lyon17

Cadman, have you ever tried a banana head jig? They look like another great alternative to bitsy bugs.

In my experience, the wire weedguards I have tried do nothing to prevent me from getting snagged, and still get weeds on them. I have never used a wire weedguard I have liked so I usually steer clear of them, but I will give them another shot soon. Using those is certainly easier than doing all of this. Thanks for the suggestion.

What gauge wire do you recommend for tying skirts?

This is definitely something I’ll look into. Thanks.

I’ll definitiely have to try some of those snootie jigs and some teflon pins. I actually use braid more than thread and occasionally tie one with monofilament. What size teflon pins do you use? I’m guessing 1/8” based on how my weedguards fit in your jigs.

Thanks for the safety tips as that has happened to me before and it sucks. Ill be sure to get better gloves. I learned most of it from reading posts on TU, and some youtube videos by Smalljaw. This is such a great resource for jig making thanks to guys like you and him. I currently use thread and braided line for tying my skirts and it works pretty nicely. I put a little super glue on the knot and thread when done. I have tried wire tying but I only have some pretty heavy gauge wire at home and it didnt work to well. I do plan on getting some thinner wire and trying again soon. I also love using finesse jigs and RARElY go above 3/8 oz. 1/4 oz is my sweet spot for lakes and ponds but for my local river (DuPage River) I like using 1/8 and lighter. Those snootie jigs definitely look like something I’d like. Do you just use super glue to keep your trailer on there? Here is a picture of how I tie my skirts.

It sounds like a long process but after doing it a couple times it doesnt take much longer than regular jigs. Its a great alternative to bitsy bug flip jigs my former favorite jig. Those are good jigs but have crappy paint and the skirts get destroyed quickly.

Yes, that is thread coated in epoxy. I will definitely try the groove idea its sounds a lot quicker than waiting the full 1-2 day epoxy curing process. Heres how I put the weedguard in. 1. Remove some lead from around the curved part of the jig to make it easier to drill. I use an exacto knife for this. 2. Start a hole with a 1/16” drill bit and go about 1/8” deep. I do this because its much easier to drill into lead with a smaller bit and its nice to have an accurate starting point. It also lets the bigger drill bit grab onto the lead and drill much easier. 3. Swap out the drill bit for a whatever size weed guard you want (1/8” for mine). This is much easier to do with a smaller weedguard I wouldn’t go above 1/8” on the 1/8 oz the head is too small. Drill as deep as possible but stop before hitting the hook. It’s very important to hold the jig head very hard or else the drill bit will move around and tear up your lead and make it look horrible. I wear gloves when doing this because I do not like getting oil from my hands and stuff on my jig heads before powder painting. 4. Powder paint them and make sure you keep the weedguard hole clean. I put a little clay in there and pull it out after dipping the jig. The clay hardens and expands a little from the heat of the torch and you can just grab it with needle nose pliers. You must do this before the paint hardens or it will chip when you pull it out. (Since I don’t pour my jigs I dont get to paint them with a teflon pin still in and this is a great way to keep weedguard holes clean in any kind of jig) 5. Put a a small amount of superglue on the weedguard and put it in. Let dry while you mix the epoxy. 6. Put a generous amount of epoxy around the weedguard hole making sure that its completely surrounded in epoxy. You MUST use the epoxy because the weedguard hole wont be clean enough to hold the weedguard in with just superglue. (Weedguard will have slight wobble until glue and epoxy cure.) 7. Let epoxy cure for 2-3 days. I use devcon 2 ton epoxy. 5. Add a skirt if you want using either the groove method or thread+epoxy.

Sorry the photos were horrible quality in the original post.

Thanks for the jigs. Ill be ordering some more soon.

Thanks

Hello, I am new to TU and new to lure making. I am 18 and pouring is not an option for me due to financial constraints so I have been buying unpainted jigs from fishingskirts. com and cadman and powder painting them. Its quite fun and I hope to be able to pour them myself eventually. Anyways, I wanted to show off these modified worm head jigs and see what you guys think. I tie some thread and coat it with epoxy on the upper part of the baitkeeper to allow me to tie skirts to it and not have them slide down, and still have a bait keeper that works. It really creates a nice super small finesse jig. If you want you can drill a hole in the head with an 1/8” drill bit and add a weedguard. These are 1/8 oz on a 1/0 Mustad #32786. These are an awesome smallmouth presentation. Does anyone else make ned rig style skirted jigs?