New Plastic Baits

[Micanopy]

Bob’s Jigs sent me my order, and it is pretty quick to the door. I wanted to try a few new to me designs. Here they are.



I wanted these because they looked like they would do well with my style of trolling. Getting colder and the fish are indicating that they want smaller sizes.

1/16th oz Bat Jig head, with a 1/0 EC 571 hook. I trimmed some off of the two that have rat tails so they would fit my short shanked hook a little better. The purple up top was a gift enclosed, and there were some other things kind of tossed in as well. Thanks Bob.

Can’t wait to swim these beauties.

[DockShootinJack]

I like the purple/chartreuse

[MCG1]

Bob makes great baits. Good luck.

[Micanopy]

DSJ…..this is her favorite way to have me cook her fish.



Makes things real easy as I just drag the entire thing from my garage to driveway and light it. Doubles as a charcoal chimney starter. Ultra fast on that task.

I let fish set on counter with paper towels to dry. Melt butter, apply butter and season to taste. Blacken well then plate with rice and a green vegetable. Classic. Tonight it’s Brussel sprouts, frozen microwaved all inside a steamer bag. That ease helps me time everything just like grandma used to do. Everything ready at the same time, sit and eat. She was good but it was after all her only skill set.


Today I poured some more jig heads. All are 1/16th ounce size as the water has cooled dramatically and so have the crappie’s ambitions.



I tossed that purple Crappie Magnet into the shot just so you can see the sizing better. Going smaller…..shrinking.…..melting…..like TV Boy on Willy Wonka……smaller.

Wanted the hook shank lengths to determine which bait is to be affixed, but ended up letting the baits determine the hook shank lengths. LOL.

Bottom left is a little longer shanked so…..it gets the little longer bait- in this case a BG Stroll R. Top left is Bob’s Jigs’ worm which has a very graceful manner to it as it swims. Winner there, but I cut off 1/2” to better suit the smaller shank length. I am thinking that that bait is gonna be very popular.



Looking back it was silly to make jigs without eyes. I mean if I am gonna make them…..well they should have eyes so they may at least pretend to be of proper lineage. Knowing my jig has everything I can give it helps calm me when the fish are being difficult. Simple isn’t all that simple after all.

[GrumpyLoomis]

I have said it many times but I am a believer. A crappie has know idea what an eyeball is , it does know that the end with the dot is most likely the direction it is headed in and the crappie will set up it's attack in that direction so it can eat din din.

[DockShootinJack]

That will definitely put out the heat. Should blacken fillets very quickly. Pairs well with steamed veggies

[DockShootinJack]

I have said it many times but I am a believer. A crappie has know idea what an eyeball is , it does know that the end with the dot is most likely the direction it is headed in and the crappie will set up it's attack in that direction so it can eat din din.

It mostly comes down to what you have confidence in. Lucky shirt, eyes on jigs, a red colored hook. Almost any possibility of things. Yet if it helps you put fish in the boat then by all means have at it.

[DrNip]

Yeah crappie don’t care about eyes or painted head and I catch no more crappie now with fancy paint and eyes than when I fished unpainted heads without eyes. I only do it because it’s a hobby. Do a trial of using unpainted heads and I bet you’ll catch the same as with painted heads. Same with eyes.

[Micanopy]

I understand.



Yesterday I fashioned up about 50 jigs from the pour to curing the final coating over the eyes. It was fun. Next up will be selecting my baits and affixing them to the jigs. I like to glue them in place and then let them air out for a few days, then into a plastic box with some Slab Sauce dribbled inside. Not sure it works but if I can hide some of the artificial scents that might be good.

See I noticed something rather odd. If as I am trolling I reach my hand out and grab the line and pull it, every so often a fish bites immediately. The steady movement of the bait doesn’t trigger them, but that sudden movement forward then the drop does. It is like they are swimming behind the lure watching it, then when it does something different, like trying to escape, bang. So now I pull at my lines fairly often, thinking a big one is eyeing my fine offering, and now I am adding scent to try to entice any following fish to bite.

I was an accomplished surf fisherman and some of those things have transitioned over to crappie fishing. I used Bait-N-Wait operations almost exclusively, and that means using pre tied rigs. I made rigs that were extremely successful and I made rigs that were designed for sharks, and some for tarpon and rigs that were designed to fly sleekly and for maximum distance. For me that was a fun thing to do. I experimented with everything and eventually even invented a new rig, which is incredibly hard given the amount of time some really clever people have had to do that. To slip one in on everyone was a big deal and since then that rig has become very popular.

Well I also invented a way to make an incredibly strong loop knot using a crochet tool. That was also something I was very proud of. Fast, easy, repeatable without errors, strong, low waste, and I can make leaders of exact lengths. As I went along I also experimented with joining lines. What makes a durable knot was far more important than trying to create a 100% knot, which I don’t think really exists.

Anyways yesterday I was re-doing my lines and such and remembered a way I had come up with for attaching a mono leader to braid. I make a series of overhand knots in the braid, five of them, and form a loop. Like a five wrap Surgeon’s Loop. This type of knot is extremely strong with braid and is very durable. Much more so than most every other knot, as the knot just sits there and never over constricts upon itself. Then using my crochet tool form a loop knot in my leader material. Push the braid loop through the mono loop, and pass the end of the leader through the loop in the braid and pull tight. The braid forms a Catspaw around the mono material. The mono is free to move within the coils of the braid without any sort of kinks or creases. Just rides in a sleeve of braid. This leaves a very strong connection, but more importantly, a very durable connection as the braid remains unharmed as does the mono.

It is funny to watch people’s faces when I show them how quick and easy it is to make loop knots using Grandma’s tools. LOL. I got the idea when I began exploring a knot called the Kings Sling. When tying directly to a swivel or hook or something, a loop knot halves the amount of stress being applied to the line where it meet the object. A hard pull that ends up breaking the line will see it break about an inch or so up beyond that knot. The line making up the loop will not break no matter how hard you pull. Always the single line about an inch from where it enters the knot.

The reason I created that braid to mono connection was because I was distance casting and needed a connection that would be sleek in flight. Any sort of swivel or such will catch air and that robs distance. Not much mind you, but adding up a dozen of these types of things and eliminating them added up to about an extra fifty yards for me. I was casting a baited-up rig almost 200 yards and the rig was viable and landed many a pompano.

Transition to crappie, any sort of connection added will react with the water as it is trolled. So a strong and sleek and durable connection may not matter to the fish, but it might. Who would decide for certain, well I guess no one could. So I will, and I say yes it makes a difference. Sleek and silent with less visibility as it goes past.

Can’t post up videos, so here is a few pictures.

First is a shot of both loops after the braid loop has been passed through the mono loop and I began pulling them together.



Now they have been tightened and you can see how they have joined.



The braid has formed the classic Cats Paw shape. Here is a closeup of that shape.



Finally, I have slid the mono to one side so we can see that it is uninvolved and simply riding freely within that braid sleeve.




The reason this is a durable connection is because the mono is undamaged in any way at the connection site. It is just a loop knot. The braid can easily handle the Cats Paw treatment because the mono inside prevents it from over tightening. Over tightening is the biggest killer of braid knots. You can stress a mono knot, release the pressure and the knot will relax. It actually comes slightly undone from where the stress had pulled it. With braid, once pulled it remains. Never relaxes. So with each consecutive stress, it gets tighter and tighter eventually cutting itself free.

Here is Grandma’s crochet tool what makes the perfect loop knot every time.



I can make loop knots within a few seconds and have it be perfectly formed each time. I tested by stressing it many times and that knot never breaks. Always breaks at the single line an inch or so before it enters the knot itself.

If you like swivels, the strongest connection to a swivel is using a loop knot. Ease the loop through the swivel’s eye, and then pass the end of the leader ( or swivel ) through the loop, then as you begin to draw it down, do NOT allow it to form a Cats Paw, instead get the loop to lay like this instead.



You can see how it just kind of grasps at the swivel. A cats Paw would weaken the mono, but when formed in this fashion there is almost no damage done to the mono at all. It will remain in this configuration and should not ever slip down and Cats Paw on you. The key to this is that all of the stress is on the loop knot itself. Very durable and strong.

I like to attach a metal clip to the end of my leader so I can swap out jigs without cutting and re tying out on the boat. Clip off- Clip On. With this clip tied using a loop knot this allows plenty of freedom for the jig to move. So the jig is free to move on one plane because of how the clip interacts with the hook eye, and the clip on a plane 90 degrees opposite to that, which means the jig is very free to move in any direction. You do not get that when you tie the jig on with a simple loop knot. There it is really only free to move in one plane.

So basically, some of my surf fishing lessons can be Crappie lessons, too. Not sure you guys are even interested in some of this stuff, but maybe you are. I taught myself all sorts of things because the surf fishing community is such a small group of guys that tackle manufacturers really don’t try to sell them stuff. I made almost all of my gear, and had to buy rods and reels made over seas. Crappie fishing seems to be a lot like that, with fishermen inventing and creating their own stuff. Like the folks selling plastic baits, but only after wanting to make baits for themselves. Making my own jigs means that I can experiment and explore and make jigs that I would have to special order.

Busy day today, so doubtful I will get to play with my toys.

[BobC]

It’s a classic figure 8 loop to loop - used all the time when fly fishing and you need a quick loop to loop. Just pay attention that you don’t get the cat’s paw.
Bob