Crawford-Style Bass Minnow Ties - Silver/White/Black

Materials:

• Southern Pro Tackle, Inc. Unpainted  Wide Gap Crappie Jig - 1/8 of an ounce
• Original Buffalo Hay 'Hay-Lites' - black
• Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy for topcoat
• Black and white acrylic paints for eyes
• Rosey's Powder Coating - silver sand metallic
• Gudebrod 6/0 BCS Thread - black
• Mangelsen's Craft Fur - silver and white
• Two chinchilla grizzly hackles (one per side)
• Two white saddle hackles (one per side)
• Danville Flat Waxed Nylon Thread (210 denier) - black

 Each jig is designed with a reverse countershading pattern.

The Binkelman Jig - My Version

A jig produced by Gapen's back in the 1970s.  This is my version of the red-tailed chub.  Its name is a bit of a misnomer, as it would appear that the red fur is attached to the collar (or throat) of the jig.  To me, this wasn't exactly a fun tie.  Wrapping and trimming folds of Mylar (Flashabou) around the circumference of its collar became tedious to me.

Materials:

• Silver Flashabou or Christmas tinsel
• Westrim Craft Fur - red
• Blue craft fur with silver flash from a bolt (Jo Ann Fabrics)
• Two chinchilla grizzly hackles (one per side)
• Gudebrod 6/0 BCS Thread - black
• Danville Flymaster Plus Thread (140 denier) - blue
• Black and white acrylic paints for eyes
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - red
• Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy for topcoat
• Southern Pro Tackle, Inc. Unpainted  Wide Gap Crappie Jig - 1/8 of an ounce

Kelly Craws

My latest Crawford-style jigs.  Each weighs about 1/8 of an ounce and has an approximated 1/0 hook gap.

Materials:

•  Darice Craft Fur - kelly green and brown
•  Black and white acrylic paints for eyes
•  Harbor Freight Powder Paint Mixture - black/red (1:1 ratio)
•  UNI Thread 6/0 - dk. brown
•  Orbit Clear Powder Paint mixed with emerald green glitter (extra fine)
•  Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy for topcoat
•  Barred saddle hackles - green and brown (2 of each)
•  Original Buffalo Hay 'Hay-Lites' - orange
•  Southern Pro Tackle, Inc. Unpainted  Wide Gap Crappie Jigs - 1/8 of an ounce

'Hay-Lites' is a decorative product that I've substituted for Flashabou. It's comprised of 100 percent polyester, so it's a Mylar film.  Looks great on the vise.  I sure hope it looks and moves well under water.  The wide gap jigs are new to me as well.  Scorpion tails with stingers! :)

Float-N-Fly Minnows

Tied a group of float-n-fly minnows this week.  I plan to fish them in the local river this winter.

My favorite sage green craft fur forms the back of each jig.  Barred-brown, grayish-white, and sparkling-tan fur comprises the bellies.  Pearl, pearl red, or fluorescent fire orange krystal flash adds sparkle laterally along the sides of the jigs.

I wanted natural-looking minnows, so chose subdued colors with somewhat earthen tones.  All jigs are tied on 1/16-ounce ball head jigs with #4 black nickel sickle hooks.

Simplicity

An easy jig to tie and it catches crappie.  No need to worry about craft fur taper or adding flash.  This jig fishes very well for me.

Materials:

• A 1/16-oz. ball head jig with a #4 black nickel sickle hook from Grandpa Bob's
• Rosey's Powder Coating - safety blue 90% gloss
• Orbit Powder Paint - clear
• Extra fine glitter - silver
• UNI Thread 6/0 - red
• Targus Foxxfur - flo. chartreuse

Targus Foxxfur has good length.  Use its scraps from other jig ties.  Plenty will be left over when tying small crappie jigs.

Baby Bass Chartreuse Jigs

For crappie:

Materials:

• UNI Thread 8/0 - red
• Rosey's/Harbor Freight Powder Paint Mixture - safety blue 90% gloss and yellow
• Acrylic paint for eyes - black and white
• Krystal Flash - black/pearl
• Hancock Fabric's Deluxe Craft Fur (bolt) - sage green
• Targus Foxxfur - flo. chartreuse
• Ball head jigs (1/16 ounce) with #4 black nickel sickle hooks
• Ball head jigs (1/20-1/24 ounce) with #4 bronze Aberdeen hooks
• Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy for topcoat

Skirted Super Flash Fly

Faceted beads in the tail make this one interesting in my opinion.  The clear beads give off quite a bit of reflection under fluorescent and incandescent lights.

Materials:

• Eagle Claw 249WA-3/0 Weedless Hook
• Googly eyes (2) 4mm
• Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Thread (40-wt.) - electric red
• Hareline Dubbin, Inc. Crazy Legs - black/red tipped
• Caron Glimmer Chenille Yarn - black
• Card Basics Coated Beading Wire (7 Strand, 0.3mm) - silver
• Hammered Colorado blade #1 - silver
• Ball bearing snap swivel #10
• Bullet Weights Rubber Grip Sinker - 1/8 ounce
• Faceted beads - red and clear
• Sinful Colors Professional Nail Enamel - clear nail hardener
• Loctite Super Glue Gel Control