Making your own crappie-fishing jigs can be a rewarding hobby. By making your own tackle, you can create lures found nowhere else. It’s easy and inexpensive to make your own tackle; just follow these simple steps:
1. What you’ll need to start: Melting equipment, either a lead furnace with pouring spout or a lead melting pot and ladle, appropriate safety gear, ample lead supply and a well-ventilated area.
2. Position hooks inside the mold. After melting the lead to the appropriate temperature, pour the molten lead into the mold through the opening (gate).
3. Once the lead has hardened and cooled to the touch, remove it from the mold.
4. Remove the excess lead, or sprue, from the cast jig using a pair of gate shears. The sprue cut and any excess lead, called flashing, can be shaped or trimmed off using a flat knife blade.
5. The cast jig is then dipped in metal paint primer. Some paints, such as vinyl paint or powder coating, do not require priming. After priming, color coats can be sprayed or dipped with enamel, epoxy or automotive paints. Once dry, color accents, stick-on eyes or glitter can be applied. A final clear coat is then added for shine and durability.
6. Dressing lures or jig bodies will require a tying vise and a spring wire bobbin. Bucktail, marabou and a number of natural or synthetic materials are used for dressing lures. The dressing is trimmed with scissors and the thread wrapping is secured with clear cement.
For further instruction and to purchase materials for making your own tackle, check out www.do-itmolds.com.
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