When I started fishing, I latched on to the baits that I caught fish on. What would happen if they quit making them? Well, that possibility pushed me past level-headed thinking. So, I stockpiled whatever I could find, just in case.

I shouldn’t have caved in. By the time I would run out of a particular bait, the fish started whacking something different. I still have a pile of baits that I was afraid of running out of.

One I can think of is a 1/8-ounce hair jig that I discovered one fall after running out of large minnows on a river smallmouth outing. I figured that if I could make my own jigs, that would solve that. So, I bought a round, ball head jig mold and set to making my own bucktails.

Then new jigs started showing up. To get ‘em, you had to buy them at retail. But the jig mold business was growing, and new styles started showing up in that marketplace.

A friend in my area was ahead of the game. He found that heads with hook eyes extending out the top of the head were not great in weeds. He made a head in a blank mold with an in-line hook that came out the front of the head, rather than the top. It was at 180 degrees.

I should mention that I did try a banana-style mold, but I found that it just did not work for weeds due to the eye coming out of the top. That collected weeds at the line tie. So, it sat in disuse. I traded my friend tackle to get some of the heads. So, I made my early weedless bass jigs that way.

Over time, I had forgotten that I had that mold. So, I studied it, and an idea took shape. Why not make room for a hook eye to come out the front at 180 degrees? After searching, I found a Z bend worm hook that would work coming out the front. The bend in the hook held it stable after it was molded. And there was still room for a medium fiber weed guard. So, I used a Dremel tool, made an opening for the hook eye, and cut off the excess that filled in where the eye was supposed to go. It created a jig mold that I have been using for more than 35 years for bass jigs.

Basically, the only similar jig I saw at retail that was the Strike King Denny Brauer Structure Jig. I never used the Bass or Grass jigs on the market, so it may be possible to get them to work. But I found 2/0, 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 hooks that work for mine. It works good for plastic chunks, Josh’s pork frog and MaxScent Power Chunks. I did Dremel in a little hook on the shanks to hold the trailer, but I don’t use much else other than the ones above.

I consider this sort of thinking as outside the box a bit. I also have several other molds that I was able to modify for more than one use. I have other molds that might also work for another bait. If you make several types of your own jig heads, you may have ideas that may work. But be sure to think it out before you forge ahead.