First home made swim jigs

In my area it is hard to find swim jigs. There is a local place that only carry team supreme jigs and they are almost gone.

So I got a mold to pour my own. The mold can make three sizes. 1/4 ounce, 3/8 ounce, 1/2 ounce. The 3/8 ounce pours really nice, but the other two are hit and miss. I get a great looking head but I don’t get the area that the skirt goes. Or I only get one side of that area. I have tried everything and can’t figure out what I am doing wrong.

The jigs swim great, now I just need warmer water to catch fish in. And some more skit making stuff

I am going to try and attach a picture of a few of my jigs.

Jeremy

here is a close up of a jig

one more

They look like they’ll catch fish. Check PM for recommended mods…

They very nice!

D-nort will have some great tips for you.

They look nice!
What kind of $$ do you have to throw down for this project?
Where do you get your skirts, and again, how much $$??

I’d like to make some my own jigs, but the molds and other equipment might be a bit out of my price range. I was thinking of buying the heads from brovarney and customizing the skirts at home/painting the heads.

When you go to to heat up the lead put the mold on top of the pot. This will heat up the mold and should cut down on the number of bad pours.

A secound thing to try is to take a candle and smoke the inside of the mold. Hold the mold above the candle and let the smoke deposit silt on the inside of the mold. sometime that will fix the bad pour thing.

Unfourtunatly the no pour in the skirt holder is somewhat inherant in the D0-it mold.

Last but not least I do not believe that a blind jig will find fish. Let those babies see.

Jeremy. Dan is right about the smoke in the mold. Another thing is what type of lead are you using? Lead with more Tin in it will not pour smooth into smaller area’s such as where the keepers are. When you get small area’s in the mold, you need to us pure lead with little or no tin,

T.Pro,
I’d reiterate what Dan/Casey said about heating your mold by placing it on top of your lead pot. After your lead is very hot, and the layer of scum cleaned off the top. Pull the mold off, place your hooks, and pour your lead fairly quickly, def do not slow pour. when those are done, put the mold above the lead again to reheat before your next pour.
Jigs DO look pretty good..

By the way, how is your cross court, top spin, backhand??
Jack..

What kind of hooks you using? I cannot get a good look at the angle from the pics. To get that angle did you use an adaptor or did you find a hook with the correct length and angle to the eye? I have tried to find swim jigs without an adaptor and it is about impossible. Grab some jigs with a needlenose pliars and if the break, there is an adaptor in there. Good looking jig!

What brand of hook are you using? Most guys I know pouring their own have to heat a 90 degree hook and bend it. To help warm up the mold, I just pour about a dozen jigs with no hook or any hardware (empty mold) and let each one sit in the mold for 15 seconds. It heats up the mold pretty fast. I do like the smoke idea! I was wondering what all that black crud was on a mold I borrrowed from a guy. If you ever want to find out a whole lot of intricat (spelling) stuff on pouring and the whole gammit, go to tackle underground. com. Tons of guys who have lots of experience and knowledge. Good luck

i thought everyone was bending they’re own hooks. I think the eye adaptors went out in the 80’s with Hawg Jaw jigs- you old guys may remember these! Anyway, proper heat is the key to success in pouring jigs. If you have breakage on a hook that was bent by yourself, it was either bent at to low of temp, or cooled to rapidly. And actually, the “scum” on top of the lead is some particulate but mostly the lead is breaking down it’s chemical make-up from too high of heat. Parafin wax is also a good flow agent to add to the lead but be careful and do it outside in a well ventilated area. Hope this helps.

Thanks for your help guys,

My skirts that I have been using are already made and in packages. I don’t even know who makes them. I think the local tackle place got them from Team Supreme. I might be wrong though.

As for the lead that I used I don’t know what kind or where it came from. I am using my brother in-laws pot and he had some left over. I got three 5 pound sheets of lead flashing that look really good. I am going to use that on my next jigs.

The hooks came with the angle to fit my jig mold. I can’t tell you the brand because I left them in a box at my brothers house.

I will try heating the mold and also try the smoke trick. The only thing I worry about is the fact that my 1st pour out of the box cold was my best looking three.

Thanks again,
Jeremy

P.S. Jack I have not played tennis in 8 months. I decided not to be a teaching pro any more. Not enough money in my area and my arm was in constant pain. But my back hand was alright

Believe it or not Jim those adaptors are still in use, I think maybe Jann’s or Do-It sells them Jeremy, PM me your address and i will send you a Lethal Weapon II jig to try out –Tim

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The hooks came with the angle to fit my jig mold. I can’t tell you the brand because I left them in a box at my brothers house.

Actually Mustad does do a pretty good hook that is made with a 30 degree bend. It is a little thick for my tastes but then I’m trying to keep D-nort, Jones, Eronn, Slop and a bunch of other picky fishermen happy.

Hopefully sooner or later somebody will foot the bill to have one of the premier hook companies make a real swim jig hook. Until then it’s either custom bent or deal with the hook adaptors.

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Actually Mustad does do a pretty good hook that is made with a 30 degree bend. It is a little thick for my tastes but then I’m trying to keep D-nort, Jones, Eronn, Slop and a bunch of other picky fishermen happy.

Hopefully sooner or later somebody will foot the bill to have one of the premier hook companies make a real swim jig hook. Until then it’s either custom bent or deal with the hook adaptors.

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