February

[Micanopy]

I have had a chance to use the Do-It Worm Head Jig Mold some more and have a few observations to share.

One is it pours very well. Even when I botch the ladle the cavities fill completely. This also means that the sprue is more difficult to remove. I use flush cutters and instead of trying to take it off in one cut, I nip at an edge. Once the sprue moves due to this nip I can then twist it off and leave the front of the jig nice and rounded. From there it is a few swipes on the file and done. There is no other clean up necessary. If the lead gets too hot some shoots out past the wire insert and fouls the screw lock, but keeping the lead at about 700 degrees solves this quite nicely. I got in some very nice pours that were very clean compared to my other molds from Do-It.

The Screw Lock inserts are easier to fiddle up when loading the mold than those wire keepers. Once I saw what to do it was game on. Occasionally I get one where the screw is not centered around the hook shank. Not sure how this happens as the great majority are perfectly aligned. I inserted a small screw driver between the wire and the hook shank and a little twist fixes the alignment.

The mold calls for Eagle Claw 570 hooks but I am able to use my short shank 571 hooks for all but the largest sized cavities. These tend to swallow the hook eye somewhat. A small modification would fix that but I have no plans to do so. The mold is fine as it is right now.

Painting the heads is tricky. Yes I can simply dip and done, but the screw lock will get painted. This is not an issue when using the screw lock as intended, but when easing a swivel with blade up the screw lock, the paint becomes and issue. It will not allow the swivel to fall into the sweet spot. The spot where it can hang directly below the jig. So I was dipping just the tip of the jigs into the paint, leaving the back side unpainted and got good results. Not perfect but good. My issue was that I like to double dip and the extra paint ran in the oven. I don’t normally use the oven so this will not be a problem really, but for a few designs it kind of is. I know how to get a thin coating and will be doing that with the next batch.

I have always liked the crinkle painted heads and know that rounded surfaces will do best for this effect. That was why I could not help myself and made up some Magic Mushrooms.




1/16th ounce in three colors.

If you look closely you might see where the paint ran down over the edge and created a bowl shape. This prevents the swivel blade from easing into position. Again I have a plan to deal with this.

Here you can see how the swivel sits when fully inserted along the screw lock.



And here with a bait.



I can adjust the distance the blade juts away from the bait by selecting larger or smaller swivels. The ball bearing swivels pivot and do fairly well. There is some room for movement of the swivel from it’s 90 degree attitude as the plastic material will flex and allow it to bend rearwards.

I think it is cool that the same jig an be an under spin by simply adding a swivel and blade, or fished without. Very easy to add the blade when wanted. Any screw lock jig could work in this fashion, however I have seen pictures where the alignment of the screw lock have the sweet spot somewhere other than the bottom dead center. One jig I saw would leave the swivel blade thingie up top flapping the hook tip. I thought I should mention this if someone is wanting to add blades to their jigs.

I had fished with these heads the other day and I liked the way they swam. The blade tickles the under belly of the bait and they glide nicely. I need to do more observations but I feel that these will do at least as well as my free style heads and offer a very compact little bait. I am cutting the baits shorter by nipping off some of the length to make these compact styles. Being as there is a short shanked hook this is very easily managed. I am getting plenty of action, much in the way a nose hooked work offers more action to a Bass Master.

This screw lock system will allow me to carry bare jig heads and a bag of baits and make up what I want on the boat. Gluing baits requires me to wait for the glue to set, which it really doesn’t for a while. I doubt that I will adopt that system but it is nice to have the option. I like matching up baits with jigs ahead of time and then selecting. I carry a suitcase of jigs on board but this bag almost never gets unzipped. My system involves a pool noodle with jigs stuck on it. I ease the noodle around one of the rod holders and do my swapping out using those. At the end of the day it is easy enough to bring the noodle inside and out of the heat.

Seems each new design I form up becomes my new favorite and this design is no different. I am not really concerned with the willow leaf blades actually spinning anymore as I feel that the fish don’t really look for that. A flopping about, flailing type of erratic action may actually be preferable and I plan to see for myself as the year progresses. Spin vs. flop. It has been somewhat difficult to give up my oversized whirling dervishs but a tiny little blade kind of makes more sense when we are trying to imitate a small minnow. A little minnow lost and alone, swimming along desperately trying to avoid being eaten by a big nasty scary fish.




Today is my wife’s birthday and I was a good boy. Took her to a show at the fancy theatre at the University of Florida last night. It was Frankenstein themed. Art is in the eye of the beholder but I g=felt it was extremely well done. All women they told the story of Frankenstein using shadow puppets, small puppets and actors casting shadows. There was a large viewing screen to see the results of their efforts but I spent a good bit of time watching them perform the effects from in the dark areas on stage. The show lasted an hour an fifteen and I hated, I say heated sitting in the seats because they crowded us all in tight. Later I figured out why as you needed to be dead center pretty much to see everything. That explained the limited seating for the show. The girls are from Chicago and some rich guy sponsored ( paid ) to have them come to do just this one show for the folks in Gainesville. I estimated about 100 people saw the show but they all stood to applaud for ten minutes afterwards. You could see the pride on the girl’s faces at the end when they were bowing. There was a tremendous amount of movement on stage to get to their positions with the right stuff in hand. Very well done and it took alot of creativity and work to pull it off.

So yes, I am the good boy. Yes I absolutely do hate buying those stupid cards. “Look honey- look at the nice words someone else wrote”. I hate them but of course if you don’t buy the stupid card you are a bum and better get out of dodge. I bought her some artwork to lay about our home.



Yes that is the ugliest dog thing I have ever seen. I say dog but it looks more like a very sick and twisted coyote. Fits in with her cypress knees rather well and matches whatever theme she was trying to create up there. I hated the thing but she loved it first sight.

I also got her this weirdo thingie.



I felt it was unusual enough to make her happy. It is a rebar planted thingie formed into a spider meant to accept pots with plants inside them. I found this very odd stump what been carved on a lathe to sit down inside it. I can’t wait to see what she does with it. I imagine she will build some kind of spider’s nest with glowing eggs or something. Anyways tonight I make her a nice dinner and done with birthday stuff this year.



On a different note I have an interview for a new job tomorrow. Office manager for the business that has had me cooking on site with them. They want me to operate the computer software, talk on the phone to clients, and do various little duties like picking up food from suppliers and such. I wanted a nice little job without too much stress or expectations of performance. LOL. Having been a professional for so many years I think I can manage this gig.

I worked as a licensed funeral director and embalmer for 30 + years. I was also a certified crematory operator, licensed life insurance agent, licensed monument dealer, and notary public for many of those years. I worked nights, weekends and holidays and now I am done with the whole mess. Looking forward to a regular work week with plenty of time off to go fishing.

My wife recently quit her job as a licensed funeral director and embalmer, and certified crematory operator ( yes that is how we met ). She now works for the county government and she made this choice after having spent four years, working nights, weekends and holidays. So we are both looking forward to being able to spend more time doing the things we like to do. Before when I was off she was working, and vice versa. I have no fear of her getting tored of having me around to pester her. LOL


Sad news is my puppy is very very sick. He is a curly haired schnauzer and ten years old. He has been in and out of the animal hospital for over a week now. Yesterday he was extremely lethargic and the doctors are running tests but cannot pinpoint the issue. Blood work, urinalysis, you name it he has gotten it. Last night he laid down in the middle of the bedroom floor and that is where I found him still laying this morning. I thought he was dead. I got him to get in his bed and he has laid there all morning. Usually he is out chasing squirrels and checking the perimeter of the fence line for intruders and such. I am afraid that my little man might not make it.