Watching the SW tiers on the site and trying their hardbody jigs, i have learned they are very effective and durable. I have adapted some of them for smallmouth and have done well with them but they are killers on bluegill! 
Learned a new little trick... maybe it is already used by tiers, but this was new to me. End result gives the look of a scale pattern. Glitter polish can be used to get a similar look, but the crystal flash or flashabou gives a distinct pattern rather than a random effect - and is very simple.
Used some bigger heads/hooks to show some off the SMB patterns. This one is a brown/green pattern - #4 hook - 1/16th (or so) shot head.
Tie the tail and body as you would a normal hard-body jig. Once you have the body shape you want, tie in either 2 pieces or a single strand of crystal flash/flashabou near the tail.
Spin them together... pretty much making something similar to a 2-strand floss.
Then wrap it up evenly spaced to the head. Unravel the leftover flash from your thread and trim the flash.
Whip finish and then top coat the body...
One other SMB favorite color pattern - black/red
Some of my micro (1/80 & 1/100) ties as well....
Pictures did not turn out as well as i had hoped... as always, capturing the crystal flash/flashabou can be tough and wasn't using the best lighting.
Learned a new little trick... maybe it is already used by tiers, but this was new to me. End result gives the look of a scale pattern. Glitter polish can be used to get a similar look, but the crystal flash or flashabou gives a distinct pattern rather than a random effect - and is very simple.
Used some bigger heads/hooks to show some off the SMB patterns. This one is a brown/green pattern - #4 hook - 1/16th (or so) shot head.
Tie the tail and body as you would a normal hard-body jig. Once you have the body shape you want, tie in either 2 pieces or a single strand of crystal flash/flashabou near the tail.
Spin them together... pretty much making something similar to a 2-strand floss.
Then wrap it up evenly spaced to the head. Unravel the leftover flash from your thread and trim the flash.
Whip finish and then top coat the body...
One other SMB favorite color pattern - black/red
Some of my micro (1/80 & 1/100) ties as well....
Pictures did not turn out as well as i had hoped... as always, capturing the crystal flash/flashabou can be tough and wasn't using the best lighting.
I would guess some thick styles of head cement would work also but NP is probably alot cheaper.