# Steelhead-smallmouth hair jigs



## kyjake

Need to make several jigs for smallmouth and steelhead,would like some input on making some that will catch fish.Have jigs from 1/16 oz to 3/4 oz.rabbit and deer hair.Have search the forum for information,not found much but do think the hooks in the jigs I make might be a little large for steelhead as the smallest I have are #1 with most of the smallest jigs being poured with 1/0 hooks,both heavy and light hooks.If I need other materials please tell me what to order as I am new to tying bucktails.
Jake


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## "Big" mark the shark

I would use a number 8 hook with a 1/16 to a 1/32 head lite wire hook's Do you pour you'r own head's or do you bye them.You may whont to think about pouring you;r own if you don't . becose you can custmize what hook's you use and what tyip.For the smally's i would use a 1/8 to 1/4 depending on if you are fishing river or lake. And they'r i would use a number 6 up to a 1/0 hook's i use a number 1 sikel bar hook and do vary good .I hope this help's you out.


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## cadman

jake,
I will have to tend to agree with Mark. I guess to start this off you would have to know if you are looking for heavy hooks or light wire or aberdeen. Aberdeen are the thinnest. The Matzuo Sickle like Mark mentioned are very popular and very sharp. They can be poured in numerous style of heads. If you need more help on this, PM me and I can tell you what hooks fit what molds. I pretty much have all the molds so we can do a lot of trial and error before it's poured.


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## Fish Scalper

Smallmouth love the same Hair Jigs the Walleye do as that hair was first used on smallmouth jigs. If I was making jigs strickly for smallmouth, I'd use the craft hair on a football or standup type jig; little flashabou never hurts on the Smallies. The football heads allow you to also use a rubber tail.


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## kyjake

Thanks for all the replies.I am tying these jigs for someone else trying to get some idea's from people who were familiar with steelhead as I have never fished for them.I do pour my own jigs but have nothing now with a hook smaller than #1.Most of mine are poured on the old style Do-it wally mold made for O'Shaughnessy hooks but use Aberdeen for the smaller hook sizes.Anybody know how small a hook will work in this mold?Made a trade with someone from this board and I owe him jigs and want to make him good ones that he can get some fish on.Some pictures would be nice.Haven't fished for bass in many years but when I did thought a hair jig with an Uncle Josh pork rind may be the best early season bait.
Thanks
Jake


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## jojopro

Big difference between bass/walleye jigs and steelhead jigs. Bass/walleye jigs are actually 'jigged' whereas steelhead jigs are dead drifted below a float (bobber). In order to get a good jigging motion on the bass/walleye jigs you need the additional weight (1/8 oz or more) whereas steelhead jigs are typically much lighter (1/32 oz or less). When I float fish for steelhead with jigs I allready have weight on my leader above the jig, so I prefer to keep my jigs very light (preferably less than 1/64 oz). The lighter the steelhead jig the more it will move around while drifting with the flow of the river. Since bass/walleye jigs are actually being jigged they can be tied with stiffer materials that don't offer much movement (such as bucktails). However, since steelhead jigs are being dead drifted, I prefer to use materials that have much more movement, (such as maribou plumes or rabbit fur), which will pulsate in the water giving it a more lifelike appearance. For steelhead I like to use strong sharp hooks, and most of the smaller pre-poured jig heads have crappy dull light wire hooks (no good IMO). Since I have yet to find a pre-poured jig head that I like for steelhead I have been making my own by tying on a metal bead with a small pin through it. I use hematite beads from Pat Catans craft store which are very light weight. Brass beads are also used and give more weight than the hematites but also cost quite a bit more. My preferred jig hooks are Daiichi 4660 in size 6 or 4 or Mustad 32746BLN size 4 - 8. Both of these hooks extremely sharp and strong. 

Here are some pics of some of the jigs I have tied in the past for steelhead.








These are the beads and pins I had referred to.









This has become my go-to jig as of late for steelhead. A purple maribou plume tied over top of a white one. Two strands of Krystal Flash on each side and the body is wrapped with white pearl chenille with the top of the body colored purple with a permanent marker. I tie this up in many other color combos as well but keep white on the bottom.









A very simple tie here. It's just 2 maribou plumes tied on and then wrapped up towards the head of the jig and tied off. This is a size 8. 









Some times when the fish are heavily pressured it pays to go smaller. These mini maribou jigs are tied onto pre-poured 1/100 oz trout head jigs I got from Janns Netcraft (either size 10 or 12 hook??). Also very simple ties just one maribou plume tied in and wrapped up towards the head of the jig.









I used regular yarn from a craft store and pulled it apart into individual fibers to tie up this jig on a pre-poured 1/64 oz jig head. I like the way the orange jig head gives the appearance of an egg being eaten by a minnow.

Allthough I tie a lot of my jigs with more than one color on them...if I have to go with one singel color to fish it would be white as it most closly mimics a live minnow. My other top single colors for steelhead are black, chartreuse, olive, purple, and hot pink. A general rule of thumb I follow for tying maribou jigs is that I tie in a maribou tail about equal to the length of the jig hook. I'll see if I can get some more jig pics up here in the future. 

Good luck with your tying.

John


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## Whaler

JOJOPro, nice job on the jigs and good logic !


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## Shortdrift

That pin through the bead is a great idea.


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## kyjake

John,
Thanks for the wonderful tutorial on steelhead jigs.I would hope to make some half as nice as yours.Have just started tying up my first jigs and having trouble keeping them neat but hope to get better.Have a fishing buddy that lives about 50 miles away who does a good job tying bucktails am going to make an appointment to go to his place for a day of lessons and trade him out of some small jigs as the smallest I pour is 1/16 oz.Will look into getting him some of the hooks you recomended for the steelhead.We sometimes split 1000 hook boxes to save a little money.
Jake


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