Homemade jigs by the Meat Hunter

Ok so I finally took some pics of the homemade rock fish jigs and here they are.


First we have a swim jig on top. This one features a 3 or 4oz do-it bullet scampi style head, powder coated in glow white with a 6” Lunker city shaker swimbait and a 4 to 5 “ silicon skirt. I highly recommend do-it molds.

Next is the do-it shad spoon in the lower left. I make this lure in ¾, 1 ,and 1.5oz sizes and use a cc wire form. I like to powder coat these as well but also use a paint scheme on bare lead. The yellow and red one on the far left has been especially effective. I like to use solid brazed rings and stainless steel j hooks on all of my jigs.   

Next we have the “og squid” lower right. This is my first squid mold and also my first 2 piece. It weighs 3.8 oz and uses a custom 1/16”(dia) 316l stainless wire form. These don’t flutter necessarily but dart very well when the rod tip is lifted and lowered. This lure is designed to have bait pinned on and drifted under 100’. Some in the pic are finished some aren’t. The skirts are hoochies slid over the indention on the head.

Now we come to the much simpler one piece top pour jigs. These lures are very easy to make in a wide range of weights and the molds cool much quicker and are less prone to warpage than the two piece ones. The huge draw back is the necessity to either create a system that makes the hole(s) within the mold for the rings or to drill them as they can’t be easily made with wire forms. The first lure “flat shad” top right ranges from 2 oz to 4.5 oz depending on thickness. I fished a 2.5 and it fluttered well. The other lure an “iron” style jig top left goes anywhere from 5 to 12 oz. This one hasn’t been dropped yet. I see it fished on the drift to 200’ tipped w/ squid depending on the actual lure weight. These lures are truly a pain in the ass to drill for the ring holes. These are the first lures/molds that I created.             


I also have these two lures in the works. They are a flat sided squid and a megabait style jig. These lures are the exact same length as the og squid so they use the same wire form. The masters are sitting in the left side of the mold, notice that I had a little trouble getting the squid to release. This mold still needs to be inleted for wire forms and cavity vents need to be cut before it will be poured.   


Next we have a gitzit/tora tube insert. The tube insert will weight 1# or more and be used for drifting the Marianas Trench. I hear there’s giant lings down there! All kidding aside when the wind picks up on Carmel Bay I’ll tie this baby on until I snag it and break my line. Maybe I’ll use to crack rocks or beat fish over the head. Who knows?


This mold is basically half done and the master is still present obviously. To make the lure the tube’s tip is cut off and the body slid up the jig until just the fin area of the insert is sticking out. Originally the insert wasn’t designed to require the tube to be cut but I felt that the tip of the tube would split after being smacked on the rocks. Also the bare lead may just smack louder than rubber covered lead. A custom wire form or possibly large sinker eyes will be used for the attachment points on this one. For hooks I’m thinking assist rigged with bottom hook or for the d loop rig bottom hook only.

In addition to all this crap a mold has been made for a swimming half wood half lead frankenlure. I saw it on a so cal fishing report and it’s a lure made in Finland (I believe) that sinks like lead but swims like wood. No clue on the name but it’s basically a lead “head” with a joint and a wood body behind it. The wood body has a small bill in the front of it that causes the jig to swim. This lure sinks at a fast rate and swims down on the sink like a swim bait but much sexier. I can see it slaying fish in the kelp. So I am prototyping for what I saw but who knows if I will be successful. There may be a reason only one lure mfg makes it.


What can I say? I’m hopelessly addicted to lure making for rock fish. I spend lots of time looking at how jigs fall and also how they swim on a retrieve. It’s not rocket science since RF will eat anything but I have a whole lot more to choose from and may just catch a few more fish as a result. Ladies also LOVE hearing about my lure making escapades. 

-Tim

That right there is an art.
I am interested in knowing how you make your molds.

Tote- the molds are made using a 60/40 mix of bondo and fiberglass resin. I use a silverware organizer tray as the mold box. For the masters I use bass wood sealed with super glue or devcon 2T epoxy. The guiding posts are made out of solid aluminum rods. To make sure everything comes apart I use vaseline as a release agent. All of the two piece molds are reinforced with satinless wire to improve rigidity.

-Tim   

Dude, you're going to catch tons of fish with those homemade lures of yours. Good job on the lures Tim.

Jedmo

Very nice!  I can't wait for the carnage pics to see how well these work.  If we get some more lure makers on the site, maybe we can get our own forum on the site! 

Dude, you're going to catch tons of fish with those homemade lures of yours. Good job on the lures Tim.

Jedmo

HEY what are you doing Jed! I AM YOUR DRUG DEALER!

Oops! I hope I didn't just blew my sponsorship from you Eric. I will try my darnest to
catch the biggest fish at GSV using your lure bro.

Jedmo

To make sure everything comes apart I use vaseline as a release agent.   

Yep, that Vaseline does wonders when you need to release tight things...  (Sorry, had to say it before someone else did)

Awesome lures! 

Dude I am really jealous of your work! Wish I had skills like that...I don't. But I DO have a bunch of lead to trade, and live nearby! Thanks for sharing some pics of your lures! They look like RF killers.

  If we get some more lure makers on the site, maybe we can get our own forum on the site!

Matt

There are a lot of hard core custom lure builders on NCKA and it would be nice to have a dedicated section. I tie custom streamers. A huge learning curve and sharing would be good.

Scott

  If we get some more lure makers on the site, maybe we can get our own forum on the site!

Matt

There are a lot of hard core custom lure builders on NCKA and it would be nice to have a dedicated section. I tie custom streamers. A huge learning curve and sharing would be good.

Scott

Amen...could be cool to have a section to "home brew" lures, rods, etc all made in the garage, kitchen or wherever the Mrs will allow. Happy to help admin the section.

Thanks for all the comments. No worries EWB I'm a user not a seller.
Sincoast I have basically an unlimited lead supply though I'm definately short on launch locations south of Carmel.   

A custom lure section sounds great. I would love to learn fly tying and see what everyone else does.  Hopefully I can still stay at it after May and have a lot more to post. When I complete the new lures I'll take more pics and post.     

Tim

Thanks for all the comments. No worries EWB I'm a user not a seller.
Sincoast I have basically an unlimited lead supply though I'm definately short on launch locations south of Carmel.   

A custom lure section sounds great. I would love to learn fly tying and see what everyone else does.  Hopefully I can still stay at it after May and have a lot more to post. When I complete the new lures I'll take more pics and post.     

Tim

ha no worries at all. I pretty much sell them for what it takes to make em the making is the fun part! We need to have a 'homemade lure' side bet at one of the events!

Saweeeet!  I'm really curious about your Flat Shad design.  It looks like it could produce the action needed to generate strikes.

I've always thought we should have a rockfish derby where only the homemade jigs could be used.  There would be prize categories for the coolest looking lure and the most productive lure.

MH are you using powder paint? I've just started using it (only have red, white and yellow) where do you get yours?