Quest Outdoors

fishman · Adult Joined: 06 Feb 2006 Posts: 77

hey guys,
im having a problem tying marabou jigs. i cant seem to get teh heads right. any help would be greatly appreciated

skiltonian · Lunker Joined: 02 Feb 2005 Posts: 108 Location: Philly, PA

you weren't to descriptive here, but I'm assuming you meant that when you tie off the marabou you are left with an ugly "thread head". First and foremost, less is usually more when dealing with marabou (but I do have a few that are loaded with layers of different color marabou) so with less your head will not be too big where you don't have to build up the thread. Also with less, I always wrap the hook shank with some sort of flashy material (different colors of flashabou, tinsel, ect).
In making "fishy" heads there a quite a fews things I do, tie in an attractor color yarn / floss to wrap the head, then epoxy or flex cement for a clean finish. You could also use chenille, but don't epoxy (by the way, thats the best style to use if you are into making it stinky Wink

). Or you could dub the thread and form the head that way (pick out the dubbing at bit, to trap air bubbles in the fibers Cool

)I've been using ice dub for my heads and they look great Very Happy

. Dub on a sh!t load of it loosely. then with a dubbing brush, brush it all forward and then back to form a coned shaped head that overlays the marabou to the point where it is almost seemless. Looks great in and out of the water, with just enough flash. Or you could do a dear hair or wool head like on sculpin patterns (make it with eyes for more realism) Lastly, you could always tie in spey hackle to finish off the jig and it'll act like a soft hackly fly. I do all of the above and all work for me Exclamation

.
Also, its a lot easier to make your own jigs if you put on your own beads (don't use pre-formed jigs). Then you can dictate the distance between the eye of the hook and the weight based on what style head you are tying. I've found the gold beads don't work as great as other colors available (possibly due to fishing pressure from the fly guys fishing nymphs). Hit your local hobby stores and they should have a few different options (just make sure they are metal). Tie in the beads with a pin and cut the pin in half with pliers before you tie it in. As for good jig hooks in the right size, I have yet to find some that don't open up in heavy water. I tend to only fish jigs in small streams but have worked for me on bigger rivers, as well. Smile

Let us know if you have any other questions.
skiltonian

reo · Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:49 pm Post subject:

Could be using to thick a thread. I have good results with 6/0.
If you could be more detailed with your problem you may get better answers Wink

fishman · Adult Joined: 06 Feb 2006 Posts: 77

well most of the time i ge tthe ugly big thread heads trying to get all the marabou to stay in place and the thread is 6/0 and i even went to 8/0 without any better results.