Jigs Part 2 w AAA special contributor Eric Koenig..

Posted: March 31, 2014 by Hellcat in Fish Reports, Gear Fishing, Out of Area, Salmon, Trout & Steelhead, Tutorials
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Making Jigs Part 2: Paint

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There are two different methods to painting jigs that I like to use – those two types are powder or vinyl. Most of these paints can be bought at your local tackle shop or ordered online. For powder paint I like to use Pro-Tec powder paint for the ease of use. If I’m using vinyl then I like to use the paint from Component Systems.

Powder or Vinyl?

Which one to use? I used to like powder because of how simple and little mess there was. The powder process gives you a decently strong paint finish but after bouncing them on some rocks for an afternoon the paint starts to chip. Vinyl paint was an eye opener for me on how durable jig paint can be. Brad’s Jigs of Aberdeen, Washington were the first jigs I used with vinyl jig paint and I was very impressed at how durable the paint was. I switched to vinyl because it is a much more durable jig head than powder and I am very particular about my gear. I hated the chipped jig heads, so the change to vinyl was an easy switch. Although the process takes longer, it is the strongest jig head that I have ever seen and it will not chip. Fishing Addicts Northwest has done a review of vinyl painted jigs here —>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgJayt3WM0I

Powder Paint How To:

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For painting jig heads with powder you need to heat up the jig head for 8-10 seconds then swish it in the powder paint (I use a candle for heating). Heating up the jig head to the right temperature takes some practice. As the jig head heats up you will see the lead turn slightly darker (It’s not very noticeable the first few times you try) and that is when you know it is time to swish it into the paint. After you have enough jig heads done you can cure them by putting them in the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees (be sure not to use the cook’s best bake ware for this project!). The trick to curing your jig heads is to find a way that they will not burn in the oven or drop paint into the heating element (so as not to paint the bottom of your oven) but to keep the eye of the jig pointed down so the excess trickles off the eye. Here is a tip to the paint out of the eye. Take a paperclip and unfold it, then heat up one end with a candle and stick it through the eye (easiest method that I have found besides using another hook). Although not the strongest paint for jig heads, it is an easy one coat process and can be done very quickly. Here is quick video on how to paint your jig heads with powder paint–?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4S6dTxIMtc

Vinyl Paint How To:

Vinyl is a little bit trickier in the sense that you have to get paint thinner to work with it. The paint thinner makes the fumes pretty harsh so I’d recommend a respirator and a well-ventilated area if you plan on doing a lot of jig heads. First, take some of the paint and mix it with paint thinner and get the mix very thin (roughly the consistency of a thickened cream, like in the video below). Apply one to two coats of white paint first and then apply your desired color with one or two more coats followed by a final finish coat. As a note to painting with vinyl, two thin coats are stronger than one coat of paint if you plan on going for the ‘chip-free’ jig head. Dip your jig head in and hang it up to dry just like this video.


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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW1ahpDpMas. If you are looking for a good deal on vinyl paint I suggest http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/?gclid=CPfc197t47wCFRSUfgodxWEAEw. Stay tuned for Part 3 and 4 where I go over some of the materials needed and the actual tying of jigs.

Tight Lines

Eric Koenig
AAA Pro-Staff

Comments
  1. strick says:

    Great insight on how to. Top notch article.

  2. Jim Reed says:

    Great how to video.. been curious about powder coating and how its done right. Thanks for sharing!!

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