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To me, custom bait making is about getting baits to work just the way YOU want them - whatever that means. It may be different from what I or Skeeter or anyone else thinks is "right". We aren't the arbiters of "right".... the species of bass in your area of the country, in the water you fish are. We can offer opinions based on our experience and our own biases, or on the opinions others have expressed about particular baits. You have to winnow the wheat from the chaff yourself. For instance, I build one shallow fat square lipped bait that has a very fast rise. I want to fish it fast through cover, especially rocks, with only the briefest of pauses when it hits obstructions, and the high buoyancy lets me do that, plus it gives the bait more action. Would it spiral if paused long enough to float to the surface? Don't know and don't care because I don't pause it long enough to find out. Skeeter probably wouldn't like this bait. I do because it does what I want it to do when I fish it. Would I also like to fish a shallow bait made to Skeeter's specs? Yes! If a slower presentation would be better on a given day, that's the one I'd want tied on.

You're exactly right Ed, except worm heads are worse than crack heads. Tournament bass fisherman are the worst. Once they win money off the bait they will always have that bait on hand. If they can't find the bait, then they try to get other people to sell them so they always have a dealer. Unlike most addicts, they hardly share with their friends. If they find their favorite bait in the store, sometimes they buy all the store has to keep from sharing. Before a big tournament, if they don't have the bait they're looking for, then price is no issue. And like other addicts, there's been a lot of family arguments and wives lost to their habit. And if they do share, then usually their friends become addicted too.

I tried a few of the Lifetone colors. JMHO, I thought they contained too little pigment compared to brands like Smith Wildlife, which is a brand I prefer. While a brand may be good for taxidermy, it isn't necessarily a good choice for lure painting where most of us like more color-saturated hues. One thing to know about taxidermy paint is it is offered by companies that are tiny compared to Createx and they are more subject to change - so quality and colors are not as consistent. What I thought was not very good Lifetone paint a few years ago may be great today, or maybe not. But from my limited experience, I prefer Smith Wildlife. Createx is the best selling airbrush paint for good reason - it is very consistent in color and in how well it shoots, both over time and between batches. But Createx offers a rather limited palette of colors and IMO, it's great to have the taxidermy paints to round out your choices.

I just looked it up online at McKenzie Taxidermy Supply, and they have some interesting water-based colors (Hydromist). At $10+ for 8 oz. for metalics, the price seems good, too. Let us know how it works for you.

Besides legal matters to owning a business there will be the other stuff like sales marketing people skills. So while making lures and fishing them is the fun part try to learn all you can in school. Pay attention to math, science and if offered electives like public speaking, finance, and anything that will help you learn skills that will make you a preference over someone else. Like some of what the professional fisherman say - it's more than catching fish. Even if you find out that making lures does not turn out to be where you end up, you could work in the industry and having a well rounded background will provide dividends. Maybe you could start out working in the industry, develop connections, have some money saved and then start your own business.

Here I is! What no one has bothered to mention is how competitive the fishing and hunting industry is. If you are small potatoes and someone feels like you have invaded their space, they will gladly turn you in to the IRS. Competition in the plastic business is brutal, I have learned this the hard way, most injectors have a separate 10% charge for the excise tax. I have it included in my pricing. I quoted a fellow a price per bait and he informed a larger injection company that I was not charging federal excise tax, and yes they turned me in. It done them no good but they still did it, believe it or not this type of thing happens often in this industry. So it is a must to follow the rules and laws exact, you can fool yourself by believing you won't get caught but this train of thought has cost people alot of money and shut down alot of small businesses. Truthfully, why would you not want to pay the excise tax? You include it in your pricing and you don't have to pay unless you sell. You've charged separate for the tax, so pay it! You do have to file whether you sell or not but thats just the price you pay for being a legitimate business. To advise someone not to pay the tax or to say that you are to small to get caught is totally irresponsible. Take this advice from someone who has been turned in more than once but smart enough to do things the right way.

Yep! That was my issue! I'll take your word and anchor the screw where you said! Thanks.

You are correct.The quarterly excise tax is the manufacturers responsibility- not the accountants.The I.R.S. does not mail the quarterly forms- again the responsibikluty of the manufacturer to download them and mail them quarterly.They can get you your Federal E.I.N.# , any State tax requirement number documentation and Form #637 from the I.R.S. The I.R.S. will call you when you file for form #637 Accounts usually deal with- 1- gross income 2- supplies and materials deductions 3-Depreciation of molds and other equipment 4- mileage for business if you have a log book 5-Real estate and property tax deuctions 6- Capital gains/losses 7- Business related utility deductions They determine you net,taxable income on your Schedule C- profits and losses from business.Then they complete your form 1040 @ which time your accountant wants a check and so does the I.R.S.and state. It's so much fun being in your own business- especially the low profit tackle manufacturing business. The more you expect your accountant/C.P.A. to do,the more you will pay them. Remember we're talking about a small tackle business here. Now if you wish to become a Zoom or Gary Yamaoto( w/ mega bucks @ your disposal), then you'll need a payroll service that drops off payroll checks every Thursday . They also file returns and debit your account for quarterly F.IC.A. & Federal witholding taxes,un-employment and annual federal un-emploment forms and taxes. Baitjunkys mentioned re-investing 120% of your profits and Driftwood mentioned 12 hr. +days. They speak the truth for sure. i can remember moving during the summer of 2008,and setting up a temporary shop in the garage full of boxes and the boat in the driveway.I put in long days of 12-14 hrs. w/ 1 large floor fan,two small fans and a roof fan that brought the inside temperature down to 108 degrees when the outside temps. reached 97-99 mdegrees.- w/ the garage door open. I worked my butt off to a be able to make the $ necessary to have the shop partitioned w/ a door,a large exhaust booth plus heating and air-conditioning. I'm sure others in this business have made many sacrifices to be able to hopefully see the end of the continuos inancial expenses required during the 1st 5-7 years in this business. You have to love it to stay w/ it.My excuse- I'm retired-(or so i thought) and hate day time TV. I still work 50-60 hrs. per week during the busy season. It will be 4 weeks since I've been out in the boat. Hopefully Carolina Mike will participate in this decussion. He has most certainly paid his dues.

"Man, nothing like scaring people to death. I've looked into all this, and people who get "nailed" aren't doing a couple bucks here and there... If you make a couple hundred jigs, and have 150 in your tackle box yet that you made, you're not getting hassled. It's the guys that make 100 of something and have 2 left in their personal tackle box they go after. " 1- Operating your own business is not a 40 hr. a week job. You must be willing to continually re-invest the profits back into the business for many years- sometimes 99% of the profits Don't quit your day job for the 1st 5 years and then have retirement $ to live off of. The gimme-gimme ,el cheapo,free hand out crowd will drain your small profits with their false promises. 2- You are incorrect- the I.R.S. will check-out the the small manufacturere that has not paid excise tax. Just advertise your website and you may be investigated. A jealous competitor and/or a disgruntled customer can also tip-off the I.R.S. that you're operating an under -the table business. Then comes the knock on your door to which you better be nice and receptive. "When I was in High School, I took a starting a small business class. One of the things the teacher said that stuck with me is "You have to bealmost stupid to start a business". The basis for this statement is the fact that so many fail, so many people end up working 120 hours aweek, and the risk to reward is so huge. That statement alone has keptme from opening a business. Take it for what it's worth, it's freeadvice. And you get what you pay for." Your teacher was inncorrect I.M.O. You need the inner desire to succeed, start -up capital of 15-20K plus the intestinal fortitude to overcome the caveats through experience. The tackle business- for the small manufacturer( who wants to produce custom products) has very high costs compared to the profits for the 1st 5-7 years. Then ,the profit/cost equation should reverse itself.Most cannot stay the course simply because they refuse to spend the continued investment necessary. Setting up a complete shop and office can be expensive but no where near the cost of custom,multi-cavity CNC molds.Website construction/updates,credit card /Paypal expenses, and accounting fees must all be taken into consideration. The 10% excise tax on gross sales takes the icing off of the cake but it's a necessary expense to be in the tackle manufacturing business. Many hobbyist don't realize the long-term cost of their tackle manufacturing dreams so they attempt to write off their expenses by declaring it a business. This usually results in failure and a fire sale to sell all their equipment @ 50-70% discounts. Basic hobby expenses can easily reach $2-3 K and that amount buys a life-time of baits w/out the hassels and frustrations of trying to make your own baits. Talk to someone w/years of business experience, determed the amount of start-up capital ($) you are willing to spend/borrow) then ask yourself- do i really want to take this financial chance? Good luck and success to you! Let no man ridicule you if you try honestly to suceed and fail

B-J-R---From what I have seen here they use 'Pad Printing' to do scales, dark patches, or signatures etc. Pad Printing uses a very soft (in this case) silicone pad which picks up the image and then stamps onto object. With this process you can get very fine lines onto a curved or flat object. Pete

You have the same trouble I'm experiencing, after 7 years the only thing I can tell you, you just have to learn your pots. All of mine are different, I don't really have one that heats up the same as the others, and Del is absolutely right on the way the heat control works for the Lee pot. My problem was even with the pot turned all the way down, it was still burning plastic. The dimmer switch did eliminate the problem. I actually have one pot that I have to start it heating 10 minutes before the others when I am doing 2 colors. For some reason this pot heats up slower than the others. But once it reaches temperature, it actually runs hotter than the rest. The only other thing I know you can do is add a temperature control, similar to the one on LC's pressure pot. PM me and can tell you where to get one but I'm not the person to tell you how to hook it up. I do know if you do this, you will also have to mount a temperature sensor on the pot. I'm just not sure of how much expense you will have in it after you're through. But again, after getting to know each of my pots, we do very well with them.

One of my Friends has been using lee pouring pots for many years. This may or maynot help some of you. (I don't know as I don't use them anymore) Using Lee Production Pots Pouring plastic with pots can be effectively accomplished, providing one simple rule is followed: The user must control the heat in each pot to keep the plastic at the correct temperature without over-heating. To accomplish this, the user must understand how the pot works and what accessories are needed for proper monitoring. How the Pot Works Production pots are heated using a heating coil similar to an electric stove element. This coil is located inside the casing of the pot, about one inch from the bottom. Power to the heating coil is controlled by a thermostatic switch which is located in the case behind the pot, and attached to a user control switch. A common misconception is that the thermostat switch adjusts the power level ( and thus the heat ) supplied to the heating coil. It does not. It simply turns full power on or off to the coil. The control knob on top of the thermostat is used to find the point at which electrical contact is made to supply full power to the coil. The numerical level of the knob for electrical contact can vary from pot to pot. The thermostat senses the radiant heat of the pot and opens or closes the electrical contacts depending on this radiant heat. This is important to understand if the pots are located in a very cold or hot location, as the surrounding air temperature can affect the temperature being sensed by the thermostat, and cause power to be supplied or turned off at incorrect pot temperatures. Having wind or a fan blowing directly on the pots can also affect thermostat operation. The biggest problem facing the user is that he has no way to tell when full power to the heating coil is on or off. Thus, he is always in danger of over-heating the plastic and burning it. With this in mind, I have developed several accessories and procedures to help keep plastic at the correct pouring temperature. Temperature Control Accessories Thermostat Power Light Adding a light to the thermostat power wire will enable the user to always tell whether the pot