I have an addiction for hand tied hand made jigs and will tie anything that has a hook, Let's see your homemade hand tied creations........

 

An addiction is right.  I started making my own jigs last month to pass some time and to give me more options than what I can buy in stores.  After I got everything I needed to get started I quickly realized that what I had wasn't enough.  I had to have more mold options, more hooks, skirts, paint, and lets not forget some eyes. My addiction is worse than Ray Charles's and I am constantly itching to get home to fire up the melting pot or break out my tying vice. 

I want to thank Smalljaw for all of the youtube vids.  They have helped reduce my learning curve.

man i want to get into tying my own jigs

4 hours ago, Scarborough817 said:

man i want to get into tying my own jigs

You can do it with out breaking the bank. If you need help or have questions feel free to ask I don't mind one bit to help you out.

5 hours ago, YUT18 said:

An addiction is right.  I started making my own jigs last month to pass some time and to give me more options than what I can buy in stores.  After I got everything I needed to get started I quickly realized that what I had wasn't enough.  I had to have more mold options, more hooks, skirts, paint, and lets not forget some eyes. My addiction is worse than Ray Charles's and I am constantly itching to get home to fire up the melting pot or break out my tying vice. 

I want to thank Smalljaw for all of the youtube vids.  They have helped reduce my learning curve.

You opened a can of worms for sure haha haha...I love it when I get to pour paint and tie. I also catch many a fish in my mind when I'm in my special place.

I've always been a go big or go home kind of person. But making your own lures tops the go big part. It's an addiction that actually has a reward on the back end. Last year I had someone custom make my lures and cannot wait to set the hook on a hog with one I made from scratch. I really appreciate those that post their experience in this forum. It truly helps reduce the learning curve and expenses. 

Do yourself a favor and don't get hung up in fishing nothing but a jig. When I started making my own I pretty much quit fishing soft plastics, top water, and crankbaits. And wouldn't you know it my catch rate went to the bottom of the lake just like a jig but boy ohhh boy when they were on the jigs I puckered their butt. I just purchased $400 worth of "stuff" to get back on my cranking game so hopefully this next year I can start catch'n again. You tied a hair jig yet?

I haven't tied hair jigs yet. I just finished with my first batch. I plan on making a few with hair this weekend. 

That 6in 1oz Gizard shad....wow that's impressive. 

I have tied it all, bear hair, craft hair, bucktail, foxtail, rabbit, squirrel, kip tail, dang this list could go on for a bit. I really like the craft hair for summer and I absolutely LOVE the foxtail for my winter jigs. If you ever get into the foxtail check out a site called Etsy, kinda like eBay without the drama or hassle. I buy all my fox from there, I can buy a whole tail for 10-20 $$ where fly tie'n shop want s 5-7$ for a little medallion shaped section. You can find some nice colors there as well. One thing to remember when you tie hair......NEVER cut the tips of the hair......That's the life of a hair jig. If you need to thin or shorten a jig just pull the strands out, hold the head in one hand and with the other pull straight back from the tips until you get the size/profile you want. I have seen a few messed up jigs where a person took a pair of scissors and just wacked the ends off. Post pics when you tie some up.

5 minutes ago, iabass8 said:

That 6in 1oz Gizard shad....wow that's impressive. 

Thank You.....That thing is a beast. That is not like the "big" hair jigs you see being sold today. To tell you how much hair that jig gets I can only tie 3-4 jigs with one bucktail. It glides when it sinks.

Immaculate work, DoDFire.

I actually have another mold that I bought to replace the modified mold so I pour regular poison tails with it. I only use the modified mold for the vibrating jig. I don't pour but 4-5 of the vib's per year. I tell ya' those molds are tough it was a pain with a dremel tool and a cutting wheel to cut that out. I chain drilled then cut with the wheel. I do get some over pour with the lead and have to clean it out but it's not to bad.

17 minutes ago, DoDFire said:

I actually have another mold that I bought to replace the modified mold so I pour regular poison tails with it. I only use the modified mold for the vibrating jig. I don't pour but 4-5 of the vib's per year. I tell ya' those molds are tough it was a pain with a dremel tool and a cutting wheel to cut that out. I chain drilled the cut with the wheel. I do get some over pour with the lead and have to clean it out but it's not to bad.

HMMM I have an idea on something similar to yours but not quite as destructive. I am breaking out the dremel this weekend. I will port the results.

I was able to mod my mold. A keeper hides underneath for a swim bait.

these are "some" of mine I took a quick pic of, the green craw top right was the latest. has eyes and antenna's as well as rabbit strips for claws, I started with the bass jigs on the left, and just messed around with feathers, furs and chenile, later on. The skirts on the left are hand picked strands, one by one till I get the colors I want for a particular jig

Here's my submission.  It's a bed fishing jig

 

23 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Here's my submission.  It's a bed fishing jig

 

 lol ,...thats a sexy beast right there!

some better pics

The marabou/football jig in the second pic would get chomped up here!

29 minutes ago, J Francho said:

The marabou/football jig in the second pic would get chomped up here!

 Thanks J Francho,.., 

I tied it for Quabbin Res. and some other clear waters over here. And I kinda cant wait to use it., I have a brown version as well that works in NH's lakes region...  Speaking of chomped,...The green skirted jig in the pic under it, is a "used" duplicate "Hudson River Special" I tied for a state fishoffs. Teamed with a green #11 pork rind, and a white grubs "body" on the hooks shank,.. won me not only the lunker pool, but a berth on the 12 angler team as well.

 So, if you ever fish the river? It got several instant hits, when a black blue jig failed, pitched to the same boulder just seconds prior.

The Hudson is like eight hours from here, lol.  I'm an hour from Lake Erie.

On 12/18/2016 at 8:24 PM, beaverretreiver said:

I was able to mod my mold. A keeper hides underneath for a swim bait.

You got any hair left after modifying that mold? Pain in the rear if it was anything like mine. Good look'n jig for sure.

7 hours ago, "hamma" said:

  It got several instant hits, when a black blue jig failed, pitched to the same boulder just seconds prior.

I'm remember you telling this story but when I read it I thought you were saying that the other guy worked the jig too fast and that's how you got the bites he should have. Do you think color had more to do with it?

A simple one

 

 

14 hours ago, riverbasser said:

I'm remember you telling this story but when I read it I thought you were saying that the other guy worked the jig too fast and that's how you got the bites he should have. Do you think color had more to do with it?

Definately, the color is what I believe was the ticket, he was bouncing his jig off the boulder, and below, just as I did. My jigs added white accented bottom with that green base sure looks like a lifelike version of the crayfish I saw at the Catskill ramp just around the upstream bend from where we were fishing.

   Charlie knew what he was doing, he was not "new" to the river as he lived in western Mass., and went right to that spot. He took his time working that boulder, and as he did so the thought running through my mind was "he's caught fish here before ",.. "Hope he leaves me a few" As he turned the boat abit for a cast at the tip of the water chestnuts edge, leaving the boulder for what I think, was to return at a lower point in the tide.

  This was my chance at it and it payed off bigtime. Hindsight being 20/20???, right lure, right place, right time,.... couldnt have been more evident. The murmers and shout outs at the weigh-in when I pulled the pig out of the bag, to be weighed? Said it all,.."he's got it", "there she is", "wow,..look at that pig". Johnny Nee asked me what I got her on and I told him, "A custom green jig I tied",..His reply was ,.."nice job Keith, you may have lunker"

 I have no doubt that jigs color was key, day two and anytime after that day I've been back fishing on the Hudson. That patterned jig kicks butt, and Im sure if I went back there next year, it would work again,.. Largemouth, smallmouth, and even stripers don't just hit it,..they crush it with reckless abandon. Just like that day one.,.. And as you can see in the pic, that jigs been a bit beat up by the lack of color on its head. Evidence of targeted boulders from the Hudsons markers, Cementons point, and concrete walls.

 Speed is a good point, but if you fish that river you will come to the conclusion as any bass angler does. The main rivers current demands at least a 1/2 oz jig to provide any drop to the lure at all. Anything less? just gets swept down stream. Anything to heavy, like a bit over 3/4 oz? just appears fake by the quick rate of fall in the current. You have to be tossing a jig weighted within the two for a real look to it, otherwise its a tainted effort. Could he have been using a different weight? Possibly, but it still had to be within those parameters, so it couldnt have been too far off. Otherwise,.. he wouldnt have been there using one to begin with.

23 hours ago, J Francho said:

The Hudson is like eight hours from here, lol.  I'm an hour from Lake Erie.

8 Hours? Id negate that trip as well

I get the Erie thing though, if I had Erie closeby?,..I wouldnt be traveling to fish much either.

A couple more to share.