Pony molds arrived... lead's a gonna fly

Woohoo. Got my pony molds from Barlows yesterday. On blind faith, having never even used a pony jig, but from listening to some of you all... here I go. Of course, I could have bought a few road runners at walmart and tested out whether I like them or not first.... BUT NO.. not the way I do things. I go into it head first , committing hard earned fishing budget. I've already left the diving board on this one. Checked the molds out last night...and those tiny #12 crane swivels not so easy to place for these nimble fingers of mine. The adventure begins.

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Originally Posted by Hoosier Hog Daddy

Woohoo. Got my pony molds from Barlows yesterday. On blind faith, having never even used a pony jig, but from listening to some of you all... here I go. Of course, I could have bought a few road runners at walmart and tested out whether I like them or not first.... BUT NO.. not the way I do things. I go into it head first , committing hard earned fishing budget. I've already left the diving board on this one. Checked the molds out last night...and those tiny #12 crane swivels not so easy to place for these nimble fingers of mine. The adventure begins.

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Man you cold have bought a load of Roadrunners for what you paid for the mold huh? I guess just thinking about the fact you are just pouring for your self is what makes it high. If you could sell them legal then that would be different.

Skip

You can always make some for fishing buddies,plenty of them on cc.Make some with sickle hooks,that's something roadrunner doesn't do,although they would still be illegal to sell.Whatever you do,homeade baits that catch fish is fun.

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Originally Posted by JUNGLEJIMJIGS

You can always make some for fishing buddies,plenty of them on cc.Make some with sickle hooks,that's something roadrunner doesn't do,although they would still be illegal to sell.Whatever you do,homeade baits that catch fish is fun.

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Absolutely!

Skip

Hoosier,
You will have a lot of fun, get to by more and more stuff, and come up with some fantastic new baits.

However, a word of warning: Until you get a system figured out to put the split rings/blades on.........have all small animals, children, preachers, and anyone with sensitive ears away from you when you start putting them together. Until you get it down, you will come up with new words that will surprise you!!!

You'll love them. Unique baits.

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Originally Posted by Sandwich Maker

Hoosier,
You will have a lot of fun, get to by more and more stuff, and come up with some fantastic new baits.

However, a word of warning: Until you get a system figured out to put the split rings/blades on.........have all small animals, children, preachers, and anyone with sensitive ears away from you when you start putting them together. Until you get it down, you will come up with new words that will surprise you!!!

You'll love them. Unique baits.

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X2:D

Way too funny Sandwich. Haven't got to them tiny #0 split rings yet. One mountain at a time. Made my initial pour this morn. These are nice molds. D0_It does it right. HOWEVER..... that 1/48 oz was very tight tolerance in working with the #12 crane swivels. Not gonna tell ya my reject rate on them. Does anyone fish with the 1/48 's ...they sure are cute but mighty small. What I need to know is how many I need to make to get me thru one season of fishin. How do you rate their "brushability"? I've not tried the sickle hooks yet. I have pretty good luck with mustad quality on my homemade jigs. Only got one of them in my cheek so far...wife had to punch it through my face and then cut the barb off. A little farther back and it would have made a nice ear ring. Can't imagine the disaster a sickle would cause if they are as sharp as you'll proclaim.

And for the legal experts, should I buy liability insurance when my fishin friends fall over dead from laughing at my baits?

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Originally Posted by Hoosier Hog Daddy

Way too funny Sandwich. Haven't got to them tiny #0 split rings yet. One mountain at a time. Made my initial pour this morn. These are nice molds. D0_It does it right. HOWEVER..... that 1/48 oz was very tight tolerance in working with the #12 crane swivels. Not gonna tell ya my reject rate on them. Does anyone fish with the 1/48 's ...they sure are cute but mighty small. What I need to know is how many I need to make to get me thru one season of fishin. How do you rate their "brushability"? I've not tried the sickle hooks yet. I have pretty good luck with mustad quality on my homemade jigs. Only got one of them in my cheek so far...wife had to punch it through my face and then cut the barb off. A little farther back and it would have made a nice ear ring. Can't imagine the disaster a sickle would cause if they are as sharp as you'll proclaim.

And for the legal experts, should I buy liability insurance when my fishin friends fall over dead from laughing at my baits?

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I use mostly 1/32 oz and fish them in very shallow water up to about 14' and even once or twice in as much as 20', but that normally would have been a 1/16 oz then.

Skip

Nice thing about pouring your own..........you don't mind losing a few in the snags.

Just a little tidbit.............you live within reach of several good spots...........do this in the right place and you're in for some good walleye and smallie action................put a half nightcrawler on the hook drag 'em on the bottom real slow and hang on!!!:)

Hoosier

I know when I pour mine I try not to pour more than 3 sizes at once, and yeah the swivels can be a pain but hey it's half the fun of making them.

After you put the hooks and swivels in close the mold and make sure it closed fully, I know sometimes the swivels shift on you and you can get some rejects that way.

I don't know if your using a Lee bottom pour pot or not but whatever method try and pour the lead in the spout a a slight tilt it seems to cut down on rejects for me at least.

IF YOU"RE GONNA TIE ON THEM WAIT TO PUT THE SPLIT RING AND BLADE ON!!!!!!!!!:eek::eek::eek: Trust me on this one:p:p

When you get ready to paint or powder paint let us know we have a few tricks to make things easier

Fatman

Hoosierdaddy... he he...name sounds similar .... I was going for Hog Daddy and somebody already had that one...had to put a qualifyer on the front. Anyhow... I live on headwaters of Monroe, but haven't fished there in years due to too many boaters on weekends and also due to bluegill being small there. I'm a big time bluegill fisherman, but gonna give this Crappie thing a go...retired last yr and have more pleasure time now. Anyhow... while I am searching on Monroe...I might try some of these on Walleye down there...what size should I be building for that? Thanks for telling me that .

And Fatman... thanks for those tips. I have been real careful in closing the mold to make sure all is flat and I don't bugger up the soft aluminum...have been making 4 sizes at one pour.... 1/48, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8... so sometimes hard to get all in there flat at once. Been tilting it back slightly as you say to keep errant drips from going into the next cavity prematurely. I do have the lee bottom pour . Haven't got the blades I want yet.... just getting ready to order them. Should I get indiana or willow ? I figure it is going to take me a good while to paint these dudes I poured today as I am using multiple coat vinyl paint...as that is what I have on hand...never got into powder paint...that would really blow my budget. Does anyone just paint these with one clearcoat while shiny to keep them from oxidizing ...eg natural silver look? Seems like it would just go along with the flash of the blade. Anyhow...by the time I get done the spawn may be over. Got a couple months.

Progress report... OK... started my painting process last night. I am glutton for punishment as I like to hand paint ...no paint in my jig eyes that way. I am using vinyl. I had 200 crane swivels...and allocated about half to the no coller pony head mold and half to the barbed head mold. I have 4 sizes on the no coller, and 3 on the barbed heads. So basically 25-30 heads for each size/coller type. Now , I have to decide the most lethal combinations of head color / body . I want to limit it to maybe 2-3 proven combinations rather than tie a bunch of one -offs. I know pretty sure that I want one combination to be a flame red head with chartreuse tail. Looking to you guys to tell me what other combinations I should try. What is your hottest combo?

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Originally Posted by Hoosier Hog Daddy

Looking to you guys to tell me what other combinations I should try. What is your hottest combo?

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... basically ever since they were first introduced on the market :D ... I've had good success, over the years, with 3 color setups. Unfortunately, two of those colors are no longer available in RR's. I've had to go to outside sources to get them made. And no, they were not sold to me ... they were given to me ... avoiding any legal ramifications. ;)

I'm referring, of course, to the marabou type RR's. Solid Chartreuse (head/body/tail) has been a productive color, for me, since day one. (even after extensive use, and the fading out of the fluorescent green coloration of the marabou tail, it still continues to produce)

Now for the "no longer available" but still excellent colors & color combinations:
Solid Pink (head/body/tail) has had many a good day, on the end of my line, and holds the record for numbers/size. Limited out on Lake Barkley, two days in a row, on 1.5-2lb Crappie ... when other colors failed to produce nearly enough to even warrant tying them on. :p
Peacock was the other color (combo) that earned favored status, in my tacklebox. Best I can remember, it was a Chartreuse head, Teal body, and Chartreuse tail. The "Teal" body color (bluish green) seems to be a hard color to come by, or match.

... luck2ya .... cp :cool:

Thanks Pappy. I am thinking about just tying hackle tails especially on small ones... maybe marabou on larger. Not sure I need the chenille wrap... I think that is more for fishermen than the fish. If you are pulling a spinner by them they are attracted to the flash of the blade and general color I believe... not sure they have time to check to see if body has chenille or not. I'll get shot down on this one for sure. Anyhow...sounds like I need to add a pink combo in addition to my favorite does everything chartruese.

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Originally Posted by crappiepappy

... basically ever since they were first introduced on the market :D ... I've had good success, over the years, with 3 color setups. Unfortunately, two of those colors are no longer available in RR's. I've had to go to outside sources to get them made. And no, they were not sold to me ... they were given to me ... avoiding any legal ramifications. ;)

I'm referring, of course, to the marabou type RR's. Solid Chartreuse (head/body/tail) has been a productive color, for me, since day one. (even after extensive use, and the fading out of the fluorescent green coloration of the marabou tail, it still continues to produce)

Now for the "no longer available" but still excellent colors & color combinations:
Solid Pink (head/body/tail) has had many a good day, on the end of my line, and holds the record for numbers/size. Limited out on Lake Barkley, two days in a row, on 1.5-2lb Crappie ... when other colors failed to produce nearly enough to even warrant tying them on. :p
Peacock was the other color (combo) that earned favored status, in my tacklebox. Best I can remember, it was a Chartreuse head, Teal body, and Chartreuse tail. The "Teal" body color (bluish green) seems to be a hard color to come by, or match.

... luck2ya .... cp :cool:

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Crappiepappy do you use a snap swivel when you fish you road runners?

Crappiepappy

Your teal color (peacock) can be obtained although you'll have to learn how to use a dubbing loop for strength. It's called Arizona Peacock Dubbing, you can put it on like regular dubbing and then tie it in or use in the dubbing loop method for more strength.

Looks like the real thing. They also have different shades of it. If you had a dubbing brush maker it would make some really nice ones.

Fatman

Have fun! I know you will do a great job.

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Originally Posted by Hoosier Hog Daddy

Progress report... OK... started my painting process last night. I am glutton for punishment as I like to hand paint ...no paint in my jig eyes that way. I am using vinyl. I had 200 crane swivels...and allocated about half to the no coller pony head mold and half to the barbed head mold. I have 4 sizes on the no coller, and 3 on the barbed heads. So basically 25-30 heads for each size/coller type. Now , I have to decide the most lethal combinations of head color / body . I want to limit it to maybe 2-3 proven combinations rather than tie a bunch of one -offs. I know pretty sure that I want one combination to be a flame red head with chartreuse tail. Looking to you guys to tell me what other combinations I should try. What is your hottest combo?

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what size blade are you going to use on your 1/32 pony heads

Doc, I have yet to order my blades...but as someone else told me...the recommended components are printed right on the mold. Essentially, I will be buying the smallest 2 sizes probably. I am going to try both Indiana and Willow style. I have some old colorado blades...may even try some of those too. Here is what you will find on the side of the DO-IT mold:

Recommended Components

Size 1/4 3/16 1/8 1/16 1/32 1/48
Hook 2/0 1/0 1 4 6 8
Swivel 12 12 12 12 12 12
Split Ring 0 0 0 0 0 0
Blade 1 1 0 00 00 00

Oops...sorry my cut and past got squeezed together...anyhow size 1/32 shows #6 hook, #12 crane swivel, size 0 split ring, and 00 blade size

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Originally Posted by Hoosier Hog Daddy

Oops...sorry my cut and past got squeezed together...anyhow size 1/32 shows #6 hook, #12 crane swivel, size 0 split ring, and 00 blade size

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Thanks for the information for i have some but needed the blade hardware information so i could fix them right up here.

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Originally Posted by Hoosier Hog Daddy

Oops...sorry my cut and past got squeezed together...anyhow size 1/32 shows #6 hook, #12 crane swivel, size 0 split ring, and 00 blade size

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Thanks for the information for i have some but needed the blade hardware information so i could fix them right up here. Any chance of obtaining the same info for the 1/48 and 1/16 pony head as well

How are the paint jobs coming along are you going to show us any of your painted up pony's

Doc, Had a TDD yesterday.... temporary domestic diversion.... had to go shopping for a new washer / dryer outfit....and thus didn't get any work done on the baits. As for the 1/16 and 1/48....still showing 00 blade size on those...which is smallest Indianas I've seen in Jann's or Barlows. The limiting factor will be how much space between head and swivel to allow blade to spin. May be able to go bigger sizes with with willows...that is what I am going to find out I guess. As for pictures.... my digital hardware is out of date (still have an old Sony floppy disc camera). My wife has all the fancy stuff. If I get industrious , I may do a photo shoot...however will have to have a thick skin for the laughter and criticism to follow. Hope the fish are not as judgemental. I do these things for a hobby and the challenge of getting them rascals to bite. Me against the fish. Plus , I somehow feel less bad if I lose a bait I make versus losing a store bought one. If I had to fish store bought all the time... I would never fish the brush. Still looking for more input on the best colors. Saw that cabelas and janns had a product called Ice Dubbing in peacock color....re may suit one of Pappy's fav body colors.