Handmade fishing lures - Squid jag

A squid jag, or squid jig as the rest of the world seems to call them, is a device for catching squid. Many say it is designed to resemble a prawn or shrimp. I'm not so sure.

I don't think squid like squid jags because they look like shrimp.

Because I'm such a follower, I designed mine with a shrimp in mind anyway.

I think squid attack squid jags because squid attack things. I think they attack from a position of aggression rather than hunger. I think squid simply don't like things. And wish things would stop bothering them. Sometimes squid eat their friends and romantic interests, and sometimes squid are eaten by them.

Thats the price you pay for being antisocial.

This squid jag is a bit of a breakthrough for me because it represents something seen through to completion. Thats a new thing for me. I normally tend less toward seeing things through, and

Any way it looks like this from underneath.

The weight in the front is a sinker squashed flat by being lovingly hit with a hammer, then glued in place. I expect to have to trim around half of it when I test it in salt water, but it's aways easier to remove some than add it when sitting on a boat.

The object is to get it to lie horizontal, suspended under the water, and then have it slowly sink.

A squid jag, for those that don't know, is traditionally suspended under a float so that it wafts around with the waves as they move the float up and down.

The object, according to me*, is to look a bit like something wafting around. The object according to lots of other people (including me from time to time) is for your squid jag to look like a prawn.

The other method of use is to cast your jig out, let it sink into the seaweed beds, then jerk it up in a way that would remind you of a panicky shrimp, should you be sufficiently familiar with the behavior of one to be so reminded.

I find three quick actions work best, although I still maintain (mostly) that even though I'm imitating a prawn, catching a squid has nothing to do with prawns.*

A panicked shrimp* escapes by flicking its tail. It escapes in reverse. Anyone having any experience at driving their car rapidly in reverse might wonder if this might not be a poor choice on the part of the shrimp. But reverse they do.

This squid jag is an example of a painting technique I've come up with that requires virtually no skill. In fact it's taking much more time and skill to create the blog post about it than it ever will to create the finished lure.  So far its taken three days to put the uber post together, and I think it might take one or two more. I'm working hard to get it done before I grow too old to finish it. If you don't hear from me for a while, It's because I've glued my camera to my keyboard and my keyboard to my face.

Breathing will take priority over posting**.

* see paragraph four

**I hate that feeling when you're using superglue, touch your finger and thumb together and briefly wonder at your future prospects, and fear all you will be able to sign on your next scuba dive will be "OK" regardless of your actual condition.

Handmade fishing lures - Lure Swimming Bench

I thought it would be good to be able to see my hand made lures swimming on a bench in front of me so I made a wind tunnel. Actually its a water tunnel.

It looks like this.

It's a piece of 90mm storm drain PVC, capped at each end with a window cut into the top, and two hoses attached with wire.

The hoses are attached to an old swimming pool pump, so that the water recirculates forever. The pump is the slightly yellowish thing with a hose entering into the top of it that you cant see very well in this underexposed photo.

The greate advantage of this is it allows rapid prototyping. I can make a lure, with all its bits held together with chewing gum and test it without subjecting it to all the forces and stresses of casting etc. It allows me to adjust where the tow point is, test it, and adjust again all within seconds. It allows me to see what my lures are doing, and allows me to compare them with other lures that I know work well. It also allows me to see what my lure will do at different retrieve speeds and with different retrieval techniques.

This is a video of a store bought Halco™ lure that is one of my favorite lures. I used this to test the lure swimming bench because I know this lure performs well, although I wont be trying to make a lure like this 55mm example as I suspect it will be too difficult to secure the harness at this scale. My lures will probably measure closer to 90mm. (The hooks have been removed from this lure to keep it closer to the surface for the sake of the video. Interestingly it still swims perfectly without them.)