Make Fishing Jigs
There rages a debate among bass fishermen: "Which is the better bait, the plastic worm or the jig?" Both are excellent baits, but worms cost a lot less money. Jigs, while very productive, aren't inexpensive and are easily lost if they're fished where the bass are. You can save a lot of money making your own jigs. The following steps will show you how.
Instructions
The Bass Jig
1. Select a jighead. These come in various weights, but the common ones for bass fishing would be from 1/16th ounce to 1 ounce. The easiest to use are painted heads, though buying unpainted and coloring your own can cut costs.
2. Chose a skirt in a color that matches well with the jighead you have selected. Many jig fishermen like using silicone skirts (as shown) because of the vast selection of colors and patterns available. Others swear by the living rubber skirt because it pulses better when moved. For this jig we'll use a silicone skirt.
3. Push the point of the hook through the skirt and under the small rubber band, which is called, appropriately enough, a skirt collar. Slide the skirt all the way up over the barb on the back of the head.
4. Compare your jig to the one in the picture. This is a complete jig. It would actually catch hungry bass. The next couple of steps will improve it a bit and increase your catch ratio even more.
5. Add a rattle to the jig to imitate the sound a crayfish makes to make your jig more attractive to bass.
6. Trim the weed guard so that it is just long enough to protect the hook point from snags. You might also trim a few fibers from the guard to increase its flexibility. Finally, hold the jig by the head so the skirt hangs straight down. With your scissors trim the skirt even with the end of the hook. Leave it a little longer if you'll be using the jig with a trailer.
The Swim Jig
7. Use a jighead designed for this bait. The notable differences in the swim jig are the placement of the eye, the shape of the head and the lack of a weed guard. This style head is available in the the same weights as a bass jig and from the same sources.
8. Use a living rubber skirt for swim jigs. Buy them pre-made, or add a single strand of another color by making your own.
Living rubber comes in strips that are nearly sliced through, forming what will be the strands of the skirt after cutting. The strip must be cut to length. A good length for a single-layer skirt is five inches.
9. A skirt collar is a small section of silicone or surgical tubing. They are very small. Stretching them over a skirt requires a special tool or can be done through the following trick.
10. Place the skirt collar on the barrel of a pen.
11. Remove the end of the pen and the ink reservoir.
12. Fold the strip (not necessary with a five inch strip) and roll the end tightly enough to fit inside the pen barrel as shown. Roll the collar off the pen and onto the skirt, to the midpoint.
13. While holding the skirt by pinching it at the collar, stretch one end as far as you can. When it is stretched have a helper cut the end off with a sharp scissors. The strands should suddenly separate as the cut is made. If it does not, simply stretch and quickly release the stuck strands until they have all separated. Install your new living rubber skirt on the swim jig head and it's done!
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