Losing the bait keeper on jigs for Ned rid and Jig worms

[Cgolf]

I have cut off the bait keeper in the past and had pretty good luck with jig worms. I cut it off some mushroom and minnow heads to start rigging up for next season. Also with the loctite gel control that stays where you put it, it is much easier to glue the plastics to the jig head, unlike the thick CAs of the past from my RC hobby that went everywhere except where they were supposed to be.  

I just hate fighting to get the Zman baits positioned properly on the keeper and tearing up baits like the Arkie crawlin fry. Anybody else do this. 

[tander]

I tried cutting the keeper off and using the gel glue but I went back to using the keeper. I couldn't keep the plastic on with the glue. I sure plenty have used the glue but I just couldn't get it to work for me.

[paleus]

I don't have any problem getting the Ned rig rigged up right on the zman jigheads with the elaztech baits. They're so tough, just pull em off and try again if it's not right. But, I would imagine those bait keepers would destroy any non elaztech plastics. 

[Cgolf]

9 minutes ago, tander said:

I tried cutting the keeper off and using the gel glue but I went back to using the keeper. I couldn't keep the plastic on with the glue. I sure plenty have used the glue but I just couldn't get it to work for me.

I do like the gel style CAs, loctite right now is the only brand I know of. I have a Zinker glued on a fireball jig and the glue is holding solid while the bait is pretty much torn off the jig. Not sure if this stuff is better than other glues, but I have not run into this issue.

3 minutes ago, paleus said:

I don't have any problem getting the Ned rig rigged up right on the zman jigheads with the elaztech baits. They're so tough, just pull em off and try again if it's not right. But, I would imagine those bait keepers would destroy any non elaztech plastics. 

I use the gopher heads which have the double barb lead keeper and some minnow heads that had a keeper that was rather large. The gopher heads are very economical and I like the hooks that they come with.

[Bluebasser86]

I pour my own without the collar. Super simple to slide the bait on and the flat bottom allows maximum surface contact so I glue them on and they stay put. 

[Cgolf]

4 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I pour my own without the collar. Super simple to slide the bait on and the flat bottom allows maximum surface contact so I glue them on and they stay put. 

Those look nice, it is too bad that Gopher doesn't offer a version like this for those of us that don't pour our own. It is just kind of funny to me that over the years the bait keeper has only been useful when fishing the small crappie tubes, it has been a hinderance when rigging anything else on a jig head. 

[Bluebasser86]

9 minutes ago, cgolf said:

Those look nice, it is too bad that Gopher doesn't offer a version like this for those of us that don't pour our own. It is just kind of funny to me that over the years the bait keeper has only been useful when fishing the small crappie tubes, it has been a hinderance when rigging anything else on a jig head. 

It helps with lots of baits, but anything Zman is not in that group of baits it helps with. I started out using a double keeper style like the Gopher heads, but it was more a pain than anything. They work great for grubs though. I still use the same hook with either head though.

[Cgolf]

1 hour ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It helps with lots of baits, but anything Zman is not in that group of baits it helps with. I started out using a double keeper style like the Gopher heads, but it was more a pain than anything. They work great for grubs though. I still use the same hook with either head though.

Could be because when I am on the river I fish a lot of skinny baits like the zoom c tail worm and havoc juice worm that aren't much thicker than the keeper on most jigs. Anything meatier like a tube or crawbug or heck even a 5"  grub, I usually use a slider head. I could see the keeper working well with the crawbug or a creature bait. I will have to try the jigheads on those baits this year and save the sliders for where they are needed, the river is all rocks with very little vegetation so open hooks are fine.

[smalljaw67]

I like the 3/32oz double barb head that Bluebasser pours, I make the same one and I use either the  size 1 EC Lil Nasty hook or the Owner 5318 hook depending on the bait I'm using with it. If I'm using the 3" Fat Senko I use the Owner 5318 because the round bend has a larger gap, and if I'm using the regular 3" Senko, that is when I like using the Lil Nasty hook.

[tander]

Blue, could a wire weedguard be added to that head. I would love to start pouring my own.

[Bluebasser86]

Just now, tander said:

Blue, could a wire weedguard be added to that head. I would love to start pouring my own.

Yes, you can easily modify the mold to fit wire. I make a weedless one with a double fiber guard on it, but a Ned Rig with a TRD or 1/2 a Zinker is surprisingly difficult to snag when you have the right weigh/hook combination, so I don't even bother with it. 

[tander]

1 minute ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Yes, you can easily modify the mold to fit wire. I make a weedless one with a double fiber guard on it, but a Ned Rig with a TRD or 1/2 a Zinker is surprisingly difficult to snag when you have the right weigh/hook combination, so I don't even bother with it. 

Thanks, I have never tried one without a weedguard, will give it a shot.

[paleus]

13 hours ago, cgolf said:

I use the gopher heads which have the double barb lead keeper and some minnow heads that had a keeper that was rather large. The gopher heads are very economical and I like the hooks that they come with.

My mistake, I thought you were talking about the ZMan Shroomz.

[Paul Roberts]

I've been popping jig heads into my fly-tying vice and tying on little wire barbs like the ZMan Shroomz has. Takes very little time.

I stopped gluing plastics because they erode lead over time. What a mess they can make if I leave lead in contact with soft plastics. They begin by discoloring the plastic then dissolving / disintegrating the lead resulting in lead that will crumble and smear. Probably about as toxic a form of lead as you could have. I now store lead and plastics separate, taking baits off the heads if I'm not using them soon.