I plan to share my stories along with my creations in one thread. What will follow will be of mild to no interest for the vast majority of folks. Those I refer to as normals. Welcome aboard and kindly offer your musings as I traipse through the process of becoming a crappie fisherman.



So….I am mostly finished up with my curly tail jig heads. Three sizes- 1/16- 1/8- 1/4 ounce sizes, all made with a #1 Eagle Claw Black Chrome sickle hook.

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The process of making these jigs takes a while. The steps I take and in the order in which I do them:

Pouring the lead
Trimming the lead
Powder painting the white under base and then the UV/clear over top
Baking the powder paint
Gluing eyes on
Sealing eyes with two top coats of UV resin
Curing in the Sun for a day
Wrapping thread base
Adding chenille
Applying fingernail polish highlights
Sharpening hooks
Carefully gluing on the curly tail baits

These jigs have 7 color enhancements:
White paint
UV reflective paint
Neon polish
Eyes
Chenille
Bait body
Bait tail

The three fingernail polishes are a very bright orange, an incredibly bright yellow and a lovely monster green. I had to go with “Atomic Yellow” as soon as I saw it. Bright when wet super bright when dry. These polishes are also UV reflective to a high degree. So the white glows a beautiful blue, and the polishes yellow, green, or orange, and the chenilles add what they have. Some are actually UV reflective some not. Many of the plastic baits also offer UV enhancements whether the package says so or not. This UV reflectivity offers and advantage to visibility in water and early in the morning before the Sun rises, they glow all on their own.

The chenille is not necessary but I like to include it as the baits will seat up tight against it and the glue between it and the bait’s head provides a solid hold. This pushes the curly tail of the bait back off the hook a little. This elongation prevents the tail from fouling on the hook.

The thread wrap is tightly wrapped down, in normal fashion, then a more open series of wraps going back up. Corkscrew like. This provides a rough surface for the glue to secure the inside of the bait. I use round no wax thread. Once the glue is dried the baits are on solidly for multiple fish. I have caught multiples on one bait with no sign of injury. Not sure how long they will last but it will be simple enough to replace a bait and resharpen the hook.

I place the jig in the vice for sharpening. Just a light touch up on the point. Done correctly it turns a hook that can barely scratch your fingernail into on that digs in when you slide it across. I think this makes only a small difference, but one well worth the effort.

I added spinners to about a dozen of these, but have a new mold coming next week that will remove any need to do this oddball modification stuff anymore. That mold will make jigs with a special wire eyelet for attaching the swivel and blade. Cannot wait to get those Herring Head Under spin jigs in my grubby paws.


Yesterday the wife and I went sea side down at a popular lake. Very popular lake. As in wait to launch, wait to land the boat popular. Wake boats, ski boats, bass boats, pleasure craft, tube riders, and a few very brave fishermen in small jon boats. Our boat rocked the entire time from wakes. It was a tad bit windy but the water was only a mild chop. We had testing to do.

So I tried out my umbrella chair (DIY using PVC) and I must say it worked pretty good. After playing with it though I think I will order the Millinium chair and umbrella stand thingie. The umbrella was well out of my way but the seat had me hunched forward. I was able to spin around and could not really notice the umbrella following my movements. I was able to turn the seat to get shade without regard to boat direction. Not a perfect solution but shade is shade and even a short break from the Sun’s intensity is nice.

Have you ever pumped up a large tube ? That pump kicked my butt. I won, but at a cost. She loved the stupid tube thingie and preferred floating on it vs. lying on the deck on top of the bedding I had provided before. She would just roll off when she got hot, and she did that a bunch. Oh sure I drug her about like everybody else does, but she really preferred to just kind of nap on it and work on her tan. I was fishing of course and so the boat was moving and this provided somewhat of a rotisserie effect. A very effective effect because she got some color.

She likes to call out for more bubble water because I fetch like a really good boy.

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She was a member of the synchronized swimming team at one point and is a pretty good swimmer. We wear our life vests the entire time, except when she is lounging on her raft. I feel comfortable her tanning without it.

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She said she does not like visors….but I made her wear her Crappie.Com visor.

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We didn’t catch any fish. Too hot I imagine. Still it is hard to beat being in a boat with a beautiful lady that is giggling and having fun.

So I pulled some of my latest jig creations anyways even though I knew chances were near nill out in the middle of the lake. Didn’t want her too close to shore where gators hang out. Yes they can be anywhere, but I suspect if it was really dangerous we would hear about people being eaten more often.

Today we go again, only this time to a more quiet lake. There we will drift around some and eat snacks and pour water over our heads and hide under the umbrella chair. This lake is not well known for swimming but we will be far far away from shore so she can float some more. Probably be a quick trip in light of the amount of Sun she got yesterday. She kept trying to lure me in but I don’t have a ladder on the boat…YET. Guess it is kind of a safety feature.

This new lake is one we only quickly visited. The locals say it is a great lake to catch fish and that the water helps them to taste a little better. We just want to explore and see what there is to see. I want tuna fish sandwiches today and something else, just not sure what. I buy the most expensive tuna in the can they got, add as little mayo as I can get by with, finely chopped onion, and a dash of sweet pickle relish, with cheese and tomato slices. She will want her usual……dumb old turkey slices on rye with mayo, lettuce and tomato.

Anyways got run and get started loading the old boat. I will take more pictures of her today so don’t worry OK.