| Art Weston |
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| Joined: 17 Jan 2011 |
| Posts: 221 |
| Location: United States |
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http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/189/dscf7619w.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/256/dscf7630o.jpg/
This jig concept came to be due to a few issues I have had with my own more traditional jig w/ rattle designs:
- Piranhas can and often destroy jigs in a single bite (and they bite often).
- Still workable jigs after piranha bites might have lost their "rattle" (due to their bites piercing the rattle cases).
- Stripping down damaged jigs and retying them on a trip requires quite a bit of work/time and a portable vice, hair, etc. needs to be packed.
- Bucktail is great in the water, but I have found that only 1 out of 3 "saltwater" tails ordered online has hair of the correct length and form to be ideal.
- Some anglers take upwards of 50-60 jigs on a trip which weigh a lot.
To address those issues to one degree or another, I have designed a Peacock Bass jig that is more durable and has replaceable parts.
To begin with, I wanted to eliminate the risk of piranhas biting off the trailer tail by incorporating an unkinkable 7-strand titanium leader that is covered in special shrink tubing called Kynar. Kynar adds some stiffness to the titanium tail along with abrasion resistance. I also am a rare fan of the trailer tail hook, so I finished the tail with an Owner 4/0 Gorilla Light hook (which required me to secure the leader inside the jig head itself). The main jig hook is my favorite Owner 5319 in size 5/0.
Next, almost all would agree that bucktail material is hard to beat, but I have found at least one material that may be a bit better ... DuPont's Lumaflex (Spandex threads). Lumaflex has been around in the fishing community for some time, but not widely known or used. In fact, it is very difficult to find today, but it is still available. It has some great features:
- Extremely durable to non-cutting stress (you can stretch it w/o breaking it)
- Very light reflective (so flashabou is not required in the jig builds)
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/849/dscf7623f.jpg/
- Flows beautifully in the water like bucktail does (maybe even better)
- **key trait** You can make skirts out of it at custom lengths (7" for the body, and 5" for the tail ... but will be half as long when doubled over on the jig)
At this point, the jig skeleton can accept the skirts like a normal jig, with the added step of moving the body skirt over the tail first, then over the body hook. However, Peacock jigs need a more streamlined profile, so, I have opted to secure the skirts with a simple 4" zip tie. You apply the tie after the skirt is on the jig, while you are holding down the material so that one half of the skirt is laying over the other half. This also grants some new benefits:
- the Lumaflex threads will not pull out of the jig like bucktail can.
- If you pull tight enough on the zip tie (above the jig's collar), the skirt isn't going anywhere, even after a violent fight.
There is still a bit of room on the jig to put a single or dual rattle collar on the jig and finish it off with some Magnum rattles (that can be easily replaced). I do cut the rattle collar a bit to make it slim enough to fit.
Only thing left is to put on the tail skirt and zip tie and you are done.
To replace the skirts, just snip off the zip ties, cut the skirt collar and replace both (body skirt first).
I did make one more modification that is only required if you opt for the trailer hook route. If you want the jig to have a nice head bob during the retrieve, you need to either go up to a 5/8 oz. head to offset the tail hook weight and/or you can move the jig hook eye backwards from the nose of the jig by using a Dremel tool to open up a new spot.
I figure, if these jigs are productive, you might only need to take a dozen or so bodies (less if you don't have many break-offs) and enough skirts to last. That should take the packing weight down some (the skirts for my jigs weigh 0.10 oz.).
I will work on another post that shows these jigs in action underwater.
-Art |
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