I have been thinking about using jigging setups (Penn Torque and Shimano or Penn jigging rod) for trolling (in addition to jigging). I can't see any reason that they won't work just fine for everything except larger tuna and blue marlin, and they will be a lot more comfortable. Are many people going this route?
JOE PLEASE TELL US ABOUT FRED........IS HE THE HAW RIVER MANUFACTURER I SPOKE OF?Originally Posted by Fishfinder
they are made similar to the ever popular "insect version".
Materials list:
lead
oak board available at Lowes
brass or SS wire to used to attach split ring
nails
bondo from the auto parts store
vasilene
paint-I used power paint cause it's tuff
reflective tape if you like
I started with a store bought jig and traced the ruff shape on two equal lenght oak boards slightly larger both lenght and width of the jig. Then used a router to route out a cavity in the wood slightly larger than the jig width and depth but stopping exactly where at the ends of the metal for lenght. Laying in the cavity, the jig rested on the wires of the jig at both ends. I carefully notched indents in the wood so the half of the wire layed down in the wood. Your goal is to have half of jig down in the bondo and the other half exposed. Do this for both sides of the jig. I coated the jig with a light even coat of vasilene to keep the bondo from sticking to the jig. Mixed bondo and spread evenly in the cavity of the board. You don't have much time here so work rapidly and place the jig in the bondo pressing it down until your wire seats in the groves you notched out for the wires. Once the bondo sets up, remove the jig and repeat for the matching side. If any bondo is sticking up above the surface of the wood, either shave it off with a knife or use a sander. Now you should have the two halves of the mold. Lay the jig back in mold closing both sides. Clamp it tightly together. Note: the oak wood may not line up exactly square but it doesn't matter. Now drill 4 holes that your nails will fit snuggly in, one in each corner of you mold making sure that the holes are outside the jig cavity. These nails will now be used as alignment pins. With jig empty, clamp it back together tightly and drill a 3/16" hole in the wood on the end of the jig that will be the bottom of the jig. I counter sunk about a 3/8" hole about 3/16" deep just to make pouring easier.
This will be your pour hole for the hot lead. Cut your wires to use for split ring attachment and bend them in a U shape and also bend the last 1/8 of the ends of the wire 90 degrees so they won't pull out. Since we are going use assist hooks with split and solid rings, there won't be a lot of tension put on the actual jig, the tension will only be place on the solid ring. I stick down in the mold about 1". Since lead is softer than whatever the "factory" uses, I lay a nail in may jig with the head of the nail at the bottom of the jig. This helps stiffen the finshed product so it doesn't bend as easily.
Insert you allignment nails, clamp it in a vise or whatever you use for a clamp. Pour the hot lead in, wait 5 seconds and being careful not got burned, I use leather gloves remove the newly poured jig. I lay it immediately into a bed of powder paint while it is still hot from the pour. The paint will stick but not be smooth. After it cools, you are ready to reload and do it again. On 4 oz size, I can pour about 6 or 7 before my jig starts getting too hot. On 9 oz size, I can only pour 2 then let my jig cool some. If you get it too hot, you can damage the bondo. Might sound complicated but it wasn't really. Once you have the molds made, you can make a pile of jigs pretty quick.
If anyone is interested and needs me to explain any part or post pictures of another step, please feel free to ask here.
after making all I want, I hang them from bent wires in the oven and cook them per the instructions on the powder paint, this will smooth them right up. Be sure to put some foil in the bottom of the oven to catch drippings.
I started life as a deckhand at the age of 14 in school holidays aboard UK charter boats steaming to the wrecks in the English Channel, where we fished for pollack, cod, ling and conger (amongst other species). Along the way I have seen a variety of homemade jigs, some of them very effective.
1) bits of chromed bathroom fittings and towel-rails, flattened at one end and filled with lead
2) pieces of pvc pipe, the ends cut at right angles, filled with lead and painted
3) fork handles, drilled and painted to imitate sandeels
My favorite though has to be the barrel lead (cigar lead). Take a lead of the weight you require for the conditions, and insert a length of old hook-rig wire cable through it. Leave an inch exposed which you then double back into the lead, having put a swivel on one end and a split ring on the other. Lay the weight on the ground on a flat surface, and with a lump hammer simply flatten it as much as you want, to the shape you want - as you're doing this you're trapping the cable in place, too. Make as many as you want, hang them up and spray paint them matt white. When dry, add other colours with paint or pen, eyes or tinsel, and arm them with the hook of your choice. Manipulate the lead into whatever shape you want to achieve action.
When the paint starts to fall off you should have caught enough fish anyway or lost the damn thing anyway - it's a great jig to remember when you're abroad and all the locals will sell is lead.
Biscuit-
In the past, we did not make any modifications to the Crippled Herring, we just used the stock hook and splitrings on the 5 oz. models. Mind you, that we were using 30-lb equipment and the tuna were in the 30-50 lb. class, not giants, so there was not a ton of pressure on them, but we did not loose a single fish to splitring or hook failure.
This year, we plan to try removing the hook and adding two dancing stinger hooks to create a poor man's version of the much ballyhooed butterfly jig...
how bout them trevala rods ?
Jesse
it never fails......whenever i drop a jig down that sets me back more than a few bucks, it either gets snipped off neatly by a slimey or some such critter like this eats it
that being said, i am very interested in the new lucanis jigs shimano has come out with the have the rubber skirts. that jig in a red/brown/orange color pattern would be an exact match to the little red rock crabs that the red groupers always puke up. but then again it doesnt take a 20 dollar jig to fool a silly puddinhead.....to each his own.
Spoons make great jigs we used to scavenge them at yard sales and salvation army. You can use both the handles and the blades depending on what you find. I havent tried them in the salt but theyre deadly on Salmon and Steelies in the great lakes. Theyre real easy to make cut off the handle drill a 1/8 hole in each end attach split rings and hooks you can adjust by bending or grinding to suit. The blade ends are great jigging but they can also be trolled behind down riggers or dipsydivers the action is pretty wild and you can find all kinds of sizes.
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