foil shad

Very nice! Yup, clear powder is the bees-knees for these jigs.

Since foiling numbers of larger jigs is so time-consuming, I always try to minimize the paint. Foil does what paint simply can't, so get the most bang for your effort, and let the maximum amount of foil surface-area shine by itself. I did a bunch of jigs painted with a killer mackerel pattern over foil, and found that the paint just covered up a lot of that shiny, glittery foil.

Why I strive for now, is a basic 'contrast-and-shine' pattern for most of my foiled jigs. A dark back covering minimal area, a white throat, and leave the belly silver. Just ignore the foil part lines on the belly. At depth, what the fish are sure to see is that nice silhouette, and a shiny baitfish flash. Let's the silvery foil sides flash and shine, and the halibut sure like that.

Again, great work. Keep 'em coming!

Out of my own curiosity, do you attach a treble hook to the front or rear of this lure? I have a do-it mold of this and have always attached the hook to the back of the bait. When I fish these I seem to have the hook foul my line a lot. I'm thinking that if I attach the hook to the front and tie to the back that the lure would be less apt to foul when vertical fishing. Has anyone tried doing that?

maybe try an assist hook tied like they tie on butterfly jigs. i used the 6 oz version of the shad last year and didnt have any problem with it fouling. if you dont like the assist hook idea try and keep your strokes short or like you said you can attatch the treble at the head and your main line at the tail. probably wouldnt get too good an action that way though. i am going to fish the 4 oz version this year probably with an assist hook setup.