Jig Man

Popsnagger if you can find one.

You can fashion one from most any wire, wrap it down with thread and cover the thread with epoxy or super glue.

Tom I carry my 5 best colors with at least 4 of each of them along with others that just might be the ticket for a tough day. Where I am one can’t predict what color or blade will be best and different colors work better on different lakes. After all I’m the guy who has 22 colors of TRDs.

And eagles and osprey and raccoons and buzzards.

You will get more bang for your buck if you match them to your other electronics.

Have you tried Ned rigs? I catch more smallmouth on them than any other bait. A Ned on a 1/16 oz head might be the ticket.

I’m a gadget and gizmo guy. I use my boat as a tackle box and throw all of the 3600, 3700, bags, binders, etc in it. I have one old plastic box with sliding drawers that I keep parts in for bait making.

So true. One of my shaky setups has tremendous memory as it’s been months since I changed the fluorocarbon line. All of a sudden I threw 2 backlashes in a row today. When I checked the reel the spool knob was too loose. An itty bitty tighten solved the problem.

Jeep Cherokee Trail Hawk was used by my wife to pull my 4500# rig.

Any time the water is +50° I throw one. Clear water to muddy water makes no difference. All I do is change the color, however, white and chartreuse seem to work in any color of water. For me wind, sun, and time of day are the important factors, though I prefer the crepuscular periods if I can have them.

Take rain gear.

I gave up on leaders a long time ago.

So who told you that 100 is high? Mine was 260 before I blew a gasket. Now 100 is the target for me with meds.

I have some Eagle Claw EWG in the flea market, 2/0, 3/0, & 4/0.

I’ve been thinking about your situation, trying to figure out what could be causing your problem. Here are a couple of things you might try. 1. When you glue the trd to the jig head, put a small dab of Loctite SUPER GLUE GEL on the end of it and as you press it to the head rotate it back and forth to get a complete coverage of the glue. Then press it tightly to the head and hold it for a few seconds. (Many times if I want to change baits I have to cut the trd off with a knife.) 2. When attaching the hook, find the spot where the hook bend is longest from the head and insert it at that point, being sure that you center the hook on the trd. That will give you about 1/16 to 1/8 of extra worm which will help hold the hook and not be an impediment. Grasp the top of worm body and pull it away from the hook point, lift it up over the point and position it the way you like the skin hook to look. Attention to detail saves time later.

A swing away tongue will be a big bonus.

Ohioguy25 check your pm.

Nope. I don’t like crowds or idiots and there will be lots of both.

Most places the inflatables are only legal if you are wearing it. I wear a Mustang and carry another one for guests. They must wear it or won’t get invited back.

It won’t bunch up if you glue it to the head. If you lightly skin hook it then it will come out sometimes. You should inspect it at the end of your retrieve and fix as necessary. It only takes a few seconds. If you hook it too deep you run the risk of missing the fish. I’d rather do the former.

Ohioguy25 in addition to the mold hooks and pot you are going to need a good pair of leather gloves and safety glasses. Pouring lead is a bit dangerous as it melts at 621° and you will get burned. When you order the kit pick up a pair of gate cutters. They are cheap and invaluable especially on the 1/16 and 3/32 heads as there is very little lead covering the hook. You might as well get an extra 100 hooks and save on later shipping because 50 hooks won’t go very far. I hope your friend has good lead. Don’t use wheel weights. Some contain zinc which can ruin your melting pot. I have been using the EWG for several months. I loose a lot less of them than the regular ones.

Tom he is referencing the new EWG Midwest Finesse mold. It only tales Victory hooks.

He might say shoot it but the fish and game might have a different point of view.

A small apartment is not a good place to melt lead. You might find some bait makers like cadman or smalljaw and see what they would charge for pouring and not painting. If it were me I would ask about them by the 100 count. I just saw some Neds with Victory hooks for good prices on Ebay. You might want to try some of them before you buy hooks and a mold.

There is an other major site with a trolling motor forum that might help. The site censor won’t let me show it.