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bassbandit25

Top Coat For Jigs

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Also i just dont like powder paint i cant get custom enough colors.

Yes, it's hard to learn how to powder paint "custom enough", but it's very possible. After 3 years of trials, I'm getting better, but not even close to what I want to see at the end.

I use Devcon 30 minutes epoxy as a top coat, btw.

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So i've been making a ton of jigs lately and i just cant find a top coat that will last when fished on rocks. They all chip/peel/ or turn yellowish. Also i just dont like powder paint i cant get custom enough colors. So i was wondering if any of you guys new a really good top coat.

Bass Bandit,

I know you want to achieve the most perfect bait, that is resistant to sun, weather, rocks and so on, we all do but that is not possible. First of all jigs are heavy and if you cast them into a rock wall no matter what, you will chip them. Also if you fish in rock infested water the jig bouncing off of the rocks will chip no matter what you put on it. I guess if we found the solution to keep our jigs perfect than we wouldn't have to make more. Also if chipping isn't bad enough, jigs do get stuck in rocks, on logs or are bitten off by walleye or northern pike so now you lose a perfectly good jig. At some point in fishing time, it is what it is. Don't sweeat the details. Just fish your jigs and if they wear out take another one out of the box and put it on. I have customers, and most people understand that jigs will chip no matter what.

As far as paint goes, I still believe that powder paint is about the best you can get for application to jigs. Vinyl paint may be better, but if you are not happy with the creations you make with powder paint, than vinyl paint has less possibilities. You can go the route of air brushing, but once the top coat is compromised on a jig, and that is very often, than the paint will wash away, unless you use lacquer. So to me the best of the best is to use powder paint in my opinion. I don't know what you are trying to achieve with powder paint, but you can make some beautiful jigs and spinnerbaits with them, you just have to use your imagination. Also you can use decals if you want to add gill filaments or to emphasize fins. There are many things you can do, but powder paint does have its limits. It will never look like an air brushed crankbait unless you paint it that way.

On top coats, I use the same thing as PSV does. I love D2T and this is my first choice for all of my jigs when needed. My second choice would be E-tex. Nothing you buy will be impervious to rocks. They don't make anything like that. If they did, then you will still have issues with lead denting and then the paint chipping. It's a no win situation.

With that said don't worry about chipped jigs (the fish definitely don't care), go out paint your jigs the best you can and fish them. If you sell them like I do, no-one has come back to me yet and said they want their money back because the jigs chipped. After all it is somewhat of a throw-away item. Sorry for rambling.

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Well I guess they all do come off i would just like them to last a day. Where have you guys been getting your d2t 30 min cause everywhere i use to get it has stopped selling it. Thanks PSV and Cadman.

Bass Bandit,

Now if you want them to last more than a day don't fish the really nice ones, just fish the ones that have mistakes and keep the really nice ones in your tackle box for show :lol::lol: . Just kidding, I know no-one likes a comedian. Anyway, last time I checked you can buy 9 oz bottles at hobbyclub http://www.hobbyclub.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=devcon+2+ton&osCsid=21f0f630e58a37f7d6ee18c1a613466d or tower hobbies. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P?FVSEARCH=epoxy Also it is nice to try to get clear bottles, but sometimes they are a little yellow. I don't sweat it as the strength is there. The only problem is that the yellow tube may give a white jig a more amber color not pure white. That's about it. Other than that they are fine.

Edited by cadman
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In Kenn Oberrichts book Angler's Guide to Jigs and Jigging, Ken makes a comment about the toughest coating he had seen even though it wasn't perfect was the old Burke jigs. He then says to the effect "If you ever find a coating that doesn't chip, let me know so I can invest in your process and get rich too"!!!!!

This pretty well sums it up. If you get in the rocks you're gonna chip heads no matter what you do, it's just part of the game and something I really don't worry about.

Fatman

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Jigs chip.

If it bothers you carry some Sharpies in your boat, and touch up the chips.

It's weird how jig fishing works. I've had some jigs that I "couldn't lose", and others that got stuck in the rocks and broken off on the first cast.

For me, the bottom line is jigs are disposable. I don't like it, but it's true, at least for me.

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So i've been making a ton of jigs lately and i just cant find a top coat that will last when fished on rocks. They all chip/peel/ or turn yellowish. Also i just dont like powder paint i cant get custom enough colors. So i was wondering if any of you guys new a really good top coat.

Josh, Hobby Lobby also carries the 9oz bottles of 30 minute epoxy. You also might want ask Cadman if he still has his tutorial on painting jigs with powder paint. Its very effective and with the proper brushes and lots of practice, I believe you could achieve about any design you want. Once you bake them the blending of the colors has a very nice look to it. You can also mix and blend powder paints in medicine cups to achieve the desired shade of a color that you may want. Making the eyes with powder paint is another story. Wish someone could/would show how to do that if it is possible to do.

Good Luck, John

Edited by JBlaze
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I recently got into brush tapping powder for custom paint jobs. I've made a bunch of colors and for glitter use clear powder with just the glitter to give your jig the glitter clear coat.

What colors are you looking for that you cant match??? There are some folks who are making some amazing looking jigs, with the brush tap method. It takes time to learn but it WORKS!!!!

For powder eyes check out this thread from JigCraft.com

http://www.jigcraft.com/jigcraft/showthread.php?tid=2388

Edited by Fatman
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bassbanit25 in my experience there is no jig paint that will hold up to the rocks. I fish inshore gulf of mexico and often fish from jetties. The rocks that these jetties are composed always tear up jigs but the real delima with the fishing that I do is the fact that I can lose a perfect jig at any time to fish that have sharp teeth. I feel terrible when I spent time fashioning a nice colorful jig only to have it clipped off on the first cast. (This , at times, happens alot with the fishing that I do.) I guess that what I am trying to say is that, although it is difficult, I have to produce a quantity of good jigs rather than a perfect few.

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