Leaderboard

Being it’s the holiday season, I thought in the spirit of giving, we all could share our knowledge with one important piece of advice or something you would have told your younger self that would have saved you a lot of time and trouble. For me, I would have told myself to focus on function, not form, looks and being anatomically correct doesn’t matter, just get it to work. Merry Christmas to everyone and thank you for all of your help this year, it’s been invaluable.

Action has been my priority from day one My number one piece of advice is experiment and try things don’t just do what everyone else does I have learned lots from making crude lures and test swimming them. Another is building test baits I could swap out weigh amount/placement. I have learned things from others but 95% or more of what I know action wise was trial and error

Hi TU, Trying to take steps to make the shop safer health-wise and am in the market for a paint booth filter for a 20"x20" box fan. I'm trying to determine what MERV rating will maximize flow & filtration with minimal cost. Obviously the finer the filter the higher the cost, but I'm not sure if a MERV 4 fiberglass filter will suffice for painting baits. Furthermore, my box fan may not be strong enough to pump enough air through a MERV 12 regardless (?). Maybe a MERV 8 is a good in-between option? Any recommendations would be much appreciated as this is all new to me. TIA! Linked below is an example of what I'm looking to make to catch air brush overspray. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vJk5BM8xUo

I stopped using wire and only use heavy fluorocarbon leader material. I have only had one failure and that was a 40# after catching pike well into the triple digits. I have since upgraded to 60# without issue. It has to be leader material not just fluorocarbon line to withstand teeth I actually find I get better action with a heavy fluorocarbon leader material vs wire. I also find it makes a huge difference when fishing pike in high pressure C&R waters. Old pike that have felt too many hooks do seem more wary to each their own but personally see no advantage to wire my gliders/jerks are 5inch or larger so not small Action wise the correct rod and braid is the biggest factor when it comes to jerks/gliders in my opinion

roger that i missed the loop. you should try a short wire, we get way better glide with something like a stealth tackle spring leader than any flouro leaders on small glides. it might surprise you

A mistake that I made in the early days of lure building, was testing without hooks fitted. The addition of hooks in weight and fluid effects changes the action of the lure, sometimes sending the lure outside the design idea, or at least disappointing after the initial hookless trials. So my contribution is; Always fit the hooks for testing. Dave

Yes agreed. Function not form I am sure would have been my advice, especially in the early stages of a project. Dave

Agreed! A good swimming bait will get bitten, no matter what color or finish.

If it is cool or cold, I take the jig and re-heat it with my heat gun on low temp. Then when it gets hot, apply your powder paint. Just remember don't burn all your initial colors. If you put the powder on and the jig is not hot enough, the powder paint will look dull, and that is OK. You would rather have it dull looking and bake again then burning it and starting all over. There is a fine line between hot and very hot. The only way to know this is by practicing a lot. Then you will know when the jig is ready.

I have been using a flouro leader and loop knot for decades, it’s a habit I brought over from saltwater fishing. I believe the stiff leader and loop allows for more freedom of movement then a clip and split ring. We don’t really have toothy critter in Florida where I fish, except for gators. LOL

nice catch. i noticed you are tied direct to the bait. have you always done this? i have seen glide baits that are very sensitive to this. maybe try with a split ring if you have not? in pike water we use solid wire leaders on glide baits, it also makes a big difference in glide

The list you are looking for probably doesn't exist, as there are a lot of molds that Do-It has made over the years. The only one who would have a list like that would be Do-It, and I don't think that they will give it to you. On another note, there are a lot of molds that have been discontinued, and only way to find them is when someone sells them on e-bay. If you know what mold you are looking for, post it on some forums and someone might have it and they may sell it to you. BTW, welcome to TU.

Yes!!!! That’s what I’m talking about. I would also buy it. Thanks for the replies. I need to figure out how to add some pictures.

Mixing black and school bus yellow makes green pumpkin. Adjust to your needs.

The closest thing would be the Jig Armor green pumpkin orange camo. The orange is toned down a bit because of the green pumpkin but I'm not sure if it would work for you. The issue for you is there isn't really anything for that color. I do the same as you, pumpkin brown base coat and I add GP or watermelon over top. Here is a tip for any manufacturers looking on this site. Make a pumpkin color with green pumpkin or watermelon veining through it. I'd buy it and right quick!!!

Yes. 0.20 stainless wire.

This is where i made the coil and screwed it on the jig, powdered coated and baked