Don't laugh!

I'm really not happy with the results, but I'm game enuf to show my first tied jig ....

It's a sickle sz 2, 1/8 jig.
All I had was feathers....and they aren't premium, but cheap stuff to practice on. I didn't have tools, so I hand wound my braided fishing line... Yep. My vise is just for the moment. A pair of vice grips holding forceps. It isn't pretty, but I had to try at least, until I ordered my real thread and materials.
But anyway, my very first one.Attachment 364680Attachment 364681

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

I like the wild look, nothing wrong with that tie. I am serious. Not laughing.

I plan to use chenille body, normally, with some flash.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by trypman1

I like the wild look, nothing wrong with that tie. I am serious. Not laughing.

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Sent from my Pixel 3 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

I bet a fish will hit it. Try it next time out.

Just keep working at it and you'll get the hang of it in no time.

Tlefire took my words, that will catch fish. A good inventive way of scratching the itch. There was a man who posted her a couple of years back, maybe more, that had been tying jigs in a pair of vise grips held in his large bench vise for near 20 years. It isn’t necessarily what you work with, but some tools make it easier. A good bobbin with a ceramic tip to hold the thread, good scissors that need not be expensive (mine were $5 a few years ago) . You’re off to a good start, keep us posted.

The fish want care . They don't see things the same as we do

Sometimes you just have to pull out what you have and give it a shot! I know this because it's how I started. I had a really cheap vise that had been in my cabinet and never used. So I dug it out and I had some feathers, not sure from where and also I wanted to add some feathers to the treble hook on the back of some Pop-R's that I liked and some had synthetic material tied on and had seen some with feathers. So I wanted to try tying that and I have to say they looked like crud and had way too much feather tied on them, lol! I also was in need so something to do since I had just stopped/quit trading the stock market and the 10 to 12 hour days on computer and was looking for something to take up some of that time. Soon I ordered a vise and got some real materials and got going. That was about 15 years ago now.

Skip

Hank11 this guy ^ Skip is a good person to be in contact with..... He'll get you fixed up with the saltwater hackle and the right size chenille.....
I get a lot of my stuff from him and he knows a ton about the right size for the different chenille.....
Like others have said you're off to a good start and yeap that jig will put crappie in the boat .....
Welcome to the addiction......

I say "good job". You learn as you go and it becomes a lot easier over time. Don't try to over think it. Just have fun and when you catch your first fish on a hand tied jig, there will be no going back.

You are going to learn as you get more into this that there are jigs tied to look perfect for fishermen's eyes, and there are jigs that are more wild that will catch fish. I am confident in saying yours will catch crappies, and it would work very well for trout under a float.

A suggestion I have is to find some sort of clear container that you can test your jigs in after you tie them, this will show you what each material does when tied a certain way and you wont have to wait until your next trip to see the action. A small fish tank or large clear container of some sort. You wont believe the action that bait you tied will have under water, its going to be wild!

I've dabbled into basically every type of lure making there is, soft plastics, lead, hard baits, jigs, flies, etc. and I have made some uuuggggllyyyy stuff that people laughed at, but man did it catch fish. Why? Because it looked natural and different than what everyone else uses, nature is buggy and strange shapes.. not perfectly tied crappie jigs. Next time you get minnows, take a scoop and look at 5-6 of them in your hand, each one is going to look slightly different from the rest. Now imagine how many species of small fish and minnows are in the water, and dont even get me started with nymphs and bugs. If it looks "fishy" or "buggy" a fish is going to eat it.