Red-N-White Leather Swimmer (Second Edition)

This one is my second edition.  Tied on a spike tail leather strip and added some grizzly craft fur behind the weight.  Who knows if it will make a difference?  Regardless, it looks kind of cool to me.

Red-N-White Leather Swimmer

Recently, I've been introduced to tying with weighted EWG-style hooks.  This is my first attempt with a red 3/0 Vicious Vertical Drop Hook weighing 1/8 of an ounce.

Used a Tandy Premium Leather strip for the body and red Ultra Thread (210 denier) to tie. The eyes are a 3/16-inch Spirit River dumbbell in nickel/pearl. Powder painted the weight with white powder from Harbor Freight.

The tail is fluted towards its tip. Hopefully, this will produce a sinusoidal swimming action behind the jig hook. Sinusoidal...I like that word. :D

More to come later on Gamakatsu hooks. ;)

Curly Tails

More for the jig boxes.

These are tied on 1/8-oz. ball head jigs with #2 bronze hooks.  Their leather is quite supple.  I look forward to testing them in the coming weeks.  Will tie a dozen more, then it's off to designing and tying my version of the popular Zoom Brush Hog.

Often Overlooked (Or Snubbed)

So many times I read opinions about jig tying materials on the web where, if a product isn't marketed by a fly or jig tying supplier, the vibe is negative.  If you read these same opinions, do not give in to them without seeing what hobby, craft, and fabric stores offer first.  You just might be surprised.

Here are photos of a couple of feet of craft fur that I purchased at Hancock Fabrics in Carmel, Indiana.  So, where have you found grizzly craft fur either locally (to you) or on the web?

Granted, I haven't field tested either of these and so it remains to be seen if the material is colorfast.  Regardless of the outcome, it's going to be fun doing the tying and testing! :)

Weedless Leather Grubs

I really enjoy leather work.  Here are two grubs that I tied this evening.

Each is tied with a 1/8-oz. weedless insert head jig having a 2/0 bronze hook.  The leather tails are traces of an old Galyan's Performance Series 4-inch grub that are cut out with scissors.

These will be heading south to Hixon, Tennessee soon for a Tennessee River swim. ;)

The Grub Crawler

This jig combines the best features of two of my favorites, the curly tail grub and the ugly bug.

Materials:

• A 1/8-ounce weedless insert tube jig with a 2/0 bronze hook
• Tandy Leather Factory Premium Leather - brown
• Lion Brand Suede Yarn - coffee
• Kiwi Boot Lace - brown
• Coats & Clark Machine Embroidery Thread (Trilobal Polyester 40-wt.) - chona brown
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - brown mixture

Spiketail Minnows

Tied these yesterday for clear water fishing.  Hope to attract a bass or two with them.

Materials:

• Two 1/8-ounce weedless tube insert heads with 2/0 bronze hooks
• Harbor Freight Powder Paint - gray mixture
• Tandy Leather Factory Premium Leather - off white
• Herrschners Bulky Chenille Yarn - gray
• Coats & Clark Machine Embroidery Thread (40-wt.) - light slate
• Black and white acrylic paints for eyes
• Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy for topcoat