Problems fitting in fiber weed guards

[Bucho]

Hi,

I just bought my first weed guard mold, the Do-It Football weedless, together with matching 1/8" teflon base hole pins and 1/8" Y-fiber weedguards. I have no experience with weedguards whatsoever.

In my first trials, I heat the naked head, then put in the pin, then dip, blow off remaining dust from the cold pin and then bake which gives me a neat 1/8" hole to glue the weedguard in after tying the jig. So in theory, because the guards are tedious to fit in since the stump where the fibers are melted together is slightly thicker than my nice accurate 1/8 hole in the paint.

Any ideas? maybe another weedguard? stripping of fibers? The whole bundle seems to be a lot of plastic to bite through anyhow considering the main target species is perch and the hook size used would rather be a bit smaller, further shadowing the hook point. :huh:

 

[Hawnjigs]

I dislike weedguards and after a few missed hookset sessions quit using them entirely. That said many have mentioned using weedguard jigs with great success, with perhaps a preference for single "strand" wire.

From experience with lead free weedless football heads, I can say that FG-30 fiber guards need to have a few strands removed to easily insert into stock base pin holes. Never tried the solid Y-guards fit.

 

[goodtimesfishing]

I read where someone recommends putting open end of guard in hole and then cut the other end to the length you want......removing the base of guard rather then glueing in head.

 

[Bucho]

Alright, thanks, so I´m not the only one experiencing this sort of trouble. Glueing in the other end isn´t much of an option with a y-shaped bundle but trimming the stem or removing a few fibers sounds good. I´m thinking about buying regulars next time. I could as well mold them in and leave the head plain for use with plastics.

 

[Kdog]

Alright, thanks, so I´m not the only one experiencing this sort of trouble. Glueing in the other end isn´t much of an option with a y-shaped bundle but trimming the stem or removing a few fibers sounds good. I´m thinking about buying regulars next time. I could as well mold them in and leave the head plain for use with plastics.

I made a bunch for a fishing buddy and cussed him the whole time. I ended up making a special tip for a soldering iron. Drilled a hole in the end of the tip, pushed the weed guard in the hole, then when you pulled it out, there was a little taper from the drill point and it was usually misshaped but a quick trim and they fit perfect.

He did not have enough weedguards for number of hooks, so I cut some pieces of weedeater line and I think 3 pieces fit perfectly. Long story short, He liked the home made versions better. I have read a lot of variations ranging from 20 - 60 pound mono, piano wire, weedeater line, etc. Heck, I've even though about using a feather find a heavy quill that fits, trim to proper length and glue in.

I think this is an area where imagination can be very helpful. Something I have not tried but probably will someday is to get some small O rings. thread some mono and play till I get the desired fit. Glue it in cut it off
and glue up a bunch.

Good luck and let your imagination run wild.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Some molds will make a single wire guard jig that you have to trim off the extra lead where the pin or guard would have been. This is what I do with my poison tail jig mold. Experiment with the mold and see what you come up with. I have the same problem with the weed guards and usually pull out 6-10 strands before gluing them in place.

 

[Bucho]

I like the wire idea. Molds in, paint`n bake together, no fuzz. Once I got my engraving machine running I could cut such a notch into any given mold and use wire from the coil. Then again, I would have to bend it forth and back to do the tying... Gonna play around with a few cheap molds and see how it goes.