Jig Man

I have the Sears battery. It is 4 years old and keeps all my stuff going and starts my hard cranking Optimax. If you go for one of those listed get the 800 CCA and hope it is enough.

The stinger mold from Jacob's is very close. It does have eyes but that doesn't matter. I've had one for 3 years now. It is a 10 cavity mold.

I'm saying I use the bead to hold the weight at any place on the line that I choose. The bead is the peg.

When I peg, which is seldom, I put a bead on the line then I pull a few strands of living rubber through the bead and secure the line. The hole in the bead is large enough so that my home made pulling tool slides through without any line damage. The bead can easily be moved up or down the line as needed.

An 80+- pound thrust 24v system will be all that you will need to take care of that weight. I get all day out of my batteries with a Motor Guide TE 82 hauling around a 1600 pound boat with a 500 pound motor on it. When you get the new motor be sure to get batteries with lots of reserve capacity.

You should look at reserve capacity in a DEEP CYCLE battery. That is the most important thing especially with a 12 volt system. It will draw more amps than a 24 or 36 volt system.

I don't want to discourage you but you could easily have a couple of hundred bones tied up before you make your first worm. If you are wanting to save money then this is not the way to go. As for a mold to make them, more than likely they are covered by a patent so they can't be duplicated legally.

I don't know how you would rate efficiency. Daily battery life is dramatically increased as you move from 12 to 24 to 36. If my memory is correct 24v has 1/2 the draw that 12 does and I think 36 may be 1/2 what a 24 is but it has been a long time since I have seen the numbers. I run an 82 and by the time it is too windy for it to hold the water is usually close to or coming over the bow.

You can take the top off the tmotor and align the arrow. There may be an L shaped bracket that has been bent a bit. You can fix it or buy a new one. Can't help with the Merc.

I've been using wire from a burned out table saw for over 10 years. When I run out of it I have another motor just waiting to take over.

Get the standard. That is what I've been using for a long time.

OK Matt. Now you have heard from 3 guys who have been doing this for half a century combined. Take what you have learned and head out in the direction you choose. Good luck to you which ever way you go.

Yes your homemade baits can be as effective as commercially manufactured baits. Recycling leads to green or brown, (mostly brown) as colors mix. As for a ton of money, I bought everything needed to inject tubes. My very first tube cost me $400. As the cost has gone down over the last 6 years I'm getting close to what I can pay for them. Figure over $100 for each mold, injectors, blending block, plastisol, dozens of colorants, several colors and sizes of glitter microwave oven or hot plate, nor por, pyrex, or pans for melting, respirator, gloves, goggles, etc, etc. If you use over $100 worth of plastics yearly, you might come out in a decade or so.

What you need depends on how many jigs you will be using. If it were me I'd contact Siebert Outdoors, Cadman, or smalljaw and buy some poured heads. I'm sure one of those guys can make you what you want. Get them without paint if you want and without the weed guard installed. Then you can buy some skirts and make up some jigs to see how it goes without the initial investment of a couple of hundred bones for the lead pot, molds, hooks and other necessities for pouring. If all goes well then you can start buying all of the stuff needed to pour.

It sounds high to me. Why don't you book it out on NADA guides and see if he is in the ball park.

Where are the cracks?

The only cranking battery that I have found for running my aerator and both hds units is the Sears PM-1 AGM. Mine is 4 years old and still keeps everything going + it has 1150 CCA to crank my old Optimax in the winter.

I'd take Nitro off the list. The older ones weren't as well made as the newer ones are.

Yes it does overlay one on top of the other. I used it a few times with my units then decided it wasn't worth it.

I can only speak for the HMG. I own 8 of them they have always been good and served me well. I use them as much a I do my Gloomis or St. Croix Avids.

I don't have "spots" on the eye. The eye is not painted at all.

If you hold the jig by the hook eye when you dip it you won't have any paint in the eye.

Over the years I've tried a bunch of ways to short cut the hair jig tie. I've never found one.

I think it has to be the NMEA network for those units and they will then share waypoints.

Tex-skin.