Just To Make You All Jealous!

[Ham]

troutgnat, you got me going man. I went out and bought 6 of the 15 packs (one of each color head in 1/8oz and 1/4 oz). I also went and got myself more tying materials. I have tied up about 60 of the heads so far. I am keeping the others in reserve to replace lost RR or add to the stockpile if I find an especially good color combo.

The tying went fairly quickly. It takes me about 3-5 minutes a RR so it wasn't too bad.

Now, if I can survive winter so I get to fish these things, I'll be all set.

[Phil Lilley]

troutgnat, those look great! I love using a Roadrunner tipped with a minnow or half-nightcrawler for walleyes, and just like you, I slow-troll 'em. I've never tried making my own RR's though - good job!

During this awful cold spell, I've been making jigs too. I've been making jigs that use a glass bead for the head (I like the way those bend light - a cat's-eye marble effect), and I've moved the weight back on the shaft of the hook. That makes the jig sink more level when it's paused, and I think they're coming out real good.

I've been making some of these for crappie and white bass, and others in "crawdad" colors for casting up against chunk rock banks for bass and big perch. Some are in purple colors for when the white bass in the springtime James River run get in that purple mood. The ones in this picture are all 1/8 oz. jigs, but I make them in weights from 1/16 to 1/4 oz.

Hey, this keeps us involved in fishing while the weather's bad - and we'll have our jigs to use when it gets better. Great minds think alike.

With the weights where they are, I'd think they action would be more to swim rather than jig. I mean with the weight all the way at the head like a normal jig, the head/jig would drop faster than your jig, yours wouldn't tilt down and drop. Not a bad thing.... just pointing out what seems to be the different in action to me. Am I correct?

I'm very impressed by your pattern. Congrats on being so original.... and sharing it with us.

[Sam]

"With the weights where they are, I'd think they action would be more to swim rather than jig. I mean with the weight all the way at the head like a normal jig, the head/jig would drop faster than your jig, yours wouldn't tilt down and drop."

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Thanks, Phil. Yes, that's the main idea, and it's one of 3 things different about these lures.

When a jig is moved through the water by slow-trolling or retrieving, the weight wants to go to the bottom but it's being held UP at each end. The tension of your line holds the front up, and the water resistance of the tail holds the back up. The jig runs level as long as there's tension on the line and it's being pulled through the water.

When you relax the tension on the line ("twitch" the lure along on the retrieve) a regular lead-head jig goes nose-down. The jigs I'm making stay more horizontal as they drop an inch or two (because the weight's back on the hook shaft) - and I think that's a lot more natural action for a minnow.

When they're jigged straight up-and-down the action is the same as a lead-head. When your line goes completely slack, the only thing holding the jig up is the water resistance of the tail - and they drop nose-down.

Another thing: When you hold these jigs between yourself and a light source, the clear crystal bead catches and bends light and shines it out the other side. If the jig passes between a fish that's below it and the light coming from the lake surface, the fish is going to see a bright dot of light coming from the jig head. A good thing, I think.

And the last thing: Unlike feathers, the frayed-out nylon twine I'm using for tail material absorbs water like a wet mop. You have to squeeze the water out of the tail before putting one of these back in your tackle box - the tail holds 1/16 oz. of water. That means you can cast a 1/16 oz. jig as far as a normal 1/8 oz. jig, and that's temporary casting weight that disappears as soon as the jig hits the surface of the lake. That helps.

This isn't a sales talk. I'm having a lot of fun inventing and making these jigs, but I've about decided there'd be no money in selling them.

[Ham]

I'm a big fan of plain lead jigheads. I think MOST of the time we are more worried about jighead color than the fish are, but on jigs that pretty you might want to pre-color the weight prior to tying them in. I do believe crappie are a lot more worried about color than bass are.

[Sam]

I'm a big fan of plain lead jigheads. I think MOST of the time we are more worried about jighead color than the fish are, but on jigs that pretty you might want to pre-color the weight prior to tying them in. I do believe crappie are a lot more worried about color than bass are.

I agree completely. I've tried painting some of my lure bodies (weights), but to me they look better unpainted. If I ever got to selling these I might paint the bodies "to catch fishermen".

I've done a lot of reading about how fish see because that interests me. Here's a shocker - very few species of fish (and none of the ones we fish for) can see the color red. Red probably looks gray to them, just like unpainted lead.

We know that red is a good lure color in combination with other colors - but I think it's the contrast that matters. A red-and-white lure is probably a gray-and-white lure to a fish, and that's a good combination.

But our sport fish can see ultraviolet light, which we can't. We get a little of that on a dark cloudy day when white, chartreuse, electric blue, and hunter orange seem to stand out and "glow". That's ultraviolet being reflected by those colors and bent into colors we can see. Since fish have ultraviolet cones in their eyes that we lack, they can see ultraviolet directly all the time.

Ultraviolet light has such a short wavelength, it penetrates clouds and water - even murky water. Fish can see a lot better in low-light conditions than we can.

I think lure action, presentation, shape, and size are all more important than color - but fish get real picky about color sometimes.

This is interesting stuff, to me.