Up side down shad dart

[Bucho]

Hi,

I´ve been texting with some light rock fishing guys who emphasize "D"-shaped Jazz jigheads
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/pagos/item/10000292/

They said they had a nice darting action. Looking at them, they remind me more of a grave digger. I wonder if they swim and dart well without a plastic body but just some hair and feathers.
This reminded me of the shad dart, which also darts but rises in the process. You may not want that if you stand on an elevated position and target rockfish, however. What you do want in a feather/hair jig head though is a balanced head.

Somebody here wrote something about a modified shad dart mold with the lip pointing down, any more information on that?

 

[AtticaFish]

Have not heard of that modification to the shad dart but do know there is one out there that has been modified to have the hook eye far up at the nose of the head.... not a balanced head that way.

There is the Do-It Grave Digger mold - http://do-itmolds.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=1_7_227 - but that would not be center balanced by the looks of it either.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Looked at my Do-it 3032 dart mold, and yes, it would be possible to reverse the hook eye position to what was meant to be the underside of the head. Not a lot of room to drill a hook eye slot without running into the original eye slot of the next cavity, but do-able. That mod would shift the head weight to the underside, and of course the altered plane angle of the front face would create downward pressure for a further anchoring effect. So, for vertical "jigging" from a stationary hang might be more functional than the original shad dart design for keeping the jig deep & level.

For my horizontal casting tekneek I prefer the jig to hop vertically when twitched on retrieve and besides the upward plane angle of the original front face have moved the hook eye position forward for a more direct line of pull to direct the nose upward on demand.

 

[jiggerjohn]

That "D" shape looks interesting, and may just make for interesting experimentation(would like to get some!)! Tho the gravedigger type head never did much for me, nor did they wiggle without a plastic action tail to provide the motion! The only heads I've found that offer a slight wobble to a hair dressing is Hawn's HU heads, poured in light tin. However, my recent experiments with a standard dart shape (again Hawnjigs in nonlead) is to let them swim (or dive) straight down to bottom over moss or thin weeds & give fish the chance to strike at this straight down vertical presentation over key areas. Then, due to the way the normal dart lands face down, it'll stand in place for an easy pickup by cruising,interested fish,with a momentary rest. Following,just a short drag will stir up bottom debris (almost "walking" with this very slow motion) to create further interest. Yeah, the front end of the dart( I call this the "cowcatcher" like on old time locomotives!) will pick up weeds, but all onlooking fish see is the hair/wool/satin dressing & any tipping sticking up,as an easy target. I think this important straight up stand-up feature would be lost if an "inverse dart" were employed. Plus, recently Keith has made these with an extra long shank #2 hook that really sticks "up in the air" and proves to be a tremendous bottom walker in this fashion! I've been tipping with 2 kernals of corn the past few mornings and enjoying nice long battles with 12-20# carp on my 4# test !! Tho that long sharp hook offers surprises - this morning a nosy 12# snapping turtle musta been walking around my chummed corn on bottom -hooked him in the foot and had a great battle !!

 

[Hawnjigs]

What the heck is "dirt course"? The "D" head reminds me of the Do-it Yamamoto Swim Jig head, a very specialized design for a particular use.

Really tho, a jig head is just a sinkered hook. We can flog design theories like weight distribution, balance, deflection angles, etc. but ultimately the functional differences are minimal when it comes to actually catching fish or avoiding snags. JiggerJohn can catch trout with a 1" tie and bass on a 3" using the same jig head! The shad dart appears to have been designed as an open water swim jig, and JiJo apparently went outside the box and SUCCESSFULLY adapted it to stand up bottom dragging. Hmm, makes me wonder about a soft bottom bonefish app...

 

[Bucho]

In Japan they have a forwarding service for international customers ("Tenso") that I have just signed up for. Seems like many European rock fishermen buy a lot of their stuff this way. Japanese tackle has a very high reputation over here with respect to both innovation an quality.

That bottom bouncing is a very interesting adaptation indeed, wouldn´t have thought of that. I´ll give it a shot at whith my yet-to-be-developed flatfish jigs. Just received a stand-up spinner jig mold for that role which looks great but demands specialised hooks again... :dodgy:

Keith, I´m totally with you when you point out the simplicity of a jig as such. Problem is, fish don´t hold paypal accounts and if the customer wants something that I don´t have, I can either bluntly copy it (not my thing) or come up with an even better story. I´ve noticed a slight wiggle with a boolie version of a shad dart on a calm, steady retrieve, so I think I`ll give it a try with that reverse hook and see how it goes. I can always plug the hole with silicone.

 

[smalljaw]

That head looks kind of cool but I don't thing the rounded nose would work like a grave digger. I sold my grave digger mold and sometimes I wish I didn't, the thing with the grave digger is I didn't use it as its intended purpose, instead me and a bunch of bass club guys used it to swim grubs, it works awesome for that as the scooped head being pulled through the water made it move side to side like a small crankbait or swim bait. That reverse shad dart looks like it would be a great snap jig for walleye, but what ever it is intended it sure looks like a good design.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Just a reminder that for maxing the movement potential of action heads like the Cabelas's Grave Digger and Wobble Jig lighter 2/3 lead weight tin metal is a ticket. Other pourers have reported success using similar light weight tin alloy pewters and solders. Tin is also the shiniest of the common casting metals which would flash nicely thru transparent candy color paint.

Thinking about the reverse dart as a snap jig, since the water pressure on the face will resist rising, and line pull direction would usually have an upward component to inhibit sinking, jerks MIGHT result in path of least resistance lateral direction changes aka sideways darts.

 

[AtticaFish]

I played with some designs a while back trying to get a jig that would 'dart' out in different directions if i would snap it up vertically. Wanted it mostly for ice fishing where i would be dropping down below me and hope to get the jig to swim out a little from my hole. All of the designs i made did the best if they were made with a very simple and thin tail. If you made the tail to thick, you would loose the action.

I did get the best success with a wobble (spoon?) head when i flattened out the lip a little. One on the left i flattened. They really swing out in different direction when you lift your rod. BUT, they tended to spin as they floated back down.

One other idea i had worked well but was a pain to make. Took one of Keith's HU heads and epoxied a small shaped aluminum 'lip' on top. I made two of them and gave up. Looks like a helmet for a Medieval Knight.

Also got success when i placed ALL the weight far out in front of the eye of the hook - NOT a balanced jig. These were made using a small piece of shaped wire tied onto the hook shank and then crimping a removable split shot on to that extra piece of wire. They worked, but again, were a pain for me to make. (I actually did catch some fish on #2 & #3)

--- Got to looking around that site more...... this one might give a wobble action on the fall? Honestly, not sure what it would do, but is an interesting shape.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Two thoughts on a wobble type jig. First, a very proficient old time jig tier from the Midwest once showed me his secret "Mayfly" jig, claiming that during the several weeks hatch on any one of the Great Lakes it was virtually a walleye,bass, or panfish on every cast, when nothing else would even draw a hit. Relatively simple to tie (tho a bit tricky for its lip), it is made entirely of squirrel tail and a 1/32 oz roundhead. A short tail is formed at the back then the clump of squirrel hair is spiral wrapped toward the collar to form a body. Then the "tricky" part due to slippiness of this hair - a collar is form over the jighead with hair splayed & stacked in various directions to yield uniformity in thickness & solidity. Then its trimmed off square & well coated with fingernail polish. It sure looks like a bug or small crayfish & crawls the surface (behind a float, as my friend fishes it) or along bottom on light tackle with a slow,pause & go retrieve. Swims just like the old wide action flatfish plug if tied right! First time I used one I scored instantly!

Secondly on any thinnly tied light jig ( 1/20 or less) simply tip with a single large kernal of corn, wide end toward back - instant actionizing paddle tail!! This jig will wobble on the drop or slow steady coming back!

 

[Hawnjigs]

Har, corn in CO & WY will get your gear confiscated + a fine. Maybe cuffed if you try to impart your wisdom on a Ranger.

A hair collar is certainly a novel device for creating wobble, haven't noticed that in you current repertoire tho, JiggerJohn?

That "Ocean Ruler" looks like a great design - impossible to pour with conventional Do-it type mirror halves hinge molds. Concave surfaces create lift in the scoop, so the head will be very slow falling. The outrigger edges will resist head tipping, and I THINK the angle of them MIGHT create lateral darts on the jerk if opposing sides don't cancel each other out. My use would be a ripper skipper jig for surface feeding tropical ocean predators.

My late Uncle Shu was an extreme lure tinkerer, like our resident OK mad scientist. He would design his own sparkle paints using metal dusts & nail polish colorizers in acrylic base before epoxy was mainstream available back in the 60's. He figgered a way to create a concave plastic lip on jig heads which were devastatingly effective as popping surface lures, long before "Scroungers" were available. Wish I could have been more receptive to appreciating his genius back then.

 

[Bucho]

So I went to the oldest stamp shop in town, the only one said to be capable of gravings like mold modulating, and after 15min of explaining and 4 day notice I finally get this



I am very sure I mentioned the words "use hook shank axis as mirror" and "ballance" more than once, to a person that called himself an angler. Brought a cast, hooks and everything... When I complained, he kept talking about his machine and computer and how hard it was to get a little individual graving done on a block like that. When I suggested to swiftly do it by hand, he refused as that would not be exact enough.
Now I will have to how to learn how to do that instead as I can´t find an old school engraver in a city of 250.000 people... Do you believe it?

Then again, with that top heavy "D-Type" Japanese Jighead in mind, maybe its worth a few trial casts before I plug that hole tight again. Maybe I heat up the lead right now...

 

[AtticaFish]

Looks like it might have been a simple misunderstanding.... he mirrored the eye/shank from the bigger jig to the right! Maybe it would have helped if you had penciled in the location where you wanted it.

I would sure give it a pour test and tank test just to see what it does in the water before you completely fill it in. It just may perform (wiggle) better since the pivot point is farther back. It may let it move easier is my thought. Has me wondering if your line tie was close to the top lip edge (like you originally wanted) that it might 'anchor' the jig and not let it wiggle/wobble at all. Who knows though... hard to guess at these things since i am no engineer and just a hack.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Who knows, a head down attitude might be attractive? The "D" head and Roadrunner appear to have a similar front heavy balance. If the design works your jigs would certainly be unique. Like AtticaFish"s extreme forward & down pinned jigs.

And, our cats always lift their behinds when their backs are scratched...

 

[Bucho]

Just been to the harbour for a swift field test in last daylight - it works in a way, but it looks awkward as it remains in its unbalanced nose-down position. It has a swing, which again is slow and awkward looking. Dives like hell though. All in all it reminds me of my very first belly spiinner which I later found out to be nose heavy - after I caught a nice seatrout with it in all confidence.
From when I had a fish tank, I remember it was the sick and weiredly moving fish that were picked on by the others in all agressivenes...

It doesn`t look like a winner but I keep it in my arsenal.

 

[AtticaFish]

A dying baitfish is a meal to a predator. Awkward and not quite right might be the ticket!