MICRO JIGGING - Tie Your Own Assist Hooks

[LLCC]

I went shopping yesterday to reward myself for being a good boy at the dentist's and these are what I got:

Ah Gu's Bullet Jigs and Crazy Tamban


I don't know what they are really called, but the guys who told me about them called them Ah Gu's bullet jig.



The eyes on Crazy Tamban look like the stoned stare of someone who has taken pot. Haha.

Let's tie hooks


Cut a piece of hollow leader, twice the length of your micro jig. Pass a ring through

Forming the eye


People ask me why I need to form such an elaborate eye when passing one end through the other will suffice. Well, that's a habit I carried on from making wind-on leaders for my 30lb and 50lb billfish leaders. If you pass one end through the other, you can just as easily draw that end out when the leader is not stretched. But if you think your chinese handcuff is strong enough for you, go ahead and bypass this section.

Pass one end through the midpoint of your Kevlar chord. I use a large eyed needle to do this.



Here, I've passed right through the centre.



Now pass the other end through the centre. Oops, the pictured is laterally inverted! I should be passing what was originally the left (and now the right) through the centre.



Repeat with opposite end. When done neatly, you will see there are chevrons formed at the eye.
See the Chevrons? Remember to insert your ring before you form the eye. Otherwise there is no way to insert a solid ring into the eye

The Chinese Handcuff


With a piece of mono fishing wire bent in 2, insert through the end of Kevlar chord and push out at the middle. Catch the other end of Kevlar and pull that through, forming one strand.



Pull outer sheath tight to grip against the inner chord

Different ways of attaching the hook


The simplest way is to tie the Kevlar using a thumb knot to the shank of the hook, and pass it through the eye. Such a knot will be sufficiently strong. But my hooks have eyes too small to pass the Kevlar through. Some don't even have an eye. So the other way is to hook through the Kevlar.



For small hooks, this may not be the best way as the shank may be too short for a wide gape hook.



My preferred way is to thread the hook through the hollow Kevlar. Before you insert the point, measure against your intended jig so that the hook will be hanging two-thirds down from the top of your micro jig. In this picture, you see the hook has no eye.

Binding down the Kevlar


I use a thin 210D flat fly tying thread and a bobbin to tie down. You can use flat dental floss in a pinch.



Having a kind of vice frees your hands to do the intricate work.

Adding the flash


Here, I tied on several strips of Aurora threads for a bit of flash. You can also use Fish Skin for the element of smell and taste. I finish off with a bit fine of red kevlar thread to whip the head.

The completed micro jigs with assist hooks


The sharper eyed among you might notice Mutu Light circle hooks on the centre 2 Mameta jigs. The Tarpons around my side of the pond tend to get their gills hooked and in the fight lose their gills. Circle hooks may not get me so many hookups on a jig than a regular wide gape hook. But I'm hoping it will lessen the chance of mortally wounding any more of these fish.



Closeup of the Mameta with Mutu Light hooks



This one uses a Yamashita rubber squid instead of fish skin



Crazy Tamban with fish skin



Ah Gu's bullet jig with fish skin

Hope it help you tie your own assist hooks.

Good fishing always,

LL

[saltydog]

Thanks for the tutorial.I started tying my own assist hooks for my shad jigs I make for Stripers and Hybrids and they are easier on the fish you want to release.Great job.

[Bryan Young]

Wow, that's a great write up.  Thanks!

I used the handcuff method because the hook gets inserted into the hollow core and there's no way of slippage after that.

I also use my leftover 10#, 20#, or 30# solid spectra to whip the hollow core (just because I have 50 yards here and there after filling a reel).

Where do you get your Kevlar hollow and thread from?  Have you experiened any failure with the Kevlar?  I heard, but cannot confirm, that Kevlar gets weaker due to moisture, and dunking it in water...you cannot get a moister environment than that.

I love the eyes on this lure

[Brendan]

     Very nice, great job.

[alantani]

stickied!  nice work!!!!!!

[johndtuttle]

very cool. thanks much for posting.

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

The eyes on Crazy Tamban look like the stoned stare of someone who has taken pot. Haha.

Nah thats more of the crack head look lol

[LLCC]

Wow, that's a great write up.  Thanks!

I used the handcuff method because the hook gets inserted into the hollow core and there's no way of slippage after that.

I also use my leftover 10#, 20#, or 30# solid spectra to whip the hollow core (just because I have 50 yards here and there after filling a reel).

Where do you get your Kevlar hollow and thread from?  Have you experiened any failure with the Kevlar?  I heard, but cannot confirm, that Kevlar gets weaker due to moisture, and dunking it in water...you cannot get a moister environment than that.

I love the eyes on this lure

Thanks! Haha, I thought those were doped eyes. 

The Kevlar is called Asari Iron Braid. It is a cheap local brand here. I used to use hollow Jerry Brown Spectra till I saw this at a fraction of the price.

Kevlar doesn't like being flexed repeatedly. In that sense, it is more like wire. However, I've not heard about it losing strength after being wet, although it is expected that all chords and line lose strength after water absorption. 

LL

[LLCC]

This little black tip shark took an instant liking to the pink and chartreuse head "Crazy" Tamban.


Right on my first cast of the day, stripped line to let the jig sink. Once I felt bottom, tightened up line, twitch once and the rod bent over, line pulling out of the spool.

Kevlar survived the tiny teeth but the fish skin fly did not fare so well.

[LLCC]

Im sorry that the links to the images in this post are lost.

Here's where the relinked images can be found with the article:

https://gaspinggurami.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/micro-jigging-tie-your-own-assist-hooks/

Hope that Helps,

LL

[Tiddlerbasher]

The reason to use hollow Kevlar braid is abrasion resistance - nothing compares with it. I use it instead of steel trace wire for all toothy critters  (it actually lasts longer no kinks!).
My last batch I purchased from these guys:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10m-Forte-16-PE-Kevlar-Jig-Assist-Hook-Braid-130lb-200lb-360lb-500lb-800lb-/121882976601?var=&hash=item1c60caa159:m:mHEMgpK-_MXd_YXEo1qTTJg

Suffix and Jigstar also do some.