PawPaw "gene"'s new hobby

I'm fairly new to this board and even newer to jig tying. I've been laid up for the last few weeks and decided to pass my time tying some jigs. Any tips or comments welcome.

Here is my vise, some supplies and my tying station. (my desk)

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/IM000325.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/IM000324.jpg

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/IM000326.jpg

Some red sickle hooks and marabou, 1/16 oz.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/IM000321.jpg

Some gold sickle hooks and marabou, 1 1/32 oz.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/IM000322.jpg

Some more.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/IM000320.jpg

And a few clousers to use with my fly rod.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/IM000319.jpg

And the proof of the pudding. I've posted this pic before.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/f...e/IM000182.jpg

I getting better and I hope to try these out soon.
From the bayou,
PawPaw "gene"

The addiction has begun!!! It starts as a little clutter,maybe on the kitchen table or a corner of your desk. Soon you will need an entire room,with numerous file cabinets ,tools you cant pronounce,and a few paychecks to feed the monster.In the end a couple of slabs hanging from one of your jigs makes it all worth it.So I keep telling my wife......

Keep it up! The jigs look good,The chinelle body's work better for me.But thats a whole nuther trip to the fly shop.

On your clousers you seem to have the same trouble I have which is crowding the eye a little. I have had to make an effort to keep from doing that, but stopping a little short of where I think usually helps.

Over all though nice job!

Skip

Dadgumit I wish You hadn't made me read this post. I been right on the verge of trying this and now I just gotta do it. Thanks a lot and hope you get better soon and can go and try them purty jigs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PawPaw "gene"

Any tips or comments welcome.

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Pick up some good books and videos. Bass Pro has a great jig tying video available. Two books I can recommend are "Fly Tying for Beginners" by Peter Gathercole and "The Benchside Introduction to Fly Tying" by Ted Leeson and Jim Schollmeyer. Even though they are fly-oriented, these guys are master tyers and you can learn a lot about handling materials, proportions, etc. Both books are spiral-bound so you can lay them flat next to your vise while you tie. Also, take advantage of youtube -- lots of tying videos there!

P.S. I just noticed you are from Houma. I was in Houma last month on a redfish trip. Nice area!

PawPaw welcome to the hobby. It is fun. Your jigs catch fish and that is the ultimate thrill of it all. I try and imitate / duplicate / replicate proven jigs that catch crappies. I view fly tying videos, and listen to tips from the experts on this board.

Your photos are excellent and show quite a bit of detail. Your jigs look much better than mine ever did when I first began. The placement of the eyes on your Clouser will determine whether the jig "glides" or "swims" in the water.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flyt...30606fotw.html

http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/TyingClouserMinnow1.wmv
http://www.flyfisherman.com/ftb/ClouserEpoxyaddress.wmv


Here is a concept for a basic chenille jig and marabou jigs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SIeH0tQRRI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSeel...eature=related

http://www.expertvillage.com/videos/...arabou-kit.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwoMwHGcumg

http://www.expertvillage.com/videos/...-trout-fly.htm


Overall, your jigs look great and I'd say you're hooked on a new hobby. Congratulations.

Congrats
See your jigs do work, and they look good to.
But i do have 1 tip, when you clamb your hook in the vise, clamb it at the bend behind the barb, this will give you more room to work on the main shank of the hook. GOOD LUCK

First, I want to thank all of you for you comments and tips. I'm always open to suggestion.

Radtexan, I hope I can keep it on the small side because I have a couple other hobbies that also take time and space. Of course the first one is fishing as you might guess. Well the second one is pen making. I make custom ink pens of all sorts of exotic woods, antlers and acrylics. All of which take up a small shop by itself.

Skip, I have never seen a clouser in my hand, only a few pictures, but I understand what you mean. I did a couple more tonight that came out better.

PawPawPerch, look out because this sho is fun. I've only spent about 40 bucks for what I have, and probably can tie a hundred plus jigs. Its a great way to pass the evenings on these cold nights when I cannot work in the unheated shop. Its better than watching TV.

DB4D, I thank you for the book recommendation. I'll have to check at Books-a-Million to see what they have. No BPS near here, but a Cabelas has just opened about a hour and a half drive from here. Maybe I should also check them out. I hope your redfish trip was successful. Those things are really getting plentiful around here. We are also having a great speckle trout run this winter. Redfish are fun to catch but I don't eat much of them. The only way I like them somewhat is on the grill.

Ship, thanks for the video links, I had seen a couple of them, the one on the clouser by the master himself was great. I have never fish one so I'll have to experiment to see what action I get. My thinking was to use them when the crappie (did I use that word), I mean sac-a-lait are up near the banks. Here we fish mostly canals and bayous, and almost all of them have an area usually a few feet wide that start only a few inches deep at the bank and drop to about 1 to 2 feet deep a few feet from the bank and then drop off quickly to the depth of the canal which is usually 5 to 8 feet deep. Fishing that drop off is very productive during the pre-spawn. I thought I could cast up into the shallows and work the clouser out to the drop off and let her go hoping to pick them up on the way down. That is the way I fish my jigs also but I wanted to try it with a flyrod also.

Buckeye, actually I gave it no thought when I took the picture. I just clamped a hook it there for looks. I do try to get as much room as possible because I have some pretty big fingers. I'm glad I'm hooked onto sac-a-lait fishing instead of trout that take size 24 hooks, unreal.

Once again thanks to everyone here, this forum is the best because the members are the best.
From the bayou,
PawPaw "gene"

God bless the Bayou area, and God bless you. I worked in the New Orleans area following Katrina. Drove in from Mobile every day through Slidell and across Lake Ponchetrain. Have fun with your new hobby and keep posting and keep catching Crappies!!

Ship there are no crappie south of I-10. I do want to thank you for any help to whomever after the terrible storms. Among all the bad stories you hear there are some great heartwarming ones. Thank God for good hearted people.
From the bayou,
PawPaw "gene"

Paw Paw....

I wrote this in September (two weeks after the storm) when talking with a group of residents.


"NO MORE"
by Michael Carter

She sat and she cried until her eyes were real sore
She ain’t coming back here to live no more
The roof was gone and the house is all flooded
What Katrina did to her was mighty cold blooded.

Trash is everywhere and people are crying
Over in the next house someone is dying
Sad, sad looks from our desperate faces
There is total destruction in so many places.

Twenty five soldiers met us down in this city
The area we work in smells really sh***y
Everywhere you look, you see a news crew
Wanting to know about me and about you

“They can have this house” a woman clearly said
“My life is all ruined, my life is all dead”
She sat and she cried until her eyes were real sore
She ain’t coming back here to live no more.

Keys won’t work because my door is swelled up
Soldiers kicked it in and found her dead pup
She curses and she swears at the unforgiving mold
Everything has been ruined, not even a picture to hold.


“Bathrooms don’t work, got no lights and no heat”
“Maggots are all over, got no food I can eat”
“My clothing is all ruined, it got my shoes too”
“There is no picture on the wall of me and of you”

His five pimped out gator shoes were just left behind
Seven Hundred dollars for each just blows my mind
He ain’t got nothing, not one blade of green grass
And he says “This sorry city can just kiss my a**.”

The house is ruined and the insurance just won’t pay
Tell me ! “Just where is my own brighter day?”
Yes, I thank you Lord for my health and my life
But I’m headed somewhere else without this toil and strife!

“This stuff happens in Florida five times each year
This crazy sh** just can’t be happening right here!!!
This stuff happens to others, doesn’t happen to us
I am so tired of riding on a hot slow poke bus”

Water up to the roof has done flooded her good car
She knows it won’t start or even run very far
So she’s leaving right now driving off with her son
The family days in New Orleans are now over and done.

They are headed for a new life somewhere in Tennessee
Help and prayers for others is now her solemn plea
She sat and she cried until her eyes were real sore
She ain’t coming back to New Orleans to live no more.


IS AMERICA LISTENING?By Michael C. Carter

Is America listening now?
Someone must lead the way; keep our solemn vow.

America says “life, liberty, pursuit of happiness”
Meanwhile I see too much grief and sadness.
Energy, inflation, and unemployment lines
Riots in schools are signs of the times.
Income taxes are going higher and higher.
Children’s homes are being destroyed by the fire.
America is stuck in the muck and the mire!

Little is being done to right these wrongs.
Individuals have forgotten their freedom songs.
Start to get involved and raise a fuss
Till America cares about the rest of us.
Everyone…let’s raise our voice and speak.
No more turning of the other cheek.
Individuals united can never be weak.
Now is the time to take our stand. We’ve
Got to make America a better land.