Author Topic: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.  (Read 34966 times)

Offline 2XL

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #30 on: 05/04/17 09:12 UTC »
For sure losing a Tungsten jig or any jig to a fish sucks but it's the nature of the beast no matter what size jig a guy uses. I totally understand where you are coming from Ag. No doubt the market is there for more affordable Tungsten ice jigs. I would love to see a mold to make them too but at this point I don't think there is an economical/efficient way for the do it yourself guys like us to make them at home.

That being said, I would be thrilled if there were a mold available to make a lead version of those Tungsten style heads. 

Offline Agronomist_at_ia

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #31 on: 07/22/17 22:48 UTC »
For sure losing a Tungsten jig or any jig to a fish sucks but it's the nature of the beast no matter what size jig a guy uses. I totally understand where you are coming from Ag. No doubt the market is there for more affordable Tungsten ice jigs. I would love to see a mold to make them too but at this point I don't think there is an economical/efficient way for the do it yourself guys like us to make them at home.

That being said, I would be thrilled if there were a mold available to make a lead version of those Tungsten style heads.

Yeah....I agree can't believe Do it doesn't do a little more for the panfish/ice fishing markets.....I think it's bigger then open water up here by Minnesota anymore. Crossing my fingures.

Offline ctom

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #32 on: 07/23/17 08:03 UTC »
No doubt that the upper tier states hold court to the ice fishing and the ice fishing tackle development. I just think that the tackle end of the sport has some real issues that the crafter would encounter, like specialized hook designs and small sizes. To create the mold the prototype hooks would have to be available to design it.

I think that there are just too many little things that add up to a lot of the reason we don't see ice bait molds available. I make 1/80, 1/64 and 1/32 collarless ball-heads using sickle hooks down to #12 in all three sizes and lots of people buy them when they are happy with a horizontal presentation. These jigs catch as many fish as the much pricier fancy-pants tackle that ice anglers as a whole seem happy to spend way too much money for.


There are good ships
and wood ships
ships that sail the sea
but the best ships are friendships
and may they
always be ......An Irish Toast

Offline Muskygary

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #33 on: 07/23/17 11:22 UTC »
Do-it has a crappie jig mold (3277), but it uses a straight shank hook. I was thinking about making these and bending the hook shank 90 degrees and seeing how they would work, but like a lot of things, I haven't gotten around to trying it.

Offline Agronomist_at_ia

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #34 on: 07/26/17 01:59 UTC »
Do-it has a crappie jig mold (3277), but it uses a straight shank hook. I was thinking about making these and bending the hook shank 90 degrees and seeing how they would work, but like a lot of things, I haven't gotten around to trying it.

Been there done that.

Offline Agronomist_at_ia

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #35 on: 08/31/17 23:23 UTC »
Crossing my fingers for a mooska mold.

Offline Kasilofchrisn

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #36 on: 09/12/17 15:41 UTC »
Crossing my fingers for a mooska mold.
You can wait for years or you can just spring for a custom mold.
They cost more but you'll have your mold a lot sooner.
Does anybody know if anyone owns the rights to this jig design?

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Offline Mike J

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #37 on: 09/12/17 16:55 UTC »
I'm pretty sure it's generic.  I tried to tell you buy an 1155 and you'd already be making jigs.

Offline ctom

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #38 on: 09/12/17 18:19 UTC »
You can wait for years or you can just spring for a custom mold.
They cost more but you'll have your mold a lot sooner.
Does anybody know if anyone owns the rights to this jig design?

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The mooska jig being discussed is a foreign critter so I'll just assume that there are no domestic patents on it. Custom Jigs and Spins makes a jig called the "diamond jig which is similar but the surface is faceted, not smooth, and it is made in China. I'm not certain that Custom has any patent protection here but there is a ton of difference between the pictured jig and a diamond.

The tiny, very light wire, flat eye hook might be troublesome to round up though and the hook seems to be what gives all of these similar baits their action and makes then very preferred in ice fishing circles. They're compact and even lead ones are heavy for their actual size.

I'm in Kasilofchrisn'c court on this. A person can make a block mold to use with RTV silicone. Making some sprue plugs to go into the mold would be a snap with using a common countersink to cut indents into a block of plaster-of-paris and poured with lead. File a flat on the point of each of the sprue plugs and glue a jig on each where a break-off is wanted. Then glue the tops of the plugs to the centerline of one side of the mold. Fill the mold half way with RTV, insert a couple of guide pins and let it cure up. The next day spray the whole inside, or brush it, with release agent and fill the rest of the mold up with the RTV and set it aside for two or three days to cure solid. Take the RTV block from the mold and separate the halves and start casting away....if you can find the hooks.

I rounded up four different brands of size 10 and size 12 jig hooks of the 570 style. Then I got my hands on two different sizes of plastic, faceted, teardrop beads. The beads had a hole running thru them. Using a very thin craft files I cut slits in the beads from top to the hole lengthwise. Then I inserted hooks where I wanted them ad put a drop of super glue on each cut. I used craft clay to hold the beads while I laid the hooks and the glue was drying. Then I built a mold frame using 1/8" plexiglas and found the centerline on one long side before gluing that side in place. I used POP to make the aforementioned sprue plugs and did as mentioned to create a gluing flat on each and super glued the beads to the sprue plugs. I glued the flat top of ach plug on the centerline of the final side as described and then glued that final side in place. Everything was done as mentioned here to finish up. The height of the mold frame was 1.5", so the centerline was set at .75". The aluminum 1/8" guide pins were cut to 1.5".

Using the release agent on the first half of the mold made separating the halves a snap and all I ever do is put a small drop of oil on the pins occasionally. The hooks are not the flat eye but the jigs work great.

NO....I don't sell any of these. NO.....I am not making another mold. NO....I am not showing pics of this mold or the jigs simply because I do not trust other companies from using courts to get after me....AGAIN, since I've already been down that road. The molds are able to be made and if you want on bad enough you can make one. But honestly there are so many sources today for jigs of this basic design it is easier and cheaper just to buy them. The St. Paul [MN] Ice Fishing Show starts the first Thursday of December and runs for the next four days. There are vendors all over the place that sell jigs just like the one shown here in this thread and many of these vendors sell the un-finished product so people can customize their own finishes. If this show is hit on the Sunday one an find show-end deals like never seen before and I'd bet a person could buy a thousand of these heads for $20.00 just so the vendor didn't have to re-pack them. I'm pretty sure Kyle has been to this show, maybe not, but it is something to see and witness. To work entirely thru it will take about 6 hours and the seminars [all free by the way] are superb learning tools. Andy might have been to it. I've worked it many times with Thorne Bros and Marcum Technologies. The jigs can be made in a custom mold like I made or they can be found at sources like the show, but those flat eye hooks in light wire are going to be the real hold up in molds.
There are good ships
and wood ships
ships that sail the sea
but the best ships are friendships
and may they
always be ......An Irish Toast

Offline Mike J

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #39 on: 09/12/17 21:44 UTC »
From what I can tell most of the little ice jigs are using fly hooks.  They are glued or epoxied into the tungsten.

Offline ctom

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #40 on: 09/13/17 00:33 UTC »
Those like the mooska and diamond jigs have a kink in the hook and the eyes are flat, not like a conventional 570 jig hook. The mooska has a smooth body casting and rounder nose while the diamond has facets or multiple faces and a flat nose but they use probably the same kinked hook. There's a definite off-set to it.

The mold I just described uses a 570 style light wire hook from Mustad. Its super light wire. I can't tell much difference in how it fishes from a diamond. Both conventional eyes and flat eyed jigs will twist the heck out of line if fished/jigged hard and when left motionless will spin like crazy and we all know spinning heads don't fare well with the fish. I use a small ball bearing swivel about two feet above the jigs using the same line as the main line and it helps eliminate the twisting some and really doesn't affect seeing or feeling the hits, even the very light ones. I do use 3# nanofil line for jigging these and its a very sensitive line to start with.

Over the years I've gotten away from much ice fishing but do use these jigs and jigging spoons fishing docks in the late fall/early winter and again in the spring. Same rigging, same line. To note though, I have a serious love affair with jigging spoons and prefer those over any jig designed for ice. 95% of my fall fish come on jigging spoons along dock pilings or sunken wood structure. If I need to downsize I'll tie on a jig made with the mold I made. Maybe the size ten, maybe the 12....depends on the fishs' mood.
There are good ships
and wood ships
ships that sail the sea
but the best ships are friendships
and may they
always be ......An Irish Toast

Offline Agronomist_at_ia

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #41 on: 10/22/17 13:42 UTC »
Still think it be a big seller

Offline Kasilofchrisn

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #42 on: 10/22/17 15:27 UTC »
Still think it be a big seller
I still think you'll have a custom mold in your hands long before you'll get one from Do-It.
I'm tempted to have an Aluminum one made just to prove my point.
But then again I don't have much need for the Marmooska.
Even a custom cut CNC Aluminum mold should be in your hands for this ice fishing season.
One fron Do-It is easily a year away if not two or more.

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Offline Agronomist_at_ia

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #43 on: 11/04/17 10:25 UTC »
Anyone know if doit is talking about a mold yet?

Offline Mike J

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Re: Ice Fishing Lead Mold.
« Reply #44 on: 11/04/17 10:52 UTC »
Mine works awesome with a # 10 lil nasty in it for ice fishing.  I think I'm gonna try some 12 this year too.