Leaderboard

Commercial screw eyes are vulnerable if you put them in balsa baits without also epoxying the hole they’re in. A hard knock can loosen the eye and cause it to rip out. If it loosens but doesn’t rip out, water will infiltrate and ruin the bait anyway. I prefer hand twisted screw eyes epoxied into pre-drilled holes. I’ve never had a failure with them. Making a durable balsa bait, or any wood bait for that matter, is mostly about stopping water infiltration.

Pour the 1/8 oz Snootie jig in tin. More than a third less weight than lead. Lead 11.342 grams per cubic centimeter Bismuth 9.87 grams per cubic centimeter Pewter 8.5-9.5 grams per cubic centimeter Tin 7.265 grams per cubic centimeter

I’ve built and painted them both ways and it didn’t seem to make a difference when fishing them. My takeaway was that ultra realism is not the determining factor in getting what is usually a reaction bite.