with all you guys. I will pick Ike as a pro. seems to be getting a lot of flak on this thread. He is a bit over the top but I have been watching some of his you tube content. He is a really cool guy, funny, entertaining and shares knowledge. If I was to pick BR members it would be regional. Michigan: AJ New York: J Francho Cali: WRB Louisiana: Catt Mass: Fishing Rhino ect.

Tom, thank you for all your wisdom and knowledge. Your accomplishments in the world of bass fishing are the stuff of legends.

I also like a C-rig or a split shot rig when drifting. Sometimes I will let the current carry me back to the ramp while dragging a C-rig.

So here is what I have found in my very limited experience with powder paints. I bought a few jars/bags of powder paint and a bunch of cheap ball head jigs and started practicing with just a heat gun and no oven. They come out really nice with the heat gun. They look just like a jig you would buy in a store. I dropped one onto a cement floor it chipped. Fast forward to now, I have powder coated a bunch of jigs I plan on actually using and baked them. I have dropped several of them onto the same floor, no chips yet. I have not fished any of these jigs yet so I cannot attest to their durability while fishing. So Tom I understand the theory of a hard shell over a softer core but I have not seen evidence of that yet, stay tuned. I must also point out that I would think the most abuse a jig gets while being fished is constant dragging across rock/sand/gravel/shells. I doubt a freefall through the water column is going to cause enough of an impact to chip the powder coating of a jig.

Can we still order unpainted jig heads? I have graduated to powder paints. When I go on your website and choose tackle making, I get the option to buy jig heads without skirts. It reads color optional. So if I don't pick a color I get unpainted heads?

Thanks Mick. So this was one of the videos I watched when I got curious about powder paints. I did a little more research and found that the paint cures harder if baked. As stated earlier I bought a couple of colors of Boss jig armor. The instructions for jig armor specifically state to not use a torch or heat gun but to bake in oven for 15-20 minutes for best results. When I first received a jar of paint I bought a bunch of cheap ball head jigs to practice on. I used a heat gun, and it worked fine. The hook eyes were fairly easy to dig out. Fast forward to about a month later, I got some good jig heads and a bunch of colors and was planning on making jigs that I will fish. Once they get out of the oven you have about 10 seconds to clear the eye or it hardens. I missed one. Well that one eye was much more difficult to clear than the eyes of the jigs I used a heat gun on. Maybe someone with more experience in powder painting can chime in on this point. Does powder paint cure better in an oven than with a torch or heat gun? The other thing I played around with was a fluid bed. I made one and it works okay. I found that unless you are doing 5 or more jigs at a time, it was just as easy to give the jars a little stir than to bother with a fluid bed.

That is too bad. I like some of their colors. I have 2, dark green pumpkin and black pearl w/ blue flake. The pearl comes out really nice. When jigs get added to my on water tackle they usually get a coating of nail polish on them first. I didn't use a heat gun for my power coats I baked them for 10- 15minutes. I want to see how durable they are. So we will compare this season, without nail polish.

Anyone use Boss's jig armor? It's pretty cheap. I have a couple of colors. Seemed as good as the Pro Tech colors I have. Haven't fished them yet so I cannot attest to its durability.

Are powder paints all the same? When I was checking out that Colombia Coatings website someone here mentioned, I discovered a lot of types for various applications. So that stuff is pretty cheap in comparison to say Pro Tec. Then there is Boss jig armor. Is any one brand better than another?

Thanks MN Fisher. Okay, cool but. Look I am not trying to dis any reel companies, and I'm sure stripping down a couple of models of anyone reels might reveal the same. Who knows, next year when I strip down the two Shimano bait casters I just bought, I may find that they look just like every other reel. Time will tell.

I have the President XT and the Supreme XT. I was tempted to purchase another XT from BPS also. Think I am moving away from Pflueger. The XT is on sale because they have changed all their spinning reels for this year, all new colors. Look nice but all the back reel/ free spool switches are gone. Sad. I have stripped these two reels down and was slightly disappointed at the lack of difference between them. The Supreme XT is twice the price, yet I don't see what spent all that extra money for. Yes it is a much better looking reel, yes the bail wire is very beefy, Yes it have carbontex drag. Same number of bearings. I don't know. I did not buy another Supreme XT, I bought a Curado MGL. Moving over to Shimano.

Been reading the older forums for a few months, went back to 2007. Heard these stories a few times and saw that pic also. Those stories never get old. Thanks Tom you are awesome.

What everybody said above. The only thing I will add is I put drop shot baits in two categories, one the float and ones that sink. The ones that float or are neutrally buoyant are almost a do nothing bait. The sinking ones need a little twitching.

Nice job! I built my first rod on the RX6 blank. I built a drop shot rod though, spinning. Yours looks nicer than mine. Double footed guides all the way to the tip? Zowie, that's a lot of work.

This has been a good discussion. Lots of good ideas. I may adopt a few of them. Something tells me though, no matter how many precautions I take, I will still be on the floor with a magnet searching for springs, c clips and washers.

That is a shame. I was just on their website. Anybody repurpose beat up spinner baits into bladed jigs?

Just a few times. One time I lost one of the springs that sit on the posts of the yoke (I think that is the part name). Couldn't find it, ordered 5 ( for future compression spring launches), finally found the one I lost a couple of days before the replacements arrived. I took a spinning reel down too far (first time). That spring that is attached to the free spool switch. Yeah, that went flying. I found it a couple of days later. This year, have gone through 4 reels so far, not lost parts...yet.

Those look nice. Don't list the hook size but I bet they would tell me if I contacted them. The webpage reads spinnerbait style hook which tend to be on the larger size. Another idea I was considering was taking a spinnerbait and cutting most of the wire off, bending the remainder into a hook eye. From there you could attach a blade directly or use a split ring. I would worry about my line slipping off of my home made hook eye but a blade or split ring would be more secure.

No apologies necessary. I missed that one the first time. Yeah, that is a narrow slot, won't get a skirt collar on there.

Which ones? The flipping head? Only a 4/0 until you get to 3/4. Jason, if you look at a chatterbait the hook is giant. Why do I care about a giant hook. Not that I'm obsessed with using Zakos or razor shadZ for trailers but those are designed bladed jig trailers and they are fat. A 4/0 might do the trick but a 5/0 is better. Those look like sweet jigs though. You should be able to use a rubber skirt collar on that jig.

Well, I would never pass up another resource so sure. Truth be told though, I probably have enough skirt material to tie a hundred jigs. My OCD kicks in when I run low on one of my favorite styles. I become obsessed with replenishing. I'm sure I'm not alone here.

This has been a great read. I pretty much only use 6 or 8 pound Sunline sniper for my C-rig leaders now. I had 8lb Sniper on a spinning reel for an entire season. It was fine and did not have any issues. Both spinning rigs now have Pline co-poly on them now. I didn't really observe a difference and don't see enough advantages to justify the use of floro.

I might be the only person that actually cares about this, but I'll throw it out there. I was wondering how to make my own bladed jigs without casting my own heads. The problem is finding an appropriate sized jig head for a bladed jig with a 5/0 hook. I found one, Boss head banger is designed to be made into a bladed jig. It has a recessed horizontal line tie, so a split ring would be necessary. It comes in 2 weights 3/8 and 1/2, and has a Mustad 5/0 hook. I am posting this because I brought this up in another post and we came to the conclusion, you have to cast your own. Well I still think that is the answer but the Boss head banger is an option. I found these jig heads because I was on fishingskirts.com hoping they had replenished their skirt inventory. Good news, they updated their website, much nicer. You can now see which skirts are in stock without clicking on them. Bad news, their inventory is decimated particularly the living image line. Those are my favorite.