Leaderboard

Along with making my own jigs. I also make my own inline spinners. These are with out a doubt my most consistant fish catchers all year round ( i dont really fish the rivers in the winter as it gets really cold here and they freeze up. Also, we cant use artificial lures from march 15th and april 15 to allow walleye and pike to spawn) in the three rivers that are near me that I fish, the Shiawassee River, south fork of the Bad river, and the Maple. I have caught numerous small mouth, large mouth, Northern Pike, Channel Cats, and walleye. Most of the componats are from mudhole, but im switching to somewhere else. Takes far to long to get what was ever ordered and shipping is costly. The painted fire tiger blades and the all white blades came from lure parts online. The black blades and bodies I have been dipping in powder paint but, I have only had limited success with this technique. So I bought all black blades from lure parts online but havn't built any of those. I dont have a wire jig so all of the bends and loops are done by hand as shown in the 1st picture. The dont look the preattiest but they get the job done. In the near future Im going to invest in a wire jig to clean up the bends and loops. hope you enjpy

I just posted some pics in the Hard Baits Gallery of a deeper running spybait I made today. I wanted one that got down fast, but wobbled as it fell level. This one does, although it falls slightly nose down. I think, once it has line on the nose, it will fall level. It weighs 3/4 oz. so it should fall fast, and cast like a bullet. Fingers crossed. I really want to share how easy it is to get a bait to wobble, just by moving the ballast up so it's 1/3 above the centerline. Of course, "your results may vary", but it's not that hard, once you commit to playing around with ballast location. I use either 1/4" or 3/16" lead wire for ballasting, so, once I determine how much ballast I need to get the bait to fall at a specific rate, I cut the lead wire to that weight, divide it so it goes into several locations, and measure the length of each piece of wire. I drill holes up from the belly along the centerline until they are deep enough that I can push the ballast wire up 1/3 past the centerline, and that's it. On this bait, I filled the excess hole with paper towel and crazy glue. If I want a really nice finish, I use bondo. Flat sided lure wobble more than rounded baits, I think due to the surfaces involved. Dave, help me out here!

I checked out Golden's paint line and they've got some great looking colors, but man are they proud of it. Over $13 for 4 ounces. I probably won't be spraying any of their paint unless Joe leaves me some in his will. Ben

"Bone" is in the eye of the beholder. I like a light bone formulated along the lines of what Mark uses. I start with an ounce of opaque white and add a squirt of yellow, then darken it slightly with just a drop or two of brown. A former archaeology student, I've seen lots of bones from off-white to dark brown depending on their age and the soil they were in!

Just curious as to your results with the Alumi-UV and your opinion of it. John

wow, salty just asked a question, didn't mean to strike a nerve. only wanted clarification on a statement you originally made. I haven't messaged you for tax advice, so I am not sure who that is directed at. I will do my own research, just thought I would get help from fellow builders who have been through it which is what the forums are about...my bad... I am not importing lures, that was the point of my question...and asking questions to make sure I continue to run a legitimate business. but it's all good, I will contact an accountant and see what they know Eric

A lot of good information here. I believe the question that started all this was could it be done. Short answer is yes, if you are willing to do all that is needed to be done to make it work. The only thing I don't understand is why is it that every time somebody ask about buying in bulk, producing in bulk, or selling lures it all goes to a tax debate? I understand this is information that would be needed if the person moved forward with there business plans, but dang. Some of you all make it sound like the first time he makes a lure the helicopters are going to start circling, or if he sells a $2.00 lure to his best friend the guys in the black suburban's are going to roll up and slam him on the ground. If you choose to make it a business then yes you will need to do all the same things any other business does. accountants, marketing, employees, payroll, overhead.

Sounds like you need to top that mold off with hot plastic. See, as the plastic in the body of that swim bait cools, it contracts and draws plastic from the runner. If it runs out of plastic it will draw air. So as it draws, pour more plastic in the sprue. See if that helps.

Nice!!! Maybe you should post this in the soft plastic cookbook. It's a great reference, and others can add to it if they find more makers.

is this the bears system..

Understand all the work, time & etc put into it and it is appreciated. Mine is postioned as close to the heat element as possible. Still get the clog if left to long between the pours. Thanx a lot for the information JSC

Rest of the pics. Saint.