MacGyver Slow Fall Jigs -aka -SteveO-CheapO-Jigs

[Alto Mare]

Nice job on the Jigs, Steve....a man of many talents.

[broschro]

this will be fun. I'm game in FL when ready.

When you most likely hit the water next?  David Hall is talking January.  I would love to see one put a hurting on some AJ's, snappers, groupers and whatever else you can jig up. Let me know, red, green, all silver, or striped. Silver with black stripes coming up next.

I try to fish at least once a month red and silver sounds good pm me when ready.

[Steve-O]

150+ gram silver, blue, purple, I use mostly just straight glow in the dark stuff usually but I think these will kill them any color so surprise me.

Roger that, the assist tubing is glow in the dark. I may pick up some glow paint this week for the future batches as I see many commercial varieties have the stripes in glow.

[Steve-O]

this will be fun. I'm game in FL when ready.

When you most likely hit the water next?  David Hall is talking January.  I would love to see one put a hurting on some AJ's, snappers, groupers and whatever else you can jig up. Let me know, red, green, all silver, or striped. Silver with black stripes coming up next.

I try to fish at least once a month red and silver sounds good pm me when ready.

My last fishing session was on Halloween day with the meter long carp so I felt good ending BIG.  Almost went today but have the big kids in town for a week next week and whoa! The honey-dos were endless!

PM sent for address. Will send a Red Stripe this or next week....(no, not the Jamaican beer.).. the jig....but it is a good name for my jig.

[Ron Jones]

I've been reef fishing in my yak a lot lately. I'm rigging up to go deeper water and would love to bounce one of these for a GT. I'll be in the water a lot between now and March.

[Steve-O]

I've been reef fishing in my yak a lot lately. I'm rigging up to go deeper water and would love to bounce one of these for a GT. I'll be in the water a lot between now and March.

PM me an address.  What waters are you fishing over reefs, If you don't mind? A GT from s kayak could be quite the adventure.

I yak fish here in the high mtn desert of Utah and Alaska. No jigging here locally, but i suppose i could for walleye in some of our reservoirs but haven't yet.

[Ron Jones]

I fish the Leeward and Southern Coasts of Oahu mostly.
PM inbound.
Ron

[Steve-O]

I fish the Leeward and Southern Coasts of Oahu mostly.
PM inbound.
Ron

I guess you ARE talking about some deep waters. A kayak jigging report from the islands will be awesome!

[Steve-O]

Okay for Ron, David and Jamie. There are jigs in the mail to you! I ordered some stouter 5X assist hooks  and 200 # kevlar line but they won't arrive until Monday so off these went.

If you feel your target species of fish will chomp right through the G-katsu 5/0's, then by all means swap them out with whatever you may have.

My order of 5X strong hooks are made from 2mm forged wire which I feel will hold up to most anything I would ever fish for unless the fish can bite through the kevlar line, too, like a shark, Dogtooth Tuna or other toothy critter and I'll put those on future jigs going forward.

Anyway, there's a note in each with a request for the pics and report and the jigs should be at your door in a few days.


Priority Mail® 2-Day
9405 8036 9930 0120 3275 20 (Sequence Number 1 of 3)
Scheduled Delivery Date: 11/28/2015
Shipped to:   DAVID H.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
SAN JOSE, CA 95123

Priority Mail® 2-Day
9405 8036 9930 0120 3275 44 (Sequence Number 2 of 3)
Scheduled Delivery Date: 11/28/2015
Shipped to:   JAMIE S.
XXXXXXXXX
ST AUGUSTINE, FL 32084

Priority Mail® 3-Day
9405 8036 9930 0120 3275 68 (Sequence Number 3 of 3)
Scheduled Delivery Date: 11/30/2015
Shipped to:   RON J.
XXXXXXXXXX
WAIANAE, HI 96792

[David Hall]

Got it!  It's in the box and will have to wait until the last week of December, our rock fishing closes on 12/30 so I hope to get out before that but have to wait until I get back from PV.
Thanks Steve I will get some good action shots with this jig.

[pjstevko]

I'll be fishing out of Moro Bay twice before the month ends so if the "agreement" is still in place I'd love to fish a couple and let you know how well they catch....that is if I can keep them from hooking rocks

[Ron Jones]

Just got mine two days ago and have it out of the box. Can't wait to give it a shot, if not this weekend then next for sure.
Ron

[AlasKen]

I love me some rock fishing but definitely won't be going out until late April or early May here in South Central AK.  I do mostly lead jigs of a crippled herring type in multiple sizes.  I have found that my success for hookup is just as strong using only assist and no bottom hook.  I lose fewer jigs as well. The little ring at the bottom will be mashed almost flat at the end of a day of banging on bottom rocks.  I do the same thing when jigging for halibut as I am often on the drift.  Just thought I would mention it as I have just recently starting doing away with the bottom hook and find it works for me. 

Do you have a post showing your Durham rock hard molds and how it is set up to pour lead?

In order to mix posts even more has anyone used circle hooks as assist hooks?  Ken

[Steve-O]

Just got mine two days ago and have it out of the box. Can't wait to give it a shot, if not this weekend then next for sure.
Ron

Ron, glad to hear it arrived and will be getting wet soon. All my fishing waters are hard now -  iced over.   



I have found that my success for hookup is just as strong using only assist and no bottom hook.  I lose fewer jigs as well. The little ring at the bottom will be mashed almost flat at the end of a day of banging on bottom rocks.  I do the same thing when jigging for halibut as I am often on the drift.  Just thought I would mention it as I have just recently starting doing away with the bottom hook and find it works for me. 

Do you have a post showing your Durham rock hard molds and how it is set up to pour lead?

In order to mix posts even more has anyone used circle hooks as assist hooks?  Ken

Ken, circle hooks work very effectively. I got a couple of jigs in a trade with Dominick which he had gotten from William aka SaltyDawg. I switched to  8/0 circle hooks keep the little fish off and much less bottom snagging. Worked great.  Probably a 6/0  or 7/0  would do well to.

here's a pic of the Durhams product. and the molds I made from it for my jigs are the yellow brown boat looking things on page one of the thread. They are boats because I mixed the putty in a banana split ice cream disposable plastic boat serving bowl. More MacGyvering... It was on hand and the putty releases itself cleanly when cured.

The burnt looking mold was actually torched by me during the first casting session to make sure there was zero moisture present. You know how hot lead disagrees with moisture.

I made these as an open pour mold since flat fall jigs are keeled on the bottom and fairly flat on top. I could have gone to more trouble and made a traditional two piece mold with male/female line up lugs but this style of jig doesn't really warrant it. Just pour lead until full or slightly over fill  and let cool a minute then flip it over softly to harden. I got in a hurry and broke a jig last week by tipping it out to fast.

The molds look like they will cast dozens of jigs each before going south. The can of putty was $6 due to a dent in the can and a $2 off sticker on it. Takes 6-8 ounces of powder and 2-3 ounces of water. Stir and pour, then grease up and insert the wooden master. I carved mine from balsa and did not copy any commercially produced jig.

I bend my own wires as well and usually never put hooks at the bottom for the same reasons you stated but do include them on most as the jig can be reversely attached to the mainline for a different action underwater if the jig is asymmetrically shaped. The heavy keel makes for the flutter action when slow jigging.

I will try to do some pics during casting and add those next round. I do this outside and only when there's blue skies for zero chance of a water droplet hitting the molten lead.

[AlasKen]

Good info.  Thanks.  It answered my questions.  Ken