Lost Tackle-Craft Skills

MLK Day usually means (at least to me, in part) an all-day ice-fishing excursion, but with Winter's arrival being late, that was not locally possible in 2016.   But the boats are already put away, and the holidays are behind us; and so over the long holiday weekend I turned to some tackle craft to keep me productively engaged with my fishing season.

My first task was to replace a broken guide on an old dipsey diver rod.  I had all the materials to do so, it was just a matter of finding the time; and here was that gift of time!  I've built and repaired many rods over the last 40 years or so, but it has been a while since I've utilized my wrapping skills.  I'm sorry to admit that I've clearly allowed these to erode.  I'm doubly sorry to admit that I felt half blind when confronted with laying the thread along each previous wrap.  The end result will be fully functional (thank goodness for hard epoxy finishes!), but it's not much to look at.

This is the first year when it is legal in Michigan to target bass at any time.  To make the most of this new opportunity, I've been planning on adding Hair Jigs to my cold-water bassing arsenal.  These are not locally available to any satisfactory degree, but after watching a few You-tube videos on tying these, I decided I could tackle this project, too.  I dug out my vice for the first time in over 25 years, grabbed an assortment of naked jig heads and purchased some simple materials from the new local Orvis shop.

I've now a couple of dozen hair jigs ready for action.  These range from probable crappie jigs to bucktails for Florida's April surf.  Most are simple black, do-nothing jigs in the 1/16 to 1/8 ounce range, and between swimming darters and head-standing craws, I've got a few hair presentation options available.    I can't claim to have lost my tying skills (I never really had any), but what skills I've retained appear to be appropriate for Hair Jigs.  Mine didn't come out too pretty, but I suspect they will work.

Assorted Hair Jigs and a replaced rod guide

I've got big plans for these jigs in Spring's cold water.

These activities aren't as immediately satisfying as going fishing, but I trust my investment of time will pay off with some nice bass in the future.  And, I enjoyed doing this stuff. I can't complain about the weekend, even if I never did go fishing.

(P.S.  It's cold enough; I might be out there on the hard water by next weekend.)