Home made jigging raps

[eriksat1]

Now I see Al Linder using Rippin Raps the same way, I might have to try making some of those also. Looks like Rippin Raps about $6 a pop.

[kingfisher72]

I wanted to say thanks OP. This thread inspired me to start making my own balance jigs. I really enjoyed the project and am having great success with my lures.

[Artdoorsman]

I'm going to attempt to make these. I tried before with wood and added sinker weights inside of them but the wood caused there to be an imbalance in not sinking directly to the bottom and fast enough even though I had like 3 oz of sinkers in it.

Kingfisher do you think you miss out on hookups by removing the bottom treble? If so I'm going to try to make mine just taking a piece of wood and making a mold with a dremel tool leaving space for hooks to attach and a top line wire. Then will fill it with silver solder and paint. I want to try to make these a larger profile than the jigging raps to hopefully catch even more walleye. I have gone out fishing with the Northland Puppet Minnows and Rapala jigging raps and limited out within an hours time bottom bouncing in 3 to 4 feet of water. I lose so many of these and think making something on my own will be more rewarding as well. I would love any updates on anyone who has been successful with making them.

[kingfisher72]

I sent you a PM...


Two hooked baits hook fish fine in the smaller sized baits. They also snag bottom less in my experience. I know the narrative online and in the industry is that the front hook is responsible for snagged baits but that hasn't been my experience. Baits with a belly treble seem to snag more frequently.



Just make a 2 part mold out of plaster O Paris. There are many videos on youtube and other websites where you can learn how. Apply the technique to your bait. Make sure the mold is absolutely dry before using it. Hot lead in a wet mold is an explosion hazard.

[Artdoorsman]

I started making my own version of homemade jigging raps. I opted to not use the bottom treble to see if this helps me lose less from snags. I am going to use a smaller brush tomorrow with the ones I will be making then instead of the finger nail polish brush. I ended up using a wooden mold I made with a Dremel. I used a very small Dremel bit on each end for the hooks to rest in and used tape to keep them upright. I'm documenting it all so I will have a video online soon of the process I took, but the lead free silver solder works great. I'm not going to worry about the little plastic part I don't think and want to see if this will catch some eyes. The moment of truth will be when I can get out fishing in my kayak which I hope will be soon! I'll be focusing on better quality painting as I move forward. I also may experiment with plaster of Paris as a mold too.

[cclawman]

Originally Posted by rdbalmer

I have been making my own jigging raps for the last three years and have gotten them to where they swim very nicely. I changed the style of the front and rear hook to an aberdeen jig hook that is considerably larger than the stock hooks they come with and found that I have a better hooking percentage and far fewer fish shaking the hooks boatside. I have been using a cross lock snap molded into the body for the treble hook hanger and line tie eyelet. The treble I use is a mustad that only two of the hooks are brazed together allowing you to spread them apart so they can be slipped on your lure with out a split ring. Alot of the blade baits on the market use these. They work but in my opinion are a bit week and you need to bee careful unhooking fish or you will bend them out of shape fairly easily. I have tried a split ring and other trebles and had too much trouble with the hook fouling on the back of the lure. My question is if any one would know where to order the "hook hanger/line tie that rapala and some of the other manufacturers use in theirs. thanks Rob

Rob;
GOOD JOB! really nice looking Raps.

As far as the bottom hanger, have you considered a hole through the jig with hook wired on the bottom? If that would work it allows the addition of glass and brass to create rattle.

[KKross]

It's interesting

[kentdesautel]

Here's a mold that I made on my CNC Milling machine. I also made an injection mold for the plastic fins. The red tails mimic a wounded minnow.

[sreding]

Originally Posted by kentdesautel

Here's a mold that I made on my CNC Milling machine. I also made an injection mold for the plastic fins. The red tails mimic a wounded minnow.

Wow - awesome work there! I've been trying to make fins reliably and it's difficult to cut them quickly with accuracy. I made a jig to help cut them, but they don't look anywhere near as good as yours!

[clawman]

Originally Posted by kentdesautel

Here's a mold that I made on my CNC Milling machine. I also made an injection mold for the plastic fins. The red tails mimic a wounded minnow.