Rum Raisin Bottom Bugs

Tied these up early this evening.  Used suede leather to form appendages.  Painted the heads with a "rum raisin" powder paint mix.

Materials:

• Two 1/8-ounce jig heads with #2 red hooks
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint Mixture - black, red, & white (2:4:1 ratio)
• Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Thread (40-wt.) - chona brown
• UTC Ultra Thread (140 denier) - rusty brown
• Tandy Leather Factory Suede Remnant - light rusty brown
• Darice Craft Fur - brown

Purple Blaze

Tied two fire tail grubs this evening. Each weighs about 3/16 of an ounce and has a 2/0 bronze hook.

Used Tulip Puffy Paint in purple and orange to color the tails.

River Grubs

Purchased some very good suede leather recently to create curly grub tails.  It's brown colored and pliable.  Makes an excellent 3.5 to 4-inch curly-tailed grub.  The jig heads are painted with a "new-to-me" combination of powder paint.  Can't wait to cast them into my local river.

Materials:

• Two 3/16-ounce ball head jigs with 2/0 bronze hooks
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint Mixture - red, yellow, and matte black (2:1:2 ratio)
• Tandy Leather Factory Suede Remnant - dark brown
• Lion Brand Suede Yarn - coffee
• Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Thread (40-wt.) - chona brown
• UNI Thread 6/0 - dark brown

Sparkletail Grub

This is my first attempt.  Plan to design a variety of grubs with different tail and body colors using fabric paint glitters.

 Materials:

• A 3/16-ounce ball head jig with a 2/0 bronze hook
• Tandy Leather Factory Suede Leather Remnant - black
• Herrschners Bulky Chenille Yarn - gray
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - black and white mixed 1:1 to form a gray color
• Acrylic craft paints for eyeball and pupil - black and white
• Coats and Clark Trilobal Polyester Thread - light slate
• Tulip Puffy Paint Glitter - silver
• DecoArt Triple Thick for topcoat

Smokey Joe

I've often heard bass fishermen say, "Color doesn't matter, except when it matters" and that the presentation to a fish is the most important part of fishing.  We must cast our baits to the fish, meaning we think that they are there.  Otherwise, our effort is futile since we've presented our lures to empty spaces.

I say bologna to the color comment!  It seems to matter to me nearly every time I go fishing.  I've had plenty of days fishing where the same bait of a different color caught more fish for a fishing partner.  We'd fish in the same vicinity.  The fish were definitely there.  We'd use similar retrieves too.

Different bait types and their attractiveness are a subject for another forum.  Now, some will say that it may be a lure's contrast (light vs.dark distinction) between colors that matters, rather than simply it's color(s).

With all of this in mind, I considered tying a jig using the colors black and silver.  There's nothing simpler to me than those colors with regard to their prevalence in nature's aquatic environments.  Baitfish are often dark and silvery, a natural contrast in color.

Well, here's my Smokey Joe Jig.

Materials:

• A 3/16-ounce ball head jig with a 2/0 bronze hook
• Tandy Leather Factory Suede Leather Remnant - black
• Lion Brand Fun Fur Print - lava (black and silvery gray)
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - black and white mixed 1:1 to form a gray color
• Acrylic craft paints for eyeball and pupil - black and white
• Coats and Clark Trilobal Polyester Thread - light slate
• DecoArt Triple Thick for topcoat

If I do not catch a bass on this jig, then I'll be convinced that one made with different colors would be better. ;)