Puffball Style Jigs

[Darkman]

does any one know how to do the "puffbal" stlye jigs...Iovino,leftys puffball jigs and other make them..I have wondering how this style of tying gets done...thank you

[toadfrog]

Haven't seen one of those jigs . I can probably tell by looking.I do a lot of jigs .

[toadfrog]

OK took a look . I called them a screw up when I tied to short of a skirt on a jig . Just cut your skirt material short then tie it very tight on the jig . It will stand out like that away from the body . the length of the normal skirt is what gives it the weight to hang back . when it is short you get the porcupine effect .

[cadman]

There are only two guys that make them that I know of and they are the names you mentioned. I have yet to get an answer from Iovino.All I know is that there is a groove next to the head, that the skirt gets tied to really tight. I can't get either of them to show me. I believe that Iovino got the business from Lefty's but not positive. If you figure it out,let me know. The instructions were posted on TT about a year ago and I still have them, but I have not been able to get it right.

[smalljaw]

You need the right material, in the fly tying world it is done with deer hair and is called spinning, the deer hair is used because it is short and stiff and when you tighten the thread it causes the ends to flair. Don's handcrafted jigs makes them like that too and so can you. You have to what cadman said, and that is have a groove in the collar of the the jig, and the groove has to go deep butnot very wide, I'd say close to the hook deep and no more than a 1/16" wide. You have to use stiff skirt material or living rubber and then using wire or thread you need to make a wrap to hold the material where you want it and then when it is positioned right draw your wire tight and as you do it you'll see the material begin to stick out like you want. It isn't hard but is is time comsuming and to be honest it is a pain to fish unless you are in open water or just rocks as cover as the skirt extending like that really caches everything around it. The main attribute to have the skirt like that is it does slow the fall and it makes a large profile.

[cadman]

You need the right material, in the fly tying world it is done with deer hair and is called spinning, the deer hair is used because it is short and stiff and when you tighten the thread it causes the ends to flair. Don's handcrafted jigs makes them like that too and so can you. You have to what cadman said, and that is have a groove in the collar of the the jig, and the groove has to go deep butnot very wide, I'd say close to the hook deep and no more than a 1/16" wide. You have to use stiff skirt material or living rubber and then using wire or thread you need to make a wrap to hold the material where you want it and then when it is positioned right draw your wire tight and as you do it you'll see the material begin to stick out like you want. It isn't hard but is is time comsuming and to be honest it is a pain to fish unless you are in open water or just rocks as cover as the skirt extending like that really caches everything around it. The main attribute to have the skirt like that is it does slow the fall and it makes a large profile.

Thank you for the added info.

[Darkman]

thank you...

[Lefty's Lure Co.]

These jigs are still made by me in round rubber in fine grade ,reg grade.and heavy grade round rubber.Also i build them in silicone rubber

[mark poulson]

These jigs are still made by me in round rubber in fine grade ,reg grade.and heavy grade round rubber.Also i build them in silicone rubber

 

They are amazing!

[Lefty's Lure Co.]

There a very simple jig to tie in round rubber or silicone i use coats & clark upholstery thread The thread is 137 m and come in 150 yard spools that the ke in tying the skirts tight the thread is very tuff and wont break down in the water. it come in several colors. I tie them in Arkie head , I tie them from 1/32oz to 1oz size jigs.

[Lefty's Lure Co.]

Toadfrog how would you say the puffball jig is a screwup  have you ever attemped to tie them or even fish them ive been building this style of jig since 1985 and have been building custom jigs since 1977. I can totally say this jig as made me alot of money through the years and to this day is still fished by many local fisherman here where i live in central ca.. Darkman if you want to know how they are built send me and address and zip code  and ill send u several samples in round rubber and silicone models.

[smalljaw]

Toadfrog how would you say the puffball jig is a screwup  have you ever attemped to tie them or even fish them ive been building this style of jig since 1985 and have been building custom jigs since 1977. I can totally say this jig as made me alot of money through the years and to this day is still fished by many local fisherman here where i live in central ca.. Darkman if you want to know how they are built send me and address and zip code  and ill send u several samples in round rubber and silicone models.

 

TF didn't mean the jig was a screw up, he meant that he made them by screwing up and cutting the skirt material too short so it wasn't so long that it would hang down and instead stick out. I for one would love toy see how you do this with silicone, I've made them in a 1/8oz and 1/4oz but only with wide stiff material, most of the thinner stuff isn't stiff enough unless I cut it real short, any help in doing it would greatly be appreciated.

[Lefty's Lure Co.]

smalljaw shoot me a pm with your address and zip ill send you the models i build the jig in the picture on your left is a silicone puffball arkie head jig in 3/8 oz if you google puffball jig images the still might be up on the web.

[Lefty's Lure Co.]

If you google the pictures of the jigs you will see mine are all black nickel  round bend hooks there are some there that are vmc hooks which are skinnybear jigs i tie with thread they rap there in wire also don ivino make a jig called the starburst that rap in wire the thread is the key too tying these jigs,

[toadfrog]

Sorry Pard  I didn't mean that in a derogatory way . Was a good Idea I was just to dumb to recognize it .

[mark poulson]

Sorry Pard  I didn't mean that in a derogatory way . Was a good Idea I was just to dumb to recognize it .

 

50 lashes with a wet noodle, and no Sheriff John for you, buster!   Hahaha

[gonfishn]

Used  to make them and they sold well but that was 15 years ago (or more).  I'd tie em using S/S wire but I also left long strands so it became a dual purpose bait.  I'd take a couple long shanks of rubber, leaving the top overlap the jig head about 5/8 or so, I'd then add a couple of strips of shorter rubber, around 1.25" and while holding it on the collar of the jig, which was held by the open hook end, I'd wrap 3 turns of the wire.  I then twisted them (all the while keeping it tight) and finished off the tie with a long nosed vise grips.  The tight collar caused the flair with no need to have a channel in the shank.  Whenever I tied using wire, I always attached the smaller version of the vise grip (long nosed) and after my first round of spinning the wire, I just left it hang there as it provided the perfect offset weight allowing me to wrap the other two turns.  Once wrapped, I took another little long nose blunt needle nose and applied pressure to both ends, you'll get used to knowing how much by the breaking point of the wire, Then wrap them together and top it off by using the vise grip to turn the wire several more turns.  I'd do a show and tell but shoulders in recoup after surgery.

[BLT]

There is a great youtube video on doing this with bucktail.

[Lefty's Lure Co.]

Ive been tying jigs since 1977 when we were using flat rubber or as they called it square rubber now we have round rubber or silicone rubber which i think are both much easier to tie. Ive been tying the puffball jig since 1986 and the silicone puffball jigs since 2003 all my jigs are hand tied with coats & clark upholstery thread 137 m  in 150 yard spool. When i build round rubber puffball jig if im using fine grade round rubber i use three 3" pieces of rubber i pre groove all the collars of the jigs that im going to tie and if i use reg grade round rubber i use two 3" pieces of rubber and if i use heavy grade rubber i also use two pieces 3" long. When i tie silicone puffball jigs  i use three 5"  silicone pads cut in half. the trick in tying the jigs tight and in a ball is the thread wire wont do it you have too use the thread.There a little trick to tying these you load the material from the bottom of the jig and form it around the collar as you wrap the thread 3 wraps tighting down then two half hitch knots your done. I use accent color like flashabou or bucktail or if im tying round rubber ill also accent them using silicone colors.When i tie reg skirted jigs again if groove the collar of the jig your tying and load the rubber or silicone rubber from the bottom an form it around the collar of the jig you will have the full affect with flare of the skirting material you are tying. Ive been doing this along time now it ok if you band a jig its ok if you use wire but for me it so easy and fast too use thread that the way ive done it for years now. There one thing i wish they would bring back and thats the square rubber it was the best. THREE WRAPS  2 OR 3 HALF HITCH KNOTS your done. I can pretty much teach anybody how to tie this way its simple and fast . And the silicone rubber has and endless choice of colors to choose from i use skirts plus as my choice because i can have custom color skirts made they are one of the leading companys out there for silicone skirting material.

[Darkman]

thank you lefty I hall PM you tonight, all jigs have there place and this kind of jig belongs in  mine...thank you again brother