Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Roll-Your-Own Fishing Lures

While searching the internet for a particular video, I stumbled across a video describing how to make your own fishing lures from paracord. Though the basics of the idea were solid enough, the execution left huge room for improvement.

That said, here is my greatly improved method for making your own fishing lures from basic paracord.

Materials required for this project:
  • Paracord in your chosen color
  • 1/8 oz fishing jig
  • thread
  • superglue or clear nail polish

Pull the center threads approximately an inch out of the outer sheath.

Cut your paracord so that the outer sheath is roughly the length from the back of the jig head to the bend of the hook. The center strands will hang beyond this, as shown.

Thread the hook through the sheath, while pinching the whole paracord bundle to keep the center threads in place.  The sheath will end up sliding over the base of the jig head.

Wrap the thread around the sheath where it covers the base of the jig head to secure it to the hook. If you have a fly-tying vise, it makes ths a very simple step. If not, a bit of tape or a pair of pliers used on the point of the hook provide a huge help. A couple wraps of thread towards the tail of the hook are optional, but make the lure more durable. However you wrap, your last passes should be behind the thread, and secured with the knot of your choice.

Use superglue or clear nail polish to seal the thread wrap at the head and extend the life of the lure. Trim the inner strands so that the ends are even, to form a tail 1/2 to 3/4 the length of the hook. Fluff the tail to get more motion under water, which will attract more fish.
The finished product.

While jigs like this will work on their own, they're even more effective when tipped with a piece of worm, fish meat, or some other bait.  They quite nicely replicate commercially manufactured jigs, at a fraction of the cost, and are a staple in almost any tackle box.

Lokidude

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