chas48 Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 I spent all winter making Arkie jigs,stand up jigs and shakie head jigs. Ive been fishing 4 times now and broke off 6 times !! I have not broken off 2 times in the last 3 years on a hook set. At first I thought it was bad line, but it has now happend on 3 diffrent reels w/ 3 diffrent lines. The only common factor is, the breaks are all on the jigs I made.... Now, I have gotten paint on the eyes of the hooks and have tried to clean them out. Could this be the ONLY thing it is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreekMonster Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 If you scrape the paint out of the eyes and scratch up the metal, it could very well be just that. any little bur or burs on the hook eye will act like little razors and cause breakage. If you get paint in the eye, try using a hook and just poke the paint out. The less you fool with it, the better. Maybe use a toothpick or piece of one in the eye before you paint to keep the paint out. I'm sure some of the guys here can help you more than I can on that subject. But remember, a rough hook eye (whether burs or rust) can and will cause breaks. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassn1 Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 My first thought was paint left in the eye, how are you getting the paint out? My second thought was, how old is your line? To get paint out I heat up a piece of spinnerbait wire or a paper clip and run it thru the eye before I bake it. Since I invested in a fluid bed I dont get paint clogging up the eyes anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas48 Posted April 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 All the lines are new. At first I would get the paint out w/ an old hook or 1 of those "hole punch" type tools for jigs if it was paint or a knife blade if it was powder coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gat0r Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 The best remedy is to get the paint out of the eyelet while you're painting. I do this with a small piece of copper wire. Heat the jig, dip in paint, punch any paint out of the eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Cochran Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 You probably have a chipped or broken ceramic insert on one of your rod guides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted April 15, 2008 Report Share Posted April 15, 2008 I have to suspect guides, bad line, chafed line ... could you tell if was broken on the knot ?? it should show. My 2 cents JSC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas48 Posted April 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 3 diffrent rods/reels, 3 new lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soccerer Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 I clean out the eye with a eye-buster and then scrape the outside of the eye with a knife. Paint can cause some knots to slip when tightened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian_Va Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Are you actually reeling up the broken knot? If you are then you really need to use a round smooth point to clean your jig eyes. If you use something with an edge on it, thats probably your problem. Those stainless dental picks are good at popping out paint without burring up the hook eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 I think the answer is as stated above, the surface of the eye. You need to take a close look, under a microscope if possible or a magnifying glass and compare with a shop bought jig or an out of the box hook. I first cleaned my eyes with a dremel bit, but I did notice the surface finish of the hook was BADLY damaged, so now I am much more careful and after reading this thread, even more careful. Many use a piece of wire in a dremel. This should work fine as the wire wall is smooth. If anything, this will polish the eye and improve the line attachment. But if the end of the wire rattles against the eye surface, damage will result. I am going to experiment with a tooth pick in a dremel. The idea is that the friction heat will soften up the epoxy and facilitate the removal. It will be several weeks, so feel free to try it. The important thing is not to disturb the seal to the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Take a piece of cotton pad and go around the insides of your eyes on your rods and if theres a nick or scratch it will catch the cotton. Old trick from Uncle Homer in an article I read. Fatman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Take a piece of cotton pad and go around the insides of your eyes on your rods and if theres a nick or scratch it will catch the cotton. If that doesn't find anything use a magnifying glass and check them Old trick from Uncle Homer in an article I read. Fatman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas48 Posted April 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2008 So how do you put powder coat on w/o getting any on the eye? I used to heat and dunk but that gets in on the eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griffo Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 The trick here is to use a hemostat clamp (surgical type) i have sevral in three sizes 4'',6'', & 8'' ones the 4'' ones work well for holding the eye of you jig while you dip n swish in the FB you could possably get away with long nose pliers to do this job aswell but i like the hemos as you can lock them into place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas48 Posted April 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Im beginning to wonder if I got some bad hooks from Gamigatzo (sp) I have looked at them under a magnifing glass and there is paint in the eye to...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
braveviper Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Take a pair of your wifes pantyhose and run some thru the guides of your rod and thru the eye of a painted jig,the pantyhouse will snag on a burr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tailchaser Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 what type of rod/line set are you using on the 3 rigs you have?? the reason i ask, a guy that buys alot of jigs from me sort of complained of the same thing.. then i found out he was trying to use 6lb florocarbon with a med-heavy casting rod... i asked him to tie the line to a fence post or something and see if he could break it in the yard (jig or no jig)... well, he found out he needed a little heavier line.. or a lighter rod.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas48 Posted April 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 8lbs fluro on spinning tackle(3/16thoz),last year no problem this year (new jigs) problem.....switched to 12 lb fluro on baitcaster(1/4 oz) ...problem (both w/ stand up jigs, 10 break offs) then went to 14 lb mono on bait casting and arkie jig(up to 1/2 oz). Last year no problem, this year at least 2 breaks............12+ breaks in 3 tournaments. I think Im gonna run braided line through all my jig heads to polish out the paint............its just that I didnt have this trouble last year (my 1st year at making jigs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basskillr Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Could it also be that now since you make your own jigs you don't worry about buying more, or finding more in that color, so you are more apt to throw them in places that you wouldn't before? I know that happened to me when I first started making jigs. Also, just because you went out and bought a spool of line from the store does not necessarily mean that it's "new". I have had trouble with specific lot numbers of line in the past and had to go to a different store for the same line to get a different lot number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas48 Posted April 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 Well out of 70 jigs Im throwing away about 45. Most of them stand up jigs. I ran mono through them back and forth, if it snagged I tossed them. My thinking is you can get away w/ a little paint on most jig eyes because the knot isnt going to move much on the hook set. But on a stand up jig its gonna move about 45 degrees on the hook set. If there is any paint chips there, the line will break. Im gonna start a new thread and ask that question... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas48 Posted May 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 Well to end this story...........the key (I now know) thanks to you all, is to poke a wire through the eye RIGHT after the powder coat dunk. That makes a hole that will dry w/ smooth edges..........thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike-A-Pike Posted May 2, 2008 Report Share Posted May 2, 2008 I know I'm coming into this late... Are you using powder paint or powder coat? I just saw a powder coat process in use that looked fantastic and I don't think there was ever that kind of problem. There was an issue with one color not bonding to the jig as it should have, but I think that was being worked on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spnrbatr Posted June 13, 2008 Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 I clean the eyes of my jigs with a toothpick before the final bake. Never had a problem with cut line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thill Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Put a piece of panty hose through your line guides. I once did this years ago, and discovered that ALL my rods had cracked ceramic inserts. Now I check regularly, but haven't had a problem since I started building my own rods. Also, clean your jig eyes BEFORE curing your powder paint. Hope you figure it out. -TH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
