Have you tried these weights?

[davidriley]

Have you tried these weights for weighting your flies. They are called 'Cheburashka weights' and are used in mainland Europe although UK anglers are now starting to use them too. They enable the lure angler to create flexibility when jigging with soft baits as any type of hook can be used with them and you don't have to carry a load of different weighted jigheads to fish in different situations. Making your bag lighter and your pocket too!

I have bought some to try with flies. They can be bought on eBay, although 'Spro' are now selling them, they are marketed as 'Bottom jigs' - http://www.spro.eu/EN_GB/category/predator/jigheads/bottom-jig.html

David

 

[LedHed]

I haven't tried them. I fish mostly ultra lite now. 1/16th (~1.5gr) is still a bit heavy for me. Interesting idea. Bass guys are using them - think Do-it has a mold for them now.... Isn't it called swing jig???

 

[davidriley]

I haven't tried them. I fish mostly ultra lite now. 1/16th (~1.5gr) is still a bit heavy for me. Interesting idea. Bass guys are using them - think Do-it has a mold for them now.... Isn't it called swing jig???

Not heard them called that but 'swing jig' is a better description. I notice that many of you guys fish much lighter. Probably 1/32 is about as light as many go over here.

David

 

[Kdog]

Ear ball http://www.zeiners.com/doit/earballlure.html

Football Swing Jig http://www.barlowstackle.com/Do-It-Football-Swing-Jig-Mold-P3026C58.aspx

 

[davidriley]

Ear ball http://www.zeiners.com/doit/earballlure.html

Football Swing Jig http://www.barlowstackle.com/Do-It-Football-Swing-Jig-Mold-P3026C58.aspx

Interesting. Thanks.

 

[plateboater]

could work!

 

[Barefoot]

I have experimented with many variations of the ear ball jig and a few of the bass fishing heads. I do get a better hook up and better action on the jig with these rigs but my initial response to these heads is that I feel better with the split ring attachment over a clip. That being said, I have never tested this brand.
The swivel attachment did not work well for swim baits but the split rings only do very well.
Interesting.

 

[LedHed]

Excellent work Barefoot - great lookin jigs!

 

[plateboater]

Nice job barefoot

 

[Bucho]

The unique thing about the cheburaska is the slot with the pin in it that looks like a paperclip and allows for quick change of the attached hook. Some of you guys might have overlooked the second little thumbnail in david´s link:
http://www.spro.eu/imageGen.ashx?image=/media/885713/4622-1900.JPG&compression=100&width=1550

Been looking for a mold like that too but haven´t found one yet. Its quite different from earball or swing jig which have moldet in eyes. A large bucktail or craft hair streamer tied on an offset hook should indeed make a nice package.

 

[Barefoot]

I see that now. I might have to try a few.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Before I knew that barb collar jig heads for plastics existed, I fished baitholder hooks attached to a split ring / swivel with a sliding egg sinker above on the main line. Worked, but think a fixed hook jig head hooksets better.

 

[Bucho]

Zander (=walleye) seem to be particularly fond of the action provided by a flexible lead head. There is a legendary baitholder system originated by french zander pro Albert Drachkovich that makes use of this effect. The original drachkovic system is based on a large split shot cramped on a wire loop, it would actually benefit from a head like that. I just found a guy who uses it for making his own baitholders. He doesn´t even have molds and drills the holes after casting, but the rest is quite well illustrated:

http://www.flussangler.com/Artikel/Bauanleitung_fuer_ein_Drachkovitch-System.htm

Time to fit a large flat or doubled pin into my ear-ball molds...

 

[Barefoot]

Very neat! Bucho, I will support the cause by purchasing some.

 

[davidriley]

Zander (=walleye) seem to be particularly fond of the action provided by a flexible lead head. There is a legendary baitholder system originated by french zander pro Albert Drachkovich that makes use of this effect. The original drachkovic system is based on a large split shot cramped on a wire loop, it would actually benefit from a head like that. I just found a guy who uses it for making his own baitholders. He doesn´t even have molds and drills the holes after casting, but the rest is quite well illustrated:

http://www.flussangler.com/Artikel/Bauanleitung_fuer_ein_Drachkovitch-System.htm

Time to fit a large flat or doubled pin into my ear-ball molds...

Interesting concerning zander. If all goes according to plan I am hoping to get out next week and try for zander. I will give the cheburashkas a tryout and see if I can catch one.

The photo gives an idea how they look. Please ignore the quality of fly tying, I was just messing about when I tied these. I was not expecting them to be scrutinised by the experts from 'across the pond'. The red weights at the top of the photo are called 'iron claw' and were purchased from a French company. They are quite crude.

David

 

[AtticaFish]

Some very interesting info in this thread. I have been reading more and more about the Do-It Mold swing jigs, but as mentioned earlier it is mainly from bass fishing articles. If you dig around, there are some other saltwater patterns somewhere on the forum, but they use the heavier earball mold for deep waters.

May have to crimp a shot on a swivel and tie something up so i can see the action. Need to get out and cast for walleye here soon before the water warms up much and they are still close to shore. Thanks for the info and ideas!

......Please ignore the quality of fly tying, I was just messing about when I tied these. I was not expecting them to be scrutinised by the experts.....

Haha! It would take me 15 minutes to tie a deep clouser that clean! Those are really nice looking ties.

 

[AllenOK]

Those look nice!

 

[Barefoot]

Can anyone locate these on EBAY? I must not be searching right.