How to Make Aluminum Fishing Jigs
Fishing jigs are typically lead headed and designed to sink and "jig" along the water bed, attracting fish with their activity and bright colors. Store-bought jigs range in price from $5 to $12, and replacing lost jigs can get expensive. The basics for constructing a jig are to make it easy to cast, weighted to sink, flashy and supportive of an effective hook presentation. A simple and effective method is to make a jig with aluminum foil.
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Things You'll Need
- Aluminum foil
- Scissors
- Size 7 or 8 hook
- Electrical tape
- Twist tie
- 3-4 small pebbles
- Fishing line
Instructions
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Cut a square piece of aluminum foil 2 by 2 inches.
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Mark or scrape a tiny puncture hole in the center of the foil with a scissor blade and carefully run the straight end of your hook through it, tearing as little of the foil as possible. Run about half of your hook through the foil; the point of the hook should be about a half-inch from the foil.
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3
Tear 3 small pieces of electrical tape and stick them around the straight end of your hook where it meets the aluminum foil halfway down the hook's length. This will seal the hook to the foil and prevent further tearing. Layer the tape pieces around the hook in a triangular pattern.
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Thread and tie the top end of your hook with your fishing line.
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5
Place the square piece of foil flat on the inside of the palm of your hand, holding the bottom end of the hook between your index and middle finger. Place the pebbles around the straight end of the hook where it meets the foil, and wrap the foil around them covering the entire length of the upper hook. The foil should be wrapped snuglyaround the pebbles and hook, but leave a small air pocket to allow the pebbles to rattle when they knock against each other in the water.
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Twist the foil slightly just above the pebble bulge, and tie the pebble pocket with a twist tie, leaving extra foil exposed above the tied-off portion.
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Fray the remainder of the aluminum foil above the twist tie with scissors. Be careful not to fray the foil too closely to the twist tie as this can allow water to leak into the pocket when the jig is cast into water. If you have colorful twist ties, especially bright or fluorescent ones, use them; the more colors the better.
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Tips & Warnings
Look for hooks that are fairly long but with smaller heads; longer hooks help you construct this jig but too large a head and it may not be effective in baiting the types of fish you are looking for.
Use round pebbles--jagged pebbles can tear the foil.
Check state and county regulations to find out if you can fish with this type of jig in their waters.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit aluminum foil image by Andrey Zyk from Fotolia.com
