Aia 2-15-14

[Bill Babler]

Hats off to those guys. I lost 3 rigs doing the deal with the tree tops. Probably should of tried a weed less jig head and would of prevented losing them. I've yet to find one that I like on the rig though.

I did try going after some vertical with the spoon and had nada on that as well. The areas I marked fish just had tons of shad that were down there with them plus the ones that were dying off. Had a buffet in front of them so that was probably the problem.

Those guys do use weedless jigs, and make their own weedless heads. Beck makes a really good weed guard also. I have been using the darter head by Gamakatsu with weed guard in 1/4 oz. You can get this with either a No. 3 or 4 hook. The only problem is the is a solid black nickel hook and it is not going to bend out, so you had better make sure your weed guard is a good one. I have lost 2 rigs in my last 7 days of fishing, but am getting them at more than a reasonable price. For those of you that are not building your own A-Rigs, this can really get pricy if you are fishing deep trees or brush. If you want just a super jig head with a much softer bend out hook, I would suggest a Chompers. Great head design and a very soft I believe Mustad hook. It will bend out and if you are using 80 + pound braid you can get it loose most times. I have not had a fish bend a Chompers hook out even after I have straightened it out several times, so I like them a lot.

[Alex Heitman]

Thanks for the info on the weedless hooks Bill. I will have the look at the chompers and give them a try for sure. It definitely gets pretty expensive when you are fishing the tree tops 25+ feet down without a weed guard. Another thing is I switched from the braid to only 15lb invisix because I was noticing more strikes this way. When it comes down to fishing that deep though it is probably a better trade off to fish with the braid.

[dtrs5kprs]

Thanks for the info on the weedless hooks Bill. I will have the look at the chompers and give them a try for sure. It definitely gets pretty expensive when you are fishing the tree tops 25+ feet down without a weed guard. Another thing is I switched from the braid to only 15lb invisix because I was noticing more strikes this way. When it comes down to fishing that deep though it is probably a better trade off to fish with the braid.

That is the area of the lake I fish the most, and when not finesse fishing I target those types of tops quite a bit. Whether on the rig or alone, a shad type swimbait head with a twin wire guard will come thru decently, as will a shakey head on the rig. Just snap on the shakey and TX rig your fluke, keitech, what have you.

Something like these:

Wish I was as good at catching them as at putting the parts together .

These are the same trees where I have been told folks used to catch them on twin spins, tailspins, swimming white hair jigs in the winter.

[Alex Heitman]

I like those darter heads with range weed guard. Do you Texas rig those or not? On the a-rig I try not the texas rig if I can get away with it and those look like you might be able to get away without Texas rigging.

[Bill Babler]

Dave did you pour those? they look like a very solid hook. Yes lots of guys texas rig for those deep trees.

[dtrs5kprs]

Dave did you pour those? they look like a very solid hook. Yes lots of guys texas rig for those deep trees.

Yes. Top to bottom they are a Mustad 32786 4/0 60 degree flipping hook (very similar to the hook in the Storm swimmers, but think that one is a VMC), Owner 4/0 5304 special gap 60 degree flipping hook, and Gamakatsu 5/0 jig hook 90 degree. Wire is in order, heavy to medium-ish. The Mustad won't bend out, the Owner might, and the Gamakatsu will-sometimes. That is the gammie that got a bad rap for not fitting molds built for the 630 hooks. You can make that mold take other hooks, basically anything heavy and 90 degree, and some 60 degree, 3/0 to 5/0 or so.

Alex...those are beefy heads, 1/2oz, poured for 4" to 6" swim tails. You can do the same thing with a dart mold or round head mold. Just takes a dremel tool (cutting wheel mostly), some inspiration, and some JB weld to fix whatever goes wrong. Just go slow and it will be fine. You can still pour them without the wires if you choose to, just have to snip off the lead sprues that may fill the wire cuts.

For TX rig, and for dummies, I just use my "Eakins" mold, with a cut to length base pin to eliminate the fiber guard. Something like a 3/0 or 4/0 Mustad 32798 flat eye will work. Eagle Claw makes a cheap bronze hook, the 1223 off-hand, that you can use to pour dummies. it is cheap enough that there is no pain when you clip them, and you still get the same action from the flat eye.

Poured that way, those round heads are identical to the heads from the first Do It shakey head mold. Has the Eakins collar and barb, no screw keeper.

[dtrs5kprs]

Off-hand was off the mark. That bronze light wire Eagle Claw is the 1623, for the various stand up head molds. Available in 1/0 and 3/0.