Hand Tied Jigs

[tmoney]

Over the last year or so, I've seen a lot of you guys making lures and pouring some soft plastics. Last week, I was bored at work one day and came across some videos on hand tying jigs. I decided to order some jigheads, skirts, and a small vice to give it a shot.

I was very excited when everything was delivered on Saturday. After I go home from the Busse tourney, I got myself a six-pack and went right to work The first one I tied was an embarassment, but then I watched the videos again, and the rest of the jigs turned out really nice.

Here's my set-up:

Jigs.jpg

There are a lot of benefits to hand tying: Unlimited color patterns, ability to create jigs based on specific lakes/patterns and ability to tie jigs on location.

Here's what I've done so far, and the names of some of the color patterns I've come up with:

1/2oz. Football Jig - "Blurple Rain"

Blurple_Rain.jpg

1/2oz. Football Jig - "Bull Gill"

Bull Gill.jpg

1/2oz. Football Jig - "Freshwater Marauder"

Freshwater Marauder.jpg

1/2oz. Rockwalker Jig - Un-Named Color

Un-Named.jpg

1/2oz. Swim Jig - "Midnight Special"

Midnight Special.jpg

Thanks for checking these out. I hope to come up with some others in the near future, and continue to post them

[Afalconsvick]

Nice! That's really cool.. How much did the vice cost and where did you get it? What would you say the average jig price is when you do it yourself?

[tmoney]

I got the vice on eBay for $7 shipped. The price per jig varies. It all depends on the type of jig heads you buy, and the skirt material. Either way, it's going to be cheaper that what you pay for jigs, especially if you have to get them shipped to you. If I were to sell any of the jigs I make, I'd probably sell them for $4-$5. I'd probably be making about $1-$2 a piece with that price.

[Navyfisher]

Looking good.

[Winnebasschamp]

Nice work! Supposedly hand tied jigs skip a lot better no extra rubber collar. I never noticed that to be too true on mine, but I don't hand tie enough of my flipping jigs to see. Maybe I'll have to! Colors look great!

[WaterGuy]

Nice work!

If you wanted to cut your cost down even more (in the long run) you could buy some jig molds and pour yourself. I've been thinking about getting a bass jig or swimjig mold for a while now.

[1080tommy]

Those things look great. Love the blurple rain and blue gill!!!!!

[Theshocker1293]

Hey T$ those look awesome definitely look better than what you can buy online or at the store. That "Bull Gill" and "Midnight Special" and "Un-named Color" look sick! How much and do you ship? LOL

[tmoney]

Thanks for all the responses! It's a lot of fun to see what I can come up with.

If you wanted to cut your cost down even more (in the long run) you could buy some jig molds and pour yourself. I've been thinking about getting a bass jig or swimjig mold for a while now.

I thought about doing this next.

[pikekid96]

Nice work, I would do this, but I just don't use jigs enough

[Bassin' Ted]

Thanks for all the responses! It's a lot of fun to see what I can come up with.

If you wanted to cut your cost down even more (in the long run) you could buy some jig molds and pour yourself. I've been thinking about getting a bass jig or swimjig mold for a while now.

I thought about doing this next.

A buddy of mine doesn't pour his but he does a little more to cut down on the costs. He buys football head jigs and swim jigs bare with just a hook. He paints and bakes them, drills and lays the weedguard, and then ties the skirt. It is a nice stage between tying and making the entire jig from scratch. Your jigs look great and I wish I had the time and patience to do that.

Great job and post more pictures in the future.

[Navyfisher]

I might have to look into doing the same, it is hard to find jigs I like. I fish mostly shallow water so a light jig head with a big skirt is a plus, not a lot of options on the open market. Most of the smaller jigs also use small hooks and it is hard to fit a decent sized creature bait I like to use on them.
Do you tie them or use that elastic skirt tool thing with a rubber band?

[tmoney]

Do you tie them or use that elastic skirt tool thing with a rubber band?

I actually hand tie them with wire. From what I've read, this is better than those rubber bands for a variety of reasons. Like Ryan said above in the thread, they're better for skipping. They also keep the skirts on tighter, which decreases the possibility that they'll get pulled off. I also think that using wire helps the skirt flare out more.

[Juicebox20002]

Those are pretty sick man where do you get your jigs from? and do you buy em in bulk?

[tmoney]

Those are pretty sick man where do you get your jigs from? and do you buy em in bulk?

There are a few sites online that you can get them from. It's hard to get painted ones in bulk, but you could just buy straight lead, and paint them yourself. All in, they probably cost me about $2-$3 each in materials. Then you factor in the time it takes, but that's fun for me Plus, I can do it while watching fishing on TV.

[Jamison73]

Nice work!

If you wanted to cut your cost down even more (in the long run) you could buy some jig molds and pour yourself. I've been thinking about getting a bass jig or swimjig mold for a while now.

I've been thinking about this as well, but I have to find a good line on lead free material, so my costs would be about the same is buying at the store. Plus, I'd powder paint them, so that ups my cost a bit more. Throw in a home made fluid bed and thees another upfront cost. I just don't have the extra funds, but watching someoone else do it gets the itch going aagin. Nice work! They look great.

[Afalconsvick]

How long does each jig take you?

[tmoney]

How long does each jig take you?

Between picking colors and getting everything tied and cut, each jig probably takes about 15 minutes.

[Juicebox20002]

Those are pretty sick man where do you get your jigs from? and do you buy em in bulk?

There are a few sites online that you can get them from. It's hard to get painted ones in bulk, but you could just buy straight lead, and paint them yourself. All in, they probably cost me about $2-$3 each in materials. Then you factor in the time it takes, but that's fun for me Plus, I can do it while watching fishing on TV.

Thats pretty koo and it looks like you got it down I really like the rockwalker and maurader jig.

[tmoney]

These look good man. That swim jig is a tank. Line tie is at an odd angle and weed guard is massive. Where do you plan on fishing that? Curious to hear how it performs.

I'll give it a try this weekend. The picture makes it look a bit larger than it really is. I just like the 1/2oz. versions. I'll probably end up trimming the weedguard, it is a tad big for my liking. I'll follow-up with how it performs

[Afalconsvick]

Since I was intrigued by T$$$$'s jigs, I had to give it a go myself. I got the stuff after work in the mail today. The vise and stuff needed was very cheap and so were the skirts, jig heads, etc.. I only made two so far, it took a couple screw ups to get the hang of it.. I threw them together quick as I could because I had some stuff to take care of. Here's what I got, nothing fancy but more to come!

[tmoney]

Nice work, dude!

[Winnebasschamp]

Very nice Tony.
I pour all my own jigs, I use the Brush Jig mold, all sizes, and the football jig mold, all sizes, and have a neat custom swim jig mold. I've got a few others that I don't really use anymore, also. It's a blast making your own stuff. I can make a jig for about $.80 a pop that have good materials. It's time consuming, but worth it. Buzzbaits n spinnerbaits are cool to make, also. Neat to play with different ideas of how to make stuff.
One tip, don't get too caught up in colors. It'll make your head spin! Black w blue and/or red, and green pumpkin. Don't stray too far from those too basics or you'll end up like me with 50 different jig colors n not know which to choose!
I've never tied in wire, but I really want to try it. I've tied a lot with thread though. What wire do you use? One tip maybe you do it already, use a paperclip to hold the weedguard up while you tie. Place one end in the jig eye and the other bend around the guard.

[Afalconsvick]

Cool, Ryan! This is the wire I used to tie them:

http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Hardware- ... 370&sr=8-1

It worked well IMO. Depending how much I get into it I'd consider pouring them myself. Is the pouring/painting an easy process? Do you need anything special to heat or bake the paint onto the jig head?

[Winnebasschamp]

Tony, IMO it's only easy after you make all the necessary mistakes first!
Even someone showing you, you almost have to go through a small learning curve at least.
I wouldn't waste your money on the really small ladle lead burner, unless you plan on hardly pouring much at all. Get the production pot, well worth it. You can gladly borrow molds from me, too, if you want.
When I powder paint, I just use a small blue propane torch, fix it in a vice, heat the jig for a few seconds depending on size, then quickly swish it through the jar of powder, tap the excess, then hang on something wire. I've got wire shelves for hanging which helps.
They sell some really nice products to help that process. Once you get all the necessary tools it's an easy process and very rewarding. I'd put my jigs up against any in the category they're in. It's really neat customizing spinnerbaits to suit your needs, too. Good chit man!

[Rich]

These guys are affordable, reliable and have a decent selection of building/tying supplies for most things fishing.

http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/do-it-molds/