Tungsten panfish jigs

[2XL]

 Instead of paying 2+ bucks a pop for them at the bait shop I wanted to see if I could powder paint them myself myself. Last week I ordered some unpainted 4mm and 3mm tungsten jigheads and decided to take a crack at painting them this morning. It's a cruddy picture ( they look really good in person ) but I think you'll get the idea. They are all two tone jigs. I did try a three toned color scheme but that proved to be a bridge too far for me today.

Anyhow, the colors are Candy blue on top silver hologram on the bottom. Purple flash on top silver hologram on the bottom and bright green on top char green on the bottom. I put 1/8" stick on eyes on them then a coat of CS UV Blast Seal Coat. It was a little touch and go heating them but I only wrecked one jig in the process. Fortunately, I was able to repair it. Powder painting these jigs is probably not the best route to go but it can be done = I'm pretty happy with the results.



I also had an idea to try to recreate a little jig that is no longer made but has put a LOT of panfish on the ice for me through the years. In essence it's a spot of lead about the size of a 1/32 head on the shank of a salmon egg hook. My plan was to affix a small tungsten bead to a salmon hook and see what panned out. . That idea turned out to be a total fail in the end but I ended up putting a tungsten bead on a #10 Lil Nasty hook.



If nothing else, it's an easy way to get a true gold colored small round headed jig.

[Mike J]

They look great! And even though it's a little tedious having to be so careful not to melt the solder the finished product sure looks nice. And one more of your own creations to fish with. Now you just need to get out after some gills.

[2XL]

Yeah, The solder gave out on one head but I was able to get it back in place pretty easily with that clear cure goo you told me about. That stuff is the bomb ! LOL I'll paint the repaired head with acrylic paint and see how that goes.

Unfortunately, due to unavoidable circumstances, I won't be able to get out fishing until next Wednesday.

[ctom]

Nice work 2XL. Is the gold bead plated?

[2XL]

I believe they are Tom. The beads are slotted to accept hook sizes 14,12 and 10 I believe. They are relatively easy to put together even for a guy with fat fingers like me.

[jmelton]

Great post.live in the trout capital of the world answered my question on using on the lil'nasty's thanks.
Best place to buy tungsten bead's thanks.

[Mark]

Nice Job.  I know the bait shops don't give these guys away.  The Kodiac tungsten are $3.79 up here

[ctom]

Welcome aboard Mark. Good to see you here!

[Mark]

Thanks.  Lok forward to contributing in any way I can

[2XL]

Well I took the Tungsten heads out for a trial run yesterday and managed to scrape up dinner.



It was my first time fishing Tungsten heads and I was really happy with how they fished. I did have one hook break though after I stuck it into one of my gloves and tried to pull it out VS cutting it out. It didn't take much pressure to break it either which kind of surprised me. But then I thought about it and figure I had changed the temper of the hook when I heated the jig to powder paint it and that made the hook more brittle. Sucks , but a lesson learned I guess. I'll try painting some with acrylic paint next and see how that goes.

After a few years break I am getting back into fishing for panfish through the ice again. Prior to this, I never gave much thought to using Tungsten heads mostly because I pretty much use the same old same old lead jigs and the tungsten heads are a fair bit more expensive. The cheapest Tungsten heads around here go for $2.50 to as much as 6 bucks ( are you kidding me ? LOL ) so I started to look around for unpainted tungsten jigs. Thanks Mike. It's a little more futzing around painting them but at about a third of the cost of buying them off the shelf  I figure it's worth it. I placed an order for the ice head ( Ice Tickler ) mold last night. Those little tails should work like a champ on these heads.

It's sunny, 50 degrees but the wind is pushing 40 mph right now so I'm land bound today. The thought of watching my icefishing gear get blown across an 800 acre lake doesn't exactly trip my trigger. LOL Otherwise, I'd be out on the ice fishing these jigs again. Maybe tomorrow.

Thanks for the comments. Is anyone else here painting these heads ?

Welcome aboard Mark.

[Mark]

 started using tungsten last year.  Now that's all I use on the ice.  My fav. colors are firetiger, gold/orange, watermellon and gold. chart.

[2XL]

The Smallies like them too. LOL This one popped out of the hole yesterday. It was only about 15" but put up a good fight on 2 pound test line.

[Mark]

nice.  Last Sat. I caught a 27" pike on a Kodiac Tungsten size 5 on 3 lb p line.  fishing for Crappies.  That was fun.

[2XL]

Cool. I've caught a few Large Mouth Bass too in that spot this winter.  I like those little surprises unless it costs me a jig. Ha One of the old timers ( Pushing 80 ) that I fish that spot with caught a 25.5" Northern on 2 pound test yesterday. He was giggling like a little kid the whole time he was fighting it. LOL

[Mark]

Time tomorrow to give the tungsten jigs another work out.  Will probably fish tomorrow afternoon, Sat for a while and same on Sun.  Hoping the ice is good for another week or so.  There is 16" of ice. Undecided if I should drive out or walk.