[LEFT]Just playing around at the vise with the split shot jig heads and came up with a small minnow pattern that I think will work out great. I’m showing the split shot and hooks for people who may not have seen my last posting. The pattern I’m tying is on a slightly different size 6 hook but it works the same way. Here’s a photo of the split shot and hooks, some finished heads ready to dress and an example of the pattern. Super easy to tie and rides hook up in a nose-down attitude so it gets a nice jigging action and stands on its head when at rest on the bottom like a feeding or injured fish. Just a bit of wool roving to as a tail, a few wraps of dubbing for a body, two hackle feathers for the sides of the body and one hackle wrapped as a collar. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all. Just thought I’d share.
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Thanks Jim, I like that idea of the split shot on the jig hook and then putting the eyes on. Did you use lead free shot? Did you crimp the shot around the hook or glue it?
Thanks,
Mike
Neat idea.
Rick
Mike,
I did use a lead-free BB-size split shot. I first crimp the shot on the hook just enough to hold it in the position I want. Then I add a drop of 5-minute epoxy to each split shot to fill in the cracks/crevices and give it a good squeeze to crimp it shut nice and tight. This holds the shot securely to the hook and leaves just a bit of epoxy over the split in the shot. Once that dries, I add a coat of UV nail polish in the color I want and hit it with the UV light to dry. Then I add the eyes and give it a coat of clear Solarez thick formula and dry it with the UV light. I usually prepare about 6 or 8 jig-head hooks at a time, then tie them up with the pattern/colors I want. Using this method, I can use the hook size/style I want and add the amount of weight I want. If I want just a bit less weight, I use a small file to trim the shot before applying the UV nail polish.