10-24-2007, 04:03 PM
[cool] [font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I make a lot of “heavy metal” stuff, for deep jigging…both in open water and through the ice. Most of it is part of my BDS program…”Bait Delivery System”. It is designed to get a piece of bait down quickly, and then to provide enough color and action to bring the fish to the bait. [/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I have previously posted writeups and pics on my lead casting spoons, and on my “plungers”, made from flattened spearpoint jigs. I recently acquired a mold for the “Ultra Minnow”. I have painted some up in several colors…both regular and flattened…and have been most happy with the results so far.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]These jigs have one of my favorite features for a vertically presented lure…they are balanced so that they rest in a horizontal mode. Some fish, in some circumstances, hit a horizontal jig better than one that hangs vertically or at an angle. [/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]They also have some molded in detail…like large eye sockets. Nice, but all of the detail pretty much disappears after painting, glittering and epoxying. In fact, I find the eye socket too large for the balance I like to achieve in putting eyes on my jigs.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I generally use mostly ¼ oz. and 1/8 oz. heads for most of my vertical jigging. I make my choices based upon head style, depth of the water and the activity level of the fish. If the fish are active, and popping larger offerings, I fish the ¼ oz because it gets down faster. If the fish are a bit finicky, or or in water less than 15 feet deep, I will probably try the lighter 1/8 oz. heads…for a slower fall.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I usually pour the ¼ oz. heads on size 2 hooks and the 1/8 oz on both size 2 and size 4. Sometimes I want the smaller profile of the size 4. Other times I need a larger hook on a smaller head, especially if fishing a large crawler or piece of fish meat.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]So far, I have successfully tried several different colors. White is good during warmer weather and clearer water. For deeper and colder water, or water with some “color”, I change to chartreuse or even fire tiger. In between is the “pale perch”…a color that can represent anything from perch fry to baby bluegill to small trout. The colors and the vertical bars are “representational” for many different kinds of fish food…up to and including crawdads.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3] [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]After having good luck with fishing the Ultra Minnows without modifications, I tried flattening a few. They can be hammered fairly flat, giving them a much larger side profile and also adding to the flutter both when jigging or when retrieving. They flutter back and forth on the drop. That can be very attractive to some predator species.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3] [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Here are some pictures, including one of the mold. You will note that I pour most of my jigs on the Matzuo sickle hooks these days. I like the sharpness and the fine wire. I get good hooksets and the hooks hold some surprisingly large fish without bending. The hooks come in gold, bronze, red and black finishes. I generally use the red hooks on any hot colors and gold for white, metallic or neutral colors. Red hooks can make a difference on some jigs.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3] [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I have previously posted writeups and pics on my lead casting spoons, and on my “plungers”, made from flattened spearpoint jigs. I recently acquired a mold for the “Ultra Minnow”. I have painted some up in several colors…both regular and flattened…and have been most happy with the results so far.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3] [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]These jigs have one of my favorite features for a vertically presented lure…they are balanced so that they rest in a horizontal mode. Some fish, in some circumstances, hit a horizontal jig better than one that hangs vertically or at an angle. [/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3] [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]They also have some molded in detail…like large eye sockets. Nice, but all of the detail pretty much disappears after painting, glittering and epoxying. In fact, I find the eye socket too large for the balance I like to achieve in putting eyes on my jigs.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3] [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I generally use mostly ¼ oz. and 1/8 oz. heads for most of my vertical jigging. I make my choices based upon head style, depth of the water and the activity level of the fish. If the fish are active, and popping larger offerings, I fish the ¼ oz because it gets down faster. If the fish are a bit finicky, or or in water less than 15 feet deep, I will probably try the lighter 1/8 oz. heads…for a slower fall.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3] [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I usually pour the ¼ oz. heads on size 2 hooks and the 1/8 oz on both size 2 and size 4. Sometimes I want the smaller profile of the size 4. Other times I need a larger hook on a smaller head, especially if fishing a large crawler or piece of fish meat.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3] [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]So far, I have successfully tried several different colors. White is good during warmer weather and clearer water. For deeper and colder water, or water with some “color”, I change to chartreuse or even fire tiger. In between is the “pale perch”…a color that can represent anything from perch fry to baby bluegill to small trout. The colors and the vertical bars are “representational” for many different kinds of fish food…up to and including crawdads.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3] [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]After having good luck with fishing the Ultra Minnows without modifications, I tried flattening a few. They can be hammered fairly flat, giving them a much larger side profile and also adding to the flutter both when jigging or when retrieving. They flutter back and forth on the drop. That can be very attractive to some predator species.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3] [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Here are some pictures, including one of the mold. You will note that I pour most of my jigs on the Matzuo sickle hooks these days. I like the sharpness and the fine wire. I get good hooksets and the hooks hold some surprisingly large fish without bending. The hooks come in gold, bronze, red and black finishes. I generally use the red hooks on any hot colors and gold for white, metallic or neutral colors. Red hooks can make a difference on some jigs.[/blue][/size][/font]
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