Do-It - Live Bait Jig Mold

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Pretty sure I ordered the six cavity mold, but this one stays with me anyways.

Overall the quality of the pour gets a GOOD rating. No lead creeping up the neck of the hook. No flashing. There is a collar that I am gonna have to address, but clipping it away for now isn’t too difficult. I do not care for the sprue as it is too involved with the front of the jig. I wanted pointy, round and but the sprue separates leaving flat. It does take the hot lead very well though so there is that. Quick and easy to set in the hooks.

The mold uses the short shank Eagle Claw 571. This hook is like their 570 only shorter shank. Bronze and sharp. The mold suggests size #1 for the smaller weights and 1/0 for larger, but as you can see the mold takes either. The mold is free and clear and would do nicely with regular hook shank lengths as well should I abandon short shank hooks. Right now they are performing very well for me.

If you look you will see how the hook rides high up in the head, with the majority of the lead below. This is what attracted me to this mold. I believe these heads will swim very nicely while trolling.

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I plan to use silicone gasket goo to fill in the collar. I also plan to mod the mold to accept my under spin design. Should do very well with blades, or at least I hope so.

The 1/2 ounce size is actually kind of nice for my style of trolling.

Painted them all bright white. Waiting on some new paints to try to get just the right ones. Bright White will be one of my go to colors. I have some fingernail polish that has two nice colors so I’ll paint up a few.

$36 from Barlows, and can be found elsewhere for more. This mold does have a six cavity sister but the shortages on molds being what it is I’m glad I could get it.

The weights are off. The 1/16th ounce, after collar cut off weighs 1/12th ounce. 12 of them on a scale weigh an ounce, and that should be 16 of them. The 1/8th ounce weigh 1/6 th ounce also too heavy even with collar removed. So six of them equal an ounce, not 8 as the mold should produce. On the other end the 1/2 ounce is dead on without their collar. 2 jigs equal 1 ounce. I knew as soon as the first heads came out they were gonna be heavy.

I do not utilize secret formulas for down and distance, so this is not a big deal for me. It would have been nice had they simply adjusted the mold to begin with. They really do need quality control measures in Denver, Iowa. The Herring Head mold fails when used as directed. Oh well.

I’ll get these painted up, powdered up, and pretty and take more pictures. There is a flat spot on the sides to accept eyes. My smaller plastics will fit the shank nicely. I’ll be sure to add pictures later.

That half ounce one is a chunk of lead. Should troll nicely

Very interesting read.... I look forward to your next post.

David

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Nice! I like it! Saw this mold for sale by a guy on Facebook today and snagged it myself.

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I have some short shank jig heads I bought off EBay a few years ago. They work great with my handties. I never knew the live bait style heads came in 1/16 and 1/8oz heads.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grainraiser

I have some short shank jig heads I bought off EBay a few years ago. They work great with my handties. I never knew the live bait style heads came in 1/16 and 1/8oz heads.

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Well they don’t. I mean actual weights. 1/12 th and 1/6 th is what mine pours, and that is AFTER the collars have been trimmed off. If you desire the weights be correct look for another mold. I could see right away they were going to be too heavy, and I am sure Do-It employees did as well but didn’t much care. Not even close. I just don’t understand why they don’t seem to care about their products. The Herring Head mold is a complete disaster. The wire inserts simply fall right out. This mold is much cleaner than some others but the cavities are way to big.

It would be pretty difficult to be able to hit a weight by volume of lead since the alloy effects the weight a good amount. Perhaps somewhere in the fine print it defines what alloy is required to throw the targeted weights.

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Post Mod

I inserted a piece of the wire that I use to make under spin jigs, squeezed mold closed, applied C clamp to impart the groove you see exiting the cavity backwards at an angle. This was extremely easy to accomplish. The mold closes over the wire completely ready for the pour.

I might makes some later to see what they look like.

Nice and thank you for pics. So it does have a flat side for eyes? I'm liking how the hook is slightly tilted down and weight of head is below the hook bend. How did you create the cavity for the wire? I use too take a small nail and close shut then tap with hammer to create the cavity for my weedless wire.

The wire I will insert got placed into position. Close the mold to capture. Using a C clamp squeezed mold shut and done.

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Works great and it just could not have been easier to do. The mold is so open. The wires are cut to length and they are easily laid in the groove. Set the hook, set the wire, close and pour. Cleaning away the collar is the only part of the process that is a pain.

I will be able to make wires of any length I choose. So later if I want to use longer shanked hooks I can also extend the wire back further. I could also bend the wire downwards to have it escape the head in a straight down fashion.

Being able to easily mod this mold played a role in my selecting it. Having the lead hanging off the hook was also important as I hope it prevents the lure from swimming in a cocked fashion- tail up / nose down. I want horizontal movement. I shall see how it does with a Slabanator Booty Thumper. LOL

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Now that is gonna make some noise as it goes by. Be easy to track and capture. The hook tip is in a great spot to secure the fish. I am pleased with this design.