Custom Baits - Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: TheDreamer on 12/05/12 08:30 UTC
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Hey all you lead creators, I am in need of some information. I have been searching for hours trying to locate the nylon fibers to create my own weed guards. I know you can purchase them ready to go in many different colors and multi-color but I would love to be able to really match the guard to the jig. From the info I have found, many people are using old stock from the 80's-90's. For the life of me I can't find the material to save my life. If any of you know where I can find it please let me know, if you have some in bulk you would be willing to part with feel free to contact me.
Thanks guys,
Drew
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I have no idea where to buy the nylon fiber material at, but Barlows Tackle and Lure Parts Online both have good selections of weedguards. Just about everything else you might need for making jigs/spinnerbaits as well.
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I'm a huge LPO customer, that is where I found the multi-color guards. Although I want to find something different, I would love to be able to do a 3 color (silver, chartreuse and black) on a swim jig. I currently have a new "Chatter Jig" in test phases right now that I designed and this is what the weed guards would be primarily meant for among others.
Side note: My new design landed me my "Oklahoma" PB (4.4) that I will upload shortly.
Drew
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Best physical therapy after hand surgery:
(http://www.caneycreekmolds.net/gallery/medium_469-051212085010.jpeg)
There it is.
Drew
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Best physical therapy after hand surgery:
(http://www.caneycreekmolds.net/gallery/medium_469-051212085010.jpeg)
There it is.
Drew
Nice chunk!
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Ha!! That's definitely my kind of physical therapy. Looks like your Oklahoma PB has something in common with all my big'uns. Every single bass over 4.5 lbs I've ever caught in Ohios highly pressured public waters has been caught in cold water, or at night. Congratulations on catching it on a bait you designed and built. That's awsome!!!
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I've made my own Weedguards using a wad of short pieces of 60 lb. Fluorocarbon leader material. Didn't disappear quite like I'd hoped, though.
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YOU SHOULD TRY FISHBOSS.COM OR FISHINGSKIRTS.COM,THEY DO HAVE THE WEED GUARDS AND EVERYTHING ELSE YOU'D NEED
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siscojj..like your LARGE CAPS...for the SEEING IMPAIRED, LOL!!!
Bareknuckles, sent your Christmas present, I must really think a lot of you!!!
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YEAH SORRY FOR THE CAPS I'M AT WORK AND WE USE THEM
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NO PROB, DOESN"T BOTHER ME. 8)
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BKJ, when you tried to 60lb line, did you epoxy the cluster in, or?
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Thank You, FloridaG! Can't wait to Feast De EyeBalls! I'll "up the effort" on my projects for some Return S&H...!
SuperH, I used a 3/8 oz. Raw Weedless Football Head Jig from Barlow's, clipped off the "tips of the football" then filed them smooth. Stuck 2 3D Eyes on, then mixed up some 2-part epoxy (don't remember if it was 5-minute or 30-minute) with a light hit of Black Marbling Pigment (for Rod Building) and added some .040" Navy Blue flake. Coated the Jig's Head, let it set. Mixed up a little more epoxy once I got the Fluoro Strands ready, touched a little epoxy in the Weedguard Hole and put the cluster in, and worked a little more epoxy around the base of the Weedguard. It took a bit of doing to support the Weedguard while the epoxy set, but that Jig is clean! The Weedguard is slightly flexible but I left it longer than most Weedguards, and because the leader material came off of a typical Leader Spool, the Weedguard has a little curve to it. Testing the Weedguard with my finger, it'd take some doing to get that Jig hung-up, and the inherent flex of the Weedguard "should" give well for the hook-set. I don't fish Jigs much, so these theories haven't been tested.
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Nice, BKJ. I have been looking for a "softer" alternative to regular weedguards. I may have to try your method the next time I find myself dabbling in the liquid metal.
I was staring at my back stock of 3/8oz football heads and 3/8oz bullet jigs just the other day, and thinking about what colors to powder paint them, then what new thing I could try for a guard. (At one point I thought maybe I should just sell them as is, unpainted with no weed guards, but what fun would that be?)
Anyway, thanks again for a fantastic idea@
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I pour a lot of my own jigs and I've tried several different methods of glueing in the weed guards. GOOP (plumbers putty)...hard to work with...messy...squishes out if you use too much and won't hold if you use too little...tube gets hard quickly. Epoxy...gotta work fast or it will set up...usually use too much and it too squishes out...30 minute epoxy will turn yellow. Zap-a-Gap...used primarily for fly tying...hard plastic container doesn't work well...waaayyy too expenusive ($5 - $6 for a small bottle).
What works best for me is simple super glue. I buy it in tiny single use tubes. You can usually get several tubes for 99 cents at, guess where. I can get a couple dozen weedguards glued in quickly with one small tube.
When I'm making jigs for others I'll leave the weedguard at it's regular length. For personal use, I'll trim it diagonally so that the longer bristles extend just beyond the hook point.
Gary's experiment with florocarbon is intriguing
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Loving how this thread is turning out. Last night I was in the shop staring at one of my older practice (first few powder painting) swim jigs, and decided to try a few things out. I found a review of guys using 20lb catfish line for bass fishing so I picked some up on black Friday, the line works great for many applications and is beyond strong (this line is what brought in that 4.4). So I decided to take a few feet off the spool and started trimming it into 3" lengths. This allowed me to gather a clump of strands together with a small zip-tie then with a lighter I managed to turn the end into one big strand. After removing the zip-tie the new weed guard looked great. Grabbed the swim jig and tossed in the new guard with no glue/epoxy just to test the fit and it looked great, the only problem I had is with stiffness. Decided to use epoxy tonight and dip the first 1"- 1 1/2" (to stiffen the shaft) then put it into the jig, I think it will work out great. As of now it could easily pass through light grass without a problem but with the epoxy to stiffen up the "shaft" of the guard I think I should be able to avoid any tree and grass fish out there. I will post the test pic shortly so you can see how it turned out without anything on it.
If it does work I will be taking my behind to Dick's, Academy and Wal-Mart to rummage through the clearance bins for colored el-cheapo line that I can turn into what I want.
Drew
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Cool idea!
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This should work out great once it has been dipped.
(excuse the colors, this is not a production jig lol)
(http://www.caneycreekmolds.net/gallery/medium_469-061212073214.jpeg)
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I too use super glue to hold my guards in.
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Denny and Justin-
I haev not even thought of using Super Glue for the weed guards. How does it hold up over time getting wet? I need to change my current system because I have all the exact issues Denny mentioned with Zap A Gap, and epoxy.
Awesome posts!
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gary, don't you dare send any freight $, I DON"T WANT IT!!!...I consider you a very valid voice , esp. in saltwater matters.
I am in the process of developing a new family of saltwater baits (*you have to have a trademark, signature bait, at least one or more initially to seperate you from the herd, right???!!!)...so I'll send u samples when I get new ones.
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Shawn. So far so good. I have not had one fall out yet. But I have only done 25 to thirty that way. Molded them in before I found the Teflon inserts.
So much easier using the inserts to paint and the glue the guard in.
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I haven't had any weedguard failures since I started using super glue about 18 months ago.
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Never had a problem with Denny's or Justin's jigs
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Cool. Thanks guys. I think I am going to jump on the bandwagon for my production jigs then. Awesomeness. Thanks!
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I use loctite supler glue gel. The gel won't soak up on the fibers like the regular glue will and leave the white film on the weedguard