kbonanny Posted April 27, 2020 Report Share Posted April 27, 2020 Howdy all! I've been pouring my own jig heads and such since I asked for and received my 1st mold (various sized round-head jig mold using Aberdeen hooks) along with a pack of 570 eagle claw #1 & 1/0 hooks for my 11th birthday as we lost at least a dozen every single time we went down the Susquehanna river in Exeter, Pa were I grew up as there was always three of us (at the minimum) with myself, my best friend and my brother virtually living down the river making a minimum of 250 trips to the river per year. Being pre-teens and from working class families, we had to earn our own money for fishing gear, which drove me to ask for a mold & hooks (started out melting lead on a Coleman gas stove in a small, old cast iron pot) and I taught myself how to tie marabou jigs, buck-tail jigs as well as countless 1/8 - 1/4 ounce jig heads for throwing grubs, worms etc etc. That was the only way we could afford to keep up with having enough lures to fish until I learned I could cross the river in hundreds of spots and be able to go out to retrieve my snags. I was cutting grass, shoveling snow and even delivering newspapers to come up with enough money to fuel my desire to go fishing just about every single day until ice flows made fishing impossible for a couple of months every year. I now have at least 30 molds and a couple thousand dollars worth of jig hooks, mold inserts etc on hand and probably pour at least 1000 jify igs/heads per year these days as I "supply" many of my friends as well as bass club members I've come to know through the years...I still hand tie at least 100 jigs per year, sell skirted jigs, dressed treble hooks etc etc as they're always in demand! There is one item I can't understand WHY it isn't available and that is a light wire, double wire weed guard such as those found on many commercial jig heads! This brings me to my question....does ANYONE know where I could source these weed guards by the hundreds or thousands??? I know there aren't any available molds for these to fit into, but I know I can easily modify a number of molds to make them accept a wire weed guard. I've already "customized" a few molds with my most in demand "custom" being ultra light tube jig heads (1/32, 1/16 ounce) utilizing hooks as large as 4/0 for bass sized tubes as a slower, erratic fall is often a game changer on heavily pressured waters! I must pour a couple hundred of these heads every year since i modified a mold to accept the larger hooks close to 20 years ago! I must have sold/given away/used several thousand of these heads alone since I devised this idea. I HOPE someone has some insight into these light wire (or even stranded wire) double wire weed guards. I greatly appreciate any and all information on this subject! Kirk Bonanny kbonanny@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senkosam Posted June 24, 2021 Report Share Posted June 24, 2021 (edited) I've added American Fishing Wire (AFW) Tooth Proof Stainless Steel Single Strand Leader Wire to small jig heads for around 10 years. The guard is a narrow loop attached to the base of the line tie by wrapping one side, bending the wire such that the rounded tip is just before the barb, bent just a bit and the other end completing the wrap in the other direction. The wire comes in many gages rated by pound test. I use the thinnest and it allows me to slowly work a fallen tree branch without getting hung up as well a lily pads. You might consider using the wire in your jig making process. A little goes a long way. Edited June 24, 2021 by Senkosam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
