Powder painting lead jigs

pequa1

pequa1

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Anyone do anything special regarding trying to prevent the hook eye from filling up with paint? Toothpicks burn when heated over the gas stove burner (wife doesn't like that) and waiting until the paint is totally dry sometimes results in some chipping where the hook eye meets the lead.
 
Its a good question. I used to cast all my own sinkers, but never got around to making bucktail heads. I've always bought them pre-painted, and sometimes the eye was full of paint, particularly with respect to the smaller sizes.

Normally I just take another bucktail and using the hook point I core out the first bucktail's eye. Seems to work OK for me, but this really doesn't address your original question. Sorry. . .
 
I just use a faulty hook to clean it out. You usually get a few duds in the package of hooks. I will use one of them to clean out the hook eyes. Also if you bake the jigs in a toaster oven after painting it should limit that flaking issue, but know that it is also harder to clean out the eyes after the paint is cured. Toaster ovens can be found pretty cheap on all of the second hand sales sites. Do not your the same one as you cook with, or your wife will have bigger issues with you than burnt toothpicks. ?
 
Never had to bake them after powder painting, the only chipping occurs near the hook eye when I clear the paint out. This time around I quickly stuck a toothpick into the eye as I took the painted jig away from better half's gas stove burner. I hold them with vice grips over the flame and into the powder paint (cheap at Harbor Freight!) so the toothpick thing worked pretty well. I have not seen fluke or weaks prefer my homemade jigs over the H&T Lure Co. pre-painted lol.
 
I just started making blackfish and fluke bucktails/balls last year. I finally got tired of worrying about losing $60 in tackle in one spot, so now I can lose much less $$$$. I have had great success on the blackfish jigs (sparkie/banana), but still honing in the bucktails. Truth be told I only used my own bucktails once last year and it was not a very active trip for anyone....
 
Sooo I've got a couple of questions regarding powder painting leadheads for bucktails. I made myself several fluid beds (diffetent colors) which makes it seem like dipping the heated leadheads into liquid paint, beautiful even coat of paint. I use a small length of wire the size of the hook eye to push out any paint right after I dip it. When I finish painting a batch of jigs I place them in a toaster oven at 300* for 25 min. 1st question: I've noticed the cooked jigs have a glob (like a nose) of paint on the head of the jig where the softened paint oozes to. I cant use less paint, whatever sticks when dipped is what sticks. Is the temp of the toaster oven to high or is the cooking time to long? 2nd question: I purchased a can of 'Seal Coat' jig and lure finish, a you tube video shows just dipping painted jig into finish and hanging till dry. I'm now thinking the same thing will happen, that it will dry with any excess knobbing up the head of the jig. Has anyone used this stuff? Are there any tips or trade secrets I might learn? Thanks for any advice or comments.
 
No help here. I only heat the lead head by holding them one at a time with vice grips over the gas stove burner, then quickly shove it into a jar of powder paint and just as quickly remove it. I tried dipping the bucks years ago into liquid paint but I found it chips more easily than the powder paint. I don't bother with the seal coat as I don't think it would slow the chipping of the nose of the jig bouncing along on sandy, muddy and mussel/clam shells that much. (With those I do "touch up" with regular liquid paint. I do use a finishing nail to push any paint out of the hook eye. Some of my jigs are thickly coated with the powder paint, with others one can still see the scales on the sides of the jig. I did start adding eyes (wife's crafty bead things) with CA (super glue.) Leprechaun got me interested in plastic skirts instead of using bucktail hair exclusively to dress them and had success with brightly colored as well as plain pink skirts. Definitely easier than tying bucktail hair.
 
I picked up some nice skirts at the Ward Melville show to try on my leadheads, like you mentioned its a different way to dress the jig instead of bucktail. I'll tell ya, using a fluid bed to aerate the powder paint really allows you to put a thin, even layer of paint on the jig. I get it, you dont believe baking the jigs after you paint them is necessary however from what I've gathered it creates a harder more durable coating. The seal coat should keep the stick-on eyes secure and allow the gloss finish to hold up a bit longer. Lol, it probably means more to me than it does the fish but I'm new at this so 1st time out I'm trying to follow the instructions from the videos I've seen. Just curious if there are any tips or tricks I can learn while I'm at the bench getting ready for the water to reach 50*.
 
Kayaking in trunks, maybe Sealskinz socks, and a tanktop or two, I am more concerned if the air temperature will ever pass 65° ! When you powder paint by heating the leadhead to almost melting, you definitely do not have to bake the jigs again. If I go back to dipping them in liquid paint I would rig something after they dried so that they could hang in the oven but not get any extra paint on the "nose." Is that what you do?
 
Haven’t gone for blackfish in ten years. Loved to catch and best to eat! Very few of size in south shore bays and i usually kayak and hardly use my bay boat anymore
 
pequa1 said:
Kayaking in trunks, maybe Sealskinz socks, and a tanktop or two, I am more concerned if the air temperature will ever pass 65° ! When you powder paint by heating the leadhead to almost melting, you definitely do not have to bake the jigs again. If I go back to dipping them in liquid paint I would rig something after they dried so that they could hang in the oven but not get any extra paint on the "nose." Is that what you do?
Click to expand...
I've never used liquid paint only the powder paint and I heat my jigs up with a heat gun not a torch. They never get near to melting just hot enough to melt the powder paint after being dipped. After dipping I hang them on a dowel to cool. When I've finished painting a batch I put them into a toaster oven to cure (they get really hard). I stick on eyes, write the weight on the bottom with a thin line Sharpie then dip them in seal coat and back to the dowel to dry. Now I either tie on bucktail or dress them with a silicone skirt. Sounds labor intensive but I can bang em out pretty quick. Now I'm just hoping to be around to feed them to a few nice juicy Fluke or Bass.
 
Probably like you, I also get a much bigger kick out of catching a fish with lures I made almost from scratch as opposed to buying pre-made. Same with teasers I tie with bucktail and flashaboo etc. The bucktail is from deer I have shot, the only thing not made is the plain leadheads. Was sorry when John sold Terminal Tackle after the loss of his dad, where I got my "smiling bills", but then Leprechaun put me onto H T Lures and one of the tackle stores sold the identical lead minnow jigs at Ward Melville the last two years, my only two attending the show.
 
I didn't know John's dad had passed, or that he sold Terminal tackle. Thats where I purchased my do-it molds to make my leadheads. The jigs I've been banging out are the Ultra Minnows (Spro look alikes) 1/2 - 4oz (2 separate molds) and the Smiling Bills 1/8-3/4oz. Its a bit of a ride for me but I love walking through Terminal tackle, always seem to buy much more than I went there for. Lol.
 
I miss the place as well. I think the elder passed in December 2018. At first they were doing only mail order than I am fairly certain that closed totally by last spring. My inlaws are in Smithtown so it was a snap to occasionally go there. I always had used their smiling bills that were in the various coffee cans but switched last year to the spro look alikes that HT Lure sells. Bought my flash a boo, thread, hooks there too. I just don't lose enough lures to have made buying the molds cost effective, and although I save my brass when I shoot, have no access to lead anymore.
 
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