newbe, not new to tying but new to jig's have questions

Hi everyone, I have tied some flies that we used for perch this year and they worked beyond our expectations. I have a friend that fishes for crappies and he asked if I could tie some jigs for him. Don't know where to start. He uses lead head jigs, and has said that he likes pink and white colors. I was thinking about using chenille for body material, but don't know what size chenille comes in. I've been scrolling through some of the forums, and really enjoy the pics that you have posted, but don't know what material you're using. The flies I tied last summer were mostly thread and chrystal flash, some had peacock herl, all had beads. We had a blast using them. here's a pic of some of them.
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Originally Posted by Uncle Al

I was thinking about using chenille for body material ...

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Bingo! Try woolly bugger chenille. This is Orvis, but any good fly shop sells it.

Chenille Material / Woolly Bugger Chenille -- Orvis

Man, I like those jigs! :biggrin

Ball head jigs in various sizes, marabou, deer tail, kip tail, or salt water hackle, and #2 or #3 chenille and you'll be ready to go.

If I'm making jigs for someone else I want a pic of what they want. Mostly I make jigs for locals and they just stop by my house and they pick materials they want. If they are for you, you will find want you want pretty fast and just remember that the sky is the limit. Tie what you like. The materials listed above are all dead on catchers. EXPERIMENT and enjoy. I do like to fish with feathers or rubber skirt material too.

If you want a slender body but heavier than just thread, you can use colored yarn. Comes on a spool and is really thin.. Next is small which has little bulk but adds good color and allows mixing colors. For 1/16oz heads I like Medium chenille for small to average sized hooks but will use large for size 2 or larger. Skip can give you better info on the estate and cactus and so on. They kinda look like spooled tinsel and slow the fall to different degrees, works real well. Hope you find what you need.

Also when tying jigs using chenille of any kind I stop my chenille near the hook point and barb where flies usually go all the way to the bend of the hook. The Crystal chenille and Cactus is a Mylar chenille that looks very spiky when dry, but it lays back just a little when wet and makes a nice metallic shiny looking body. I use the large stuff even on small jigs like 1/32 Oz Roadrunners, but you can also get by well with smaller sizes like a #6. Most small jigs are tied using #2 size chenille, but I prefer #3 except on two color chenille like say a FL Yellow and Black, if you move to a #3 it will look different than a #2 because when making it they have to choose a dominant color if using #3 size.

If you have other questions feel free to send me a PM anytime!

Skip