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Also, if I grind that ridge off in the middle of the mold, a #2 hook should fit, single row at a time though, cannot do both sides of the mold at once. I may see if I can put a bit of some kind in a drill press to remove the ridge.

The owner 5313 is a jig hook, not 5133.

So, I experiment with the Owner 5313 and victory 10111 hooks (1/0 and 2/0) in the Do-it Aberdeen football jig mold. This is showing promise. The 3/4 oz one will probably need a 2/0 hook. The victory 10111 has a taller eye so it helps on the heavier cavity. I think these hooks will do what I was hoping for in this mold.

I used the Arsenal spray, and let the lead get a bit hotter. The first Ned rig pour was about 50/50 but the football jigs did better. Next I briefly heated the molds with a torch and only 1 out of 18 Ned jigs did not fill. These are 1/16th and 1/8th so guessing small size makes it harder to fill the keeper area. Size 4 500bp little nasty hook for reference.

Thank you for all the helpful tips. Once I pour again, I will update on my progress.

Thank you! I did not think of a torch. That makes sense. Now, just to need to figure out the right temperature to get the molds to fill. I started with 6 on a Lee pot, but poured soon after it was melted. I will need to check the temp in the future to see where it is at temp wise. Small Ned jig with lead keepers and the keepers did not fill. Same with a football head, the keepers did not fill. Ordered some mold release and will try to warm the molds more, sitting on the top of the pot while the lead melted did not seem to really warm it up much.

What is the easiest way to reclaim the hooks? Do you cut all the lead off or toss the partially formed jig back into the pot to melt the lead off? Would that damage the hook?

I did see there is one Do-it mold that accepts a lot of different hooks. I may need to check that out. I am thinking I want jig weight of 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 and hooks sizes of 1 and 1/0 though. 2/0 may work, but no bigger. I realize that as jigs get heavier, you tend to need a larger hook so the eye protrudes from the lead, but for my kind of fishing, I just want to fish a smaller size jig and trailer deeper, not increase the size of the hook and therefore trailer.

I like the different hook keeper option, with the small cones like the Lunker City style. They seem to hold plastics the best for me.

This is the mold I am looking at. https://palmolds.com/ocart/index.php?route=product/product&path=116&product_id=295 I am hoping one of the listed Mustad options can also fit the Owner 5313 hook. It seems like a finesse football would be good for bumping up to a 1x hook vs a light wire line the little nasty. I ordered a Ned head one from them to use with the little nasty. Once that arrives, I will start pouring jigheads and see how I like that side of the hobby. So far, I just do soft plastics but sometimes cannot find the jig heads I want so starting down this road too.

I am looking at some jig head molds from Print-a-lure, in particular the football jig, and want to make some finesse football jigs in size 1 or 1/0 hooks. The Owner 5313 seems like a highly recommend hook for good strength with still a pretty fine diameter wire. I ordered up the Ned jig head for the Little Nasty hook to try first, but it sounds like the 5313 may be a better fit for a football jig, so I do not think I will go with the Little Nasty option for that jig. The PAL jig molds list the little Nasty and a variety of Mustad hooks, but not the Owner 5313. I could make a request for that one too, but if there is a known Mustad hook that matches up, that might be easier.

This is just an absolutely fantastic drop shot rod for how I fish it. Nose hooked baits with the #2 Lunker City VGB hook. It has the perfect flex for cushioning runs by fish so the hook does not pull out, even if the fish are skin hooked. I usually cast and work a drop shot back to the boat, not fished vertically. So, for me, this rod maxes out at a 1/4 weight, I usually use a 3/16 oz weight. The pike was a nice one, very thick and heavy body weight even though it has numerous tumors. 6# line and a drop shot hooked pike is a little nerve racking to get to the net. Smallmouths were all 17-18”. All very healthy fish. Probably not the ideal rod for fishing dropshots deep and vertical though, but I have never done the Great Lakes smallmouth thing (hopefully eventually).

Same. My rx10 mxf blanks were the most disappointing blanks I have order compared to what I expected based on rod ratings and given specs.

The current NRX+ SJ 902 is rated at 1/8-3/8 oz lures and 6-12# line. So, compared to St. Croix is their traditional ML lure rating and Med line rating. I curious if the NFC SJ762 HM is close to the Loomis SJ 901, but guessing it is a bit less powerful. But, with out seeing one hard to make a guess. I have a NFC SJ803 as well to build out. I really like the HS 7600 HM rods too. I have one 2 piece HM version of this one built. Seems like a really versatile rod for bass fishing.

The Ds 721 is currently my favorite dropshot rod. Just the right amount of soft tip and backbone to keep fish pinned on small drop shot hooks.

So, I have never been able to find a SJ 901 or 902 on the rack at a tackle store. I am curious what blanks (NFC or St. Croix rods/ blanks) are most similar to those. A lot of articles I read on bass fishing reference the SJ 901 and 902, but I just have no idea how they compare to what I have handled. I have also not seen the SJ 901 and 902 on various rod data base websites / spreadsheets, probably since blanks are not available so builders are not buying and measuring these rods. Thanks!

In Michigan, my main fishing lake is mesotrophic, 15-20’ visibility, Mainly fish 10-25’ deep. Looking at adding Grand Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan smallmouth to my fishing locations as well.

What are your MUST have NFC blanks and for what techniques? I am considering ordering the 10 blank deal and stocking a few extras at these prices. I am having a hard time passing this one up!

They are going to exchange it for me.

I probably have over 20 NFC blanks and I would only call two crooked. This one is the only one I may return. It bends in 2 directions too, so that makes it harder to have it look good.

So, I got my SJ703 C6O2 blank. It is the crookedest blank I have every gotten so far. It might be fine, but wondering what you think. I tried posting a video showing the rod as it rolls on the wrapper. It has two bends to it so there is not really a straightest axis. I have a bunch of NFC blanks and I would only call two of them crooked. This one is by for the worst. One of my DS721 xray’s has a crook in the last couple inches of the blank. Every other one is a modest curve if not pretty much straight to my eyes. It weights in at 1.400 oz. My regular SJ703 X-ray blank weighs in at 1.455. So, the weight compared to a regular X-ray is not impressive, plus the other one is much straighter.

BTS 603 and 607 are the best way to go.

If I knew they would do this annually, I would plan around it. But, I just cannot justify it right now with the blanks I have on hand already to build. Great sale though. Probably the best deal I have seen since I started building rods in the early 2000’s.

I guess reeling in, I always have had a tick with any baitcaster with a fluoro leader, so I was only thinking of if it was more of an issue on the casting side. I have migrated to straight fluoro with baitcasters, but that started with Curados, Daiwa is a more recent addition to my collection.

Yep, the T-wing has a larger opening than than the Shimano reels. So, any knot that works with Shimano will work fine with T-wing.