When the mold has seasoned thoroughly, cut out eyelet grooves and hook slots as well as a carving hole. First you must get samples of the hook size and wire eyelet you will use. The eyelets are easily formed from soft copper or brass wire in the shape shown in Fig. 91. When you have the sample eye­let and hook, place them in position on the plaster mold and trace around them with a pencil to indicate the part which will have to be removed. Wood carving tools are ideal for removing this plaster, to make room for the eyelet and hook, but you can also use a small, sharp knife. A larger knife can be used to carve out the funnel-shaped pouring hole. This is done to both halves of the plaster mold, as shown in Fig. 92.

For casting the jigs you will need some lead or block tin or a combination of the two such as bar solder. Scrap lead or tin can often be bought from a junk dealer or a plumber. Solder bars are sold by plumber's supply houses or hardware stores. The greater the proportion of tin you use, the lighter the jig will be both in weight and appearance. A jig cast from almost pure tin will be very white and silvery in appearance and does not have to be painted. A jig cast from lead will be dark and will turn black later. Such jigs are heavier and are usually painted.

Melt the lead or tin in an iron ladle over a gas range or an electric stove. Before putting the two plaster mold halves together, pour some of the hot metal into each half to warm it, or place the plaster mold close to the flame or heat to make it warm. The next step is to place the wire eyelet and the hook in the groove and slot. See Fig. 93. Then put the two halves together, hold them with the pouring hole up, and pour the molten metal as quickly as possible right up to the top of the pouring hole.  See Fig. 94.

When you notice the hot metal harden you can lay the mold on its side to cool off a bit. After the first jig is poured you'll usually need a glove or rag to hold the mold for subsequent pourings. It gets pretty hot and unless the plaster mold is very thick you won't be able to hold it in your bare hand. If you want, you can grip the two plaster halves together with a C-clamp and hold the clamp, to keep your hand from getting burned.

After about a minute, depending on the size of the jig, you can separate the mold and take out the jig. It should be perfectly formed with no bad spots. If it isn't perfect, the lead or tin wasn't hot enough or the mold was too cool.  After a little experimenting you'll be able to tell just how hot the molten metal must be to pour right. For the best results, pour when the lead or tin has a bluish or purplish color on top. Every so often it's a good idea to scrape the scum off the surface of the lead in the ladle.

As you pour the jigs, keep cutting off the excess lead left at the pour hole with diagonal pliers and add it to the molten metal in the ladle. Once you start pouring it's best to continue until you have poured enough jigs for your needs.  If you have two or three molds you can alternate between them.

You can save time by designing your mold so that it takes the special jig hook shown in Fig. 95. Then you don't have to use a separate wire eyelet and hook. The bend in the hook makes it possible to cast it in a jig so that it serves both purposes. These special jig hooks are now available from most hook manufacturers and supply houses. They come in light wire patterns which are best for fresh-water fishing, and also in heavier wire patterns such as the O'Shaughnessy which are used for salt water. Naturally, the size of hook you use will also depend on the size of the jig and the fish you are after. The small hooks are used for the light jigs and fresh-water fishing while the bigger hooks are for the heavier jigs and salt-water fishing.

A mold from plaster of Paris or water putty is generally good for casting about two or three dozen jigs before it breaks up. Small chips or holes in the plaster mold can be patched up with wet plaster or water putty. When do­ing this, make sure you wet the section of the mold to be rilled before apply­ing the liquid plaster. But if the mold breaks up too badly it's better to make a new one.

If you do a lot of fishing and need many jigs you can easily make a per­manent mold which will last for years. All you do is go through the same steps in making the plaster halves. When the plaster mold is dry you carve out the groove and slot for the hook as well as the pouring hole and then send both halves to a foundry and have them copied in bronze. When you get the bronze halves back you must smooth the inside or the cavity with emery cloth. The bronze mold can be held together with a C-clamp for pouring. Or, if you have the tools, you can tap holes in both sections of the bronze mold and add a hinge and handles.

You can also buy ready-made metal molds complete with handles, in different sizes, weights, and shapes. When one takes into consideration how many thousands of jigs they will turn out over the years they are well worth the cost. In fact, it is often cheaper to buy one of these ready-made molds than to bother making your own permanent metal mold. Unless, of course, you have a special jig design you want to use. Then the best idea is to make up a few of those jigs, using a plaster mold. If they turn out O.K. you can then have a permanent mold made at a foundry. But for ordinary fishing purposes you can usually make all the jigs you need with a plaster mold.

After the jigs are poured they require some finishing. A metal mold usu­ally pours more perfect jigs than a plaster type, but even these still require some work. Most of the excess metal can be clipped off with cutting pliers or with a knife, and a file can be used to remove the rest. Then give the jig a smooth finish by rubbing it with fine steel wool. If it is made from tin you can also buff it or polish it.

The final step is to tie on a body or skirt of bucktail hair, feathers, or nylon. Bucktail hair and feathers can usually be bought in small packages in almost any fishing tackle store, or you can send away for these materials to one of the fly-tying supply houses. Save money by buying a whole buck-tail. The natural bucktail is white and brown. You can use the white hair both for fresh-and salt-water jigs, and some of the brown for fresh-water jigs.

Yellow bucktail is also popular for all kinds of fishing, and many other colors are available. You can also buy the white bucktail and dye it yourself. All-white and all-yellow jigs are the most popular both for fresh- and especially for salt-water fishing, but when tying the jigs you can blend several colors to imitate fresh-water minnows.

When tying bucktail hair around the jig head, do it in stages. The first step is to get some heavy silk, nylon, or linen thread. You can also use heavy button cord or sewing thread if you want. White is the best color to use un­less you want to match the head or hair with an identical color. Cut off about a 2-foot length of this thread, wrap a few turns of the thread around the jig head where the bucktail will go, and cover this wrapping with clear quick-drying cement. Now quickly take a pinch of hair, lay it against the cement, and wrap a few turns of the thread around it. See Fig. 96. Then add another drop or two of cement, lay another pinch of hair against it, and tie a few more turns of thread around the hair. Keep doing this until you build up a thick body of hair around the hook, concealing most of it except the point and the barb. See Fig. 97. It is a good idea to make up several pinches of hair in advance and lay them on the table to be used as needed.

When you have the full amount of bucktail hair wound on the jig head, finish the job by wrapping the rest of the thread as tightly as possible over the jig. Then end it by tying a series of half-hitches. Finally, cover the thread wrapping with a heavy coat of clear quick-drying cement.

Instead of bucktail hair you can use feathers of various colors on the jig. See Fig. 97. Neck or saddle hackle feathers are best for this. Although various colors of feathers are used, white and yellow are the most popular for both fresh- and salt-water fishing.

Nylon can also be used on a jig, in various colors and lengths. It comes in the natural translucent color, in different diameters and lengths, and is dyed with special nylon dyes available from supply houses. The small di­ameters and lengths are best for small jigs, especially those used in fresh­water fishing, and the thicker diameters and longer lengths are used for the larger salt-water jigs. When tying the nylon to the jig great care must be taken to do this as tightly as possible, because this material has a tendency to slip out from under the wrapping. For best results, try to get the "crimped" nylon which holds better than the smooth kind.

The final step in making jigs is to paint the metal head in whatever color you prefer. Of course, the jigs cast from pure tin or an alloy which is mostly tin can be left unpainted. The silvery appearance is attractive to many fishes. However, if you cast your jigs from lead you'll have to paint them since the lead turns black and unattractive. You can use lacquer, enamel, or special paints such as the celluloid enamels. If white bucktail, feathers, or nylon was used for the body you can paint the head white. If yellow was used you can paint the head yellow, and so on. Combinations of different colors can also be tried.
 
To finish off the jigs many anglers also paint on a pair of eyes. These are not necessary to catch fish but they do give the jigs a professional look. Paint the eyes with a small pointed brush or use the nail-dipping method described in Chapter 2 on fresh-water plugs.

Most jigs range in weight from 1/8oz. to about 2 ozs. The smaller ones are best for fresh-water fishing and for casting with light outfits. The heavier ones are more suited for salt-water fishing, trolling, and casting with heavy fishing tackle.

Jigs are so easy and inexpensive to make that every fresh- and salt-water angler should make molds or buy molds to turn out a good supply and as­sortment of these lures to be prepared for the fishing season.

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