Why do you tie jigs?

[hogpaw]

I have been reading this forum for a week or so and would like to know why you tie your own jigs. Is it the personal satisfaction of doing it yourself? Is it that you can customize a jig and catch more fish? Is it cheaper? I am considering getting into this hobby but am curious why everyone here ties their own jigs.

Phillip

[deathb4disco]

For me, it's all about $$$. It's MUCH cheaper to tie your own, and it's ridiculously easy to do.

What are you waiting for? :D

[Fatman]

Just the satisfaction of catching them on something you tied is pretty much it for me. Plus with some crazy ideas you can come up with something that will never be sold in a store.

Enjoy the fun,

Fatman

[skiptomylu]

I needed something to do other than watch TV when not fishing and started tying. It is or I should say can be done at a reasonable cost, but be very careful as it is very addictive too. I have been selling jigs for a little over 2 years and so far all I have don't is build a material inventory that is pretty nice. I do sell a good many jigs too.

I have seen guys that loved it and a good number that just don't care for doing it and would prefer buying them.

Are the jigs better? That depends on the tier, but if he does a good job then yes they are much better and last longer, but I do a lot of little things that take a lot of time to make a good quality jig.

You may like it a lot, but be warned it can get very high cost if the addiction get away with you. I know I have way too much stuff, but a lot of that is at some point I got interested in fly tying and that is a whole new thing and costly for the most part.

Then there is the tools, I have gone over to the dark side with this stuff. I can't say most don't do the same thing because many do, but a lot don't and stay with less. I have over 30 bobbins with thread of that may colors. I am on my 3rd vise and the last 2 are much higher cost than my first and it was $139 with the tying station that came with the Danvise. Then I sold that and bought $200 Renzetti and now we will not discuss how much, but I have a Nor Vise with the regular jaw that comes with it plus the conversion to the fine point. What a beautiful piece of work this vise it and it is my last one, but I am also probably keeping my Renzetti.

Also I didn't count the real first one which is one of the under $20 non rotary type vises which I only used a few times and still have it.

I can't even tell you how much I have tied up in materials so not talking about that at all, but it's bad, very bad.

Good luck and join the party if inclined. I just wanted to tell the other side of this hobby, LOL!

Skip

[shipahoy41]

Phillip,

I tie jigs for many reasons.

1) It is my belief that my product is far superior to anything I can buy at the store or a bait shop.

2) It helps to put a little gas in the tank when you are living on a fixed income.

3) I love to fool Crappies and Bream into hitting a jig I made

4) It is a stress relief for me.

5) I want to share what limited knowledge I have on jig tying with the youth and senior citizens who just want to tie a basic crappie jig and go fishing.


As Skip has said, Once you get into tying you tend to view all things differently. When you go to Hobby Lobby, Flea Markets, or Wal-mart you are always looking for things to "Experiment with." Barlow's, Janns Netcraft and Cabelas have good items too. There is a thread on what you may want to consider to start tying. Here it is.

http://www.crappie.com/gr8vb3/showthread.php?t=49489

Good luck to you and have fun.

Skip, Congratulations on your Nor-vise. I looked at one with an automatic bobbin...but it was way out of my league.

[TreednNC]

what they said. that and the fact that my two largest crappies have come off of my own jigs, is enough for me

[Crappie Kid]

I tie cause i like too..... Most of the time im on the road living out of Hotels and there is nothing to do after work so it helps me unwind.... Life of a traveling Pipefitter i guess..

[kendall2007]

Dont listen to crappie kid he sleeps with a bobbin under his pillow.

Anyhow i tie to make enough money to pay for my fishing habit. Gas, rods, line, food etc etc this list is long so ill never sell enough.

For most guys they buy a hair jig from a store and they look at it and say i can make this better. Or else why do it.

The greatest satisfaction i get is i can tell a customer that he can tie two pieces of line to the a jig and then tie the ends to two seperate trucks and pull their bumpers off.

[grits and gravy]

For me the best part of tying is that when it is freezing cold in Jan. and Feb and the wind is blowing 30 mph, I can sit in the living room and tie some jigs. I can try any color combo that I want, and can make jigs with hooks that are larger than you can find in the stores. And I suppose if I ever wanted to start selling jig or flys I could. I started by tying flys for trout fishing, but I only trout fish during the hot part of the summer when it is misserable to be on the lake due to the heat and jet ski/ skier traffic. So the rest of the year I tie crappie jigs and bass jigs.

[fish-wva]

for me like many others it's the feeling you get when you catch that slab on a jig that you powder painted, painted the eyes on and tied yourself. another good thing about it is that you are putting something in front of the fish that they have never seen before and they just gotta eat it, and takes up time when you can't get out on the water but you wanta