12-21-2006, 06:18 PM
[cool][#0000ff]I have been using big painted hunks of lead to send bait down to fish both in deep open water and under the ice for over 30 years. It started with my old "perch urchins" and has branched off in many directions.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All of the different heavy jigs I use are part of my BDS...Bait Delivery System. The jigs add two things to a piece of bait...weight and color. Sometimes I include glow in the painting process.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I began making "plungers" about the same time I was working with early models of the urchins. Urchins were hammered sinker lures to which I affixed a split ring and a hook for the bait. The early plungers were almost any large jig head...with or without "decoration". Some of them I pounded flat and either painted or added prism tape.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]A couple of years ago I bought a "spearpoint" mold, with cavities from 1/4 oz. to 1 oz. in size. They are designed to be used for making trolling jigs, and have a collar for tying on hair or feathers. Of course you can also hang a plastic jig on them. I like their balance for use in vertical jigging. They hang in a horizontal attitude. That can be a plus for some species on some days.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Last year I started experimenting with glittering and painting some of the spearpoint heads to be used in my BDS program. When I added a strip of perch meat or a length of crawler, they actually became "articulated" jigs, that wiggled and fluttered when worked vertically. I got some nice fish on them.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Recently, I began making some of them with flattened sides, to be better able to paint some of my better patterns on them and to add a bit of flutter on the drop, when jigging. I simply lay them on their sides, in a flattening tool I use in my vise, and pound them a few times with a hammer until I get the desired thickness. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have already experimented with them during late summer and fall, on several waters, as the fish go deeper for winter. They have worked well on perch, smallies and several species of trout. They get down fast, in deeper water and the fish seem to be really attracted by the larger lures and bright colors. The strikes are usually pretty solid. The Matzuo sickle hooks I use on most of them bite back and I have a good hookup ratio.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the attached pics I show some of the different sizes and colors I have worked with so far. I also include a couple of pics of the flattening tools I use with before and after pics of the flattened jig heads.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By the way, these heavy heads work great as the sinker part of a "dropshot" setup with a tandem jig rig. They can work to bring in the bigger fish, and you can tie on a smaller jig a ways above for the more finicky ones.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]All of the different heavy jigs I use are part of my BDS...Bait Delivery System. The jigs add two things to a piece of bait...weight and color. Sometimes I include glow in the painting process.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I began making "plungers" about the same time I was working with early models of the urchins. Urchins were hammered sinker lures to which I affixed a split ring and a hook for the bait. The early plungers were almost any large jig head...with or without "decoration". Some of them I pounded flat and either painted or added prism tape.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]A couple of years ago I bought a "spearpoint" mold, with cavities from 1/4 oz. to 1 oz. in size. They are designed to be used for making trolling jigs, and have a collar for tying on hair or feathers. Of course you can also hang a plastic jig on them. I like their balance for use in vertical jigging. They hang in a horizontal attitude. That can be a plus for some species on some days.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Last year I started experimenting with glittering and painting some of the spearpoint heads to be used in my BDS program. When I added a strip of perch meat or a length of crawler, they actually became "articulated" jigs, that wiggled and fluttered when worked vertically. I got some nice fish on them.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Recently, I began making some of them with flattened sides, to be better able to paint some of my better patterns on them and to add a bit of flutter on the drop, when jigging. I simply lay them on their sides, in a flattening tool I use in my vise, and pound them a few times with a hammer until I get the desired thickness. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I have already experimented with them during late summer and fall, on several waters, as the fish go deeper for winter. They have worked well on perch, smallies and several species of trout. They get down fast, in deeper water and the fish seem to be really attracted by the larger lures and bright colors. The strikes are usually pretty solid. The Matzuo sickle hooks I use on most of them bite back and I have a good hookup ratio.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In the attached pics I show some of the different sizes and colors I have worked with so far. I also include a couple of pics of the flattening tools I use with before and after pics of the flattened jig heads.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]By the way, these heavy heads work great as the sinker part of a "dropshot" setup with a tandem jig rig. They can work to bring in the bigger fish, and you can tie on a smaller jig a ways above for the more finicky ones.[/#0000ff]
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