[skansand]

has anyone here ever made their own surface iron or yo yo jigs before?

could you pour hot lead into a plaster mold or what kind of mold?

id like to make some salas 6x juniors and a surface version w/ concave and lighter lead...

thanks for any help.. -matt

[sagacious]

Matt, please repost your questions about 'iron' jigs in the 'wire baits' forum. That's where questions about jigs and metal lures are addressed-- you'll get the most info there. The 'hard baits' forum is mostly wooden lures.

Yes, you can make your own yo-yo jigs at home. I've made a bunch, and it's not too difficult. Repost what you'd like to do, and what you're fishing for in 'wire baits', and I can get you started.

[sagacious]

Originally Posted by skansand

has anyone here ever made their own surface iron or yo yo jigs before?

could you pour hot lead into a plaster mold or what kind of mold?

id like to make some salas 6x juniors and a surface version w/ concave and lighter lead...

thanks for any help.. -matt

Matt,
You can make one-piece or two-piece plaster or Bondo molds, and get excellent results. I have made surface and jigging 'iron' from 3 to 14ozs.

Yes, you can pour lead into a dry one-piece plaster mold. Just use the jig you want to replicate as the master, spray it with Pam cooking spray, and press/wiggle it down into the plaster. I'd recommend that you cut off the hook and the rings, and plug the eyelet holes with clay before making your mold. Let the mold dry untouched for 2 weeks, carefully remove the master, and then bake it at 250* for a hour. Then you can pour lead into the cavity. Don't even think about pouring lead without wearing eye protection. Once your lead castings are cool, you can drill 1/8 or 3/16" eyelet holes.

If you don't let the mold dry and cure for long enough, you can expect it to crack and fall apart fairly soon. Like everything else in life, there is a learning curve to it. Bondo also works very well for one or two-piece 'iron' molds.

Below are a couple pics of homemade 'iron'. The green glow iron is killer on some of our local deep-reef beasties, and it's also caught yellowtail, pargo, etc. It's about the weight/size of a Salas 6X jr-- it weighs 4.5ozs and is 4-1/4" long, hooks are 7/0 siwash, rings are welded .087" stainless. Close-up pic shows the brass bearings that are rivetted into the eyelets for maximum durability.

The polka-dot jigs were quick and easy to make, but they turned out to be real fish killers, and have caught rockfish to wahoo.

Hope this helps, let us know if you have questions!

[skansand]

thanks sagacious, those irons look awsome... what kinda beasties you refering too? butts and lings?

those polka dots wouldve killed it in puerto vallarta, i just got back , had a huge african pompano take my last salas 6x junior and almost spool me on 40ib...

i work at an auto body shop so i guess il give the bondo a try, thanks!

[sagacious]

Originally Posted by skansand

thanks sagacious, those irons look awsome... what kinda beasties you refering too? butts and lings?

Yes-- rockfish, lings, halibut, cabazone.

those polka dots wouldve killed it in puerto vallarta, i just got back , had a huge african pompano take my last salas 6x junior and almost spool me on 40ib...

Those are some fuerte fish, all right. The polka dot idea was for a fast paint job that would look OK. It came out better than expected. I'm sure they would catch wsb and tuna as well.

i work at an auto body shop so i guess il give the bondo a try, thanks!

Very good, your experience with Bondo will have you up and running in no time. Just follow the instructions I outlined above, and you'll be set.

Let us know how it turns out. Good luck!