Well I climbed aboard my friend’s boat and off we went. I was paying very close attention to everything. He regularly catches large numbers of fish. Today was slow as we had a front move through and it was raining although not too windy. I saw that his jigs were nothing special in any way. In fact they looked like plain old store bought painted on eyeball type of stuff. He was using a few paddle tails and some curly tails. I saw no secrets or in fact anything that he was doing that I wasn’t already doing.

He used two colors- white and purple/chartreuse all attached to pink heads.

We trolled for several hours and I managed a dozen keepers, which is what I predicted for myself. He managed a few more than I and we each had plenty of throwbacks. He did not seem to be viewing his sonar or aiming the boat in a manner other than guiding us with the wind. I got a good look at his drop back lengths when fish hit his lures.

I lost a jig at one point and tied on one of my hand ties and caught several fish with it.

In conclusion I saw nothing new for me to start doing- save one. He stated that using 6 lb mono was very important and said that if I spooled up with that I would catch more fish. So I shall make this change and see if it does make a difference.



So I have been making jigs using the Eagle Claw 571 jig hook in size 1/0, a short shank hook. So I was reading some about the hook to see what others might have to say about it. Learned that there seemed to only be one mold that calls for this hook. It fits several of my molds, but this mold is actually designed to fit that hook. The Do-It Live Bait Jig- 1/16th - 1/2 ounce sizes. Six cavities with the three smallest taking size #1 and the three larger sizes 1/0.

I examined the mold and the pictures I could found very carefully. The shape is a wedge profile when viewed from above, and looks smooth and round with flat sides for eyes. Possibly a cavity for eyes although pictures are not very good in this regard. I saw something that I liked, that being the majority of the lead hangs below the hook’s shank. The hook is not in the center of the lead, rather rides in the top portion, with the lead dangling below. It looks like it would swim beautifully.

I could make a very small mod and add the wire for spinner blades easily and at a very nice angle. I will probably use a clamp to squeeze the mold and make a groove to accept the wire. While it is hard to know if the mold will be what I imagine it to be, or if the quality of the pours will please or upset me, at $36 I ordered the stupid thing and 500 hooks. The USPS takes it’s dear sweet time and there is a holiday so I will have to wait and be patient.

I viewed as many molds as I could see and searched this site extensively for information. The mold does not seem to be very popular. It has been out for at least seven years, too. It is designed to accept minnows, leeches and other living creatures for walleyes. I will use it for plastic baits and hand ties, and blades as well. I have really enjoyed using that 571 hook so far and this design of jig head should produce excellent results. When I get the mold in hand I will post some shots for your viewing pleasure. I suppose it will be an improvement for me in several ways.