Homemade tungsten jigs for winter fishing. Rare metal bait - homemade tungsten jigs DIY tungsten jigs

I would like to offer you one of the simplest options for making a jig with a crown. Maybe this will be useful to someone. You can do it in about five minutes.

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We take a wooden lath. Better than hardwood, even better than oak. We cut the grooves and trim them with a file. We pierce holes for the hook with an awl, each size has its own groove, its own hole.

We take the hook (I have number 18), hold it with our fingers, holding the fore-end open, and place it under the flame of a lighter for a second. Under no circumstances should the forend be heated to red hot. It needs to warm up slightly and acquire a tarnished color. We bend the fore-end with round nose pliers to the desired desired size, without using excessive force. Insert the hook into the hole on the rail. It should lie in the groove tightly, but without tension.

Take annealed copper foil and cut a strip slightly longer than the hook.

We cut out the crown from the foil with scissors (after making a bend).

And insert it under the hook. Press the hook with an awl and give the crown a bend

We treat it with acid, hold it by the loop with an awl, and apply solder. The jig is almost ready. All that remains is to lightly process it with a needle file or file and paint it.

Making jigs without bending is even easier.
I showed you the principle. There are possible options here. And if you think about it.........
I don’t do these myself yet. This is my second piece in my practice. I can't get over tungsten.

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Well? Let's move from simple to complex. The topic of wire has already been touched upon a little here. I suggest one way.
Here you need a minimum of technical means. That's my minimum

Plus, sandpaper or a small semi-professional grinder. It is better to secure it so as not to hold it with your foot. The work requires two hands. I advise beginners to use coated hooks.
For clarity, I took tungsten with a diameter of 4 mm.
We do roughing work on a rough stone (it’s faster this way). Having thought in advance, what do you want to get? I decided to make a slightly flat jig.
The first stage is giving the general shape.

Second, we select a site with the corner of the stone and thin the neck a little. Note that the neck is still quite thick.

Another way is a drill or electric drill and a file. I won’t describe it and everything is clear. But the platform for the hook still needs to be made.

At first I wanted to post another manufacturing option, but yesterday something happened and I decided to try this. Don't blame me, I did it this way for the first time and not very carefully. There’s no time at all, but I want you to try something by the beginning of the season.
I adjust the hook along the curve of the platform so that it fits as tightly as possible. I attach it with two drops of super glue. One at the loop, the other at the sharp end of the jig.

I take a copper wire without varnish, about 0.3mm (it should be thinner), wind 4-5 turns around the hook and the beginning of the jig, and drop a drop of super glue on them.

After waiting, I wind it tightly towards the loop. It turned out that the coils began to slip because... there went a reverse cone. I dropped the glue again and started wrapping it around the meeting from the neck.

I treat it liberally with acid and, holding the workpiece with the hook-side down, I solder everything thoroughly. Don’t try to solve everything in one drop, it’s better to do it in small portions. Excess tin will flow down onto the pad, and the glue will burn out.
BE CAREFUL! My glue contained cyanocrinite and I carelessly inhaled it. Damn unpleasant!

Using a 1mm cutting stone, I cleaned up all the irregularities from the file and trimmed the neck. I broke off the jig. A small bump remained at the cut site. Holding the jig by the hook, I removed it on the same stone. You can use a file. Using a file and a finer needle file, I processed the loop and cleaned the hole with a needle with edges.
THE JIG IS READY!

It turned out that the hook was held quite tightly and I could not break it off with my fingers. Also for this reason, I make the platform with a bend so that the hook does not decide to rotate around its axis.
Unfortunately, this option is not suitable for small jigs. A small hook is more difficult to glue, and therefore there is unjustified extra volume due to the wire.

DISCUSSION >>

Tungsten jigs are valued for their high weight and low volume. This jig can be fished at any level of water - closer to the surface, at great depths, and in the current.

In addition, jigs are resistant to aggressive environments, durable, and do not oxidize in water. The jig has such positive qualities thanks to the metal from which it is made - tungsten.

Tungsten

Tungsten is the most refractory high-density metal: melting point – 3422°C, density 19.3 g/cm3, 1.7 times higher than lead (11.3 g/cm3).

Advantages of tungsten jigs

1. High specific gravity. Heavy jigs provide attractive play in deep water and fast currents.
2. Resistance to aggressive environments and oxidation.
3. Durability.

Needless to say, there are significant advantages, however, when purchasing in fishing stores, a fisherman may think about the advisability of the purchase.

Disadvantages of purchased products

1. Falsification– the use of lighter tungsten alloys or the use of a similar lighter metal instead of tungsten.
2. Expensive– the price of high-quality tungsten products is an order of magnitude higher than lead products.

Emerging problems with purchased products provoke the desire of the fisherman to make tungsten jigs on his own, but the unique properties of tungsten - high density and refractoriness - make one think about future difficulties.

Difficulties of self-production

• complexity of thermal and mechanical treatment;
• impossibility of forming a melt and pouring into molds;
• impossibility of directly soldering hooks to the body of a tungsten jig.

Anglers learn to overcome difficulties

Many methods are described for making tungsten jigs at home using galvanizing methods for galvanizing or copper plating the body of the jig with the possibility of subsequent soldering with tin-lead solder.

There are also hassle-free options for making the most catchy jigs without soldering hooks.

Still, first of all, it is necessary to solve the question of where to get tungsten for homemade jigs.

Where can I get tungsten for jigs?

In its pure form, tungsten is of little interest to industry. To impart the desired properties - increasing malleability, ductility, reducing refractoriness, etc. titanium is alloyed or tungsten powder is sintered with additives. Naturally, in this case, the density of tungsten decreases to 17-18.6 g/cm3, and this is no longer 1.7 times the density of lead, but 1.5.

Tungsten is commercially available in the form of wire, rods, foil, sheets, and sticks, but it is impossible to purchase blanks of it in the quantity required by a fisherman to make jigs—several tens of grams. Sales start from one kg of product, which is already thousands of rubles.

Piece by piece, in a more or less pure form - 97-99%, tungsten can be purchased in the form of electrodes for argon arc welding at a price of 46 rubles per piece. Electrode length cm – 50; 75; 150; 175.

We can conclude that tungsten electrodes are the best source of tungsten for jigs.

Fishermen may be primarily interested in the following brands of electrodes:

1. "WP"– 99 percent tungsten. Green color.
2. "WC"-cerium. Grey colour.
3. "WY"– ytria dioxide. Dark blue color.
4. "WZ"– zirconium oxide. White color.

WP brand electrode is a source of pure tungsten. Electrodes WY, WC, WZ are sold with conical sharpening.

A catchy “witch” without soldering

"Witch"– a conical jig with several independently reinforced hooks in the upper part of the body.

Tools:

• tabletop sharpening machine with a power of 800-1000 W;
• engraving drill;
• screwdriver;
• abrasive wheel for a machine made of silicon carbide or electrocorundum of fine or medium grain size of any diameter with a thickness of 20 mm;
• mini circle with diamond coating for an engraving drill with a diameter of 16; 25 mm;
• small pliers;
• hammer;
• pliers.

Materials:

• tungsten electrode;
• ferrous elastic wire 0.2-0.4 mm;
• fishing hooks with a long shank 3 pcs;

Manufacturing

The parameters of the sharpened electrodes or the electrodes themselves may not suit the angler. In this case, you should sharpen the electrode to your liking.

Sharpening the electrode using the method of experienced welders

There is a quick method for sharpening electrodes to any cone. Sharpening should be done on a sharpening or sharpening machine with an abrasive wheel and using a screwdriver.

The electrode in the screwdriver chuck is placed in the same plane as the abrasive wheel at the desired angle. When the abrasive wheel and screwdriver rotate, the tungsten electrode is quickly sharpened.

The tip can be quickly sharpened and rounded in the same way as desired.

Instructions for forming the jig body

Expert opinion

Knipovich Nikolai Mikhailovich

Zoologist, hydrobiologist. I am interested in fishing at a professional level.

Important! You should paint the jig before attaching the wire with hooks.

Despite the long description of the manufacturing process, a jig can be made with your own hands quite quickly (with sufficient experience in 30-40 minutes), since all operations are simple and do not take much time.

Galvanizing

Making a jig body– a labor-intensive, lengthy, but not complicated process. The body of a homemade jig can be given almost any desired shape by mechanical processing. Difficulties arise when soldering the hook to the body.

Galvanizing- a more reliable method of processing a tungsten jig for soldering hooks to the body of the jig than copper plating.

For galvanizing by rubbing zinc you will need.

The effectiveness of fishing largely depends on the quality of the gear used. To ensure an active bite in winter (and even in summer), you can use, for example, a tungsten drop jig.

Its main advantage is that it has an impressive weight with a small size. After all, the specific gravity of tungsten is almost one and a half times greater than that of lead. Due to this, the tungsten jig quickly reaches the desired depth. The miniature size of such gear is extremely important when fishing in winter, when the fish become very cautious.

Disadvantages of tungsten jigs

Since such tackle has a lot of weight, when playing with it it is necessary to constantly create frequent and regular vibrations. Otherwise, the movements of the jig may stop and it will stop working.

Types of tungsten jigs

Tungsten tackle is used both for freshwater and sea fishing, both in large water flows and in its absence. Among the tungsten jigs successfully used by fishermen, the most famous are:

1. "Balls". Universal products suitable for fishing in most bodies of water. With their use it is successfully caught: perch, ide, crucian carp, bream, roach. And also: rudd, bleak, pike perch, podust, dace, asp, pike.
2. "Bananas" Often used when catching “capricious” fish. The following jigs are good for catching: perch, bream, roach.
3. "Drops". These products are a type of jig that usually uses a minimal amount of tungsten. “Drops” are representatives of small-sized gear. They may have a hole for fastening or an eyelet. They are successfully used for catching roach and bream.
4. "Devils". When using them, additional bait is usually not required. This type of jig provides a good bite for perch and pike.
5. "Devils". They are improved “devils”. In addition to perch and pike, they are also great for catching pike perch.
6. "Ants". Large models are often used when the fish exhibit increased activity. Used when fishing for perch, pike, crucian carp,... Well caught: podust, roach, dace, ide, pike perch, asp, bream.

Below in Figure 1 are examples of the simplest, but very common types of jigs.

Which manufacturers make the best jigs?

It is very difficult to say exactly which company has the best jigs. Each of the organizations produces them in a huge variety and in a wide price range, trying to satisfy the needs of many fishing enthusiasts, who must independently choose the jig they need, taking into account specific fishing conditions.

It’s also a good idea to study the list of manufacturers before purchasing a tungsten jig. Read the characteristics, reviews and other data of each manufacturer. For example, first purchase one copy of a “drop”, “devil”, “ball” or any other type and test it in action in your own conditions.

Today in retail chains you can find jigs from such manufacturers as: “DiskuS Fishing”, “Salmo”, “Cooper”, “Lumicom”, “Lucky John”, “Ladoga”.

Is it difficult to make a tungsten jig yourself?

Often, experienced fishermen make jigs on their own, because they believe that mass-produced such products do not suit them. And if you also decide to start creating a tungsten jig, then you cannot do without a soldering iron, tweezers, flux, solder and soldering acid. It’s also good to get an electric sharpener, pliers, and diamond files.

Having acquired all the necessary tools and materials, you will then need to go through the following stages of work, described below.

1. From a tungsten electrode about 4 millimeters thick, using an electric sharpener, grind out a part in shape and size corresponding to some type of jig, that is, similar, for example, to a drop, a ball or an ant. It is recommended to treat the surface of the resulting product with a needle file to eliminate sharp protrusions or other imperfections.
2. Before soldering, the tungsten workpiece must be tinned. To do this, it is heated red-hot and dipped into solder. After cooling, the part is additionally cleaned with a needle file to remove solder deposits.
3. The hook also needs to be tinned and, applied to the tungsten workpiece, carefully soldered to it. After which the resulting product must be cleaned of all contaminants.
4. You can paint the manufactured tungsten jig using regular nail polish.

When making jigs with your own hands, you can experiment, for example, making them very small or, conversely, very large, with or without beads and any other additions. Using just a bare hook as a basis, you can hang one bead or several, put on pieces of multi-colored PVC pipes. You can also experiment with the length of the hook shank, the length of the pendant, and make hanging hooks on the jig. Jigs with hanging hooks that easily fly into the fish’s mouth have proven themselves well, and all that remains is to hook the prey.

Below is another simple way to create jigs shown in the figure:

Creating them is very simple:

1. Take a hook with a long shank.
2. A cambric in the form of a piece of heat-shrinkable tubing is put on a piece of tungsten electrode, slightly shorter in length than the hook, and the hook is inserted into it.
3. The casing is heated over a candle flame or using the hot air of a hair dryer so that it securely compresses the hook and a piece of tungsten.
4. Additionally, for reliability, the connection at the edges is fixed using superglue.

The resulting simple and reliable products can be used both as a reel jig and as a reelless jig.

A few notes about the color of jigs

Colorful jigs are used if the bite is weak. But their color must also be chosen taking into account what kind of fish lives in a particular body of water. For example, perch can be caught well with jigs of bright red, ruby ​​or green coloring. And roach and ruff use orange jigs. For bream, green jigs of various shades are suitable.

DIY tungsten jigs - Video

The easiest way to make a jig is from tungsten-nickel-iron (TNI) and tungsten-nickel-copper (TNM) alloys. These alloys have a specific gravity of about 15 g/cc, which is already significantly higher than that of lead or tin. At the initial stage of manufacturing waste electrical stamps and current collector brushes, tetrahedral columns must be cut using a hacksaw with a fine tooth or a disk cutter. The side of the workpiece should be 0.5-1 mm larger than the size of the jig. Next, you can clamp the post into the chuck of an electric drill, use a needle file to give the end of the workpiece the shape of a jig, leaving a jumper between the workpiece and the post (Fig.1). Then a hole for the hook is drilled from the end of the workpiece, and a hole for the fishing line is drilled on the side (Fig.2). After this, the jig blank is cut off from the post. To drill holes, you can use drills with a diameter of 0.7 to 1.5 mm; during drilling, it is useful to use a lubricating emulsion (for example, you can use milk at home). Drill speed: 300-500 rpm. In this way it is quite easy to make any jig that has the shape of a rotation. If you have access to a lathe, then it is easier to grind the posts, turning them into cylindrical blanks, then use a cutter to give the jig the desired shape. It is better to use cutters of brands VK3-VK8, and drills R13-R18, but R6M5 are also suitable.

However, it is more interesting to make an irregularly shaped jig (Fig.3). Then you need to be patient and use a needle file (not a diamond one) to cut out the workpiece, drill it and cut it off from the post. Abrasive stones can also be used for rough processing of the workpiece. It is better to process tungsten alloys with conventional needle files, since when using a diamond tool, tungsten carbide may form, which will make manual processing very difficult. Also, don’t be surprised if one needle file is used to make one or three jigs.

The heaviest jigs are obtained if tungsten electrodes are used as the starting material. Such electrodes are used when welding in argon. On an emery machine, the end of the electrode is shaped into the body of a jig. Then, using a diamond-coated disk with a thickness of 0.27 to 0.80 mm, a groove is cut into the workpiece to such a depth that its end is located at the location of the future hole for the fishing line (Fig.4). The disk rotation speed must be at least 3000 rpm. The workpiece is broken off from the electrode and the end is cleaned.

Jig blanks are copper-plated using any galvanic method described in the literature, for example, in the book “300 Practical Tips”, or any other. After copper plating, nichrome, or even better, tungsten wire is inserted into the slot or hole for the fishing line, a hook is inserted into the workpiece, and the whole assembly is soldered with tin solder. During soldering, it is important not to overheat the workpiece, otherwise the copper coating may peel off from the workpiece and the hook may become loose. After the jig has cooled, the wire is pulled out and the jig is ready.

A characteristic feature of the market for the provision of elements of fishing gear is high competition among manufacturers of tungsten jigs. Each of the companies strives to take into account as much as possible the potential needs of fishermen in matters of optimal shape, ease of play with tackle, color and other characteristic features of baits. In turn, when choosing from a wide price range, consumers take into account, in addition to the specified characteristics, the conditions of a particular fishing location and the individual characteristics of the potential catch.

The best manufacturers of tungsten jigs

The following companies are considered the best producers of tungsten jigs among fishermen:

The optimal purchase option is to purchase several jigs that are the most versatile in their field of application.

Types of tungsten jigs

A jig is a sinker with a hook with or without an attachment for fish in the form of plant or animal food. The choice of bait and equipment is carried out based on fishing conditions, the characteristics of the place where fishing will take place, the specific behavior of the fish, current parameters, and the depth of the reservoir.

Tips for choosing jigs:

• the weight of the bait in the presence of a current should be sufficient to perform one full retrieve;
• the weight of small elements of gear allows you to fish in the upper layer of water at a depth of up to 2 m; baits with a large weight are used for fishing at great depths;
• A jig with less weight ensures a more subtle play of the tackle.

One of the significant parameters influencing the effectiveness of the gear is the shape of the bait.

The shape of the bait should interest a potential predator by resembling something edible from its diet, such as an ant or bloodworm. The appearance and features of the bait determine the nature of its movement in the aquatic environment and its “behavior” on the bottom.

The game conducted by the fisherman should imitate movements characteristic of the behavior of the prey, for example, a gradual smooth fall with a rising layer of silt, provided by a flat-shaped jig. The existing production line of most companies provides for the production of baits of the following forms:

How to catch more fish?

I have been active fishing for quite some time and have found many ways to improve the bite. And here are the most effective:

1. Bite activator. Attracts fish in cold and warm water with the help of pheromones included in the composition and stimulates its appetite. It’s a pity that Rosprirodnadzor wants to impose a ban on its sale.
2. More sensitive gear. Reviews and instructions for other types of gear can be found on the pages of my website.
3. Lures using pheromones.

You can get the rest of the secrets of successful fishing for free by reading our other articles on the site.

In addition to their appearance, baits are distinguished by their optimal period of use and are divided into winter and summer jigs:

• winter types include the most popular among fishermen “Uralka”, conventional and prefabricated structures “Chertikov” with a weight depending on the conditions of the reservoir from 0.2 to 1.5 g. In addition, for winter fishing, a design such as a jig clamp is used, which is used in conditions in which fishing is carried out with small bait. These tackles differ from the summer varieties in their smaller sizes and calmer colors;
• jigs for summer fishing are characterized by greater weight and bright colors. Depending on the place chosen for fishing and the conditions there, one of the simple types of bait can be used, for example, a “drop” for dynamic biting or a “devil” and its varieties.

Advantages and disadvantages

When choosing a tungsten jig, you must definitely weigh the pros and cons of this device. Note that:

DIY tungsten jig

Thrifty and resourceful fishermen practice making tungsten baits at home. Its production technology is simple, and independent production allows you to introduce elements of creativity into standard designs, for example, reduce or increase the weight of the bait or mount beads on it to increase the number of effective bites.

To create a tungsten jig, you need the following tools:

There are various options for making jigs at home, one of the most popular is sawing, although other methods can be used, for example, casting. The procedure for producing homemade bait consists of the following operations:

1. A bait resembling one of the known shapes is cut out of a tungsten electrode by removing excess layers of metal. Once maximum compliance is achieved, sharp edges and corners are smoothed using a needle file.
2. The workpiece is treated with flux and tinning by heating it to red heat and lowering it into tin-lead solder. The part is cooled, after which excess solder is removed.
3. A hook selected depending on the weight of the expected catch is processed in a similar way. It is treated with flux and tinning, after which it is positioned in the required position in relation to the tungsten workpiece and soldered.
4. The finished jig is painted by applying nail polish to its surface.

What influences the color of the jig?

The color of the product is one of the important characteristics that determines the possibility of using bait in a particular reservoir or weather conditions. In conditions of fishing at great depths, the color of the product does not play any significant role, since light from the surface reaches these places in very limited quantities, and in low light it is not the color that plays a big role, but the nature of the movement of the object.

Please pay attention to the following nuances:

• in conditions of shallow depth, color affects the effectiveness of biting, therefore, in cloudy weather conditions or when fishing in muddy water, it is recommended to use light-colored baits;
• jigs of a dark range of colors, on the contrary, are used in sunny weather, with clear water and in the case of a light-colored bottom of the reservoir.

The parameters of the jig influence the number of fish caught, so fishermen take the choice of this item as part of their gear very seriously. In some cases, independent production of products is practiced, but for busy people a number of specialized companies are ready to offer high-quality and catchable tungsten jigs.