Thread: Shad Imitation

Great looking jigs, and fresh ideas for sure. I found for eyes, least wise for me, to use enamel model paint. Like for plastic model cars and planes. I also use a rotary hole punch from Harbor freight and any color craft foam, the 1mm thick stuff you can get at any hobby store. It don't take much at all. Punch out some circles from the foam. I use pieces of bamboo skewers and super glue the foam to the skewer. Once dried, shake paint well and dip foam brush into paint on the inside of the lid from shake mixing paint. Dot your first color and let dry. then dot pupil. One little bottle of paint will last a really long time...With the hole punch method you can vary the size of foam to make different sizes of brushes, so different sized eyes and pupils.

Nice! Have you tried using gorilla glue clear for gluing eyes? It goes on clear, doesn’t discolor eye, no odor and you have wiggle room to get eye set without getting your fingers stuck together.

Well thank you very much James. The punch method surely would produce better results, and offer some consistency. I’ll adapt it because buying eyes and then having to glue them on just seems silly. My lakes are discolored and as I troll past there isn’t much time for the fish to spot the good eyes. Seems useful only to impress the craftsman.

The Full Fandango here.



Not sure he will get eaten, but he would probably win Best Costume at the jig ball.


I think trying to get the profile right is important. So many of the things we eat are expected to at least look like they are supposed to look. Some people look funny at Wendy’s square burgers. No one wants to eat a three legged chicken. However in nature these lines get crossed rather easily. For example, my wife’s chihuahua would have no issues eating an entire three legged chicken. Still appearing correctly is important and the lines for crappie are wide and grey and not exactly straight. I have never seen a neon electric chicken minnow swimming wild amongst the grasses.

There are other forage for them though, and that means other profiles will be useful. Well perhaps useful. I am making a streamlined minnow shape now. Made up one and it looked fair.

Here he is



The h is 1/16 oz, coated in Ally Hansen so the lead keeps it’s natural shine. Size #2 wide gap hook. But I don’t care for the size of the split ring and swivel. Too large. Partially hidden by the thick chenille, but still too large. So I am having to fiddle about some and get creative. But if I can fish two profiles that will be good.

I am trying to join a club that is filled with old men that have caught crappie for decades. The club was formed back after WWII and the members are quite good and filled with a history and knowledge that could turn into lessons for me if I try. I have to clean fish and do dishes a couple of times, and volunteer around the site where they meet. They have tournaments and such but mostly just meet up to eat the fish someone caught for them. I look to be the youngest in the group, with the average age being about 127 ..... I imagine. Grumpy looking fellers some, although they may come around and warm up to me. I am excited to learn of course, and to be a part of something cool, but mostly I am excited because now I have a place to go and dump my creations. You know the jigs I will never fish. LOL. Plan to make a regular habit of bringing shiny gifts to set about for those brave enough to actually fish one of them.

My “mentor” , ( he nominated me in the club ) is completely baffled as to why I wouldn’t just buy some curly tailed plastic baits at Rural King, get the already painted jig heads in the pack and simply long line out the back of the boat using various spinning rods. Like he does it. He catches lots of fish and does well in tournaments and such, but I didn’t learn much sitting in the back of his boat while we were doing that. I wouldn’t learn any more going again. I need to just kind of figure things out on my own. Sure I could monkey see monkey do, but he catches a lot of little fish, which he enjoys relating the number of fish to others. I just want to have fun and maybe catch a few nice ones.

His buddy and he launched right after me last week. I watched them head across the lake and I kept them in sight the entire time. They trolled past me and I could hear them giggling. Later his buddy asked me what kind of bobbers I was dragging, and how did I get them out and away from the boat. So there is definitely room for some new ideas in my area and I enjoy my planer boards just fine.

Also I am interested in in line spinners. Gonna get my hands on some and just see if they offer anything useful to me. I mean I know they will catch fish, but are they an advantage or a disadvantage.

My biggest obstacle so far is finding the fish. Maybe none of this will even matter once I figure that all out. Could be they will eat anything. My mentor sure thinks so.

Nice write up and thoughts, Micanopy. Stick with it. Like any old club, it takes awhile to break in.
Bob

Good Work! Look forward to seeing the results.

I came home and a box was sticking out of my mailbox. That stuff was what was inside.



Kind hearts are the garden
Kind thoughts are the roots
Kind words are the blossoms
Kind deeds are the fruits

-Author Unknown



Thank you so very much Dr Nip. I really appreciate the generosity. The jigs are destined to be the very first acquisitions for my museum. Seeing the expression of your imagination excites me to imagine what for myself. The skill set a goal I desire, and the patience to assemble it all correctly a real challenge. Your jigs show pride in workmanship. Impressive.

I feel sorry for your local fish actually. Just ain’t right dipping them devils out there. Ain’t right.

I will try eyes again. Thank you very much.

Good stuff, thank ya and you’re welcome! You’re the 1st time I’ve shipped any of my jigs out since I quit selling in 2017. Enjoy them my friend.