Rosy Red Minnow

This is my impressionistic rosy red minnow with its black fins for added contrast. Tied on a 1/8-ounce ball head with a #2 hook. Plan to give it a try on the local smallmouth and largemouth bass.

This jig's length is approximately 3 inches.

Rosy red minnows are fathead minnow variants sold as aquarium pets, gamefish forage, and are popular as bait.

More Grays

I finished tying my remaining gray heads this AM. Below are the two that I tied.

The top jig is reverse-shaded, i.e., white back, gray middle, and black belly. The bottom one is a "large profile" tie. I combined black, white, and gray fur along the hook shank. Though difficult to see in this photo, there is a mix of strands of each color along the entire length of the jig body. This particular jig might not move through the water as attractively as the others, but maybe it will lure in a larger fish with its fuller profile. ;)

Contrast Jig

Tied this one solely with the idea of contrast in the body profile.  Selected black, gray, and white colors. I do not know how this will look in water when jigged.

Used a 3/16-ounce ball head with a #1 hook and craft fur.

To me, it's a little like viewing a black and white television image. However, fish don't watch television. ;)

Gray Siren

Tied a little something that I hope will appeal to river bass.  Used a 3/16-ounce ball head jig with a #1 hook.  The rubber legs are cut relatively short and keep the hook upright.

Materials:

• Black and white HF powder paints mixed to gray color
• Black and white acrylic paints for jig eyes
• DecoArt Triple Thick Gloss Glaze for jig head topcoat
• Darice Craft Fur - gray
• Herrschners bulky #5 chenille - gray
• Coats Extra Strong Upholstery Thread - driftwood color

Marabou Crappie Jigs

Tied on 1/16-oz. ball heads with #4 hooks.  I used marabou feathers instead of craft fur as "full body material" for a change of pace.  I like the ease of working with craft fur.  Marabou took a little getting used to.

Materials:

• Zucker Feather Products Marabou - white
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - white
• UTC Ultra Thread (140 denier) - fl. fire orange
• Rustoleum American Accents Latex Enamel - orange glow
• Black acrylic craft paint
• A 1/16-oz ball head jig with a #4 red hook
• Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy for topcoat

More Powder Paint Mixing

Here's one other combination that I made last night. Mixed a 1:1 ratio of Harbor Freight's respective red and white powders to create a "pixelated" soft pink color.  Then, I tied a couple of thread-bodied jigs for crappie.

Basic Powder Paint Mixing

Did a little mixing recently with some basic powder paint colors. I thought that the results of the mixes came out well. Though, I'm not sure that the camera shot agrees with me.

The two chartreuse jigs at the top have burnt orange heads. This color is formed by mixing Harbor Freight's red and yellow in a 1:1 ratio. The gray jigs in the picture have heads with a "pixelated" gray color formed by a 1:1 mix of Harbor Freight's white and matte black powder paints.

Both colors look pretty good to me at a distance. I thought that these examples might be of interest to someone wanting to get started mixing and painting with just a few colors. Harbor Freight's powder paint is relatively inexpensive and sold by the pound.