Crayfish HairJig on a 3/8oz Arky Style Head - Tying Video Just Dropped

[Felder]

Hello again, its been a bit since I posted last - thanks for all the great comments/feedback/support as I launched a new lurecraft YouTube channel about 6 weeks ago (SDG Custom LureCraft).  This forum, a couple Facebook groups, and a select few YouTube channels have been extremely helpful in my adventure.  

Wanted to share - I just dropped a video where I tie my most ambitious design to date: a 3/8oz Crayfish Hair Jig that looks more like a fly fishing pattern (and uses a lot of the same material) but is big/stout enough to throw on a baitcaster.  

If you choose to check it out, I hope you enjoy it and tie up one of your own!  If you'd rather just buy one you can reply here or reach me via my Facebook page (same name as the channel) where you'll find a pinned post with pricing.  Either way, I sincerely hope you enjoy video and give the jig a try!  I'm proud of the design and excited to share it. 

(Oh and... you may even see a nice fish catch using this pattern, at the end :)). 

Thanks!!

Link: 

     

[cadman]

Very Nice tutorial. Job well done.

[Felder]

Thank you sir!

[DaBehr]

That looks like smallmouth candy! Very well done video.

[Felder]

Yup!  Large and small... hard to pass up a tasty treat.  Appreciate the kind words! 

[mark poulson]

After I watched your first video I got some Texas cut Zonkers, and tried your method, using 3" strips as the craw claws.  It is really neat how the craws stand up.  I also like how it slows the fall of the jig, which should help with pressured fish.  Thanks again for sharing the idea.  I'm playing around now with ways to add scent, like dipping the Zonkers into Spike-It garlic flavored dyes.  So far, it seems to hold the scent, and the hairs still trap air on the fall, and spread out once they hit bottom.

 

[Felder]

Wow, I had never considered adding scent to the zonkers!  That’s an interesting ideas indeed!  And cool that they still float despite the added scent.  Sweet!

[smalljaw]

Do not add scent or dye to a zonker strip, it will ruin the action!!!! If you want to add scent to it you put it on the hide, not the hair. I tie a jig with a rabbit strip with some Acrtic fox hair over it and a chenille collar. The collar I added on is to add scent to because you don't want that on natural material.

[mark poulson]

5 hours ago, smalljaw said:

Do not add scent or dye to a zonker strip, it will ruin the action!!!! If you want to add scent to it you put it on the hide, not the hair. I tie a jig with a rabbit strip with some Acrtic fox hair over it and a chenille collar. The collar I added on is to add scent to because you don't want that on natural material.

Could the way I blew the zonker dry with compressed air after I dipped it in the Spike-It be the reason that mine seemed to still have good action?  

I'll go back out and do more testing once the garage cools down.  It's 95 degrees out there right now.

[smalljaw]

10 hours ago, mark poulson said:

Could the way I blew the zonker dry with compressed air after I dipped it in the Spike-It be the reason that mine seemed to still have good action?  

I'll go back out and do more testing once the garage cools down.  It's 95 degrees out there right now.

Mark, how long did you use it? Once the hair absorbs the water you will notice the scent matts the fur. When you use it on a zonker tail or claws it isn't as noticeable but use it on a crosscut body and it becomes evident real fast what happens. It is even worse with bucktail but go get a jig with the rabbit the same way only without the scent and compare and see.

[mark poulson]

8 hours ago, smalljaw said:

Mark, how long did you use it? Once the hair absorbs the water you will notice the scent matts the fur. When you use it on a zonker tail or claws it isn't as noticeable but use it on a crosscut body and it becomes evident real fast what happens. It is even worse with bucktail but go get a jig with the rabbit the same way only without the scent and compare and see.

I haven't had a chance to fish one yet, but they look good in my 5 gallon test bucket.  So far, I have only used it on claws.  I hope to find out tomorrow.

[mark poulson]

I thought about what Smalljaw said, and I figured there had to be a way to add scent without killing the zonker's action.  Then I looked at at Felder's video with the craw body made of paper, and got an idea.

I added a second rubber skirt band closer to the hook bend, to make room for a scent pocket. Then I tied on the zonkers backwards right behind the head band.  I flipped the zonkers back over and tied them just behind the hook bend band, so they would still flare.  I wound up with a patch of zonker fire between the skirt and the zonker claws that I can add scent to, without disturbing the claw fur.  Here are pictures of the steps I used, and the finished jig.  I used the skirt bands because my heads don't have the same collar and bait keepers that Felder's have.

 

[Felder]

Looks to me like a winning design!!

[mark poulson]

On 6/26/2020 at 4:10 AM, Felder said:

Looks to me like a winning design!!

It's your design.  I just tweaked it a little, so thank you.