Northwest Fishing Reports

The mighty Columbia is unkind to many shad darts and chip off the paint with every cast. Should I use clear coat finger nail polish or is there some other kind of material I can coat the jigs with to make them last longer?

By having a paint bottle and paint brush with you at all times.



In other words, ya can't. You can powder coat them, but they'll still chip.

powder coat the jigs and then hang them in your oven per the directions. Those don't chip.

vinyl paint is way less prone to chipping, although it's a PIA to use. Using a super thin amount of powder coat and curing it in the oven is the best way to get a sturdy jig. Also, if you avoid banging your jig against the rocks, you'll avoid the issue altogether. They'll come up for it.

Problem is lead jigs.... The lead is softer than the paint or coating. It gets deformed underneath and there's nothing you can do about that. The best I've found is to use jigs made with bismuth or some other lead substitute (they're all harder than lead). Not quite as heavy but it does work and the paint stays on much better. Prep counts too. make sure they're cleaned with an acid prep wash, I use the ZEP citrus cleaner before painting.

I use vinyl to paint my jigs and either lose em or have to sharpen and retie them before they chip (from being chewed on my steelhead). Like Nate said, the process is kind of a PIA but once you get set up it is not all that bad.

And like Bodo said, the process starts with a good washing of the bare jigs - I use dish soap (Dawn, Lemon Joy, whatever)and HOT water.

There are other options, but they take more initial effort. If you already have a rod or lure turner for curing epoxy coated rod wraps or epoxy flies, then you are set. If not, you can buy used "geared motors" on eBay and make your own lure turner.

Take your jig and coat it with Devcon 2 Ton epoxy. Put it in the lure turner and run it overnight. The finish is thick, glossy, and about as tough as you will ever get. Enviro Tec and Alumilite Amazing Clear Cast work as well. The stuff is thick and has some give to protect your lure. You really cannot chip the jig and you will loose it far sooner then you will do damage to it.

Thanks guys. A lot of good information on here.

I don't do a lot of river fishing but I have a bunch of Swarming Hornet lures that have awful paint. I took the hooks off and used 5-6 layers of Plastidip (Camo & Blaze colors) and it's held up very well, it doesn't really chip since it's basically rubber.

Then I went on a plastidip spree that my wife did not appreciate. Works great when sprayed as a grip on old tools, it's just neat stuff to play with. It's what most of the Import/Tuner/Ricer kids use on their Honda Civic wheels.

natetreat wrote:vinyl paint is way less prone to chipping, although it's a PIA to use. Using a super thin amount of powder coat and curing it in the oven is the best way to get a sturdy jig. Also, if you avoid banging your jig against the rocks, you'll avoid the issue altogether. They'll come up for it.

how do you find the bottom to know your just above it without banging on the rocks? And what about areas
where the depth changes; can you really avoid the rocks?

I tell people that if you don't snag once in a while you are not fishing. If you snag too often, I will kick you out of the boat and you can swim home. LOL

Anglinarcher wrote:I tell people that if you don't snag once in a while you are not fishing. If you snag too often, I will kick you out of the boat and you can swim home. LOL

Word. When you find the bottom, you reel in and back it up a foot or two. But you're going to bang rocks fishing boulder fields and darker water. When I know I'm going to be banging rocks, I don't even worry about the paint on the jig. Like on the skookumchuck, half the time you're bouncing your jig along the bottom. I just twist it up with the colors I need on the hook.

This is one of the reasons why I avoid jig fishing as much as I can. When you're moving around a lot, you spend more time fighting bobber stops then fishing, and you always miss the prime drift. Tie your jigs on hooks without lead and clip a pac-man about a foot up from it, solves the problem. Also known as flies. I've been fishing beads and flies lately and have been very happy with the results.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't worry about tossing away a handful every time I fish, that's why I tie my own. I'm certainly not in the recycle business, when they're done, they're done. What I hate is buying/tying a jig, tossing it out there, working it back in only to find no paint left on it. Ya got tie a new on after that. If you're tying on jigs all day you're not fishing. It's got to be in the water to be fishing. Right?

Powder paint then bake at 350 for 15 minutes. You can't beat the paint off with a hammer. Be sure to clear the eyes before baking or you will be drilling them out.

How would plastidip work?

Try some Ultra Violet Paint. It gets hard after drying and gives you a better chance of getting bit.