My DIY Projects and Great Adventures

[Micanopy]

!/16th oz FreeStyle jig with the wire extension. Later I will bend the wire down and away and make a loop in the end. I plan to figure my best wire length at that time. The 2” curly tail grub will not be much of an issue, but the blade size will. Shouldn’t be too difficult to get the proper distance for blade spin, where it is as close in tight as possible. Two adjustments, overall length and angle of wire.

My biggest concern was getting the wire set solid and it certainly is that. These can be rigged drop shot fashion with second jig hanging off this one.

Stopped shielding my hook eyes, too. Instead I make sure the eye is up top during the heating process, then dip. Then I use my flush cutters to nip the scrap lead around the shank of the hook where the eye comes out, and twist and then scrape coming away and any excess paint sluffs right off. Quick and painless.

White heads go with any color plastic. In my opinion that is. It also allows the eye to be easily seen and recognized as such. I dab on fingernail polish between the eyes for a dash of enhancement.

I glued the eyes on of course. I use Gorilla glue and squirt it on a piece of plastic, then use a tooth pick to dob a dab on the jig, then slide on the eye. If the eyes are solid I will forgo the UV resin overlay as it tends to steal the luster from the eye. Makes them cloudy. Guess it wouldn’t be the end of the world if a few eyes fell off during battlefield operations.

I am very happy that the wire comes out in perfect alignment with the hook shank. Again I am much happier with the way these cobbled together jigs swim vs the Herring Head. That wire allows the jig to achieve the horizontal attitude, vs. the angled up look. Moving the blade backwards affords this alignment. Also there were no spinning around tricks or such. The blades whirred beautifully and the swim tail tickled along wonderfully. Quite an attractive lure actually.

So the FreeStyle mold had fallen from my favor, only to return to the top of the heap. The Herring Head mold will go into the storage box as I see no use for it now. The mod on the FreeStyle mold was super easy and once done very difficult to notice.



1/16th oz
Size #1 EC hook
2” curly tail grub

Who could resist those beedy little eyes ?

I adjusted the blade in closer by shortening wire then bending it to fine adjust it. Wire bends by hand so future adjustments will be easy enough.

I was also making something very similar using drop shot swivels, but they offer almost no adjustability. Not a big issue, but these wire inserts are easier to form up and don’t require anything being wrapped with thread.

So another arrow in my quiver.

[Micanopy]

[tattoodrew84]

Awesome idea


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

[Micanopy]

Just imagine what you would want to put on this…..

[SuperDave336]

Just imagine what you would want to put on this…..

A 3 pound crappie would be nice!

[Micanopy]

[DockShootinJack]

Good looking stuff there.

[Micanopy]

Good looking stuff there.

Well I think I have mastered the underspin at this point. LOL





My last few jigs are drying on the rack.

1/32 - 1/16 - 1/8- 1/4 oz sizes
Curly tail grubs, Stroll’Rs and various others such as thumper tails are rigged. Lots of variations in color. I like to glue the plastics on because that allows me to lift the fish, plop him on the deck, afford some slack and let him spit the jig, and me wind a little and cast without having to finger the dumb thing back in place. Gets me back in the action quickly. Actually saves valuable time vs wasting time adjusting, fixing back, and trolling plastics that are garbled up in the bend of the hook.

These spinners will work well with my style which is to “long Line”, even though I am really short lining due to the lakes being so shallow. Which is great because I can make turns no problems. I was excited to at least hook a beast, and that jig was only 20 feet back, straight behind the boat. The concerns I had when I first started fishing for crappie, revolving around the boat scaring away the fish, seems to have been pure fantasy on my part. They don’t seem to mind at all. Twenty feet back no problem for the older fish.

Those jigs are also being pulled by a rod with an acute upright angle in the holder. Not sure if that makes a difference or not, but imagine it would have some effect. I started angling the rods higher vs parallel because I felt it helped with keeping the baits shallow. I have no idea of how far back gets me how deep or any of that magical figuring the engineers claim to have computed. I have pondered several “charts” and such but they all seem to declare caveats right up front. As if they are certain the numbers are in error. 8-11 feet they say. Well…..which is it ?

Someone wrote that we all have to kind of figure the depth thing out for ourselves, our gear, tackle, lures, lines and such and they are correct. Too many variables to be certain to depth. I see that depth is important and that it must be considered. I can troll the same lures through an area and get no bites, alter my distance back and start picking up fish. Similar to adjusting speeds. Changing speeds produces two results though, depth and well…..speed. Currently 0.8 - 1.5 mph is where I am getting my bites.

I also like the rods being high because that helps set the hook on these fish. I don’t set the hook. I simply pick up the rod and start reeling them in a gentle fashion. Once they start water skiing I crank a little faster and maneuver them between the other lines and swap positions in the boat and such. Once they get close they usually manage a quick dive and then up they come and into the boat.

Here are my Tube Jigs- these are all either 1/32nd or 1/16th oz


My curly tail grubs- 1/16- 1/8th- 1/4 oz with either a 2” or a 3” grub


These are my Stroll’Rs- 1/16 - 1/8 - 1/4 ounce


These are my assorted variations


Various assorted with various spinner blade designs and such


Lastly my spinners with the new design 1/32 - 1/16 - 1/4, some curly grub some Stroll’Rs.


So my issue now is which to select for fishing. I have gone to a system where I strategize the evening prior and select from the boxes an assortment to use, and stick those onto a section of pool noodle. Several noodle sections then get slipped onto my rod holders and the boxes go in a tackle bag which gets stowed under the console. This allows me to swap quickly and without digging thru multiple boxes. Keeps me sane.

I am using six rods currently. So I have three “pairs” and fish each pair at the same depths roughly and with the same weight of jig. Then each pair differs in weight and position relative to the boat. It may not be ideal but it is where I am at now. later I am certain that this will all be a giant waste of time. LOL

[skeetbum]

Lots of good stuff there, now we need fish pictures.

[BobC]

Lots of good stuff there, now we need fish pictures.

Wow, you look to have a lifetime supply! Wonder which ones will work best…
Bob