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[cool]By request, I am posting a pic of some of my "hammerhead" jigs, including some with the rainbow materials I have been using successfully for the past year. I started hammering regular jig heads to flatten them, after finding that a flattened surface could be decorated with prism tape (like my perch urchins). I also discovered that a flattened head tended to wobble when retrieved and flutter when jigged vertically. Plain lead heads don't provide an action beyond what you give them with rod twitches.
![[Image: gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=11978;]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=11978;)
I use the small jigs...size 8 through 4...for most of my fishing. I use them mostly as "bait bugs", with a piece of worm or fish meat. The larger models work well for largemouths, stripers, wipers and walleyes. They are also popular with a host of salt water species. They cast a mile and are great for burning through a school of inactive fish. They also troll well, with or without "sweetener" and/or in combo with crankbaits or plastics in a tandem rig.
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Good looking jigs TD, you say they flutter and wobble huy? How fast do you have to retrieve them to get them to wobble and do you think they could be trolled? WH2
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[cool] They are great for trolling. It may seem strange, when we buy all of our fancy crank baits and wobbling lures, but sometimes fish respond just as well to something with a tight vibration, or no motion at all when trolled.
I primarily use these lures for casting or vertical jigging, and supply much of the action with my rod tip. However, if you want some more wiggle on the retrieve or the troll, you can hammer the heads a little flatter and bend them a little before painting. Then you can add minor bends, even after painting, to change the action.
The other thing you can do while trolling, that also works with standard trolling lures and plastics, is to periodically sweep the rod forward and then let the lure drop back on a slack line. This can often trigger strikes in hesitant followers. Members of the striper family are especially susceptible to a "herky-jerky" action.
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I have used the sweeping method many a time but last year it worked rarely, two years ago it was killer. I always use it when strikes are few between and I'm seeing fish on the fish finder. WH2
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[cool] That's just another trick in the arsenal. Most seasoned fishermen hear about and try just about everything sooner or later. You never know what's going to work...even if you know a whole bunch of things that won't work.
I had been toying with the idea of adding some tail spinners to some of my hammerheads to. I have made a lot of shorter jigs, with stern mounted spinner blades, and they often work well...just like mutant Roadrunners. It is natural to assume that fish will nip at the spinner, and not get the hook, but the opposite is true of most predators. They grab their prey in the middle...where the business part is. I have had good hookup ratios on the other and smaller models.
Here's a "spinner butt" version of the hammerhead. Think you might like to try washing a few of these behind your boat?
![[Image: gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=11979;]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=11979;)
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You better believe I'd like to try them, that lure looks awesome and if it wobbles on top of that, it could be a killer.
WH2
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[cool]Even better than wobbling, they tend to zig-zag...almost like "walking the dog" beneath the surface. When hook eye placement is on the flat surface, as with a crank bait, you get more wobble and vibration. When the hook is on the top of a "hammer head", the jig tends to run first off in one direction and then back in the other. If the head is fairly straight and flat, it becomes more like a wobble. If it has a more pronounced bend, it will have wider zigs and zags. If you troll at the right speed, the lead "keel" keeps the jigs tracking well, without spinning.
Since these are "home-hammered", there is no standard of uniformity. Every one turns out just a little different shape, even when poured the same size on the same size hooks.
When I first started playing with these, back in the early eighties, I took them to Powell on a spring trip for largies and crappies...when they were still prolific. I tried casting them along the shoreline and caught a few decent largemouth, a couple of walleyes and several chunky stripers. Later, on a slow troll back to the marina (Wahweap), I let one out behind the boat, while my partner trolled a Shad Rap. I hooked a half dozen 5-7 pound stripers while a succession of other lures caught nothing.
I have introduced them to a lot of species in a lot of waters since, and they seem to have "the right stuff". The salt water fish in the Sea of Cortez rip them to shreds, but they eat anything you put in the water. They also work well for deep jigging, as in the Texas lakes where stripers, whites and wipers bunch up just off the bottom in fifty feet of water.
I have never fished them for the beloved macks of Bear Lake or the Gorge, but I'd be willing to bet that decorating one with the right flavored fish meat would make them acceptable to those predatory monsters.
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[#ff0000] I will try this in the Hudson River on real Strippers during the spring spawning run. I know right where to try it , just north of USMA West Point the river depth is approx 140 ft and they say the Strippers come in so thick that fish finders will show a depth of about 30 ft. This should be interesting!!! Currents will be to strong for a tube but I'll rent a kayak from the outfitters up in Cold Spring.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/remediation_h...fbmapn.pdf
The area between Storm King and village of Highlands is West Point, they actually floated a chain across the Hudson to Constitution Island during the Revolutionary War to keep British ships from getting up to Albany to resupply the forts up there. Links of the chain are still on display. A lot of history in my little portion of the Hudson [ ]
Of course I could try off of Iona Island by Bear Mountain Bridge where the extreme narrowing of the river occurs, the current isn't so strong there.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/remediation_h...fbmapo.pdf
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[#ff0000]Here is a link that shows how they did it and the actual links of chain
http://www.unc.edu/~chaos1/chain.html
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[cool][#0000ff]WOW. You resurrected a thread that is almost 8 years old.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good luck with your "strippers". [/#0000ff]
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I am reading all of the threads one by one starting from the oldest so I can see the improvements over the years and get some ideas on how to setup my new (used) tube. It's been about 25 years since I did any serious fishing, so I have a lot to relearn. Thanks to all of you wonderful people and all of your posts I should not have to much trouble. And thanks to big Dave Mercer and the show he did on "belly boating" that got me fascinated with tubes, I never knew they existed until I saw that show earlier this year while rehabbing after my heart attack. What a great exercise idea!!! Again, Thanks for this forum and all the info!
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[cool][#0000ff]Glad you found us and that you are enjoying your "light reading". There has definitely been an evolution in the tube and toon industries...and on this board. Hope you are able to pick up some helpful ideas.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Don't be afraid to post any questions you develop. All part of the personal growth process and we were all once where you are now. Kinda overwhelming at first but then it all sinks in and your own creativity takes over and you will be showing us some new things. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good luck with your recovery process.[/#0000ff]
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