eBay jig heads, what are your thoughts?

[Mark M]

Heavier jigheads seemed like a good deal on fleabay, at less than a buck each. But you get the quality you pay for I have found.

1/4oz 4/0 Gamakatsu hooks, at least half had misaligned heads, some had casting faults and some had no keeper barb.

But I went through a heap trying to wrestle salmon up the rocks at Walpole, the placcies cost me way more than the jigs..

Smaller bream size jigs will have less faults as the problem lies with clearance in the molds when using HD hooks.

Look for better quality hooks like Gammas, Mustads etc.

[HVBfishaholic]

Hi all
I have read this thread with interest as I sell custom and commercially produced jigheads, both on fleabay and direct to fisho's, such as some of you on this forum.

I have been selling on fleabay for 5 years now and list for sale a variety of hook qualities including Mustad, Gamakatsu, Owner and Sickle Black Chrome in hook sizes from #5 to 6/0 and head weights from 1/32 oz to 1 oz.

I started making custom jigheads as I could not find the quality of product to use for a price that would not send me broke supporting the chain tackle stores. The quality of my product spoke for itself and I moved from local sales to fleabay and beyond in the last 8 years

What I have found in this time is that you get what you are prepared to pay for - most of the jighead customers on fleabay are after a bargain and top end hook quality is not paramount in their purchase decision - these fisho's are in the "95% who catch 5% of the fish" and have a lot of fun doing it. To this end, if you want to be successful as a jighead seller on ebay, you must provide a product that services this market. The issue comes when serious fisho's purchase these jigheads at less than 40c each with an expectation that they will be as good as the commercial variants at around $1.50 - $2.00 each.
The market for top end "tournament quality" custom jigheads targeting the "5% of us who catch 95% of the fish" on fleabay is small and selling Gamakatsu / Sickle Black Chrome jigheads is slow. The goal of listing these on fleabay is to advertise to those of you who peruse the listings and usually contact me with product queries, not accepting the face value of the listing. This then opens the opportunity for me to discuss your fishing needs and usually have, or can source a product to fill or exceed your needs.

The bottom line is that there are a lot of cheap, average quality jigheads on fleabay as this is what sells - if you don't meet the market demand and grow turnover you are out of business. These jigheads are not for the serious SP fisherman and your needs can be fulfilled at a much lower price by small custom producers than the commercially available packaged jigheads.

Thanks for your time in reading this post - I am aware that this is wordy, but I am passionate about fishing and what I do - felt some explanation was needed.

Please PM me if you have any queries.
Cheers

[jgarner447]

Originally Posted by HVBfishaholic

Hi all
I have read this thread with interest as I sell custom and commercially produced jigheads, both on fleabay and direct to fisho's, such as some of you on this forum.

I have been selling on fleabay for 5 years now and list for sale a variety of hook qualities including Mustad, Gamakatsu, Owner and Sickle Black Chrome in hook sizes from #5 to 6/0 and head weights from 1/32 oz to 1 oz.

I started making custom jigheads as I could not find the quality of product to use for a price that would not send me broke supporting the chain tackle stores. The quality of my product spoke for itself and I moved from local sales to fleabay and beyond in the last 8 years

What I have found in this time is that you get what you are prepared to pay for - most of the jighead customers on fleabay are after a bargain and top end hook quality is not paramount in their purchase decision - these fisho's are in the "95% who catch 5% of the fish" and have a lot of fun doing it. To this end, if you want to be successful as a jighead seller on ebay, you must provide a product that services this market. The issue comes when serious fisho's purchase these jigheads at less than 40c each with an expectation that they will be as good as the commercial variants at around $1.50 - $2.00 each.
The market for top end "tournament quality" custom jigheads targeting the "5% of us who catch 95% of the fish" on fleabay is small and selling Gamakatsu / Sickle Black Chrome jigheads is slow. The goal of listing these on fleabay is to advertise to those of you who peruse the listings and usually contact me with product queries, not accepting the face value of the listing. This then opens the opportunity for me to discuss your fishing needs and usually have, or can source a product to fill or exceed your needs.

The bottom line is that there are a lot of cheap, average quality jigheads on fleabay as this is what sells - if you don't meet the market demand and grow turnover you are out of business. These jigheads are not for the serious SP fisherman and your needs can be fulfilled at a much lower price by small custom producers than the commercially available packaged jigheads.

Thanks for your time in reading this post - I am aware that this is wordy, but I am passionate about fishing and what I do - felt some explanation was needed.

Please PM me if you have any queries.
Cheers

These Gamas are quality stuff guys , These are the ones i use all the time.
Just for reference this 50cm snapper was caught on one of the 1/16th #2 jig heads and had no probs with it losing its sharpness and surprisingly it didnt bend , i kept smashing bream on the same jighead for the whole session LOL

[bluelipbenny]

Originally Posted by jgarner447

These Gamas are quality stuff guys , These are the ones i use all the time.
Just for reference this 50cm snapper was caught on one of the 1/16th #2 jig heads and had no probs with it losing its sharpness and surprisingly it didnt bend , i kept smashing bream on the same jighead for the whole session LOL

i can say the gamma 604 are good i make my own and sell a few to mates they love them for heavier work but find the a little to heavy gaged for bream for me so turned to the mastad 32746 which i find sticky n sharp.wouldn't bother with any other hooks now

[jgarner447]

Originally Posted by bluelipbenny

i can say the gamma 604 are good i make my own and sell a few to mates they love them for heavier work but find the a little to heavy gaged for bream for me so turned to the mastad 32746 which i find sticky n sharp.wouldn't bother with any other hooks now

Thats interesting mate, the bream up here dont seem to mind these hooks

[orbea63]

Originally Posted by jgarner447

These Gamas are quality stuff guys , These are the ones i use all the time.
Just for reference this 50cm snapper was caught on one of the 1/16th #2 jig heads and had no probs with it losing its sharpness and surprisingly it didnt bend , i kept smashing bream on the same jighead for the whole session LOL

Nice grub Jase

[jgarner447]

Originally Posted by orbea63

Nice grub Jase

cracker colour stu

[HVBfishaholic]

Just to clear up any confusion.
The jighead Jase is using and the one in the photo is a 1/16 ball on a Gamakatsu 114 Aberdeen fine wire hook, not a 604.
604's are a heavier gauge which I use for larger jigheads 4/0 - 6/0.

The 114 is very similar in gauge to the Mustad 32746BLN, but I have found that the 32746 BLN has a habit of snapping in the shank when under stress from fighting larger fish, particularly if you have to try and prevent a fish hitting the snags or reef.

Again - you get what you pay for in hook quality.

Just providing thoughts from my experience.

[benny88]

Hvbfishoholic. Have u had any expirience with trokar hooks. U.s. bass fishos rave about them and claim they penetrate with lower pressure than other high end hooks due to laser sharpening and a cutting point. If they are the real deal I think they would be great for jews bony ass mouths so ive gone to a great deal of trouble to source some swimbait jig heads which are hard to find. Maybe it would be easier to have them custom made?

[Breamingwithjoy]

Benny Dan stead uses Trokar hooks on his impact tackle jigheads. they are sharp as sharp but possibly not in the gauge you are interested in...

[jgarner447]

Originally Posted by Breamingwithjoy

Benny Dan stead uses Trokar hooks on his impact tackle jigheads. they are sharp as sharp but possibly not in the gauge you are interested in...

im pretty sure they are matzuo hooks that Dan uses

[bluelipbenny]

Originally Posted by HVBfishaholic

Just to clear up any confusion.
The jighead Jase is using and the one in the photo is a 1/16 ball on a Gamakatsu 114 Aberdeen fine wire hook, not a 604.
604's are a heavier gauge which I use for larger jigheads 4/0 - 6/0.

The 114 is very similar in gauge to the Mustad 32746BLN, but I have found that the 32746 BLN has a habit of snapping in the shank when under stress from fighting larger fish, particularly if you have to try and prevent a fish hitting the snags or reef.

Again - you get what you pay for in hook quality.

Just providing thoughts from my experience.

never snapped one but only landed Jew and bream n them.as for the gamma 114 did have to make any mods to mold love to try them

[benny88]

Originally Posted by Breamingwithjoy

Benny Dan stead uses Trokar hooks on his impact tackle jigheads. they are sharp as sharp but possibly not in the gauge you are interested in...

Pretty sure they arn't. Pretty much all trokars are heavy gauge US bass hooks. War eagle make a swimbait jig head but a pain to get. Had to email war eagle for special delivery.

[HVBfishaholic]

Hi All
I have had a chat with one of my mates in the US (who was still awake) who fishes FLW tournaments about these Trokar hooks. He has not used them much, but they are supplied by sponsors to some of the guys and he is going to get their opinions for me over the next week or so.
I worked in the US previously and got to know a few of these pro's on the bass tour. I obtain my jig hooks from the US through these contacts.

Trokar Jig Hooks
They are made by Eagle Claw and the main differential is the triangular surgical grind on the point, which EC are claiming, makes them sharper than a chemically sharpened hook.

They are very pricey (cause they are new) and hard to get in smaller sizes. The 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 sizes run at about AU$1.30 per hook retail and the 4/0 has a wire gauge of 1.5mm (About the same as a Gama 604HD)

Below is the tech info and marketing claim:

Ultra premium jig hook with ultra sharp triangular point and black chrome finish.
Trokar Jig Hooks are designed with a unique triangular point to penetrate faster and easier. The three edges are high speed ground to surgical sharpness. The Trokar Jig Hooks are made with high carbon, cold forged steel and heat treated for just the right amount of impact strength and flexibility. Low profile barb for easier penetration yet ultimate holding power. Trokar Jig Hooks are twice as sharp as any other hook on the market.

A couple of pics

[benny88]

They certainly look bad ass. Ill give em a review when the ones ive ordered have arrived.