Making a More Compact Jig

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These are definitely going to catch me some fish.

I was having issues with the previous bladed jig design as the jig’s attitude when swimming was not good. The nose was pointed in a steep decline with the tail being high. No minnow swims like that so I figured some and decided that it was the resistance of the blade pulling back hard. This aligned the hook eye to the blade with not many options to defeat that. Posted here and CJ1PRODUCTIONS suggested using my Bat Jig, as it has the hook eye coming away at 60 degrees. More to the front. I must say this did make for a better alignment. Thanks CG 1

However I am relatively certain that a far greater issue is the lack of mass in the jig head itself. A heavier jig head more more readily overcome the blades resistance at lower speeds. It might not matter as I do catch fish on the 1/16th with a blade. So the acute angle must not be that great a put off to them.

The plastic is a Slabonator Booty Thumper 2” what been cut down in size. More like a 1 1/2” now. This makes the overall profile more compact. More like a real minnow. Sometimes the smallest improvement can radically change the results and I can remain completely clueless as to why. Not so this time.

The top left is a 1/4 oz Bat Jig Head, and underneath of that is the 1/16th oz Bat Jig head. Same hook for each. #2 Do-It Whacky hook. Interesting hook in that it gave me fits in the #6 size. I was losing fish like crazy. The hook is very sharp and has a fish keeping angled tip. So far I lost one fish boat side using them.

I started trimming the length of the plastic bait because I have issues aligning the hook properly. My other rigged baits can appear to swim well next to the boat, but let out 15 feet of line and watch them go, and they spin. Even the smallest of errors inserting the hook produces bad performance once enough line has been spooled out. Trimming off a 1/2” or so is a 1/2” or so I no longer have to align perfectly. The hook is much easier to manage as it passes through the bait. I did one and looked and thought - Hmmmmmmm.

I watched this lure swim in the 1/4 oz version with no blade and it looked great. The heavy head kept it plowing straight ahead and the tail flopped wildly side to side. It swam just like a minnow would swim. Not sure what the 1/16th oz will look like with line played out, but probably will do just fine.

I fish the heavier jigs in close and on different days the fish want different things. Some days the short lines/heavy jigs are hot, and some days the long lines/light jigs are hot. I always seem to catch fish on each no matter which day, but a preference exists. Using the different weight sizes allows me to fish more rods in the boat, which I am at 10 now.

I really like Victory jig hooks and would like to use them, but need to search around some. I want a shortened shank, but a tip that stands tall and away from the bait. Nice big gap. I suspect my Free Style jig heads would work very well if I could find a hook that works.

I also need to order some wire for the bladed designs and new blades in sizes that match my jig’s weight.

I have read that we should down size our lure as the water temperatures drop. Not sure why that is other than maybe the fish prefer smaller fish to digest as their metabolism levels drop. I know some fish prefer smaller baitfish as they can stack a large amount of smalls inside their gut more efficiently than a few large ones. Weird, but they do not chew so they must accommodate whatever is going down.

Of course it could be also that at this time of year the smaller minnows are more prevalent. A mystery. Maybe it is just all wild hysteria due to mass hallucinations, but I have read those comments enough to think there is something to the idea.


I also found something in and amongst my vast collection of surf fishing junk. Plastic clevices. Yes these can be threaded onto the leader and will allow for an in-line spinner configuration. Being plastic they are not supposed to damage the line but I suspect they must do some damage. Anyways I want to at least try them. Regular jig with blade just in front. I will probably need to fashion a Figure 8 knot in the leader to prevent the blade from coming back and whacking into the jig and fouling. This would be for Bat Jigs as the 90 degree eyes probably will look odd.

Looks like they should work well.
Bob

Hopefully the bladed bat jig will show improvement in reaching a more horizontal swimming presentation. I agree that they are definitely put fish in the boat! Good luck when you get to see how they perform.


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Good looking jigs

Good ideas and they should do fine. I’d put a bead between the levies and the knot. Small metal or big plastic but something should go there in my mind.

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I trimmed some off the length of these plastic baits. I think the change in seasons is pushing me in this direction. The smaller jigs have been working better than my large ones lately.

Those should get it done

I prefer the shorter more compact baits myself.

I had a chance to sneak out for a quick dip and launched well before Sun rise. It was purdy when it finally did rise.

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I forgot to take pictures of the take but it was close to fifteen nice keepers. I tossed back way more fish than I normally do. The little guys seemed hungry.

The plastics that had been altered did very well for me. Obviously it is near impossible to know if they are a huge improvement or not, due to the fickle and completely unreasonable behavior of the fish. However they were swimming next to the boat in a wonderful fashion.

The Hot Rod in 2.5”, with that half inch cut away swam very sleekly and looked very much like a minnow. I have taken to testing lures by paying out more line than if just dipping next to boat and looking. I run them alongside the back of the boat, rod in the front and look see.

The Paddle Tails in 2.5” with a half inch cut off the front also behaved very well. The heads keep them pointed straight and that tails just waggles away like crazy. The hook escapes at the point where the tail meets the body and that seems to enhance the action. At least to my eyes it does.

I also fished the 3” Booty Thumpers cut down to fit the hook and their tails wobbled so hard the rod tip vibrated as if a crank bait were on. Kind of odd looking but swam great.

The Bat Jig under spins did OK but I feel as if the fish are avoiding the bladed jigs in favor of more sleek versions. I lack the experience to know, but there are seasonal adjustments and somehow this involves my jigs.

The new ten rod setup did OK as well with no tangles. However I did re-do some things later in the day when I got home. Moved the up front holders around a little. Now I have about five feet of separation in the lines and could run all long lines. I doubt that I would want to do that because my boat will alter course as soon as I step away from the TM. It would require a straight line course. With four of the rods fishing shorter lines I can adjust course as I see fit.

The large tailed Booty thumpers fished right beside the boat maybe a foot or two deep scored some fat devils for me. Not a bunch of fish but all were fine specimens. One very small fish took a swipe at the big bait, too. The smaller sizes fished further behind were more popular and that kind of makes sense.

So I conclude that I shall make these compact styled baits in the future as well. Liked the way they swim. Sorry I forgot the money shot.

Spectacular sunrise. Sounds like those more compact jigs did the trick

Good report and that sunrise was spectacular. Thanks for the photo.
Bob

I liked the shorter shank hook, as in the Do-It Whacky hook size #2, so ordered some more to have ready for when I make more Bat Jig lures. I also read some on the interwebs and learned that Eagle Claw makes a 571 jig hook that also has a short shank. This hook is said to be both solid and sad at the same time, but I really didn’t see any deal killer reviews. I know it probably has a poor tip, certain on a few anyways, but I can sample and cherry pick when the price is so reasonable. Cheap machining provides results that leave us fishing weird tips. I will exam each closely as I start using them to put in molds.

This 571 seems to be a rarity in the jig world. I am sure others make similar but the Matzuo offering is unavailable. It also had complaints lodged on the interwebs BTW. Gamigatzu is said to have an offering that is very pricy. I might go for some of those after I finish exploring short shank hooks.

I think the trimming down of the plastic baits, and having less involvement of the stiff hook shank along it’s length is an advantage. I felt that I was achieving better rigging because the distance the hook was being threaded was less. Easier to get them straight, no bulges or dips. That alone should provide a better swimmer. Having the tip exit the plastic at the junction of tail and body also seems to be a great location. The entire “body” of the bait is impaled, and the “tail” is left to wobble. It would wobble anyways even if the bait’s body extended beyond that spot, but not in the same manner. It really looked to me like the bait swam more vigorously. The larger Booty Thumpers wobbled my rod tips like a crank bait would. No blade just the body.

Anyways I am excited about what is possible. I tried using short shank hooks when I first got the Bat Jig Mold. I used Do-It Whacky hooks in size #6, ( 60 degree eye ) as is prescribed on the side of the mold. Started losing fish like crazy. Good fish simply shaking free and gone early into the battle. Knew I had an issue. The original design was for vertical jigging, and at that angle the movement of the hook tip being pulled upwards, is different than being pulled forward. Vertical jigging amongst brush and the design is good due to the length being shorter and less likely to encounter snags, and more easily coaxed out and back up.

I have been using the size #2 which does in fact fit the smaller sizes, down to 1/16th. It has a little extra length to it and that gets the tip a tad further back away from the head and in a better position to snag a fish, and keep him, and it does. I have very few sneak aways these days.

The Eagle Claw 571 offers me a short shank 90 degree jig hook for my Free Style jigs. This will be new to me. I want to create short shanked 1/16th oz heads and add shortened plastic bodies to those, blades and no blades. I can make a jig that has a nice fat profile but not too much length. That fat minnow look that makes life so enjoyable for a crappie. I plan to see if these compact jig styles are worthy of pursuit, or would just a plain dumb old jig work just as well. I just have to find out, and that will take some more fishing trips. Those trips are so distasteful, too.

I also looked over the boat when I got home from work and examined what I had done with the rod arrangement. I think it is good. I did tweak one a little to get a little more separation. I will be able to drag 8 long lines and two shorts. I will probably buy some new rods now that I see what I really need to have. I have some Dawai trolling rods made for big fish and they do just fine on the crappie. In fact when pulling up to motor back to the ramp yesterday I started reeling and discovered a fish on one of my Ozark rods. Whippy. He was just kind of swimming along I guess, so whippy isn’t really a requirement for my style, and heavier rods will work just fine. I also imagine cheap rods will be just fine as long as their lengths are right.

I am pretty disappointed in the braided line as it wraps the rod tips so easily and creates beautiful macrame of impossible understanding. Clip away and retie. I am gonna consider switching to mono on my spinner reels. Unconcerned about someone’s chartings suggesting to report accurate depths, but only when using light lines. I adjust depths by line out lengths and jig head weights and if needed boat speed. Isn’t gonna need to be thin line to manage that, can be heavier. Tied to a small swivel with a light weight leader ( 6 lb ) off that.

The braided line will flop around and grab the eyes on the rod and then form knots that defy my abilities and test my patience. Mono has issues too but I shall give it a try.

You are getting this down to a science