Latest / Sac-A-Lait Talk / WHY IT'S "BOUT TIME" YOU SWITCHED TO HAND-TIED JIGS FOR SAC-A-LAIT
Transcript
- speaker-0: Welcome back to an to another edition of the Jig is Up here on Sackle Talk. Joining us today is a master craftsman who knows exactly what it takes to fool big stubborn crappy when the pressure is on. He's the talent and the drive behind about time custom jigs, churning out some of the cleanest patterns, finest ties, and the most efficient fist catchers you can drop in front of a slab. Let's welcome the man himself, Donald Driverito. Donald, welcome to Sacolade Talk. speaker-1: Thanks, Doreen. Nice to be here. speaker-0: Thank you, Donald. My pleasure, man. Thanks for jumping on with us for the jig is up segment today. Donald, if you're ready, man, we're locked and loaded, okay? So let's get started. speaker-1: Ready when you are speaker-0: Okay, awesome. Donald, what motivated you to start bouttime custom jigs and what gap were you trying to fill for anglers? speaker-1: I grew up fishing salt water and then moved over to the North Shore where it's all freshwater. And I started using jigs from the big box stores and stuff and they just weren't lasting. After three or four fish they were falling apart. Couldn't really find colors that I wanted. So I went to the drawing board and started putting together jigs. the way I think they should be and they held up way better than the ones you get like manufactured in a warehouse. speaker-0: Right. Donna, I know exactly what you're talking about. When I go to the big box stores, you're regulated to, you know, what colors they have. Most of the time they don't have the the exact colors that you that you are looking for. speaker-1: Correct. speaker-0: Or are the the sizes that you know. speaker-1: This is true. And if you do find it, it's not gonna be the size you want, ain't gonna be the color you want. speaker-0: Right, exactly. Donald, from the second you set the jig head in the vice, what is your process to making a custom hand tied jig from start to finish? speaker-1: It it starts before the vise because we pour all our own jig heads, we paint and then we go to the vise with them. And we'll lay down I'll put down a a glue bed and I'll wrap my thread on it. And then I'll choose whether it's gonna be feathers or bucktail or squirrel tail, whatever tail I'm gonna use, I'll measure that out, put it on, tie it on with a thread. I'll take and choose what color flash I want to match with it, put that on, then I'll lay a bed of another bed of glue and go with my Chanel for my body. Once I tie that and use a whip tool to secure the knot, which I always put, I don't just put a little bit of thread, I always put a collar on mine with the thread. Once I tie my thread and secure it, all of our jigs are sealed with a UV resin to keep the knot from untying and falling apart. speaker-0: All right, that'll work. Mr Donald, let me ask you this. What was your very first jig pattern you ever tied that made you say, Okay, I'm on to something special here? speaker-1: First one advertised, my goodness. I'd have to say black and short truths. was the first one I tied. And speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: I fished with it quite a while before I eventually lost it. It didn't fall apart, I lost it. speaker-0: okay, you just lost it. speaker-1: Yeah, it got hung up and I couldn't get it back. speaker-0: yeah. I think we all been there. speaker-1: Yeah, it happens quite a bit. speaker-0: But after after you made that first jig pattern that's when that's when you knew you you had something special. speaker-1: Yes, sir. It speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: it gets it gets very addicting to choosing different colors and Seeing what you can put together and put out there and see if it fishes, if not, back to the drawing board. speaker-0: Right, absolutely. Let me ask you this. what kind of hooks do you use on your custom bills to ensure a solid hook set every time? speaker-1: I use Eagle Claw number eight on the 132nd and 116th ounce, and then I'll use the Eagle Claw number six on a one-eighth ounce. speaker-0: Okay. Donald, Louise Santa Waters can go from crystal clear to muddy coffee overnight. How do you design your jigs to handle the extreme contrast and water clarity? speaker-1: With the difference in waters, if it's a darker water, like a muddy or a black, I like to go with darker colors because I find where fish it's not so much the color at that point, it's the profile of it in the water. speaker-0: It's like the shadow. Yeah. speaker-1: It's like a shadow, yeah. Right. And then in clearer water, the clearer the water, the brighter the colors. speaker-0: Okay. For anglers out there who exclusively fish soft plastics, what makes a custom hand tied hair jig outperform plastic jigs? speaker-1: I find that a hair jig, let's see, how do I wanna put this? The motion of it is more lifelike in the water than a plastic jig. It has more movement speaker-0: Right. speaker-1: when you when it's moving around in the water. speaker-0: So the profile it's more lifelike than than a plastic. That's the main the main difference, right? speaker-1: Yes. Okay. That's what I find. speaker-0: Okay. Good enough. Hey Donald Hey Donald To spray or not to spray, do you recommend using artificial scents or gels on your hand tied jigs? Or does that ruin the the natural presentation and movement of the hair jig? speaker-1: My recommendation I find if I'm gonna use a gel or something, I would rather put it on the Chanel body than on the feathers themselves from speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: sticking the feathers together. You still get the same scent, but it's on the s on the body itself. speaker-0: It's on the body part. It's on the the collar part. speaker-1: Yes. It doesn't it doesn't restrict the movement of your your feathers in the water. speaker-0: It's still getting a scent, but it doesn't mess up the feathers basically, right? speaker-1: Exactly. It's okay. It still has that natural movement. speaker-0: Right. Donald, in your opinion, what advantages does a custom hand tied jig have over plastic style jigs? speaker-1: It's gonna last a lot longer. You're not gonna be changing them out. Plastic jigs after a few fish or whatever hit they start tearing up. Right. With a hair tie. I have a couple of people that test our jigs for us and we got one guy. He's posted on our Facebook page. He's got over three hundred on one jig. speaker-0: wow. okay. speaker-1: To dig with it. speaker-0: That's quite a difference between a using a plastic jig. you might catch three or four fish on a plastic jig before it starts ripping and tearing. speaker-1: Then you then you're trying to unhook it and catch a little bit area that's not tore up on it, speaker-0: Right. speaker-1: or you're changing it. speaker-0: Donald, stain versus clear water. What are your go to color combinations for each? speaker-1: For stained water is one would be the black and chartreuse. And I have another one, it's solid black with some chartreuse flash. For clear water, I have it's similar to a monkey milk, it's a blue and white, but it also has a blue. Bucktail wing on it. for clearer water, it's a brighter color. speaker-0: Okay. Donald, we're right in the middle of the fall transition and heading into winter. How should anglers be fishing your jigs right now? speaker-1: fish them not so much deep because I think around here most of them are still up in the brush piles and lay downs. I speaker-0: Right. speaker-1: like to I like to jig them in the in the lay downs or if I can find a brush pile I'll use a slip bobber. But I found with a slip bobber instead of just setting your depth I like to put a rubber bobber stop on top and bottom and just leave about a four inch space for that slip cork to move. That way when you do jig it over that cork, you're not pulling that bait out of that strike zone. It's just jigging that little bit of couple of inches and you still staying in your in your strike zone. speaker-0: Dino, I've always fished with plastic style jigs. I want to start fishing with your custom hand tied jigs. What are five jigs should I have in my box for Sackle fishing? speaker-1: Our mind the five would be the Black and Chartreuse, but it has a brown head with white eyes. Then I have the blue and white with the white wing. I mean the blue wing. I have another one. It's a chartreuse head with a perch color body and chartreuse tail. Then I have a purple and gold and I have one called a hornet. It's a Halloween color. body on it with a black and maroon tail. speaker-0: All right. So th those are the your five ones that you would recommend? Okay. speaker-1: Yes. That's a that's the that's my go to's okay around here. speaker-0: All right. Sounds good. Donald, every jig maker has a story about the fish that started it all. What was the exact moment or Pacific fishing trip that pushed you from just making them for yourself to launching bout time custom jigs? speaker-1: It would have to be Sakalay. Until I said, until I moved to the North Shore and started freshwater fishing, that was something I never caught. speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: And once I moved over here and started catching those, it was it's an addiction. It was like this is something I'm I'm really getting into. And I felt I could help other anglers with baits that lasted. speaker-0: Okay. All right. Donald, do you prefer fishing your custom jigs naked? Are you a fan of tipping them with with a minnow or a scent crappy niblet? speaker-1: I will I'd say it's a fifty fifty between a crappy nibblet and a gel. A speaker-0: Okay. All speaker-1: scented gel. speaker-0: right. No no bentles though, right? Just between a crappy nibblet and and a gel, right? Crappy Okay, fifty fifty, all right. Hey Donald, fall fall fall is officially here and the fish are transitioning. If you can only tie one specific color pattern on your line for November Sacklay fishing, what is it? speaker-1: It's gonna be the chartreuse head with the perch the green perch body and the chartreuse tail. speaker-0: Okay. That's that's that's that's what you would fish in November, right? speaker-1: Yes. speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: That one seems to produce a lot of fish. speaker-0: Okay. Hey, Mr. Donald, let's talk technique. When you're fishing a hair jig, what's your go to presentation? Are you vertical jigging it, dipping brushes or swimming at bank? Are you slipcarking? What is your your go to technique? speaker-1: It's the majority of the time it's jigging it, but it it all depends on the fish. Mm. Sometimes the fish are gonna predict how they wanna bite. They may not want it jigging, they may want it moving. speaker-0: Right. speaker-1: And occasionally I found if you can't get them to bite jigging and they want something moving, we sell, it's like the beetle spin, the little wire blade, but I don't have the silver Colorado blade. I put a one-inch willow leaf on it. speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: And it seems to do better than the Colorado Blades. speaker-0: All right. Size matters when the bite gets tough. Are you a one hundred sixteen ounce loyalist? Or do you scale at all way down to a one hundred thirty second or one hundred forty eight when s when Sakalay get picky? speaker-1: I'll use a 132nd or a 116th. But I do have a customer that he fishes a lot of deep, deep water and I've tied some all the way up to three eighths of an ounce for him. speaker-0: okay. Yeah. speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: He fishes deep water. speaker-1: Yeah, he wanna he said he wants you to get down there quick. speaker-0: Right. What is the single biggest mistake you see weekend anglers make when they are fishing hand tied hair jigs? speaker-1: Hot of times they wanna just go straight to casting and retrieving. speaker-0: really? speaker-1: Yeah, that's what I see a lot. They wanna they wanna cast and retrieve And a lot of times that's not what they want. No. They they get suspended and they're not they're not looking to chase no food. speaker-0: Right. Can you share a Mac Scientist color combination you tied up thinking it would fail, but it ended up absolutely hammering the slabs? speaker-1: Huh. Yeah. It's a sawtooth head. Hold on one second I got it right here. It's a chartreuse head with a purple body and a blue tail. And speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: I don't know what made me come up with that color, but it does catch. speaker-0: And that's one you didn't think would do do any good and it it ended up hammering. speaker-1: I didn't think that was gonna do anything. But it it actually does catch. speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: Surprise me. speaker-0: Hey, that's a bonus. speaker-1: Yes it is. speaker-0: You know? speaker-1: If if as long as they catch that any of 'em's a bonus. speaker-0: Right, absolutely. Hey, if a regular weekend warrior wants a highly specific headweight, hook size and hair color blend, how can they get a true custom order built by you? speaker-1: Right now we are strictly on Facebook at Bowtime Custom Gigs. They can message me on there. Or they can give me a call. My number is five four four three zero five nine one three. And I can once I get to talking to I have some pictures of all the materials that I have, everything's numbered. They can build it how they want it, custom. to whatever they need. speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: They just pick it like a paint by number, but they pick their body style, the flash, the tail, the head color, the size. They pick it all however they want to put it together. speaker-0: They pick it out and and you'll make it for right? speaker-1: I'll make it for Or if they if I don't have it and it's something they want, they can send me a picture and I'll locate the materials and put it together. speaker-0: Okay. Awesome. Hey, Mr. Donald, if a guy is used to fishing strictly soft plastics for Sakalay, what is your best piece of advice to give him to give them the confidence to switch over to about time custom hair jig? speaker-1: Best piece of advice to give is it's gonna last them and you can get you can customize your own colors to where not a lot of people will customize colors for you in the soft plastics or if you go to the big box store you not you may not find the colors you want speaker-0: So basically you can tell you can customize them to the exact weight you want, color you want, and it's gonna last twenty times longer than a a plastic jig. speaker-1: Correct. If not if not longer than that. speaker-0: If not longer, but at least twenty times. speaker-1: Yes, sir. I'm just I'm not a real big fan of plastic. speaker-0: Right. speaker-1: mean if I'm if I'm going fishing, I don't wanna be changing my lures out all day long. Find speaker-0: Right. speaker-1: something that they gonna bite on, I want it to be there. Then I'd have to switch it out. speaker-0: Well, you can use the plastic jig as a search base, right? And then once you find out what color they want, then you can use your custom hand tie jig to fish out the rest of the day with speaker-1: You can, but they're not always gonna go after a plastic because it doesn't have the same movement. speaker-0: Okay. Okay. speaker-1: then it's sometimes they may prefer a plastic jig over a hair jig. speaker-0: Right. speaker-1: Fish is finicky. You never know what they're gonna want. speaker-0: Yeah, that's why it's called fishing, not catching, right? speaker-1: That's exactly what I say. If it if it was catching everybody would do it. speaker-0: yeah, absolutely. If it was easy, everybody'd do it. You know? speaker-1: Yep. I guess fish is fish is the most expensive free meal you'll ever get. speaker-0: Tell me about it. Trust me. Yeah. Mr. Donnell, looking ahead, what are some new profiles or secret projects you're working on that we can look forward to seeing next from about time custom jigs? speaker-1: In the thought process of putting together a bluegill line, smaller profile. speaker-0: That would be awesome. speaker-1: But I'm also experimenting with adding like spider legs to the body. speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: That's in a testing phase right now. speaker-0: Okay. So that's that's somet that that's something that's something in the works that won't work. speaker-1: Yeah, that's something in the works that's going should be coming out soon. speaker-0: Well, we we're looking forward to it. Mr. Donald, hair, feathers, or synthetics, what's your absolute favorite material to work with right now and why do the slabs love it so much? speaker-1: I have I think I've only got one jig with some synthetic. My go to is the bucktail and the mirabu. Yeah. I do have some that I use hackle feathers on. Not many. but the majority of mine have the Mirabu feathers and that's what a majority of the people are requesting. Now I do have we do have fifty five that we do stock different ones. But that's gonna be pretty much our limit for now. And then the rest of everything else is customized for each individual customer. speaker-0: Okay. Mr Dino, walk us through your quality control. What makes a bouttime custom jig hold up against hungry slabs trip after trip compared to a a mass produced big box store jig? speaker-1: I'm gonna say the UV resin with the thread collar. The UV resin tends to hold the thread to keep it from coming unraveled. for seems like forever. Where your big box stores, some of you buy as soon as you take out the pack you can see the thread. Some of the thread's already hanging. speaker-0: Okay. Mr. Donald, what does it mean to you personally when local guides, tournament pros, Are using your jigs when money and reputations are on the line? speaker-1: It means a lot to me because they putting my reputation up against theirs. You know. It's they're trusting my jigs to keep their reputation going. And that does mean a lot to me. 'Cause without them, jig business is pretty much dead. speaker-0: Right. Absolutely. speaker-1: And if you if my jigs was to fail, they're gonna find someone else and I'd rather I'd rather keep the customer happy. speaker-0: Right, exactly. Mr. Donald, the jig is officially up. Where can our listeners go to get their hands on a pack of about time custom jigs and how can they follow your work? speaker-1: can locate us on Facebook at Bow Time Custom Jigs. As of right now, that's where we're at. We're looking at next year putting together a website. But for right now we're just on Facebook. speaker-0: Okay. But a website is in the works in the future. speaker-1: Yes, sir, it is. speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: We're gonna put together a a website with a store. speaker-0: Okay, awesome. Mr Donald, thank you for coming on the show and giving us a look behind the vice at what makes your jig so deadly on the water. speaker-1: Thank you, Dwayne. Appreciate the invite. speaker-0: No problem. No problem. That wraps up this week's edition of the Jig is up. If you want to elevate your crappy game with some of the finest ties in the business, make sure to check out Bout Time Custom Jigs and get some of his premium steel in your tackle box. Don't forget to subscribe to the Sakalay YouTube channel, smash that like button, and we'll catch you guys next week on Sakalay Talk.