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If you use a waxed thread you don't have to apply anything to the thread. I use 3-4 half hitch and trim the thread and leave about an inch.

Also, it is a nice jig. 2 and 1/2 tabs is a full skirt for me. Your colors are nice and the hand tying is attention to detail. I like it.

Nice video... I think any more than 2 tabs total is too much on my jigs... Wire tying with 2 wraps is so much faster for me. I tie feathered trebles with thread though.

On a whim I tied up a jig using some short strands of acrylic yarn, the kind that you buy at the sewing store to know sweaters. I used too much, but the result was quite interesting. It gave the jig a lot of bulk and once you got it wet it added quite a bit of extra weight for greater casting distance. I’m going to tie up a couple of variations with lighter heads and fewer strands to see how they behave. I think tying them like the old “spider legs” spinnerbait skirts might be ideal. Anyone else try this?

I’m going to try to post more videos. Here’s my latest. Wayne’s Rusty Nail

Are you pouring into silicone or aluminum? For open hand pour silicone works better because it doesn't remove heat from the plastic as fast as aluminum does. If you think your mold are to cold you can preheat them in a toaster oven. A good grade of silicone doesn't start to break down until it hits around 390F. So you could easily warm your molds to 200-250F without issue. Just remember that 200 will be painful to handle so wear some gloves. If you are using hardware store silicone caulk I have no idea if it can take it. I pretty much only work with food grade bake-able silicone. I have a toaster oven on my pouring and test bench for powder coating so warming a problem mold on a cold day (or pre warming a mold when casting resin) is pretty handy.

Nice video. I too love the hand tie.

Those holes are programmed in the mold half. They are done with a ball end mill. No chatter just a large step over. That’s the way some of the early molds were done. I have many molds like that and most are hand pour. Not that they can’t be injected but they have some issues when doing so. On the question of saving plastic from a long Sprue you will have four short ones and when making sure they are topped off I would bet you are wasting about the same amount of plastic but wasting time keeping them full.

First of all I have to acknowledge 21XDC and the shoelace, I bet that actually looked pretty cool coming through the water. As for yarn, I can see it working, I've been tying with these Dragon Tails I got from Barlow's, it is basically a tough chenille which is similar to yarn and it looks awesome in the water. While I haven't seen yarn or a lot of other stuff I can tell you there is a thing called a "satin jig", crappie and panfish guys in certain parts of the country tie these up. They use satin ribbon and cut a length off and then remove the fibers which are super thin and very limp, I have tied several myself and caught crappie on them. Show us a picture of it, I would love to see how it looks.

I have caught fish on shoelaces, mop strings and sewing thread skirts. Yarn will work just fine.

Depending how heavy the bodies are, you can use wire. Bend the wire in the shape of an "L" then bend a hook on the top of the "L" in order to hang on a rack. If you want you can slide your body on the wire and then put a small bend on the end to insure it doesn't slide off. I make rooster tail style bodies and I have wire Christmas Tree ornament hangers that I use to hang them on to cure.

I checked my 5304 and they fit all the heads in that series. You have a PM.

nwbass, I use both brush jig mold models with the #5304 hooks, without any problems. I just looked at my molds, and none of my hook eye pins have been removed from the molds. With that said, I believe that the hook eye pins are tapered. First of all what hook sizes are you wanting to put in what head sizes(ounces) You can't put a 1/0 #5304 hook in a 1 oz hidden brush jig. You can , but you will have to remove the hook eye pin from the mold, and like smalljaw mentioned you will have a lot of clean-up. So let's start with what hook sizes you want in each mold cavity, and then we can go from there. Attached is a pic of #5304 Owner deep throat hook in a brush jig. So yes it can be done with minimal effort.

That is one mold that I don't use the 5304 with. Now, the only way to make that hook fit is to grind the post until the hook sit in the cavity with the post inside the eye. Some molds that have that post are fine just by taking the post off altogether but not the brush jig. The reason is because of the recessed line tie , if you take the post off you'll have a lot of clean up to do. Maybe someone who has used that hook with that mold can help but if not you can see if anyone wants to buy the hooks you have or trade you some Mustads, VMC, or even the Owner 5317 which has a larger eye and will fit.

Hello fellow Leadheads, It is with a sad heart that I quitting all production of lead baits. My doctor finally said that I have reached my saturation point and would be in my beat interest to quit. I will be liquidating the wire bait portion of my business. I will start posting equipment and component list in the classifieds soon. I am OK health wise. I don't glow in the dark or have uncontrollable twitches. It's just time to move on. I will continue following the soft plastics forum as I will still be producing plastic baits.