Fly and jig tying questions

[ollie]

When I got started trying back in 2001 the man who showed me how well jigs could catch trout didn't have any of his jigs painted on the head and I watched him and his wife C&R well over 100 trout at RR in a day. That being said back then I'm not so sure the paint technology was as good as now. Theory is the paint will chip off eventually after bumping the bottom. Brad Wright gave me a couple that he tied and they didn't have paint on the head as well. How many flies do you see that the head is painted? I have always been in that crowd that thinks it is more for the tier than the fish. The fish I am holding was from the NFOW caught on an olive jig I tie with no paint on the head. Plus I am lazy and just don't want to do it!

[tjm]

lead deforms easily with any impact, paint doesn't= result chipped heads   I think powder coating stands up better, but I also think it is for the customer not the fish; I think movement, noise and silhouette are the triggers and any color is secondary to contrast.

[Dutch]

When I started tying jigs I didn’t paint them either.  I only started painting them when other people started wanting them. 

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

I don't tie many flies but have tied many, many jigs in the 25 years since I started. I tie jigs with and without collars, just depends on what I'm tying at the moment. I pour all my own jigs and prefer them painted even though paint will start to chip eventually which is why I no longer cure jigs. I like mixing my own powder paints and add UV blast powder to most colors and it really  brightens up the color on them.  I think you can cure jigs all day and they would still chip. Most of my bass jigs have collars and if they have a ball and barbed collar I will cut the barbed section off and flatten the ball portion. Most of my trout, pan fish jigs are tied without collars.

[Mitch f]

I’m starting to tie jigs again. The biggest problem I have is finding what I consider the best bucktails. Most bucktails you buy have hair diameters that are way too big. I assume they are from Northern deer where the weather is cold. I end up opening the packages to find the finest diameter tails, which is usually about a 10-1 ratio. 

[fishinwrench]

39 minutes ago, Mitch f said:

I’m starting to tie jigs again. The biggest problem I have is finding what I consider the best bucktails. Most bucktails you buy have hair diameters that are way too big. I assume they are from Northern deer where the weather is cold. I end up opening the packages to find the finest diameter tails, which is usually about a 10-1 ratio. 

You may be in luck, I want tails with coarse crinkly hair and I'll trade you color for color if I have the colors you want.   I know that I have a black, a brown, and a chartreuse tail that has thin straight hair.  Tell me your colors and I'll go through my bucktail drawer.