A Few Questions About My Poison Tails...

[redxdu]

Hey guys,

I just finished my first batch of poison tails and I have a couple of questions.

1. Which fiber guards do you use? I made 25 1/4oz, and 25 3/8oz jigs. I used the 3/0 Mustad 91768BLN hooks for both sizes. I made the mistake buying the FG-30B fiber guards when I should have bought the FG-12B. I ended up just pulling a few strands off of each one before gluing it in place. It worked, but not as well as it could have. I bought all my stuff from tacklewarehouse. They only sell the FG-12 fiber guards in black; do you guys know where I could find them in other colors?

2. I used Krazy Glue to secure my fiber guards. After browsing a little I see that I should have been using Loctite. Do you think my Krazy Glue is going to fail?

3. I also used a tiny drop of Krazy Glue before I applied the Boss 3-D eyes, which seems to have worked so far. Has anyone ever tried this? I see that some people cover them with epoxy? I'll be honest, I'm not sure what that even means. Should I figure it out?

4. What is the most economical way to buy plain solid colored skirt tabs? I'm also trying to find cheaper rattles. It seems like they're really expensive relative to the other components. Or is that just the way it is?

5. Has anyone tried this stuff? Does it really end up looking as cool as their example? Would it work in the fluid bed I made? How about Boss Jig Armour paints in general. Good reviews or steer clear? http://fishingskirts...products_id=875

Thanks in advance for any tips. Creating these things is so much fun. I'm already addicted and I haven't even had a chance to use them on the lake yet. We've got about 3 feet of ice to melt off before I get a chance at that

[cadman]

Red,

Here are some answers to your questions.

#1. I personally myself am not a big fan of full or stiff weedguards. So I do what you did all the time. I buy the full weedguards and pull off the fiber strands to my liking and then glue them in. Nothing wrong with that. When you put the weedguard in, I stick in the loose ends in the hole, then when everything dries, I go back and trim the weedguard to whatever length I want. For tackle components almost everybody here buys from these three places. Barlow's, Jann's Netcraft and Lure Parts on line. There are others where you can buy in bulk by the 1000 count as well.

#2 If I remember correctly, both glues have Cyanoacrylate. I believe the Krazy glue dries faster than Loctite. I have never used Krazy glue so I can't give you an honest answer, maybe someone else will reply on this.

#3. I do know that once you put Loctite on the back of an eye, it does glue it in. I believe that at one point I had issues with it because it had a chemical reaction with the powder paint and it would soften it. So I stopped using it to glue eyes. This is just from my experiment. Don't know definitely for sure anymore. Again, most guys use some sort of epoxy to cover the whole eye to keep it from falling off and adding a harder finish to the jig. You can also use clear nail polish on the eye. However, I used that years ago, and the acetone in the clear screwed up my paint finish. By now there are many new products out. You can't go wrong with epoxy as it has never done me wrong, ever.

#4. If you are buying skirt tabs, the cheapest place to buy them is from fishingskirts.com. He has more colors than you will ever need and if you are not happy with that, you can combine and create your own. Rattles are very expensive, I have yet to find them in bulk, so we all have to pay. If anyone knows where you can buy rattles by the 1000 count please let us know.

#5. I have spoken to Charles extensively at fishingskirts.com about his powder paint. He has a very good product and definitely gets a lot of info before putting a product on his website. The color you posted is a two part process. You have to buy the base color which is blk/silver and then you have to buy the blue overcoat. I know the process he uses, and you will have to put both colors in two separate fluid beds and apply them at two different times. Read his instructions. You cannot mix the two colors together to achieve what you posted. There is a step by step process on which color goes on first and then what goes on next. I think it would be easier to do this by dipping the jig in the powder and not using a fluid bed. In most fluid beds, you need at least 6 oz of each color. If you go this route, you will have to buy quite a bit of powder of each color, and at $8 for 2 oz , can get expensive quickly.

[RAWJigs]

#1 - That poison tail sizes you speak of call for the FG-30s.

#2 & #3 - I tried a lot of epoxies and never got a result that I liked. Went to Harbor Freight and bought their 5 minute epoxy, and have not used anything else. I use that to glue in my guards and glue the eyes on.

#4 - Fishingskirts.com ... skirting needs right there bud. They are the cheapest I have found rattles too.

#5 - Their paints, LOVE THEM! I have the black/blue you posted. Like CadMan said it is a two part process. Watch on the poison tail as I had problems getting paint in the eye and it would drip during the curing process. Since I have a fluid bed I have yet to try that paint on the poison tails. I have 2 colors like that, got the PBandJ color on the way, and a couple more and they are wonderful. Good people to deal with also.

Good luck with your jig making. These are great people on here and are always helping others to get what they need accomplished.

[smalljaw]

You got great advise and there isn't much to add except the Krazy Glue. I used it to hold eyes before I was using epoxy, the problem is the water. You will find that if any jigs you made and glued in the weedguards and put on the eyes with it, you'll lose both if you don't lose the jig first. The holding power is good, but just like most normal super glues, it breaks down in water, also I'm amazed that it didn't wick up the fibers in the weedguard and cause a the weedguard to have a sort of film over it that is very hard to get rid of. The neat jig armor paint you saw, cadman is right but you can get it at columbia coatings, it is called silver vein and you can use normal pro tec candy colors to go over top, the candy colors are more of a metallic color that will let the metal shine though anything it is painted on. It will work but it is very hard to do as the silver vein paint isn't consistant in a fluid bed for some reason.

Get some loctite gel and once you're ready you can enter the world of Devcon 2 Ton epoxy, when you coat a jig with that it will not only protect the jig a little more but it will add depth to the color, almost as if it were encased in glass. good luck.

[Ogajiga]

Thanks guys, as a non-user I didn't know that weedguard bundles could be thinned to fit or for better function. Also didn't know that Super Glue degrades in water. Was wondering why some of my glued on vinyl tube tying sleeves on the hook shanks were sliding after being fished.

Could I ask then what's the best, if any, glue to afix eyes onto an unpainted bare metal jig head without an overcoat?

[Oldfart9999]

Most of the guys here use Devcon2, it's a 30 minute drying time epoxy. I paint my eyes and use glitter sometimes.

Rodney