PHP Warning: Use of undefined constant VBA_SCRIPT - assumed 'VBA_SCRIPT' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in ..../includes/functions_navigation.php(802) : eval()'d code on line 1 Homemade bucktail jigs
Hey guys was wondering if anyone could tell me how to make bucktail or feather tailed jigs. Looking at using them for bottom bashing up north later this year. I was watching a video of Mal florance using these jigs for trout out on the ribbon reefs, which really got the blood goin. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hey thanks peter, what jig head s do you buy and where fo you get them from im looking at using 3oz jigs. Also do you know if it is possible to make your own jig heads.
of course it is possible to make your own heads, I am sure there would be a mould made just for that purpose, but you can make your own (crude) moulds and do it yourself, take a bit of care with the moten lead (fumes, burns etc) and away you go, any size ,weight you like.
last time i bought these, they were (i think) $2.95 for a 2 pk in sizes from 1/4 oz up to 2 oz.........I figure it would be hard to beat at that price. The advantages of making yourself would be to use other colours and maybe select your hooks/jigheads. The ones i got only came in white feather and the hooks seem ok but the gape could be a bit wider.
There is a company called Do-It molds here in the US....they have a web site www.do-itmolds.com , however I don'[t know about their overseas shipping policies. They make some truly great products.
Thanks mate have had a look at the do-it moulds mob and they have a dealership in Australia down in Ballina. One thing im not sure about is on the site they reckon you need an electric heater and mixer to melt the lead. I s that what most people do or would a fire or sove do the same job.
I make my own bucktails, but I must say early on that I don't actually make the jig heads. I buy the TT or nitro jig heads (an excellent range of hook sizes and head weights in their ranges), then tie the tails on myself. If you have a tackle shop near you that stocks fly tying gear, then you're in business. Grab some packets of the cheap white tail material, then just a little bit of the more expensive synthetic shiny stuff (I think it's called crystal flash) to give your jigs a little extra touch of class and edibility . I use the cheap white hair to create the fatness and 'pulse' in the body, then over the top, I put the crystal flash to add some sparkle and colour. They look surprisingly good in the water with a twitching retrieve.
I use a fly tying vice and the little bobbin holder that dispenses fine thread, and then I bind the tails onto the jighead. You can do a heap of different patterns, colours and shapes, depending on the sort of fish you are targetting, and the depth you intend to fish. Fat tail profiles I've found, tend to sink more slowly, and are great for shallow water reefies. Thinner darting profiles are the ducks nuts for pelagics.
Bucktail jigs are vastly under rated as a viable fish catching lure, and catch everything from dimersal species such as trout and cod, to pelagics like mackerel and trevs. Here are a few examples of what use to good effect around the Whitsundays....
Melter does work best....but you can melt the lead with a torch. And here's another trick...I use lead free tin solder for some of the more detailed jigs...spendy...but it stays very shiny as it's 95% tin....and it molds at a much lower temperature and accepts the details of the mold far better than some of the poorer lead alloys.
Wheel weight lead is one of the more difficult alloys...it has a lot of antimony in it...and it's difficult to get a good pour on detailed molds....pure soft plumbers lead works best.
Hey Guys bought some jig heads yesterday just to get me started will have a look for semewhere that sells feathers and bucktail. Does anyone know of somewhere in the SEQ region that does
get out the yellow pages and ring the independant tackle shops (ie. not the mart or Bcf) and ask! you'd be suprised what you can find in these places.
I recently went into a tackle store in a small northern NSW town that i'd driven past plenty of times before and not gone in as I assumed it would have a very limited range of products........wrong. the walls were covered in all sorts of lures and plastics i've not seen anywhere except in bigger specialist outlets in brisbane. As a bonus, I found a discontinued model lure that i'd been chasing for quite some time.
. I use the cheap white hair to create the fatness and 'pulse' in the body, then over the top, I put the crystal flash to add some sparkle and colour. They look surprisingly good in the water with a twitching retrieve.
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