Hello,
I was curious if anyone has purchased any of the first cast jigs. They are brass and nickel plated jig heads. RT had mentioned about using these with worms, I was thinking of ordering some

www.firstcastjigs.com

Some of the best looking jig heads on the market. Have had great success with them since I started using them this fall. I also like the Rainbow heads although they are a different style of hook and head. First Casts Owner hooks are deadly.

I wanted a look at one of First Casts Jigs so I took him up on his free sample offer. The jig is real nice looking, I only hope it holds up better then the look alike I bought? I never did use the jig the pin that hold the head on pulled through the hole when I was tieing it on. I'm ready to buy a few of the First Cast Jigs after seeing them up close.

Fishalot

what about the silent approach jigs? They look nice, the heads look like they have good color.

I like the painted jigs they look good and work good. The only thing is the paint chips off the lead head. A person can just hope they catch a few on the jig be for they get to beat up. They do work with just the lead and no paint. The paint or plated heads help them to look more atractive to the fish and the fishermen.

Fishalot

S.A. can answer this more accurately than I, if they see this thread. From what I recall, they use a powder based type of paint coating for their jig heads. I don't know what this is but have heard it's the best paint to use for this, and take a little longer to chip. ...

BTW, jig wars not-with-standing , both my friend Mark's First Cast jigs and Silent Approach jigs show the best workmanship of any jigs I've seen. I was recently taught how to tie jigs, so I understand what is involved in working feathers properly into the best arrangement and appearance - to the fish more than the fisherman. This is very important. If you look closely at Lynn's work on palmering (Roger too) the marabou feathers you can see why they have better action than other marabou jigs in the water. Same with Mark's careful work on his shalappen feathers. This procedure definitely takes time to do properly. Cudos to those two for taking the extra time on each jig to accomplish that. ...

Now, back to jig wars. jk. But I do really like the nickle plated brass heads and Owner hooks best on the First Cast Jigs. In addition to the extra bit of flash from them, they don't chip - even when I drift fish them without a float occasionally, as they hit rocks every 5 feet or so. And the Owner hooks just rule! The Gammis work very well though. I haven't kept up on what hooks Lynn is using lately, but I think they use either of the two brands requested, last I heard. I also think the shalappen has a bit more action in the water than marabou, which tends to stick closer together in the water. I really like the rabbit fur in small profile 1/8 oz. jigs for low water summer steelheading...

On another jig subject, despite most jig expert's opinions that painting or putting eyes on the jig head won't increase steelhead interest, I still think it may help in some cases. It would take one heck of a lot of side by side controlled tests on many different rivers over time to really learn this. What are you long time jig fisher's opinions on this? I know it can't hurt. I've had some of my jig heads 'eye' painted and they have worked real well. This was done by Mike of Rainbow Jigs, also an excellant jig product. I had him paint bright cerise eyes on black jig heads along with white feathers with some krystalflash in them - they worked great when the river had some color to the water. Would they have worked as well without those contrasting cerise eyes (looking like a little fishy to eat)? Tough to answer. I would say most of the time they probably would have without the eyes. But in a few cases with a bit more lethargic fish they may not have taken them without those "cute eyes". I recently was looking for a sheet of lure tape 'fish eyes' to put on my plugs, etc. I also found a new product on the market of stick on plastic fish eyes that stick out a bit rounded to look more like real eyes. I plan on trying them out on Mark's nickle plated jig heads; as well as on the bottom of my custom painted Kwikfish. If they don't enhance the productivity, they will slightly increase my confidence in them - and that's not a bad thing.

RT

Thanks Rt,the powder coat paint used By Silent Approach is tuff as nails and I love the versatility of painted heads,but I think both have their uses.
I don't think you can cover all the different situational uses with just 1 style of feathers,
Thats why I carry Saddle Hackle,Schallpen , Maribou,Rabbit and Artic Fox Jigs (I think I need help)

As far as eyes go (jk)
In my opinion ...in most situations the fish doesn't get to look at head very often,since he sees it tail first as it approachs him.

I do have a couple 'Husky" jigs i.e.Purple and Gold with a "W" painted on the side of the head,They don't do any better than the ones with out "W's" ....could just be Over acheivers.......Os

Os, that gives me an idea. How about painting a big dark green "0" on the sides of the jig heads? Dual purpose - it looks kind of like an eye AND the 0 stands for ... aaah, nevermind.

GO 'Huskers!

Hey RT, maybe you described how to driftfish a jig on the bottom a while back, but I don't recall how you said to do it. Could you enlighten me? Just fish it with a slinky, etc? Put a corky above it to float it up so it doesn't snag on the bottom like what I did with the worms?

KB, I drift fish a jig without a float on occasion in the shallow upper ends of drifts or really deep holes. I try to have it such that it only ticks bottom every few feet or so; which keeps it deep but not continually touching bottom. I can also impart the action on the jig or jighad worm the way it want for it. You can't do that with a float. Give it a try sometime in moderate clearish flows. Start with some cheaper jigs, because you will lose some to snags until you learn the right holding spots to try this in. Good luck.

RT

Thanks for the info RT. I get what you're saying about be able to manipulate the jig if driftfishing it without the float. But, I don't think that even my spinning reel could cast JUST the jig across the river, even the small streams I fish. I'll try that sometime, though just to see. Looks like nobodys tried driftfishing a jig in deeper water with a slinky and cheater/corky above the jig to float it above the snags. Probably could still 'manipulate' the jig-not as well though I would guess. Have to try that too. Boy will they really be laughin' when I pull that setup out...until I catch a fish that is!