Octopus Jig Head Mold Making at Dave's - Dec. 2018

[jurelometer]

Thanks Dave ,  I was drowning in a see of technology!👌.   You mid water flat fall jigs were even more amazing 😉.  One side is oval, other side flat angles for spin, wobble in decent I assumed?
  I've yet to make a mold for it.  Butt shown below is a Dave's original.

Not a flat fall, and not a midwater.  I was probably taking too fast  .   Designed for a fast drop, but still with some action.  Tie to the skinny end.  It wil not spin on the drop or flutter/ turn sideways. It just shoots suddenly off angle, sort of like a squid jetting at one angle, then another. But the angle is pretty tight, so it drops fast and doesn't wander.     Not as quite as fast as a knife jig on the drop, but I am not a knife jig fan.   

On the retrieve, it has a kick like a normal SoCal iron, like a Salas.   But the extra weight in the back means that the amount of kick will vary more depending on the speed of retrieve.    It turns out that they can even be fished like a surface iron with a fast retrieve.

I am really happy with this jig.  Even though it was only intended to be a deep drop jig with better action than the knife jig, it turned out to be a great all-rounder.    The mini size (2oz) is great for boiling school tuna, but has caught grouper, yellowtail, dorado - you name it.  I believe that a nice Tady would still outfish it for surface yellowtail, but just the fact that it is a workable surface jig is pretty cool. The  mini might be a good drop jig for salmon, in place of something like a megabit or small crippled herring.

The bigger sizes worked well for me for ling cod and rockfish.    With just an assist hook on the top, I am  able to  bounce off rocky bottom all day, sometimes without losing one    I fish only a top assist hook for bottom fishing, but hang a big siwash off the back if I intend to work it faster like  a standard SoCal iron.

The design is sort of a blend from three different jigs that I liked some things about, but not everything. Stretched out and with a fatter bottom.  Only took two tries to get it right, which is very fast for me.

I,m guess ing this would be a 8-9 oz persuasive in lead.  Here's where powder coating would be nice.
    This jig makes the octopus 🐙 one a clunker, butt it's a bottom fish jig spectacular.

Should be a bit north of 20 oz.   You could get probably get away with pure lead, but the smaller sizes are better with an alloy that won't bend as easily.   If you want to try making a plaster mold, that big master could be the ticket.  I just thought it was too big for a silicone mold.   Butt , the profile is thin  enough, it might work in silicone.  You never know.  The biggest  size that I have made so far is  8 oz.

Some folks claim water putty makes a better mold than plaster.   Either  has to be dry to be safe to pour.  I'm too scared to try pouring lead into plaster/water putty myself.  Todd does it, so maybe he has some tips.

Just between you and me:   I think that humans care more about the paint than the fish do.


This one has some relief cut up into it for a shell inlay.  But you could put reflective tape or whatever in there as well.   I know that you like to add som extra bling.  Let me know if you would like a new master with the inlay pocket, and what weight.



Here is are The 2,4, and 8oz models, all but the chartreuse are inlay style. That all white with the yellow MOP shell inlay is a cabrilla killer.

-J

[El Pescador]

Dave,

THANK YOU again for your permission to post photos of your interior garage.  This post is taking off.

For our local Lingcod & monster Rockfish, I use a 10, 12 or 16 oz. lure with a 7/0 assist hook on the bottom and a 5/0 assist hook on top.

Most of the lingcod I bring up are hooked on the bottom 7/0 assist hook, like this one.



Here is a close-up view of my lure set up.



I would LOVE to RECON some of your lures on my next offshore trip, ONCE we are allowed to go fishing again,

I do hook up the bottom and do lose a few lures - BUTT that is the cost to fish for bottom fish.

Thank you,

Wayne

[Cor]

I've made numerous Silicone moulds and poured metal and resins in them.  They all work but you guys have taken it to another level.    a computer and 3 D printer to design and make the prototype or male mould.   Very nice!

Just between you and me:   I think that humans care more about the paint than the fish do.
That has always been the way I've seen it, and why it has often been said the paint job is to catch the angler.

Graphite powder works well to protect the silicone mould and release the mould from hot metal.

How about having a mould making workshop by Zoom or similar, at a reasonable time

[Rocket Dog]

Dave - if you do host a virtual teach-in I would definitely be interested in it. I have been looking at 3d-printers during these last few months... Jose