Tips on Making Silicone Skirts

Any tips to offer on layering silicone skirts?? Most bass jigs have around 40 strands - Do any of you go over or under to create added actions? Any tips on adding accent strands? Do you prefer a certain tool for this? Thanks.

Jans Netcraft has a neat tool that I bought for pulling the pads up thru a tube halfway before sliding the rubber band in the middle. I am pretty meticulous with my colors and have added as few as 2-3 strand of accent but typically half pad or 10. Other than that I do go to 60 strands and have even stacked up two skirts on a jig to make a big profile and slow fall, haven't caught anything on it yet, but I haven't stuck with it too long either. Check out barlows, stamina, and netcraft for supplies

I bought all my skirts from barlows tackle. You can get any color(S) you want. They come in 20-25 strands per peice, I add two. So its 40-50 strands together for one skirt. 100 peices cost $16. It makes 50 skirts. I bought the bands seperate and made my own tool out of a arrow shaft. It cost me nothing. E-mail me if you would like some details on how to make one. I have so many skirts now I dont know what color to fish! LOL I pour my own jigs now with a do it mold. I can make a jig for around $1.30 including skirt. I have also started pouring my own trailers and shakey head worms.

Is it hard to pour your own worms. That maybe the next thing I get into. My wife is going to kill me.

Pouring plastics, like anything else in tackle making, just takes some practice. I've done some, but am definitely not a pro at it. If you are going to do it, you'll need a place that is well ventilated cause this stuff stinks. For the costs of most plastic baits, it really is not worth it to me to do them. Now, if you have a special bait you want, it might make it worth it.

Andrew

[quote=zx150;317611]Is it hard to pour your own worms. That maybe the next thing I get into. My wife is going to kill me.[/quote]

they are not hard to pour. you can buy the plastic in a gallon jug for about $35 which will make thousands. you can buy scents, colors pretty well anything u need at lurecraft.com or barlowstackle.com i make my own molds so it saves alot of money. you can also save all your old baits and re-melt them and pour them again. the only thing i make is jig trailers and finness worms. i can pour my jig trailers ALOT cheaper and faster than u can buy the. however i have a mold where i can pour 5-10 at a time. however your bigger worms and stuff are just as easy to buy unless you buy a aluminum 360degree mold which can run you a $100. plastics are hard to make w/o haveing a flat side. but i have found i can make something just a little different color with a little diff glitter and its stuff the fish havent seen. i have noticed home made lures seem to be good and hard pressured lakes or mid-late summer when a fish has seen everything but the dip net! lol

[quote=mkmsports41;317539]I bought all my skirts from barlows tackle. You can get any color(S) you want. They come in 20-25 strands per peice, I add two. So its 40-50 strands together for one skirt. 100 peices cost $16. It makes 50 skirts. I bought the bands seperate and made my own tool out of a arrow shaft. It cost me nothing. E-mail me if you would like some details on how to make one. I have so many skirts now I dont know what color to fish! LOL I pour my own jigs now with a do it mold. I can make a jig for around $1.30 including skirt. I have also started pouring my own trailers and shakey head worms.[/quote]

OK, I'm going to try my hand at tying some skirted jigs, and it seems like it should be fairly simple. I'll have the longer strands toward the head of the jig, and the smaller strands pointing back. I'm thinking the jig should probably be sticking out of the vise with the hook shank level, so that the strands don't keep flopping over where I'm trying to tie. So I'll start by wrapping the skirt around the jig and tying it in place with a half-hitch, then continue to wrap it tightly, moving across the collar and back, just like spooling rope onto a winch. Am I on the right track here? How many times across and back? What knot should I tie it off with? I have some sealer, which I definitely plan on using. Any other suggestions, before I have at it?