Soft Head Jig - What do you think?

[Marty]

NO fishing for two weeks so I spending the time getting ready for the big day. Here is something I came up with about a year ago to help my jig fishing. You see my mind is as fast as it has ever been but I have slowed down in my reaction time. To give me just a split second more time to react I put a soft coat on my lead head jigs. I believe that a bass will spit out a jig once he feels the lead head. To give me that entry second for I can tell if I have a bass on the other end I do the following:

1. I get one of my tube baits (one that matches the jig I want to use) and cut the head of the tube to go over the lead head of the jig. I then poke two holes into the head of the tube I just cut. One hole to match the eye of the hook and the other for the brush guard on top of tube head.

2. I tape up the skirt on the jig all the way to the head of the jig. This is to protect the skirt. I then slip on the cut head of the tube, by pushing the brush guard through the top hole I poke into the tube head. Once it is all the way down I work the rest of the cut tube head over the lead head of the jig. Be careful the tube can pull apart if you pull to hard.

3. Once the cut head of the tube is on, I take my Bic and heat the tube to make it fit real sung on the jig.

I have found out that the smaller thinner tubes works better that the big and thicker tube heads and they cost less. This may not be for you young stud but older guys like myself may like it. I also found out that my scent will stay on longer with the soft head. I was thinking of calling it Marty’s soft head since I’m so old. Ha Ha.

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[vinnybass]

I like it. Plus you can have about any color jig you'd want without carrying 200 pounds of them in the boat.

[Marty]

I was hoping for a little more input! Talk about getting your feeling hurt!

[RipnRog]

Well I read this earlier in the day and thought that if it gives you confidence then hey do what you like with your jigs and your time. I personally do not think it is something I need to do. Here is why.
I only fish one color jig (brown). I know that there are color variations and I make this adjustment with my trailers of which I only use 3 colors Purple brown and a purple with chartruse.

The reason I would not do it to my jigs is because they are all powder coated and I do not worry about a fish feeling lead. back 15 years ago I only used 1/2 ounce and 1 ounce footbal heads that i poured myself and never painted. I used the kailens spider skirt and twin tail grub trailer. I used to whack moneter bass on castaic and casitas with this and back then these were some very highly pressured fish.

MY opinion only Rodger

[Noluk]

Absolutely a great trick. Very nice of you to share it. Does it last long while you are fishing it? It would seem to be likely to reduce the realy bad hangups that can cost you a jig as well.

Does it seem to affect the rate of fall? And finally, have you had any problem with the skirt/tube melting together in your tackle boxes?

[Jason C.]

Hey Marty,
Man I say that is one heck of an Idea The only thing I would worry about is in a way loseing contact with the bottom. Have you experianced this or had any problems with it? Man Im already comein up with some good ideas off of this! one thing you might want to try is just tying it on with some light test braid? it might keep it on longer? Just a thought! Also to prevent loss of touch with the bottom maybe put an extra hole where the head would be touching the bottom so you dont lose so much sensitivity? I dont know I say try it in a pool(so that way you arent breaking off limit rules) and see how you like it! But great Idea man!!

[Jason C.]

I just had another idea if you havent already thougth of it try putting the scent in the tube head of the tube fill it up then put it over the jig that way it cinstantly holds the scent long because its traped insid eof something! Try it out! And keep a tight line!!

[nipples]

I like the idea Marty and your creativity gives me the inspiration to try to take it to the next level. Since I pour my own plastics, I think I will try dipping a couple jigs head deep in a pan of hot plastic to give them a nice soft coating. I'm thinking it might look a little better, will not be as thick, and will save me from killing some tubes.

If you pour your own soft plastics, you might want to try that to. There are several plastics I make where I do a freehand dip into clear plastic to give the bait a glossy clear coat that looks similar to basstrix plastics.

For the freehand dip I use very thin copper wire that I strip out of old speaker wire. It pierces the bait and allows me to dip and hang to dry. And I can keep using the small strips of wire over and over.

Thanks again for sharing that idea.

-Paul-

[bassenvy]

funny I was just at the Tstore one hour ago and was looking at soft head jigs...never seen them and wondered why you would want to kill the noise. After reading your guys' posts I see a number of reasons

1)color change
2)picky bass
3)scent
4)bigger profile w/o weight
5)I'm sure you could rig a rattle somehow so it doesn't hurt the skirt action

nice tip...thanks for sharing

[Waterdog]

Paul since you pour your own plastics, try this one for a little something different. Instead of pouring lead in a jig mold...try pouring plastic into it as if you were making a jig. The weight is not there, but you can fix that if you think about it for a little bit. Really gives a jig a different look. I've tried it...it works.

Just a thought.

Jim

[nipples]

Great Suggestion Jim,

I'll be trying that out real soon. With the shallow season just around the corner, I can see the soft jigs working. Slow fall, great profile, a ton of skirt action, a lot of water displacement and water noise when retrieving. Possibly fish it like a senko. I think you struck some gold there.

Thanks,

-Paul-