trout season is coming

[Billmo]

Ok this is for all the guys who work with lead out there.. 

Trout season is slowly approaching here in socal.(even though i was 102 today). Im look to buy some small jig heads.. We mainly use 1/32oz round head w/sickle hook with the standard barb collar.

1. Does anyone make and sell these?
2. Has anyone made these with the wire keeper and how do you like them?
3. Does anyone make and sell with wire keeper?

Main baits for us are 3" trout worm, 2 5/8" trout worm, & 1.75 ccm fry. The standard barbed collar works but it really messes up the trout worms. 

[pjmcla]

Just use a ball head and glue them on.

[andrewlamberson]

How do you rig the trout worms? Threaded  on, wacky in the middle or down from the head?

[Billmo]

Thread on up to the head and wacky.. Really depends on how aggressive the fish are that day.. if they are aggressive and you we can work the worm fast we thread it on if they want something slow i will actually go down to a 1/64 and wacky rig a short worm.

Gluing works fine sometimes but with no barb the baits want to spin on hook. Also when you are in a wide open bite you don't want to have to keep pulling glue out everytime you have to change the plastic. I use super soft plastic for my trout baits and they don't hold up real well, but you cant beat the action.

[andrewlamberson]

I like the bait keeper wires on my jigs. I've been trimming off the lead barbs and wrapping on a bent wire using heavy fly tying thread. On my tiny bluegill jigs I use just a plain shank covered with fly tying thread. The thread helps keep the tiny baits on without ripping...plus if you crazy glue the thread and then put on a plastic it really sticks !

[smalljaw]

What size hook do you use with that set up? I've been making round head 1/32oz jigs with a #6 hook for crappie, I cut the collar and barb off and then tie hair and feathers to the hook and when finished I put a small FG-9 weedguard in, I get a lot of request for that simply because there warn't many weedless crappie jigs. I'm not a trout angler but a friend of mine really loves it and he has me make him a 1/48oz minnow head with a #6 hook, I trim the collar on half of them that will have hair or feathers tied to it and the others he threads a small piece of plastic on and so I leave the collar and barb in tact. He told me he takes both type of jigs and just rigs them with a small trout magnet float about 2' above the jig and lets it drif naturally into the spot but he is fishing in streams.