rock-a-roo jigs

walleyescrounger

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Mar 18, 2015
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JUNGLEJIM1 said:
I think that the Tear Drop mold by Do It pours a similar head to the rock a roos style head.  I really like seeing some of these oldies type jigs and folks like Redman weighing in again. Need more pics to perhaps get me going again. Going to pour some jigs today.

It is a pretty similar head and is a great walleye and scrounger head . What sets the rocker-roo head
apart is it's flatter top.Take the new Ned rig heads and imagine a cone coming back from this head design and you come close to the rock-a-roo design. Think about the end of a baseball bat and how that gets lathed and how a simalar process took place when the steel blanks were lathed for the molds. Redman probably has some functionality of why Cap worked a whole year with Jim Stone to get the jig he wanted.
 

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hookup

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Nice job on the Ned rigs

We got a local guy that swears by them in the WV rivers but always wants one lighter than the DoIt molds can make
 

Hawnjigs

KISS
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Does anyone know what the name "Rock-a-Roo" stands for? And the functional aspects of the head design? I'm hoping Redman is still in.

Expensive, but the Do-it Midwest Finesse heads are only 2/3 lead weight cast with tin metal.
 

redman

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Ok fellows two questions were ask. The first I will answer is what does Rock-a-Roo stand for. A name for a lure a made up name. It got its name in the early part of 1950. It bounced off the rocks hugged the bottom. It had a catchy sound to it so Rock-a-Roo it became.  Second question was why did Cap and Jim work for a full year on this head design. The first molds Cap had George F. Myers of Arnolds Park make and were very crude. Cap didn't like them. I have several heads and they were crude and unbalanced. Cap wanted something balanced and would help to make he jig breath and pulse when fished. Making it more like like a bait fish. Cap never tied jigs he made lures. Anyone who was observant and worked them in short twitches could see that they were more of a lure/jig. When the were pulled up they had the bait fish silhouette on the drop they would flare out and breath. Only to dart away again like a bait fish would. It is my opinion that the blunt face would create a water vacuum that the hair/feathers would form a silhouette of a bait fish. That's when most of the hits would occur. These men were years ahead of their time. Cap at that time was a meat fisherman. Times were hard he was just starting his business so he had to produce fish to eat and to show that his lures produced fish and big ones.

Necessity is the mother of invention.


Redman
 

walleyescrounger

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redman said:
Ok fellows two questions were ask. The first I will answer is what does Rock-a-Roo stand for. A name for a lure a made up name. It got its name in the early part of 1950. It bounced off the rocks hugged the bottom. It had a catchy sound to it so Rock-a-Roo it became.  Second question was why did Cap and Jim work for a full year on this head design. The first molds Cap had George F. Myers of Arnolds Park make and were very crude. Cap didn't like them. I have several heads and they were crude and unbalanced. Cap wanted something balanced and would help to make he jig breath and pulse when fished. Making it more like like a bait fish. Cap never tied jigs he made lures. Anyone who was observant and worked them in short twitches could see that they were more of a lure/jig. When the were pulled up they had the bait fish silhouette on the drop they would flare out and breath. Only to dart away again like a bait fish would. It is my opinion that the blunt face would create a water vacuum that the hair/feathers would form a silhouette of a bait fish. That's when most of the hits would occur. These men were years ahead of their time. Cap at that time was a meat fisherman. Times were hard he was just starting his business so he had to produce fish to eat and to show that his lures produced fish and big ones.

Necessity is the mother of invention.


Redman
Thank you Redman
Im greatful  for all you have shared and especially humbled by your gracious contributions .
God Bless
Neil
Neil
 

redear

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Redman, I have been thinking about you and wondering what you have been up to. It is great to find out you are still doing your thing and fishing some. To all the people who have joined in the last couple years, Redman very graciously upon my asking supplied the old trade secrets of how to make a very serviceable one or two cavity mold of your own design. I will forever be in debt to Redman for this, it added so much more satisfaction to the hobby for me. Pressing a mold out of soft aluminum has produced some very good quality jigs of various shapes and sizes for me and the line tie was put in the exact location for the best balance  for fishing them under a float.  Thanks for everything Redman!
 

walleyescrounger

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Iredear said:
Redman, I have been thinking about you and wondering what you have been up to. It is great to find out you are still doing your thing and fishing some. To all the people who have joined in the last couple years, Redman very graciously upon my asking supplied the old trade secrets of how to make a very serviceable one or two cavity mold of your own design. I will forever be in debt to Redman for this, it added so much more satisfaction to the hobby for me. Pressing a mold out of soft aluminum has produced some very good quality jigs of various shapes and sizes for me and the line tie was put in the exact location for the best balance  for fishing them under a float.  Thanks for everything Redman!

I was wondering about him to . I just sent him an email right before I saw that you had posted this.
I’ll let you know how he is doing when he responds.
 

walleyescrounger

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Here is a email outlining how tying materials were made ready before tying. I have collected quite a bit of stories from him about cap Kennedy, Jim stone and other lengends of his time. I would like to get some more background information before compiling a document on this.
This is just

Sent from my iPhone



Neal sometimes the weather will trigger memories to me. One of these lately has been when Cap would get his winter tying supplies. Mostly rooster streamer necks and Buck tails. He would order white necks from Wapsi Fly. Then one day he would announce they had arrived and we had to wash and dye them. First we would wash them in the same tub that held his catches that I viewed as a young boy. We would use tide laundry soap in hot, hot water. Stirring them for 20 minutes with a old hickory handle from a garden tool. Then we would hang them on the clothes line out beside the house after rinsing them in the same tub they were washed in. The tub was washed out and then the Buck tails were put in. Again tide soap was added and this time the water was heated on a old propane stove in the garage. When the water was boiling we would stir them in till they were snowy white. Then we would brush them to get rid of bug and burrs. Cap liked the big old hollow hair Buck tails. He would use all the Buck tailed he would get but sorted them in to categories. Large for the 3/8 oz. Jigs medium for the rest . Small tails which there were few were used for smaller jigs sometimes, but we're the last ones used.

We would let them dry for two days in Indian summer as Cap would say and the take and sort the necks to large, medium, and small. When they were dry we would start to dye them with a die that he had and I don't think is no longer available. We would keep the largest and save them to use as hackles on the small jigs the next largest would be sorted and dyed to red and yellow for tails on the jigs. The smallest we would dye red for the small jigs.

The buck tails we would dye like wise. Four different piles white the largest would be put in boxes with moth balls. Then we would sort the rest some to be dyed red, some yellow, and a few a hunters green or as Cap would say forest green. The dying was done in a old steel pot put on top of the propane stove. The stove was a old two burner stove more a hot plate than a stove. Cap always called it a stove so that's what I will refer to it. We would add the dye to the water boil the water and dye and then add the necks or tails. When the color seemed right to Cap we would turn down the heat and add vinegar to set the dye. Then wash the tails or necks in cold water and hand them dry on the clothes line with clip clothes pins. They would dry for a full day before being fluffed and put in a box with moth balls.

Getting the winter tying material ready was a three day ordeal. We would start off at 8:00 a.m. and not quite until 4:00 p.m. and then go out fishing until dark. Kathy would have a nice meal made for us with a couple of scotch and waters before we ate. Cap loved his scotch and water most of his scotch was cheap but welcome after a three hour fishing trip in a cool or cold weather. We both love to fish turtle bay at twin hills at East lake Okoboji. Easy walleye fishing after a hard day of work. The frogs would come into turtle bay and a jig with green and white would take some nice size walleye. You could hear them glauming the frogs and knew you would have good night of fishing. Then we would move about two blocks down and fish Jim Stone jigs for the hawg walleye that would come on the flats on turtle bay. We would take back 10 walleye from 10 to 4 lbs. We would take the cheeks and livers fry the as a appetizer before dinner. Filet the walleye and eat dinner. Fun times times I wish I could relive.

Enjoy my friend another story from my youth. It may add some knowledge to how we did things.


All the best,

Redmanackground information before a complie a document of this time.
Enjoy
 

skeetbum

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Aug 26, 2010
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Debary, FL
Glad to see this thread and you involved Redman. We haven't spoken in several years and I often wondered where you had dropped off to. I haven't been on this forum for a time myself so I have fallen out of touch with many that I used to read and talk with some. Glad to hear that you're well and look forward to some of your future posts. Still have a few of the heads you gifted me years back. Think of you every time I pick them up.......Skeet
 

hookup

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Interesting head - looks like a tube jig put into a vice

Nice tie
 

Hawnjigs

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Man, you old timers really had to work for your wallys. Altho I target best seasonal opportunity species here there is a special satisfaction with catching a wally speshly the biguns. Being a relative newby to the game have taken the EZ road with soft plastics, spending tackle building time refining jig heads for optimal cast & retrieve performance. Not sure if it matters, but pearl color plastics appear to mimic natural baitfish flash colors better than hair & feathers.

If yer still out there harassing pig wallys say its so, Redman. Is Reddog a relation?
 

reddog

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Feb 5, 2023
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Ive been pitching plastics to walleyes on the Missouri River around chamberlain for a long, long time. I grew up in the IGL, but well past the Cap and his friends era. I reached out to Steve, aka Redman to see if he would build me a complete set of Rock A Roos for a wall display. The above picture is the first one he made, a Jim Stone model. Im also going to have him tie up some to fish with also for nostalgic reasons. Can wait to see them, and try them this spring. No relation to Redman, just a coincidence,,
 

Hawnjigs

KISS
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Mar 23, 2010
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Has anyone considered seriously targeting walleye with tied jigs? I've dabbled with a few and caught fish, but modern soft plastics have been too successful to quit plus ties require time and materials. For 5 bucks a bag of 10 or more softies just pin one on a jig head and good to go.

No doubting the creative talents and tekneek expertise of the old school masters.
 
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