Do-It Molds have been an essential part of my fishing enjoyment and success for over 35 years. Yep, for over 3 and a half decades I’ve been using Do-It molds to give me a level of customized fishing tools that simply are not available "off the shelf"�. In this article, I want to share some of my favorite Do-It molds and the applications that I find most effective for my styles of fishing.
My love affair with making my own leadhead lures was born out of necessity during my college days in the early 70’s. Our winter time passion was sauger fishing below the TVA dam on Pickwick lake. Tasty sauger by the millions were available, but to effectively fish for them in the deep water and heavy winter currents, I needed a 1 oz. jig, with a large, but light wire hook. Back then, those jigs were almost impossible to find, and when you could find them, they were expensive for a college kid on a budget! So, enter the Football Jig mold, FBB-7-A. We got some cheap lead from a local scuba shop, ordered some Eagle Claw 570 Lazer hooks in 4/0, called some of our deer hunting buddies for some free tails, and viola---we were in the sauger jig business, for only pennies a lure. Some vinyl lure paint for dipping heads came along a little later. But, bottom line, we had an affordable lure, with a better hook than was commercially available, at a ridiculously low cost. And, we had some great evenings, with our fishing buddies, making jigs, tying hair and talking fishing.
The next mold that has become a staple in my jig arsenal is the JM-7-A, the Minnow Head Jig. I’ve found that this model makes an incredibly good grub head, fluke head and works great with grubs and shakey heads as well. In fact, until the Shake It jig mold came out last year, this head was the only head I carried to fish shakey worms, and it works extremely well. In fact, it is a better head in current situations and deep water than the round head models. Another neat thing about this mold, is that it will allow you to upsize the hooks used in the mold. For example, you can actually use a 5/0 owner hook in the 3/8 head slot with this mold. I do this frequently, to produce a custom head that I fish with soft plastic swimbaits. I need a 3/8 head, but one with an over sized hook, in order to effectively fish these lures. This mold gives me that option.
The other two molds that I use constantly are the Worm-A, which is a great style for grubs and smaller swim tail plastics, and my current favorite, the Shake It Jig. This neat mold allows for pouring light heads with big 3/0 to 5/0 hooks, with either a vertical, 90 degree eye, or the cross-eye style using the special Gamakatsu or Mustad hooks.
One final comment about hooks---pouring your own heads gives you the ability to create the finest lures available. Hooks are the most critical of all components. I strongly recommend that you make your bass lures with premiums hooks---Gamakatsu, Owner, Mustad or others of this quality. Less expensive hooks simply do not offer the level of sharpness that you get with a premium hook.
Remember to pour safely, and make something special!