New jigs

[Belasko]

Tried out making jigs tonight for the first time on my x-mas setup. Worked out pretty well. The pot is a bit cumbersome so I think I'll get a ladel, but otherwise it went well. Hope to get some other colors and be well stocked for steelhead and bass seasons!
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[jigs]

way to go i love pouring led. is that smoke residue or sparkles on them? you should try some bynil paints also i love them can do paterns with it. i just got 2,000 hooks that we are going to pour in the next week.... going to take forever.
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[Belasko]

used the pro paint sparkle paint powder. I was expecting something more like actual sparkles than black dots, but it still came out good. Think I'm going to get a ladle though, the pot I have just doesn't give the control I want when pouring. I'll have to take a look at those paints you mentioned too.
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[StacyR]

Just be careful and work in a well ventilated area. Having a fan going wouldn't hurt either. Melting lead gives off poisonous vapors that you can breathe in. Also, if you use a ladle, make sure it's completely dry and preheated before you put it in the molten lead. It's like putting water in frying grease. If you put a cold, damp ladle in molten lead, it could explode out of the pot.
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[iliketofish]

That's pretty cool, you've got me interested... How much do molds cost, and do you buy the lead in bulk, and if so is it very expensive?
I'm just wondering because I got into tying flies thinking that i would save myself some money, but with the exception of zebra midges and wooly buggers and a few others, it's just fun but doesn't save me money. this sounds like fun but is it cheaper to go buy them in the end?
thanks!
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[StacyR]

The molds cost about $30 each new, though you can find them cheaper on places like ebay.

As for if it saves money, it really depends on how much lead you're going through, and how much you're paying for the lead. I used to do lead casting when I was living in WA and using a lot of 2-4 ounce sinkers for saltwater bottom fishing. At $0.50-$0.75 each for the sinker, it made a lot of sense to make your own because you'd be busting off sinkers every trip. It wasn't unusual to go through $5 of sinkers in a day of fishing.

Now that I'm over here, I usually don't use such heavy sinkers, so I mostly just buy what I need premade.
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[windriver]

BFT has a tackle making forum. If anyone has any questions there are many knowledgable people to talk to on that site. Not that the great people on BFT can't help. I just thought I would bring this up for those that don't know.

Windriver
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[jigs]

i figured it out once. i think it i buy the hooks by the thousand it costs me about 3 and a half cents per jigs. if i buy by the hooks by 100 its around 6-7 cents.

try those sparkles on diffrent colours of paints. for some reason they realy look diffrent on other colours.

as for the lead i usualy just go down the a salvage yard and get lead. some ppl use tire weights but i always get soft lead its melts at a lower temp and pours better.
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[Laroo]

Looks good I have also been making some jigs with a christmas set up. I check the lure and jig making forum quite often but there is only about 1 post a month. I would like to get some talk going about it.
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[Belasko]

Like was said, the mold is around $30. The hot pot I have w/ a built in heating coil is about the same but a simple high heat tolerance pot over a camp stove works as well. Lead depends on sources. I bought a 12 pack of those wrap around weights for duck decoys on clearance a few years ago hoping to buy some dekes to go w/ them but got around to it. I pulled 3 of those last night and they half filled the pot. I've also seen people just buy the coils of pencil lead like for steelheading and drop one of those in the pot. For paint the powder stuff I use is about $6 each, but my buddy who does this bought his years ago and has yet to use more than half of any of his 3 colors. Basically for a full setup you're looking about $75, but then the cost is minimal after that. Takes a while to pay off, but over ten years I figure it'll do it. Not to mention it's kinda fun!
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