bulk ice jigs

[Mobile steez]

where is everybody buying their bulk tungsten ice jigs so they can paint them up?
Thanks!

[VTMatt]

Would like to know as well. $2-5 per jig is insane.

[varmonter]

Buck apiece on ebaY.

[spot]

Amazon has them. I haven't bought them there though but I bought a lot of other stuff there and they've always been good.

[Mobile steez]

Yeah I've seen both amazon and eBay but I'm looking at something more like this site - ever use it before?  https://m.alibaba.com/showroom/wholesale-tungsten-ice-fishing-jigs.html

[VTMatt]

Sites like that have minimum orders so youre talking $300 for an order of jigs.

[Mobile steez]

that site offers different sellers which offer different min orders.  The sellers that I have contacted all ship for a min of 15 dollars up to 1kg.  Has anybody ever tried it from there? I maybe spend some money and get some from there and see what happens sometime next month after I recoup some from the xmas shopping.

[esox_xtm]

I just bit on these....

http://www.sheltfishingtackle.com/shelts-25-pcs-unpainted-ice-fishing-tungsten-jigs-4mm095g-p-104.html

They sell thru Amazon also and in lots of 100 for some additional savings. Ships from US (about 2 weeks) and good feedback @ Amazon. I'll keep you posted.

[Mobile steez]

very nice - please do let me know! I will write the company and ask some questions also! are you going to powder coat them?

[esox_xtm]

Yep. I prefer to powder coat but I can dip n  dry if necessary.... 

Some of the feedback suggested they powder OK.

[Mobile steez]

yeah just heat them up and dip them in and put to dry!  http://www.tjstackle.com/fluidbed2.htm    this is handy for using less!

[esox_xtm]

Yep. Me an TJ been acquainted for many years.....

[Mobile steez]

[spot]

You can buy tungsten beads and put them on the hooks yourself and save some $. When I'm tying jigs that's what I do a lot of the time.

[Mobile steez]

so pour your own lead jigs then put in some beads along the shaft of the hook? not a bad idea

[spot]

so pour your own lead jigs then put in some beads along the shaft of the hook? not a bad idea

They make tungsten beads that can be slipped onto a hook. I make jigs like that a lot. You could also add more beads if you wanted. I've actually made a rattle-bodied jig by adding very small beads to the hook shank and then slipping larger inner diameter beads over them- I make spinner bodies the same way.

You can buy just about any kind of bead imaginable online.

[Mobile steez]

That's a damn good idea! Ill have to look into beads. Its nice not having a huge gaudy looking jig.  That's why I like the tungsten but I can counter the size of the jig with beads to add weight on the same mm sized jig - smart man!

[esox_xtm]

That's a damn good idea! Ill have to look into beads. Its nice not having a huge gaudy looking jig.  That's why I like the tungsten but I can counter the size of the jig with beads to add weight on the same mm sized jig - smart man!

I've done this too. Slotted tungsten beads for fly tying works. Available in assorted sizes (by mm, not weight).

[Mobile steez]

Do you solder them in or do you like the raddling?

[esox_xtm]

I've been using epoxy to secure, regular or JB weld. You can fish 'em bare with bait or plastic or tie on whatever you like.

[Mobile steez]

oh I forgot to ask you - what size are the hooks on the 4 and 5 mm ice jigs you got from shelt's?

[esox_xtm]

They did not say or have options. Only "Japanese imported". I'll say "size appropriate" for now and fill in the blanks when they arrive.

[spot]

Do you solder them in or do you like the raddling?

I make some jigs specifically to rattle. Another way to create a rattle is to put a line of beads on the hook and then a piece of small metal tubing ( copper/nickel automotive brake line works well) with a larger bead secured to the hook at each end to keep the tubing from sliding off. It can then be painted or polished.

[VTMatt]

I tie my own flies and never even thought of making them really...ive got thousands of beads including anodized tungsten. Only thing ill have to buy is jig hooks.

[spot]

I tie flies too, but I'm terrible at fly fishing. In some ways I like jig tying better because people are a lot less stuck on certain patterns. With flies, if I want to add my own flourish to a hare's ear there will be someone somewhere who'll tell me where and how I went astray because the pattern really goes "this way".

If I want to make a crayfish-looking jig with #16 trebles in the claws  and a rattle built on the main shank... the fly-guys all just look at it and say "meh... just a jig." 

I also try not to let the fly-purists see my homemade bobbins made specifically for tinsel spools- heads might explode. 

[FlyPredatorVT]

Spot-

I am a pretty avid fly tyer and fly angler and I get those looks from folks too. I tie a number of flies on jig hooks and have had old school fly fishers tell me that it isn't a fly... I tell them to enjoy watching me catch fish when they aren't!

As far as flourishes on flies, I say go for it myself. When I tie a pattern I will usually tie at least a half dozen or so of each one exactly the same just in case that one works. I do stick with some tried and true ones but I definitely have done a lot of originals. Still hoping Orvis wants to pick some of those patterns up...

[spot]

Spot-

I am a pretty avid fly tyer and fly angler and I get those looks from folks too. I tie a number of flies on jig hooks and have had old school fly fishers tell me that it isn't a fly... I tell them to enjoy watching me catch fish when they aren't!

As far as flourishes on flies, I say go for it myself. When I tie a pattern I will usually tie at least a half dozen or so of each one exactly the same just in case that one works. I do stick with some tried and true ones but I definitely have done a lot of originals. Still hoping Orvis wants to pick some of those patterns up...

When tying flies, mine are often inspired by a tried and true pattern, but a lot of the time what I do will blur the lines between lures and flies, or jigs and flies because although I appreciate the discipline of the purists, I'm really just doing for fun and, ultimately to catch fish, so I guess I don't usually share the passion for exacting, faithful recreation.

The reactions from purists are sometimes fun, though.

[varmonter]

 Years ago i was sitting on a rock at a local swimming
Hole.the deer flys were brutal.i was swatting them
And tossing the smashed ones ( so glad they're slow)
Into the current.i watched several smashed deer flys bring
Sizable brookies out of hiding.i went home and tied a smashed
Df immitation.it works great in the summer.i use homemade
Tungsten bead chonomids on the ice alot.i know what you
Mean about the elitist attitudes one finds in the fly fishing
Community.  But i have also run into ice fishermen that get
Upset when you run a jiffy on the ice.i think love of a sport
Drives a certain level of "The right way or no way" attitudes.
  I usually crack a smug smile when my deer fly or teenage mutant injured caddis
Is catching fish when their perfectly tied green drake spinner is not.
Ha..

[spot]

Years ago i was sitting on a rock at a local swimming
Hole.the deer flys were brutal.i was swatting them
And tossing the smashed ones ( so glad they're slow)
Into the current.i watched several smashed deer flys bring
Sizable brookies out of hiding.i went home and tied a smashed
Df immitation.it works great in the summer.i use homemade
Tungsten bead chonomids on the ice alot.i know what you
Mean about the elitist attitudes one finds in the fly fishing
Community.  But i have also run into ice fishermen that get
Upset when you run a jiffy on the ice.i think love of a sport
Drives a certain level of "The right way or no way" attitudes.
  I usually crack a smug smile when my deer fly or teenage mutant injured caddis
Is catching fish when their perfectly tied green drake spinner is not.
Ha..

Looking for the "like" button, and imagining, in the Orvis catalog, among the pristine images of recognized, world renowned fly patterns, the squashed deer fly pattern- now with more realistic guts!

[esox_xtm]

Years ago i was sitting on a rock at a local swimming
Hole.the deer flys were brutal.i was swatting them
And tossing the smashed ones ( so glad they're slow)
Into the current.i watched several smashed deer flys bring
Sizable brookies out of hiding.i went home and tied a smashed
Df immitation.it works great in the summer.i use homemade
Tungsten bead chonomids on the ice alot.i know what you
Mean about the elitist attitudes one finds in the fly fishing
Community.  But i have also run into ice fishermen that get
Upset when you run a jiffy on the ice.i think love of a sport
Drives a certain level of "The right way or no way" attitudes.
  I usually crack a smug smile when my deer fly or teenage mutant injured caddis
Is catching fish when their perfectly tied green drake spinner is not.
Ha..

You're welcome!