Thread: Lure Making

Watched some videos last night looking for some new ideas and found an interesting one.







A strip of flashaboo running down the chenille. This creates an interesting effect as it is very flashy.







Super easy to do. I just tied in my flash and let it run wild in the back, just like normally done. Then after finishing the chenille, simply bring the end of the flash forward and wrap it tight at the head. This is something I am likely to add to many of my jigs. It gives the lure flash where it is dull.

I studied a small school of minnows as they moved about in the water of the springs. I watched them as they went about their business. Every so often my eyes would catch a faint glint. Not some huge thing, but just a hint of flash. A brief explosion and then gone sort of thing. This brief flashing is something I have seen many many times over and it screams minnows. I would like for my lures to provide a brief flash in this same manner. Hint hint I am over here.

I also have been playing around with Peacock Swords. These are not the long flowing feathers of the cock’s tail. There is no eye on these feathers. Rather they protrude away from his sides and are at the bottom edges of his fan. Weird things that you don’t really notice until you look for them.


The swords are on either side, down low and low like the thick area on this bird.











Very iridescent in color and a hint of flash. I saw these being used as a wing on flies. Sort of like running down the spine of the hook. I just clip some free and wrap at the head making like a beard. It looks really cool and is fast and easy to add to any fly.








I am sure I will find other uses for this cool material.

Very creative sir! Thanks for sharing with us

Poured these this morning.


I had ordered the Eagle Claw 571 in 1/0 and really liked that hook. It is the shortest shanked hook on the left. It has an aggressive tip and a large barb and really holds the fish. I liked it mostly because I do not have to be perfect as I thread on plastic baits. Less chance of misalignments, and the tail has more freedom to move so more action. The hook is solid and will not bend with a big fish.

I read some about the Mustad hooks and had ordered some to test. Mustad 32746NP. The shank is regular length and the barb is better than what is on sickle hooks. I am thinking the longer shank will give me more room to tie materials in place. Most of my ties are of the short shank variety. The sizes shown are #2 and 1/0. I think I will split the difference and order #1 size in a bulk box.

Need to study up some more before I decide what model number hook to get.

Black. Silver Holo

Ruby Slipper. Glow Blue


Pink




These are 1/16th ounce with a 1/4 inch (6mm) 3D Super Pearl eyeball. New to me hook.

When the Matzuo sickle hook craze took hold, many new fishermen wanted that and only that. The hooks were sharp and had small barbs so they penetrated easily. The angled bend was said to hold both bait and fish much better than the normal curved hook. Matzuo shuttered their doors a few years back.

Eagle Claw came out with a sickle hook they called The Little Nasty. These are sickle hooks, too. They are very popular now. Many fishermen claim they love them. Well I got several hundred sitting in a drawer and they will probably remain there.

I wanted to try a Mustad hook and some are very expensive. They come with chemically sharpened tips, which are devilshly sharp. Then I stumbled across the 32500 hook, known as the Skipjack. It has been out for a few years now and there really isn’t much info about it. Several members here have commented on it, but other than to say they liked it, not much else. The “sickle” is a hybrid as it doesn’t come to a bend like the others. Similar to my eyes but said to be different. I feel that it is sharper than the Lil Nasty. I don’t have any Matzuos to compare it to.

I chose 1/0 size and they seem long shanked for a 1/0. A tad longer is what others have said as well.

I poured them in a Fat Boys Big Eye Minnow mold, filed smooth the spot where the sprue broke free, shielded the eye with shrink wrap, heated with a gun, one quick dip in the container, baked, added the 3D eyes with jig in hand positioning the eyes just so, no glue, then an over coat of BSI epoxy to secure.

These longer shanks will allow me to better fit tying materials onto the jig. I still plan to use the Eagle Claw 571 short shanked hook for my plastics. Again, much easier to thread them onto the hook and they allow more freedom of movement because the bait isn’t skewered as far length wise. The 571 is a great hook BTW.

These new ones got me to try sickle hooks again. I lost some very nice fish at the boat using the Lil Nastys. This I surmised was due to the teeny tiny little barb they have. I could lift a fish into the boat, let it flop on the deck and the jig would pop right out. I simply recast at that point and then would fetch the fish. The 571 has a pronounced barb and the jig does not pop out when you let them flop about. Stays put. I feel that this is a lesson for me.

Here is a shot of a Lil Nasty up top, and this new Mustad underneath.




The wire is thicker in the Mustad as you can easily see. The tip is curved and is pointing at the eye of the hook. Where the pull will come from. The Lil Nasty is pointed above the eye. I would prefer the tip be directed at the eye for penetration.

The barb as you can see is easily more aggressive, and my hope is that this new hook will turn my hooked fish into caught fish. The 571certainly brings the fish aboard and I enjoy landing the fish that dare bite my lures. With the 571 if I see the rod bow back during trolling operations, that fish will come aboard. I lose so few and almost every nibble turns into a hooked fish. My hope is that these new ones will do the same thing, only offer me some additional length to fiddle on some extra featherings.

The tip is already in an aggressive posture so bending the tip upwards to encourage hook sets is needless.



Something for readers to consider.

1) Many many fish are caught with a round bend jig hook. They work very well. When you make the bend in a sickle hook it provides a weak spot that can and will snap. These sickle hooks seem to be brittle there. So if you fish with a lot of snags, probably already learned that a round bend will pull free by allowing the hook to straighten. A less sharp hook will not penetrate the snag as deeply either.

2) These Mustads have a thicker gauge of wire. They also will probably be a poor choice for fishing snaggy water. I mean if you want to pull free and rebend your hook, there are much better choices available to you.




I have been using alternative eyes, rhinestones and sequins, and while they are interesting, I decided to use eyes on these. The jig head is designed for 4mm eyes, but 6mm work. They completely cover over the eye cavity and sit atop the rim. I do not know if the fish will be impressed but I think they look cool and that is all that matters.




Finally, I found exactly zero hooks with any sort of disability. No slightly open eyes for example. I chose Black Chrome for the finish and do not plan to make my jigs stay wet to rust. Very slippery stuff actually.


I will let you all know how they fish. I mean if I ever actually catch some fish. Things been slow for even the very best fishermen around here. Two years ago we had a lake that was absolutely on fire with crappie. I think they caught them all. Pretty sure. A fickle fish they are.

Great explanation! I love that pink one.

You would never guess that I like peacock colors.

Good looking colors on those

E X P E R I M E N T A L ………


A year or so ago I saw a video of a man in a tackle shop making jigs for customers. He was twisting the rubber legs to make a tail. I toyed around some then, and here I am doing it all over again. This time I am using two silicone legs with a small bead. One has a fat rubber leg, but lacks the elusiveness of the silicone. The movement is awesome and will no doubt make the jig more attractive to a dumb fish.







Back to Mop Flies again as well. Once wetted the tail comes to life and moves as if alive.

Hard to spot, but on the second one down, there is a holographic strip running along the chenille.