To Coat Or Not To CoaT

You get a new shiny jig form the store and after a couple of cast you end up with a colorful jig all dented and scratched. This is a serious cause of frustration that I am sure happened to most of us.
A dented and scratched jig keep catching fishes but as fanatics of lures we feel deeply sorry for the beauty of the lure that diminishes after each cast. Fortunately there are some methods that will keep your lure in better shape for a little longer time.
I have seen many videos and articles on magazines about coating the jigs in order to preserve the original state of the jig. Does it work? Is it worth doing it? Expensive? Time consuming? Many question arises regarding this subject.
As far as I know there are two coating agents that are used today by anglers worldwide. One is a single layer of two components epoxy and the other is the single component urethane coating.
Does it work?
Well, in my experience it does work but it all depends on how you apply it and how often you do it. In other words, you can coat the lure and make it resistant but don't expect a seal coat that will make your jig invincible or "immortal". In a way or the other those hard bottom rocks are going to scratch it.

Here is the trick:
You can get a two component epoxy mostly used for hobbies and rod building. First you clean the jig, apply a 800/1000 grit wet sandpaper, you clean with alcohol/thinner and go with the epoxy. You let it dry and it is good to go. Usually one coat is mostly sufficient but it depends also on the thickness of the epoxy used.
The drawback?
Well, with the two part epoxy you need to apply it on several jigs otherwise you will endup with 250cc of epoxy unused and cured at the point that is useless. The best thing to do is to get everything ready, have a nice deep jar in hand and start dipping the jigs.

The other material used is much easier and on the long run cheaper. Some companies sell urethane mono component epoxy. It cures with moisture/air so it has a long working time and it is a quicker and cleaner job.
The drawback?
Even if it virtually doesn't suppose to cure you have to be careful in storing the stuff as the air will in a way or the other start curing the liquid. Secondly, the material , is not as durable as the 2 part epoxy therefore you might need to use it more often.

To summarize:

2 Part epoxy:

+ Durable
+ Widely Available

- Usability
- Needs mixing


Urethane

+ Easy to use. You open the jar and dip it

- Durability
- Needs to be stored properly
- Availability

These are my opinions. Feel free to comment and share your experiences.
A friend of mine has also recommended some floor polish as a good alternative. Need to try and verify it.

Here is a video made by TOHO, a Japanese brand that makes urethane stuff for jigs and lures.

How to Video: Assist Hooks (Twin)

There are many videos out there on how to make assist hooks by yourself. This one is pretty self explanatory. The twin assist hook is very popular nowadays. To tell you the truth I am more inclined to use single assist hooks but I will definitely give a try to the twins.

Check the video:

DUO Tetra Works Pocopoco

I love all kind of lures but poppers remain one of my favorites. I can cast a big popper as a Pop Queen 130 as a small popper like the Poco Poco.

At 40mm and 3/4.7 g. (floating or siking) it is an ideal type of lure for all those fishes that we can encounter is freshwater and saltwater. With all the reports around the net I can say that the lure gets the interests of perch, trout, bass, small seabass, barracuda, bluefish, leerfish, bream and so on. In other words it got hit by the major game fishes around the world from Europe to Australia.
Casts well and the action is superb. (see video)

It is, along with the Maria Pop Queen 50mm, one of my favorites small poppers in the market.

Check the video below:


Here is what DUO says about it:

Pocopoco is a micro popper with a hollow body. 

We have created 2 models. Firstly the floating model which is suited for a more slow approach targeting Seabasses or Sea Bream. Or the sinking model which is equipped with an outstanding casting ability and able to withstand high speed twitching to target small Trevallies. You can enjoy the exciting top-water game easily and conveniently with these lures.

For more info have a look here

FCLLABO video

I am sharing this video on my blog for several reasons:

1. They guy is fishing in a great location
2. The video is 1 hour long
3. The video quality is good
4. The fishes he catches are plenty
5. FCLLABO is a great brand


Enjoy

DUO Rough Trail Aomasa 148

The new pencil introduced by DUO this summer is doing very good around the world.
The facebook page is full with photos of catches made with this outstanding new lure.

Photo by Bill Heng

The Aomasa is slick looking and it catches fishes period. I know that they are working on a bigger model (Aomasa 188) and that it is still on testing stage but the little brother is already gaining the respect of anglers worldwide.

Here is a photo I got on my facebook news feed page by my friend Raul. I like this one because the fish caught is a very respectable bluefish and since I will go after bluefishes this autumn I am very excited on the idea of trying the DUO lure for some topwater action.

You can get more info on the Aomasa here: DUO AOMASA 148

Tuna Power!

This is only a one minute video but it gives a clear idea of how powerful the tuna is.
Check how fast the color of the braid changes while it spooles the poor guy's Stella.
Remarkable!

Daiwa Certate 2013. The video

A short video that shows the details of the Daiwa Certate (2004CH model) . It is like having the reel in your hands at the local tackle store.

News from Maria Japan

I have found these two new items on Maria's official blog.

The first one is a "limited edition" of the "Mucho Lucir" which is probably one of the most famous small jigs in the market. The new colors are quite special and look very good. I know the nice and shiny colors do not last a lot on the jigs but they are sure nice to stare at.

The other one is the new sizes for the vibration lure "Slice". Check it here.
The small sizes (55&70mm) must be a great lure for small pelagics and seabass. Worth giving it a try.

Source: Maria Japan