Thread: At Whits End

So, I'm coming up on my busy time of year. Walleye jigging on the Detroit, Saginaw, and Maumee river is big business and the current calls for big jigs. 5/8, 3/4, and 1 oz are the norm here. I spent a lot of time through the summer stocking up and pouring 3/4oz jigs in preperation for the late winter and early spring rush for people to buy bulk jigs. Over the last couple of years, I've stayed away from 5/8 and 1 oz as I really didn't have much of a calling for them. Seeing that I was missing out on opportunities, I ordered a couple new molds and instantly had requests and sales. I work on word of mouth so once the news spread.... you get the idea.

Sickle hooks have a cult following on the Detroit river. I have no clue who started this movement or why it started however, if you don't sell sickle hooks, you simply are not going to sell many jigs. Ya, I do have a few people now and again that ask for straight, but the numbers speak for themselves. Frankly, I catch just as many fish with a good quality hook but you can't tell that to a customer.

I ordered 1000 Matzuo sickle hooks last week. Ya, I know.... we all know the issues in regards to Matzuo's quality control (after all, they are made in China) but if you put anything other than "Matzuo" on the label, guys get scared. My hooks arrived last night. I needed to get some jigs quickly poured so I had the intentions of pouring a simple 200 jig run of 1 oz and a 200 jig run of 5/8oz.

I get the lead ready, get my mold ready (5/8 first) and put the first hook in. As luck woult have it, there is an issue. The bend of the hook is not 90 degrees thus thrusting the back of the hook deep into the bottom of the jig cavity. A test pour indicates the hook sticking out of the jig. No big deal, we adjust molds all the time. I eased the back of each cavity with my dremel and tried again. Next hook (4/0 mind you) doesn't sit in the cavity just right. The barb doesn't rest properly and doesn't allow the mold to close. Back to the dremel. I test poured, ground, test, poured, and ground again. Finally got 5 of the 6 cavities to pour good. Number 1 would NOT work as a 4/0 hook sits too close to the hinge and doesn't allow the mold to close. I finally pour 100 and move on to 1 oz. These should worke better! ya right

Same results. I hate easing the back of these jigs as it requires more trimming before I paint however, it is what I have to do to get the jig to pour completely around the hook.

To add insult to injury....I tried another batch of Matzuo hooks, they fit no problem and poured without issue. Had it not been for the fact that I needed to get this done, I would have sent all of them back. Not to mention the fact that I had broken and bent hooks inside of the box. I'm not seeing the same issues with the Eagle Claw Lil nasty hooks I use in my smaller jigs.

Took me 4 hours to pour 300 jigs in minus 15 degree weather with the turbo heater running full blast. I'll be writing a letter to Capt Hook today to show my displeasure! I can't make money when I have to remelt jigs all the time. And I'm not going to sell a crappy product.

I go through about 3 to 5000 heads a week lately. I would say of those numbers problably 95 percent or more that I pour are the Matzuo red sickle hooks. Their quality control sucks for sure. I find that out of a box of 1000, I will usually end up throwing somewhere between 75 to a 100 hooks in the trash can. I have also noticed that one the newer (?) darker red #2 red sickles that they have been having a problem with the length of the hook at the eye. What I mean by this is that at the bend, the hook is to long and will not fit into a lot of molds. What I have been doing with these is just setting them aside and giving them to Shawn at Crappie Assassin jigs to make knats out of.

I am trying to carry four different hooks / brands as far as crappie hooks go now. Those would be the Red Matzuo's, the LiL' Nasty's in Black Nickle, Mustad Lite Wire and just a plan old Eagle Claw Aberdean hook. What I have heard from a couple of my customers that are retail tiers is that their customers will not buy the Lil' Nasty's due to a bad history with the regular old Eagle Claw hooks. I don't know, I have caught fish on all of them other than they Lil' Nasty. The one reason I have not caught any on them is that I have not had a chance to get out from behind the lead furnace and go fishing in a few months. LOL


Bobo