Winter Fishing In Indiana (Video)

A pretty nice video presented by Brian Waldman of Big Indiana Bass. It involves spoonplugging theory and hair jigs during a recent fishing trip (December 29).

This is how it looks and works, presently, in my neck of the woods. Except when I go, I don't catch nearly as many fish. :)

Closing Out 2014

Here are some more jigs that I tied recently.  Likely, the last for 2014.

Each is tied on a 1/8-ounce ball jig with a #2 bronze hook.  Two-tone brush tapping and painting the jig heads with glitter was enjoyable.

Winter Jigs Intended for Smallmouth Bass

Here are a couple of jigs that I tied last night.  Used two types of material, Lash Max eyelash yarn and craft fur.  I hope to soak these along a river bottom over the holidays.

Jigs weigh 1/8 of an ounce and have #2 black nickel sickle hooks.

Scissors Sharpening - A Useful Article

Finally, I sharpened my favorite 10-year old cuticle scissors. This is a good method that worked without damaging them.

Proper Way to Sharpen Scissors

It's Been A While

I hadn't done anything in the way of jig tying since last September.  'Twas good to get back into it, as I decided to put a bit of concentration and effort into painting jigs with glitter topcoats.  Here are two examples of my recent work.

And...just in time for Christmas, I decided to make festive holiday jigs that just might catch a bass (or two) if cast into the water. ;)  Anyway, here's a list of materials used to create these jigs.

Materials:

• Sage/olive gray craft fur
• Rosey's Powder Coating - olive gray 85% gloss
• Orbit Powder Coating (clear) mixed with extra-fine red glitter
• Danville Flymaster Plus Thread 140 denier - red
• UTC Ultra Thread 140 denier - olive
• Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Embroidery Thread - olive
• Premier Yarns Merry Eyelash Yarn - red globes
• Red and green-grizzly saddle hackles
• Ball jigs weighing 1/8 of an ounce with #2 bronze hooks

Best wishes for the new year and have yourself a great holiday season.

Fun On The Water

Been pretty busy since last weekend and I'm just now getting around to posting this. :-P

Went fishing with Brian Waldman of Big Indiana Bass on last Friday, September 12.  Had a great time fishing as we caught numerous white bass, black crappie, and a few largemouth bass.  I was introduced to Spoonplugging, a method/philosophy/technique of fishing developed by a North Carolina Physics Teacher named Buck Perry.  It involves some trolling along the structural contours of a lake.  Actually, quite a bit of it.  I admit that I was very impressed with our catching.  Brian, most certainly, is extremely well-versed in this technique.  I had a blast.

Here's a photo of me and a white bass that I brought to hand.  Caught him on a Spoonplug.  Yeah!

Did some casting for crappie as well.  Here's one that I boated.

Used a variety of chartreuse-colored craft fur jigs to land this fish and many others.  Something I've been learning about craft fur jigs is that they do not have to be pretty, tied uniformly, tapered, thin, thick, or follow any preconceived notion about their appearance.  They only need to be wet in order to be effective on crappie. ;-)

Brown Split-Tail Jigs For Brown Bass

Tied these with leather scraps, Sili Legs from FlyMasters, and chenille yarn from Hobby Lobby.

Heads weigh 1/8 of an ounce.  Hooks are light-wire bronze #2s.

Fun to make.  I am impressed with the chenille yarn which is 100% polyamide (nylon).  Its central thread doesn't fray or unwind.  Bought 131 yards of it for $4.19 + tax. :)  Do wish it wasn't discontinued. :(

Darice Bungee Cord

An interesting product to use for hair-tailed jig bodies and trailers.

Jigs weigh 1/8 of an ounce and have #2 bronze Aberdeen or black nickel sickle hooks.

Lionfish Jigs

Tied these with manes and tails in mind.  These are the kings of beasts, or at least my jigs... maybe.  Used Darice Bungee Cord for the bodies and finished the tails off with black craft fur.  The collars are wrapped with black schlappen feathers from Zucker Feather Products.

Pup's Wiggler

Will it fish like Dance's Eel? ;-)

Materials:

• Eagle Claw 249WA-3/0 Weedless Hook
• Smooth #2 Colorado blade - silver (powder-painted Pup's baby bass green mixture)
• Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Embroidery Thread 40-wt. - olive
• Surebonder Low-Temp Glue Gun with clear glue stick
• Caron Glimmer Chenille Yarn - willow
• Homemade Tulip Fabric Paint Eyes - pink/black
• Nesa Fall Blue Fur Fabric - barred white
• Loctite Super Glue Gel Control
• Bullet Weights Rubber Grip Sinker - 1/8 ounce
• Rosey's Powder Paint - safety blue 90% gloss
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - yellow
• Orbit Powder Paint - clear
• Tandy Leather Factory Latigo Lace - use any color 

Shimmy Plug

Designed this lure to wiggle and shake its tail.  I think the design is somewhat along the lines of a Chatterbait, but without an articulated diving lip.  This bait's lip is fixed,  glued into place by a low-temp glue gun.

Had a problem keeping the adhesive over the eyes level and had a bit of a powder paint drip on the lure's lip.  Just a couple of things to work on the next time I make one of these.

Materials:

• Eagle Claw 249WA-3/0 Weedless Hook
• Smooth #2 Colorado blade - silver (powder-painted green chartreuse)
• Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Embroidery Thread 40-wt. - electric green
• Surebonder Low-Temp Glue Gun with clear glue stick
• Caron Glimmer Chenille Yarn - apple
• Homemade Tulip Fabric Paint Eyes - pink/black
• Hareline Dubbin, Inc. Baitfish Emulator Flash - fluorescent chartreuse
• E6000 Craft Adhesive
• Bullet Weights Rubber Grip Sinker - 1/8 ounce
• Pro-Tec Powder Paint - green chartreuse

Trout & Panfish Jigs

An assortment of thread-neck and thread-bodied craft fur jigs tied for trout and panfish.

Used three 'new-to-me' powder paints from Rosey's Powder Coating.  Colors include:

• Pearlescent White
• Black Brown 80% Gloss
• Purple Rave 90+% Gloss 

Each is tied on a 1/16-oz. ball head jig with a #4 black nickel sickle hook.

Structure Fishing For Crappie In Indiana

This is another fine video from Brian Waldman of Big Indiana Bass. Very informative. Included is a mention of the 'baby bass chartreuse' jig that I tie along with its materials list.

Spring White Bass Fishing In Indiana

Brian Waldman of Big Indiana Bass made a very nice fishing video that also contains life history information about white bass, Morone chrysops. There is a mention of one of the jigs that I tie. Honestly, I would've never used this particular jig for white bass. I sure do like his results. :)

Simple Pike Spinnerbait

Materials:

•  Eagle Claw 249WA-3/0 Weedless Hook
•  Bullet Weights Rubber Grip Sinker - 1/8 ounce
•  Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Embroidery Thread (40-wt.) - temple gold
•  Faceted beads - yellow (3) and red (2)
•  Danville Flymaster Plus Thread (140 denier) - fluorescent yellow
•  Lion Brand Suede Yarn - scarlet
•  Spirit River Real-Eyes Plus 7/32" Dumbbell Eyes - nickel/yellow
•  Diamond willow leaf blade #3-1/2 - silver
•  Ball-bearing snap swivel
•  Saddle hackles -  yellow (6) and red (6)

Tie on the tail, body, and eyes.  When finished, pinch the end of the wire loop weedguard with needlenose pliers in order to make it thin enough to accept beads.  Slide beads over weedguard.  Attach snap swivel by spreading its split ring and threading it through the end of the loop.  Add the blade and it's ready to fish.

Tulip Fabric Paint Eyes

Casey Smartt's web site has great articles and videos.  This is one of my favorites.

Tulip Fabric Paint Eyes

Thought I'd post a footnote to this process that might help.

When the eyes dry, they stick to a surface and will pull any paint or coating off when removed.  This becomes a problem for "whites" of the eyes when using translucent or glitter paint that can be seen through.  If you use a container lid from something like a tub of margarine, be sure to drip the paint on the inside of the lid where it isn't coated.

This is a great tool for removing Tulip Paint Eyes from a lid.

Retractable Single-Edge Razor Scraper

Crawford-Style Pike Jig

Tied this jig in the style of Jack Crawford Jigs of yesteryear.  Used grizzly and saddle hackles to add color to the tie.  Craft fur and flashabou ends should provide the movement.

The jig weighs 1/4 of an ounce and has a 1/0 red hook.

Five-O-Diamonds Pike Jig

Tied this one to cast for muskies in my local reservoir.  Total length is a shade over six inches.  Based its name on my count of its red eyes and red beads.  Counterpart, possibly, to a famous pike spoon.

Materials:

•  Northland Gum-Ball Jig (1/4-oz) with 1/0 red hook
•  Harbor Freight Powder Paint - yellow
•  Darice Gemz for eyes - red
•  Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Embroidery Thread (40-wt.) - temple gold
•  Faceted beads - yellow (7) and red (3)
•  Cousin Cord Basics 7-Strand 0.3mm Beading Wire - gold
•  Coastlock snap swivel - silver
•  Number 5 diamond Colorado blade - gold
•  FeatherCraft FlyFishing Flashabou - red
• Westrim Craft Fur - red
• Yellow craft fur from bolt
•  Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy for topcoat

Rather ultralight don't you think? ;)

Tied this one just a little while ago.  Similar, but with red saddle hackles rather than red fur and flash.  Blade is a plain gold #4 Colorado.

Super Tail Spinner For Bass

This is another one of my whims.  I like its looks, but fishing it will reveal its ultimate worth.

Unsure if it will move with its hook point downward on steady retrieve.  Field testing will tell. 

Materials:

• Northland Lofty Chenille - honey color pattern
• Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Thread 40-wt. - olive
• Pearl and red (faceted) beads
• Cousin Cord Basics 7-Strand 0.3mm Beading Wire - silver
• Barrel swivel, split ring, and clevis - silver
• Hammered #1 Colorado and willow leaf blades - silver
• Stick-on eyes - black/white/red
• Eagle Claw 249WA-3/0 Weedless Hook
• E6000 Craft Adhesive
• Bullet Weights Rubber Grip Sinker - 1/8 ounce

Twin Spin On A Whim

Development mode shifted into high gear today after what has been the coldest and snowiest winter I've had to endure in some time.  Sat down at the bench and decided not to paint any jig heads.  Rather, I wanted to design and tie a spinnerbait, namely a twin spin.

Materials:

• Eagle Claw  249WA-3/0 Weedless Hook
• Yellow craft fur from bolt
• Herrschners Bulky Chenille #5 - purple
• Feathercraft 7/32" Painted Lead Dumbbell Eyes - yellow/black
• Michaels Bright Wonder Beads - fuschia/violet
• Two hammered #1 Colorado blades - gold
• Cousins Basics Coated Beading Wire 0.3mm, 7 strand - silver
• Barrel swivels and split rings (2 of each)
• Bullet Weights 1/8-oz. Rubber Grip Sinker
• Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Embroidery Thread 40-wt. - electric violet
• Danville Flymaster Plus Thread (140 denier) - fluorescent yellow

The spinnerbait's arms will bend back when the lure is retrieved.  The entire blade assembly spins beyond the hook bend.  Hopefully, this lure and similar future ties will cast and retrieve well with very light bait casting tackle.  This one is fine for light spinning as is.

Black Neon River Bass Jigs

Tied two pairs of jigs for the smallmouth bass in my local river.  Each features "Merry" eyelash yarn from Premier Yarns.

Materials:

• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - matte black
• Southern Pro Tackle, Inc. Unpainted  Wide Gap Crappie Jig - 1/8 of an ounce
• Orbit Powder Paint (clear) with extra-fine red glitter mixture
• Premier Merry Eyelash Yarn -  red globes, black ice
• Danville Flat Wax Nylon Thread (140 denier) - black
• Darice Craft Fur - black
• Hareline Dubbin, Inc. Crazy Legs - black/red tipped
• Tandy Leather Factory Suede Remnant- black

Lemon-Lime Jigs

Materials:

• Southern Pro Tackle, Inc. Unpainted  Wide Gap Crappie Jig - 1/8 of an ounce
• Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy for topcoat
• Black and white acrylic paints for eyes
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - red
• Coats & Clark Trilobal Polyester Thread (40-wt.) - electric green, electric yellow
• Colorado blade #1 - silver
• Swivel and small split ring - silver
• Card Basics Coated Beading Wire (7 Strand, 0.3mm) - silver
• Lion Brand Fun Fur - neon green, neon yellow
• Michaels Craft Beads - coated lime
• Tandy Leather Factory Suede Remnant - black