Blue-Headed Grubs

Tied these for bass and walleye.  My neighborhood reservoir has both, so each will be field tested eventually. ;)

Materials:

• Two 1/4-oz. Northland Gum-Ball Jigs with 1/0 red hooks
• Rosey's Powder Coating - safety blue 90% gloss
• Lion Brand Suede Chenille Yarn - ecru
• Tandy Leather Factory Suede Remnants - off white
• Danville Flymaster Plus Thread (140 denier) - white
• Coats & Clark Extra Strong Nylon Upholstery Thread - white
• Black and white acrylic paints for eyes
• DecoArt Triple Thick Gloss Glaze for topcoat

Each jig's total length is approximately 3.5 inches.

Jig Tying - What to buy? The nuts and bolts of it...

I've extracted this information from some of my posts to other fishing sites.  I hope that this basic information will help those with an interest in getting started into jig or fly tying.

What to buy?  The nuts and bolts of it...

Some tying kits can be a waste of money.  Generally, these include a number of materials in very small quantities.  I started back into tying about nine years ago with a very inexpensive kit.  Broke the vise jaws on the fifth fly.  Most of the materials found their way to the bottom of my storage boxes, save some peacock herl and chenille yarn.

Here's the equipment that I'd recommend purchasing just to get started into tying to see if you like it.  Most of these items can be purchased at a drug, department, or craft store, with the exception of the vise, hooks/jig heads, bobbin, and hackle pliers.

• Vise - Get at least an AA, possibly off of eBay.
• Hackle pliers and/or forceps.
• Sally Hansen or Revlon cuticle scissors.
• Thread (40 wt. trilobal polyester) - Stay away from Rayon.
• Tweezers (Kiss RED or Tweezerman).
• Cheap Bobbin - By using the thread I mentioned, you shouldn't suffer many, if any, breakages
• Dubbing needle (Bodkin) - A pith needle from a dissecting kit or a fine point punch will do very well.  This tool can be used for applying glue/polish/cement and for tying head finishing knots like the whip finish.
• Hooks/jig heads.
• Clear nail polish - Used as a thread sealer in place of head cement.

Here is a photo of some items that I use regularly for jig tying.

• Flush cutter (A) - Used to remove jig collars and collar barbs.
• Cuticle scissors (B) - Cuts bulky hairs and fibers. 
• Fine point cuticle scissors (C ) - Cuts fine hairs from a jig or fly held in the vise.
• Forceps (D) - Grips hooks, feathers, and hairs.  A very useful all-around tool.
• Tweezers (E) - Pulls hairs and feather ends from finished flies and jigs for a well-trimmed appearance.
• Styrofoam (F) - Used to hold freshly painted jig heads.

I won't recommend any materials because they will depend on the type of jigs that you wish to tie.  You might go to Fly Anglers OnLine to look at their tutorials for beginners.  It's a very good web site.  They can show you what you'll need for tying, but forget about the suggestion of a bobbin threader.  If threading a bobbin is a problem, I can provide you a trick for that.

And...here it is.

Quarter-Ounce Silvery Jigs

Tied these for moving water and moderate retrieves.  Used a variety of materials.  Several can be obtained from a fabric or craft store.

Materials:

• Two 1/4-oz. Northland Gum-Ball Jigs with 1/0 red hooks
• Darice Craft Fur - silver
• Bernat Boa Eyelash Yarn - blue grey
• Zucker Feather Products Schlappen Feathers (3) - black
• FlyMasters (Wapsi) Schlappen Feather - white
• Coats Metallic Thread (40-wt.) - silver
• Danville Flymaster Plus Thread 140 denier - fl. blue
• Danville Flymaster Plus Thread 140 denier - white
• Rosey's Powder Coating - silver sand metallic

The silver metallic thread forms an abdomen on each of the jigs.  It is hidden behind fur and feathers.

Schlappen Jigs-N-Leathers For Smallmouth Bass

Materials:

• Tandy Leathercraft Premium Leather Remnant - brown
• UTC Ultra Thread 140 denier - rusty brown
• Two 1/8-ounce ball head jigs with #2 black nickel sickle hooks
• FlyMasters (Wapsi) Barred Schlappen - fl. fire orange
• FlyMasters (Wapsi) Strung Rooster Saddle Long - dyed brown/natural
• Gutermann Metallic Thread - copper
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - red and black 1:1 mixture (plum brown)

Used two schlappen feathers per jig.  One jig has two brown saddles tied in, the other only one.  The copper-colored thread forms the abdomen that precedes the leather tail.

Leggy Jigs

Tied a couple of jigs with silicone legs.  They will be fished to entice black bass.

Materials:

• Two 1/8-ounce collared ball jigs with #2 black nickel sickle hooks
• Lion Brand Suede Chenille Yarn - ebony
• Sage-colored deluxe craft fur from Hancock Fabrics
• Coats Trilobal Polyester Embroidery Thread - olive
• Gudebrod Fly Tying Thread 6/0 BCS - black
• Rosey's Powder Coating - olive gray 85% gloss
• FlyMasters (Wapsi) Sili Legs - olive/black flake 

Trials Of "New-To-Me" Powder Paints

It's interesting to see how newly painted jig heads look with their hooks fully dressed with tying materials.  Each powder paint was purchased from Rosey's Powder Coating of Herriman, Utah.

Exhibit A:  Olive Drab RAL 6022 50%+ Gloss

Please pardon the leather "dust" on the trailer (tail).  Aside from that, I like this jig. Its paint is a pretty good "green pumpkin" color. :)

Exhibit B:  Silver Sand Metallic

As for this color, the jury is out for me.  It seemed to lose some of its sparkle during the oven cure.  Perhaps, I heated it for too long of a time period.  Rosey's web site suggests using this paint as a base coat application, which is a very good idea.  I could then topcoat with a translucent candy color which might insulate and preserve the sparkle beneath.  It's worth trying in my opinion.  This textured paint looks really great when first applied..

More "New-To-Me" Color Patterns For Crappie Jigs

Painted all of the jigs below with new paint.  Used Rosey's "safety blue" color to paint three of the jigs, then tied on black and white barred craft fur as body and tail.  The remaining jigs are painted with a combination of Rosey's safety blue, Harbor Freight's yellow, and Orbit clear gloss powder paints.  My mixing ratio is 1:1:1.  This combination makes a nice-looking "baby bass" green color.  The jigs have white and sage-colored craft fur tied in as body and tail.  Black krystal flash forms the lateral lines on each of these.

Jig hooks are #4 bronze Aberdeen.

Crappie Jigs With New Paint

Painted these with another "new-to-me" powder paint from Rosey's Powder Coating.  Each jig weighs 1/16 of an ounce and has a #4 black nickel sickle hook.

The paint color is called mandarin orange 95% gloss.  I think that it looks good with gray or white craft fur.  Do hope the crappie will think so too...

There's Nothing Quite Like...New Paint

Did a little painting today with a "new-to-me" powder paint that goes fairly well with my sage-colored craft fur.  The color is called "green gray".  I purchased it from Rosey's Powder Coating of Herriman, Utah.

This particular powder came as a "matte" (dull) finish, so I mixed some of it with Orbit clear to achieve a gloss.  I like the resulting jigs and look forward to fishing them.

Boa-Tailed Bottom Bouncer For Smallmouth Bass

Designed this one using a weighted EWG hook for river fishing.  Smallmouth bass are my chosen quarry.  Its short furled tail provides the action, while the leather and chenille body provides a profile.  I'm hoping that snag resistance will be maximal.

Total length is five inches.  Will bump this one along a river bottom with current, much like a tube bait.

Materials:

• Gamakatsu Superline EWG 5/0 Hook - 1/8 ounce
• Bernat Boa Yarn - dark mink
• Lion Brand Suede Chenille Yarn - coffee
• Tandy Leather Latigo Lace - auburn/gray
• UTC Ultra Thread (140 denier) - rusty brown