JBlaze Posted June 30, 2014 Report Share Posted June 30, 2014 (edited) I have been wanting a heavier vibrating blade jig than what I have which is a 1/2oz made on an Arky jig mold. I have been on vacation for a couple of weeks and started looking at all my molds and deciding which one would be the easiest to modify that would give me that heavier weight. I decided to try and modify the Ultra Minnow Jig Mold model # SHR-4-M with weights of 1/2, 3/4, 1 and 1½ oz.. I think it turned out rather nice. I also had to modify a hook to fit the mold. I used a 90º VMC Barbarian for this purpose. I spread the hook eye open with a center punch before molding. The hooks used in the two untied jigs, ½ and 1 oz. are a 5/0 and a 6/0 The 1 oz. minnow vibe I have pictured had a white head when I first tied it and it looked pretty good. I decided to add some color to it and make it into a sexy shad but really messed it up so this is the end result of trying to fix it. It is colored with sharpies and coated with D2T. The Holographic tinsel that I used in the skirt, is Icicles That I purchased at Big Lots during an after Christmas sale. Edited June 30, 2014 by JBlaze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Hey John, Long time no talk. I am surprised you got those hook eyes to open up. There are very few hooks that I know of that will allow that to happen without cracking and breaking off, or when you bend it back it snaps off. At first I thought those were Owner 5304's, and was wondering how you did that as they are very hard. Then I re-read your thread. On the paint job if you want to make a more sexy shad color, I found that less color is better. I only use 4 colors white/pear,silver, ylw chart. and blue on top. It seems softer and I think will really make that jig p0p. But maybe you wanted more bolder colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Awesome deal, you really think out of the box. I make one using the same mold only I didn't modify the mold, I used .040 wire and I just cut a traight shaft and made a hook to hold the spinnerbait hook and then poured it with the straight wire sticking out of the head and put the blade on the wire and bent it to hold but I like your idea better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadman Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 (edited) John, Wrong verbiage. The words "Plaster of Paris" should read "p o p" instead as in soda. I wish there was an edit button after the allotted 20 minutes or so to correct spelling and grammatical errors. So it wasn't me after all. I guess when you type in a acronym, it automatically puts in the full word. So how do I correct this? Edited July 1, 2014 by cadman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted July 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Hello Cadman, its a time thing or lack of time. But like many others, I am still lurking in the background reading and following everyone's posts. Most all of you still feel like friends. As far as the color of the head, I agree with you,"less is more" It was powder coated in white when I tied on the skirt and it looked pretty good. Don't know why I did it but I decided to make it into a sexy shad using sharpies. I really screwed it up and covered it up with what you see. I should have changed skirts before posting but it is hand tied and I just didnt feel like cutting it off and re-doing it. The next ones will be painted and finished before tying on a skirt. About the hooks, a long time ago when I started bending hooks using two sets of pliers, I used to break a lot of them. I now bend mine on my Hagens wire former using the revolving die that I make R bend wire forms for spinner baits and buzz baits. I have found that if I try to make the bend with a single pull/twist/turn of the handle, the hook will break every time. If I pull it a little at a time and take the pressure off and allow the hook to spring back, then pull again just until I feel the hook shaft give then let it spring back again. I do this for several cycles, it just takes a few seconds per hook. I have never counted but I guess I maybe do it 7 or 8 times and the hook eye is at the correct angle to fit my mold. I seldom break a hook doing it this way. As far as opening up the eye, I use a very slender tapered punch and tap it lightly with a tack hammer. the small weight of the tack hammer and the long skinny slow tapered punch open the hook eye just a fraction at a time. I havn't broken very many since I started using this method. Those VMC Barbarian hooks are my favorite jig hooks. Extremely sharp! Smalljaw Thanks for the compliment. When I first started making these vibrating jigs, (using a different mold) I did it like you,using a straight wire and attached to the hook and then bending the loop to attach the blade after de-molding. I was never very happy with the way it looked. I always had to much wire showing between the blade and the jig head. I used .051 tempered wire and it was hard to bend without having a large gap there. In the 1½ oz cavity of this mold,I will use your method but I will use.051 wire and I will form the open eye on my Hagens before pouring. I will also use a long shank VMC BN spinner bait hook in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted July 2, 2014 Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 On useing wire .. try useing a smaller dia around .030 or smaller to get a better closer wrap. Works good for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlaze Posted July 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2014 Thanks JSC, I made a version of the Lover Jig this morning and used .032 soft temper wire on it. It aint a purty wrap but it worked. Will try to get tit posted this afternoon. After I get a skirt tied on it. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
