livelybaits

I rig a lot of soft plastic tails weedless down here. This jighead's been a good one. It has the screw spring to attach the nose of the plastic tail. I just wondered if anyone here is making this one. I think the source for this one is somewhere in Idaho. Neil

Keith, I hope it was a great one for you. Neil

Ted, I got your message and replied (and sent you an email). I'll go find the vials and post the info off the labels. The color ID on each of them is "red holograph" and "gold holograph." They're "glitter" so it's red flakes in the red holograph and gold flakes in the gold holograph. With the vial where I mixed them, the jigheads (heated over a candle) come out with some red and gold glitter on the jigheads and the backdrop is black. The red holograph comes out a good red glitter color. The gold one always seems to come out with very little gold in it but I have a brand new can of stuff here that's Pro Flake Glitter Clear coat. I'm eager to see how much "golder" it is that the stuff I've been using for a couple of years. Looking forward to trying to paint the bullet sinkers. For fishing this saltwater, I use mostly soft plastic tails. I've used the Mustad power lock to make the lures weedless but I've had some good success using the Texas rig with an offset hook to catch the redfish, snook and trout down here. I just thought some nice paints on them would be pretty sweet.

Cadman, Thanks. I actually took the red and gold holograph and mixed them together. Do you think that they would color up better if I dipped them in the red and gold containers separately? The ornament hangers is a good tip. I had some other wire laying around I was thinking about using but if I can find some, the ornament wires sound like a great way to go. Neil

I'll bet that some of you guys do this. With the weed kill really bad inshore down here right now, I've been doing a lot more Texas rigging of the soft plastic lures. I was thinking I'd get some bullet sinkers and powder paint them. Anyone here doing that? I was thinking of putting a wire through the sinker, heat it then dip it. The wire would be dual purpose, one for holding the sinker to heat it and #2, it would keep the paint out of the groove. I'll probably do them in the red holograph, gold holograph and my "mix" of red and hold holograph. I thought I'd just check in with you guys for some ideas before I do this one. Thanks, Neil

Thanks. Sorry for the long delay. With the heat of summer and a full schedule down here, I haven't gotten to play on the internet much lately. With some stormy days down here, I did a pour and made about 50 of the sparky and round jigs over the weekend. I haven't painted them yet and I may opt for a heat gun and toss out the candle. FishinME, Good question. That was a criticism I got from people who looked at my jig heads. My instant reply was "I like these collars because if I want to remove a lure and go with a different colored tail, it doesn't destroy the tail." They usually counter with "the fish pull the lure off the collar." OK, well then slide it back up and cast again. I haven't take the individual photos of the jigs yet but I still have them sitting out so I can probably get to that today. Flounder? I use these jigheads to target everything down here. What's different here than up in the northeast for fluke is most likely the depth. The deepest I'm fishing for them is about 8 feet. Skirts? I've never gone with skirts. Like to chase them, just never use them on my jig heads I did give about 100 of the jig heads to my business partner who ties flies and told him to make some bucktails out of them. Yamamoto mold: I got mine from Barlows (I am pretty sure that's where I got it) and yes, this was a solution to a lot of the short striking fish. I'm using that jig head with one tail in particular, in very shallow water for redfish. Powder painted jigs holding up to rocks: Down here, it's usually oysters I'm banging them on. If they're cured in the oven, they do really well. When they do chip, if the hook's still in good shape (no rust) I'll heat it back up and repaint it.

George, No worries. No hijacking here. And I will tell you that I "hand picked" the jigs for this photo. I'm very happy with 60% of the jigs I paint. The rest have various issues due to my own (inept) abilities. At any rate, the gold looks good but I lean heavy on the "red", holographic red, holo gold and the mix of holo gold and holo red. The Yellow is for "pompano" jigs. I'm a hack. But now that I've made you folks as friends, I'll get better.

MDC, Cadman and Reeves, Thanks. Yes it is the Pro Tec white and the gold too. I do OK with both of them. It's the Pro Tec "glows" where I have real issues. If you guys look at my other posts I lack an "exactness" to my work. I use a candle to heat them and then dip them, something I'll change in the future. Sometimes the red or gold holograph colors come out more black with red or gold flakes (but that's a good pattern down here anyway). It's funny to see how things go for others: The "gold" came out good and has every time I've used that powder. The pearl white has been pretty clean too. MDC, I'll post another photo of the red holograph painted jigs for you. The ones that come out "heavy red" for me get a lot of strikes. I love that paint. (No worries on hi-jacking the topic, I enjoy seeing whatever people say or where things go in discussion) Cadman, I've had some "indoor" camera issues or I'd have the individual photos already done. I'll get the camera issue resolved or have a new camera here shortly and get some better detailed shots. I have pretty basic stuff. Where I hope to accel this year will be in modifying a mold to fit a lot better hooks for some really light jigs Reeves, I've never put a skirt on () But I'll send you some of these to see if you want to try that with these. I attach soft plastic tails to these jigheads for my uses-for these saltwater fish I catch. I will be also adding some red and white material to these to make what I call (in a broad general category) Bucktail Jigs. I'll work on the other pictures. Enjoy interacting with you folks! Neil

These are from the sparkie, shake it and Yamamoto molds. I use a lot of 1/8 and 1/4 oz jigheads for the fishing around here. The shake it mold pours both the flat eye jighead and the standard eye or even the 60 degree. I showed the variety of colors I like to paint them. Red, red holograph, gold holograph, mix of gold and red holograph, regular gold, yellow and pearl white. I'll work on some individual shots of them for the gallery.

I'm kind of different compared to most on this site. I'm all saltwater for snook, redfish and speckled trout down here. But I use jigs almost exclusively. "Confidence" was already mentioned. Use them until you have "go to" jigs. The other thing is to pay attention to the movement you were giving the lure when you actually got a fish to take a swipe at it. If you can emulate that movement again, you'll probably get another fish to do the same thing. There are different techniques for different situations down here which I'm sure is the same for you guys. I teach people "finesse" techniques. For the fish down here, finesse means "slow" but with variables such as "hard twitches" when you know a snook is interested in the lure.

I'm just curious: How many of you are talking about baitcaster reels with the braided line? I ask because most of what I do in my saltwater fishing is spinning reels. And my buddy who likes his baitcaster for tossing lures in saltwater (kind of a rarity in this part of Florida) has had the line breaking on the cast, inside the spool It's funny actually. On my baitcasters, I prefer mono or fluorocarbon/fluorocoated lines. One other thing that occurred to me: Are you fishing around a lot of rocks? If your line is walking on the rocks, it will get some weak spots

"No." "Got any duck food?" :lol:I love that one.

A couple of things. One, if the line has dings on it check your guides. If there is a bad guide, it will possibly cut up your line Two: As for catching more fish with the mono- are you tying your lures directly to the braided line? The braided is very visible compared to mono. I use a lot of braided line down here in the Florida Gulf Coast waters. A two to two and a half foot leader line tied off to the braid adds the "invisibility" back to that last section of line leading to the lure I have some spools of mono that I pull out when I have inexperienced folks or kids that I take fishing. It's more forgiving. But otherwise the braided line is the way to go down here. The "memory" on mono is a real problem when you're catching big fish. One or two decent size redfish or snook and the line gets "the twisties". Conversely, I have three reels where that braided line has been on there for over two years (probably just jinxed it). Also, the braided line casts further and the zero stretch makes hooksets much more successful. Believe me, there is nothing wrong with mono. I like the stuff. But you might want to try out the "leader" with the braid and see how it works for you Neil

Mallard, You ever hear the one where the duck walks in to the bar and asks "got any duck food?"

Craig, Nice to hear from you. What kind of lures are you making? JSC, I've been there when the sharks are thick. I think that August or early September is when I've seen them in there thick. Love that spot where the ICW canal meets the Bay just north of the bridge heading toward Mexico Beach. I love that area. Usually stay at the Dixie Belle. Very fisherman friendly. Great rates. Don, If you sell your kayak, you can still use mine if we meet up at Ozello.