Custom making jigs, Fuzzy-Wuzzy Jigs

[FuzzyWuzzy]

Just started to make my own Jigs and got bored of the usual rubber band elastic style skirts.  So I started to play around with some different materials and found the best.  These look amazing in the water, I can't wait to see how they do in the spring and summer.  Let me know what you think or if you have any questions.  First time making any kind of fishing lure any advice or tips would be helpful.

Fuzzy-Wuzzy was a Jig...

[attachment outdated - deleted by admin]

[BIG PAPA]

Great job

[bigjim5589]

Good looking jigs! 

You can't go wrong with rabbit strips! I've been making jigs & flies with rabbit for many, many years! 

[FuzzyWuzzy]

Thanks.

Yeah this fur looks so good in the water, puffs up like nothing else i've seen.  Do you happen to know of any other furs that would work like rabbit?  Maybe squirrel or chipmunk?  Something super soft and very VERY fine.

Again thanks for the positive replies, any tips?  I'm using super glue and thread, so far no issues with them falling apart. 

   

[attachment outdated - deleted by admin]

[bigjim5589]

There are other fur's that can be used in similar fashion as rabbit. Here's some that I've also used.

Red or Arctic Fox is very good, but generally longer hair. Can be dyed any color.
Finn Raccoon works well, but is not as easy to get.
Australian Opossum, very soft similar to rabbit, maybe a bit denser.
Opossum, the North American variety works well too, but has more guard hairs. Dyes well.
Raccoon can be used, but is coarser hair.
Skunk is very similar to rabbit, but the guard hair is a little stiffer. Primarily black.
Squirrel, but the hair is shorter & coarser. Dyes well.
Mink, more & stiffer guard hair, and shorter hair. Mostly brown.
Bobcat, likely the most similar hair you will find to rabbit. dyes well, but great natural color.
Muskrat, another fur similar to rabbit, but more & stiffer guard hairs. Primarily black or brown.
Nutria, more & stiffer guard hairs.

Most any fur that is used to make fur coats, works well to make jigs or flies. 

[FuzzyWuzzy]

Thank you so much bigJim for all those.   About to hit up my local lake again and fish these all day.  The black seems to be getting the most hits.  Only issue is I'm getting short bit,  maybe a trailer hook.

[jesse1378]

if your getting short bit, maybe take 1/2-1" off until the hook up ration increases? or maby take a soft plastic and use it as a trailer but make it short so the action from it is close to the hook....i could see a speed craw trimmed short being a killer on that. action from the craw when you move it then when you stop the claw are up and you get the poof from the rabbit tail....reaction strike anyone???

[bigjim5589]

You're welcome! I use black a lot too!  Getting short hits may not be from bass, I've had Bluegills & other panfish hit hair jigs. Shortening the rabbit strip tail kinda defeats the purpose of using the rabbit. Try a trailer hook, but not a regular one like you might use on a spinnerbait. Instead, tie a few more jigs, and include a folded piece of braid lashed to the hook shank, & under the rabbit strip tail, and add a Octopus type stinger hook. With a regular trailer, you may have problems with the tail wrapping around it, or if you thread the tail onto the trailer, it may make the tail too "stiff". The braid will be just as flexible as the rabbit.

Check out MOAL flies, which are salmon/steelhead flies & stands for "Mother Of All Leeches" They're tied with the braid for using a stinger. Actually, MOAL flies make real good bass flies as well, and are basically the same thing as you're already tying! 

There is another of these flies that sews the braid along the rabbit strip tail, which you could also do with the jigs! 

If you're going to use plastic trailers, then I would switch to a different type hair jig, maybe something tied with tail hair. Fox, coyote, squirrel, deer, or even skunk tail all make good hair jigs, and you can incorporate the rabbit strip with these materials as well. 

I've played with all kinds of hair combinations, and they all work very well! Just don't over dress them! 

[Dug]

If you can find some Polar Bear fur, it's makes the best Hair Jigs I have ever used.  Pieces are very hard to find and shipping to the US from canada is illegal, but there is still some around (pre-1973) if you look hard enough and are willing to pay for it.  Billy Westmoreland used to swear by these for smallmouth fishing in Dale Hallow, but switched over to brown bear when polar bear was  no longer importable.

Dug

[bigjim5589]

Dug, I have a small piece of Polar Bear, and it's unique stuff, very translucent & has a nice shine to the hair. It was & still is very popular with salmon fly tyers where still legal.  I recently saw a small piece of Polar Bear on Ebay priced at $10 plus shipping. To me that's too expensive for tying jigs, especially since there are many other hairs that work very well. If it was still readily available & legal, I would definitely use it. Black & brown bear both make good hair jigs.