Lastcall302 Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 Hey fellas, first time poster here but have been reading the site for a few years now and have learned alot about pouring my own worms and making my own balsa crank baits, but now i have decided to start making my own jigs as well. I plan on buying the do it molds football jig mold FBB-4H-AFM, weedless brush mold SMJ-3-SF and the Snootie mold SNT-3-AYS. These jigs will be used for bass fishing. Now these molds call for a Mustad 32786BLN hook and I will be using the 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 sizes. Is this a quality sharp and strong hook? Or is it worth it to start looking for other options? Iam mostly worried about the sharpness and strength of the hook. Please send any opinions and suggestions and thank you guys in advance. I just dont want to buy a couple hundred of these hooks and not be happy with them. Again thank you guys for all the helpful info on all of these forums, you guys are top notch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 I really liked the all the Mustad hooks, for me they were sharp, strong, and affordable to make a quality jig but recently they moved production overseas and it appears they have been also using the cheaper materials as well as labor and I don't like the way the hooks are now. They look good out of the box but the 32786 specifically ended up with rolled hook points and after that I was done. Now there are alternatives that will fit those molds, the high end hooks that I recommend is the Owner 5304 deep throat jig hook, they are just nasty. The next is the Gamakatsu 2014 which is an EWG hook, and then one of my new favorites, the new Eagle Claw EL111BP, this is an EWG hook with a laser sharp point, EWG bend and a black platinum finish, awesome hook and extremely affordable. My other Eagle Claw favorite for those molds are the EL786BP, that is a direct replacement for the Mustad 32786 only it is laser sharp with the black platinum finish and so far after I haven't had any problems, in fact I've been slowly switching out when my old stock Mustads run out I replace them with the new Eagle Claw Black Platinum hooks and the best part is I get all of the performance at a great price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAWJigs Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 Hate to high jack the thread, but thanks for that info smalljaw! Good to know about the mustads. I never mind spending extra for my customers for a quality jig. I guess I have been getting good 32786 cause I have made my self bleed a few times lol. But I will keep my eye on that and changing hooks cause i will be darned if I lose a customer cause of a hook! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lastcall302 Posted January 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 Thank you smalljaw! I will be trying out the new eagle claw bp's. I really appreciate you taking the time to educate me and save me some valuable money. Another question i have is do you find that most customers prefer the EWG hooks? Now another question i have is where to get the best prices on skirt material and how many tabs you guys use for your quality jigs. Iam thinking about getting a bunch from lurecraft at $20 for ten packs of ten tabs, and that includes all colors and the living image style tabs. Good buy? Or should i do some more searching on the interwebs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 Thank you smalljaw! I will be trying out the new eagle claw bp's. I really appreciate you taking the time to educate me and save me some valuable money. Another question i have is do you find that most customers prefer the EWG hooks? Now another question i have is where to get the best prices on skirt material and how many tabs you guys use for your quality jigs. Iam thinking about getting a bunch from lurecraft at $20 for ten packs of ten tabs, and that includes all colors and the living image style tabs. Good buy? Or should i do some more searching on the interwebs. First of all, I apologize because I forgot my manners, welcome to the board! Now, the first question is hard to answer because I have a lot of molds and I make a lot of different jigs, but for the jigs you're making, most prefer the round bend but the guys that like the EWG won't even think about using others, for me it depends on what I'm using the jig for (heavy cover or moderate cover and docks) and what trailers I'm using. If I'm using a creature type trailer that is bulky I like the EWG but if I'm using a trailer with a slender body the round bend is better. I use www.fishingskirts.com for a lot of my skirt material but I also get from Barlows and LPO which is lure parts online in case you didn't know, and the reason is they often sell different stuff like Barlows I just ordered the new ripple cut skirt material and LPO I get their new bio-silk skirt material. The price is about right depending on style and color, but most are around 18 dollars to 28 dollars per 100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 Hate to high jack the thread, but thanks for that info smalljaw! Good to know about the mustads. I never mind spending extra for my customers for a quality jig. I guess I have been getting good 32786 cause I have made my self bleed a few times lol. But I will keep my eye on that and changing hooks cause i will be darned if I lose a customer cause of a hook! RJ, I really liked Mustad and the 32786 was a great flipping hook but the last few jifs I made with them I had hooked a small limb with one jig and the point was folded over to the point it wasn't worth using the hook hone to fix it and later that day I had another snag that did the same thing. I got hom and went to get contact info for Mustad and I started seeing a lot of info about them and after reading some things I found out they had moved their production to china. Now, I realize a lot comes from their but it seems the biggest problem comes from manufacturers using the cheap steel they have and well you end up with weak hooks. What was good was that Eagle Claw has introduced their new black pearl/platinum line of hooks and I'm really pleased as these are just as good as my old Mustads if not better, in fact the laser sharp models are better and they are at a better price and none of my customers have complained, as a matter of fact most have thanked me for saving them money with no loss of perfromance and one guy is now requesting all his jigs be made with the EL111BP and he only wanted gammakatsu hooks when I first started making jigs for him 6 years ago so I know they are working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saugerman Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Smalljaw, where do you get the best prices on the new Eagle claw hooks? Do you have to have a tax ID number to get them at a good price? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
