Ned Rig Style Skirted Jigs

[lyon17]

Hello,

I am new to TU and new to lure making. I am 18  and pouring is not an option for me due to financial constraints so I have been buying unpainted jigs from fishingskirts. com and cadman and powder painting them. Its quite fun and I hope to be able to pour them myself eventually.

Anyways, I wanted to show off these modified worm head jigs and see what you guys think.

I tie some thread and coat it with epoxy on the upper part of the baitkeeper to allow me to tie skirts to it and not have them slide down, and still have a bait keeper that works. It really creates a nice super small finesse jig. If you want you can drill a hole in the head with an 1/8” drill bit and add a weedguard. These are 1/8 oz on a 1/0 Mustad #32786. These are an awesome smallmouth presentation.

Does anyone else make ned rig style skirted jigs?

[Apdriver]

I bet the smallmouth love that jig. Great work and thanks for showing us your method and a nice jig. 

[lyon17]

42 minutes ago, Apdriver said:

I bet the smallmouth love that jig. Great work and thanks for showing us your method and a nice jig. 

Thanks

[cadman]

Welcome to Tackle Underground. Nice looking jig.

[lyon17]

14 minutes ago, cadman said:

Welcome to Tackle Underground. Nice looking jig.

Thanks for the jigs. Ill be ordering some more soon.

[lyon17]

Sorry the photos were horrible quality in the original post.

[cadman]

I assume the green color on your jigs is wrapped thread and then epoxy over it to keep it in place and this keeps the skirt from sliding down the jig shank? I don't know if this next idea would work on this jig, but some guys put a groove in the lead shank with a pair of cutters.  The groove then acts like a place to tie your skirt onto. This may save you time in tying thread on the hook shank.

Also, I noticed you put a weedguard into that jig. Did you drill a hole in the jig head? If so, how difficult was it and what did you use to get the hole in that head. I know it can be a pain sometimes to drill thru lead, and many times almost impossible, as the drill bit grabs the lead and usually rips open the hole. Nice, thinking outside the box.

[lyon17]

8 hours ago, cadman said:

I assume the green color on your jigs is wrapped thread and then epoxy over it to keep it in place and this keeps the skirt from sliding down the jig shank? I don't know if this next idea would work on this jig, but some guys put a groove in the lead shank with a pair of cutters.  The groove then acts like a place to tie your skirt onto. This may save you time in tying thread on the hook shank.

Also, I noticed you put a weedguard into that jig. Did you drill a hole in the jig head? If so, how difficult was it and what did you use to get the hole in that head. I know it can be a pain sometimes to drill thru lead, and many times almost impossible, as the drill bit grabs the lead and usually rips open the hole. Nice, thinking outside the box.

Yes, that is thread coated in epoxy. I will definitely try the groove idea its sounds a lot quicker than waiting the full 1-2 day epoxy curing process. Heres how I put the weedguard in.

1. Remove some lead from around the curved part of the jig to make it easier to drill. I use an exacto knife for this.

2. Start a hole with a 1/16” drill bit and go about 1/8” deep. I do this because its much easier to drill into lead with a smaller bit and its nice to have an accurate starting point. It also lets the bigger drill bit grab onto the lead and drill much easier.

3. Swap out the drill bit for a whatever size weed guard you want (1/8” for mine). This is much easier to do with a smaller weedguard I wouldn’t go above 1/8” on the 1/8 oz the head is too small. Drill as deep as possible but stop before hitting the hook. It’s very important to hold the jig head very hard or else the drill bit will move around and tear up your lead and make it look horrible. I wear gloves when doing this because I do not like getting oil from my hands and stuff on my jig heads before powder painting.

4. Powder paint them and make sure you keep the weedguard hole clean. I put a little clay in there and pull it out after dipping the jig. The clay hardens and expands a little from the heat of the torch and you can just grab it with needle nose pliers. You must do this before the paint hardens or it will chip when you pull it out. (Since I don’t pour my jigs I dont get to paint them with a teflon pin still in and this is a great way to keep weedguard holes clean in any kind of jig)

5. Put a a small amount of superglue on the weedguard and put it in. Let dry while you mix the epoxy. 
 

6. Put a generous amount of epoxy around the weedguard hole making sure that its completely surrounded in epoxy. You MUST use the epoxy because the weedguard hole wont be clean enough to hold the weedguard in with just superglue. (Weedguard will have slight wobble until glue and epoxy cure.)

7. Let epoxy cure for 2-3 days. I use devcon 2 ton epoxy.

5. Add a skirt if you want using either the groove method or thread+epoxy.

 

Edited September 7, 2020 by lyon17

[lyon17]

It sounds like a long process but after doing it a couple times it doesnt take much longer than regular jigs.

Its a great alternative to bitsy bug flip jigs my former favorite jig. Those are good jigs but have crappy paint and the skirts get destroyed  quickly.

Edited September 7, 2020 by lyon17

[cadman]

Wow for someone who is only 18 years old, you sound like a seasoned veteran. Where did you learn all of these tips you use in making your jigs? I am very impressed. Can I make a suggestion.

On your rubber gloves, try to use more fitting gloves that are not so loose. Reason being is if you are using a drill in such close proximity to your fingers, the drill bit might grab the rubber glove and twist it with your finger in it possibly causing damage to your finger. Just a suggestion.

Also, if your weedguard hole pocket is deep enough, you can put a teflon pin into the hole, dip it in powder paint, remove it and then bake your jig.

Finally, I can't tell, but do you wire tie? If not, try it it will keep your skirts in place and they will never fall apart.

On another note, I started pouring jigs about 20 years ago, because like many guys I could not get what I wanted. I was and still am a die hard Itsy Bitsy Bug jig fan from Strike King.  I used there jigs for about 4 weeks and found that there weedguard and hooks were very subpar. So I happened to be talking to someone at the time (mind you this is pre-internet days)and he showed me a jig (Snootie Jig) mold which was made by Do-It molds. He built me a couple I tried them, really loved the small profile and I bought a mold, pot and hooks and that is how it all started. To this day, the Snootie jig in 1/8, 3/16 or 1/4 oz are always on one of my rods. I am a finesse jig fisherman. I rarely will throw anything heavier than a 1/4 oz. jig. Mind you I rarely fish deeper than 10 F.O.W.

Edited September 7, 2020 by cadman

[lyon17]

1 hour ago, cadman said:

Wow for someone who is only 18 years old, you sound like a seasoned veteran. Where did you learn all of these tips you use in making your jigs? I am very impressed. Can I make a suggestion.

On your rubber gloves, try to use more fitting gloves that are not so loose. Reason being is if you are using a drill in such close proximity to your fingers, the drill bit might grab the rubber glove and twist it with your finger in it possibly causing damage to your finger. Just a suggestion.

Also, if your weedguard hole pocket is deep enough, you can put a teflon pin into the hole, dip it in powder paint, remove it and then bake your jig.

Finally, I can't tell, but do you wire tie? If not, try it it will keep your skirts in place and they will never fall apart.

On another note, I started pouring jigs about 20 years ago, because like many guys I could not get what I wanted. I was and still am a die hard Itsy Bitsy Bug jig fan from Strike King.  I used there jigs for about 4 weeks and found that there weedguard and hooks were very subpar. So I happened to be talking to someone at the time (mind you this is pre-internet days)and he showed me a jig (Snootie Jig) mold which was made by Do-It molds. He built me a couple I tried them, really loved the small profile and I bought a mold, pot and hooks and that is how it all started. To this day, the Snootie jig in 1/8, 3/16 or 1/4 oz are always on one of my rods. I am a finesse jig fisherman. I rarely will throw anything heavier than a 1/4 oz. jig. Mind you I rarely fish deeper than 10 F.O.W.

Thanks for the safety tips as that has happened to me before and it sucks. Ill be sure to get better gloves. I learned most of it from reading posts on TU, and some youtube videos by Smalljaw. This is such a great resource for jig making thanks to guys like you and him. I currently use thread and braided line for tying my skirts and it works pretty nicely. I put a little super glue on the knot and thread when done. I have tried wire tying but I only have some pretty heavy gauge wire at home and it didnt work to well. I do plan on getting some thinner wire and trying again soon.

I also love using finesse jigs and RARElY go above 3/8 oz. 1/4 oz is my sweet spot for lakes and ponds but for my local river (DuPage River) I like using 1/8 and lighter. Those snootie jigs definitely look like something I’d like. Do you just use super glue to keep your trailer on there?

Here is a picture of how I tie my skirts.

[cadman]

First, I'm going to tell you that Smalljaw (my best on line internet friend) go way back. He and I started on TU about the same time (2006). I will also say from knowing him for so long, he is a wealth of knowledge. I have learned a lot from him over the years, and there are still things I learn to this day when I speak with him.  Just a wealth of knowledge. Not to take anything away from anyone else that contributes on this forum.

Tying with thread is just as good as tying with wire. The reason I asked if you hand tied, because I knew you were concerned about the skirt sliding down. I know a lot of people that just use rubber collars, and after awhile they dry rot from the sun and the skirt falls apart. That will never happen with thread or wire. I also know a lot of guys use their old braid to tie on skirts and that works well just like you do.

As far as gluing the trailer onto my jigs, I do not use anything. I mainly use paca chunks or other crawfish type trailers. I do not have a really big problem with my chunks sliding down the hook shank since I have such a small jig profile with usually a 1/0 hook. On the bigger jigs, when I wire tie my skirts, I leave two longer tag ends, and feed them back into the chunk to hold it in place better and it seems to work really well. This process can be done on smaller jigs as well if you want to hold your plastics on better. I have a pic of this somewhere, when I find it I will send it to you.

[Jig Man]

If I might I would like to interject a couple of items; the teflon pins in the jig heads are the way to go (I don’t take mine out until after the heads are baked) and you might try some floral wire for tying.  It is inexpensive and easy to work with.

[cadman]

42 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

If I might I would like to interject a couple of items; the teflon pins in the jig heads are the way to go (I don’t take mine out until after the heads are baked) and you might try some floral wire for tying.  It is inexpensive and easy to work with.

Jig Man,

   When  you bake your jigs with the pins in, do you have any problem with them sticking to the paint and or chipping when you remove them after the paint has cooled? I have always took mine out as soon as I dipped the jig in the powder paint before baking.

[mark poulson]

If you use a drill press and a small portable vise or wood working clamp (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Jorgensen-6-in-Handscrew-Clamp/1000989110, you have a lot better control over the drilling process.

[lyon17]

2 hours ago, cadman said:

First, I'm going to tell you that Smalljaw (my best on line internet friend) go way back. He and I started on TU about the same time (2006). I will also say from knowing him for so long, he is a wealth of knowledge. I have learned a lot from him over the years, and there are still things I learn to this day when I speak with him.  Just a wealth of knowledge. Not to take anything away from anyone else that contributes on this forum.

Tying with thread is just as good as tying with wire. The reason I asked if you hand tied, because I knew you were concerned about the skirt sliding down. I know a lot of people that just use rubber collars, and after awhile they dry rot from the sun and the skirt falls apart. That will never happen with thread or wire. I also know a lot of guys use their old braid to tie on skirts and that works well just like you do.

As far as gluing the trailer onto my jigs, I do not use anything. I mainly use paca chunks or other crawfish type trailers. I do not have a really big problem with my chunks sliding down the hook shank since I have such a small jig profile with usually a 1/0 hook. On the bigger jigs, when I wire tie my skirts, I leave two longer tag ends, and feed them back into the chunk to hold it in place better and it seems to work really well. This process can be done on smaller jigs as well if you want to hold your plastics on better. I have a pic of this somewhere, when I find it I will send it to you.

I’ll definitiely have to try some of those snootie jigs and some teflon pins. I actually use braid more than thread and occasionally tie one with monofilament. What size teflon pins do you use? I’m guessing 1/8” based on how my weedguards fit in your jigs.

[lyon17]

1 hour ago, mark poulson said:

If you use a drill press and a small portable vise or wood working clamp (https://www.lowes.com/pd/Jorgensen-6-in-Handscrew-Clamp/1000989110, you have a lot better control over the drilling process.

This is definitely something I’ll look into. Thanks.

[lyon17]

2 hours ago, Jig Man said:

If I might I would like to interject a couple of items; the teflon pins in the jig heads are the way to go (I don’t take mine out until after the heads are baked) and you might try some floral wire for tying.  It is inexpensive and easy to work with.

What gauge wire do you recommend for tying skirts?

[Jeff Hahn]

Have you tried using a twin wire weedguard on your finesse jig, rather than the fiber weedguard?  I use these wire weedgaurds on many of my jigs and prefer them in many situations to fiber.

https://www.lurepartsonline.com/Wire-Weedguard

[lyon17]

17 minutes ago, Jeff Hahn said:

Have you tried using a twin wire weedguard on your finesse jig, rather than the fiber weedguard?  I use these wire weedgaurds on many of my jigs and prefer them in many situations to fiber.

https://www.lurepartsonline.com/Wire-Weedguard

In my experience, the wire weedguards I have tried do nothing to prevent me from getting snagged, and still get weeds on them. I have never used a wire weedguard I have liked so I usually steer clear of them, but I will give them another shot soon. Using those is certainly easier than doing all of this. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[mark poulson]

2 hours ago, lyon17 said:

What gauge wire do you recommend for tying skirts?

24 gauge floral wire from Home Depot.

And you can use weed wacker fiber as a weed guard.

[Jig Man]

12 hours ago, cadman said:

Jig Man,

   When  you bake your jigs with the pins in, do you have any problem with them sticking to the paint and or chipping when you remove them after the paint has cooled? I have always took mine out as soon as I dipped the jig in the powder paint before baking.

Cadman,

The paint will stick to the pins but it is easily removed  with my thumb nail.  I haven’t noticed any chips on the jigs.  Usually there is extra paint sticking up around the hole that came off the pins.

I don’t do large batches and take the pins out as soon as the jigs are cool enough to handle.  I also do very thin coats of paint so I don’t get runs.  Maybe this method is why I don’t get chips.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Jig Man

[lyon17]

Cadman, have you ever tried a banana head jig? They look like another great alternative to bitsy bugs.

[Jig Man]

5 hours ago, lyon17 said:

Cadman, have you ever tried a banana head jig? They look like another great alternative to bitsy bugs.

Banana is what I use for brush jigs.  I downsize to 2/0 hooks, less hangups.

[cadman]

11 hours ago, Jig Man said:

Cadman,

The paint will stick to the pins but it is easily removed  with my thumb nail.  I haven’t noticed any chips on the jigs.  Usually there is extra paint sticking up around the hole that came off the pins.

I don’t do large batches and take the pins out as soon as the jigs are cool enough to handle.  I also do very thin coats of paint so I don’t get runs.  Maybe this method is why I don’t get chips.

Thanks for the info.