RiverMan

Years ago I took the carapace off of a small shrimp, formed a body over a hook, and then slipped the shell over the whole thing. At that time I didn't know anything about Devcon or Etex so use several layers of shellac or clear fingernail polish. I tied in some legs from horse hair and it actually looked very good in the end but not worth the hassle. I would guess that with the skin you will have to be very careful to properly prepare it so as to avoid break down over time. The other problem will be dealing with the thickness of the skin. It will be difficult getting the skin to fit perfectly (unless you first skin the fish and then make a model of the original body) and then getting it to seam properly where the skin has been cut. My recommendation for what little it is worth is to work with paint. Many taxidermists today use fiberglass forms that they then paint and many look as real as any skin mount. Best of luck to you. jed v.

I don't understand why it sank. I have used poplar alot and it shouldn't have sank, even with a whole bunch of water in it, strange. Take skeeters advice and work with some balsa. If you can't get your hands on balsa you might try western red cedar (not eastern) which has a specific gravity similar to balsa. Pine would probably work also, it's very light and soft..try balsa first. Don't feel bad about having to toss one, if you stay with this hobby you will toss dozens. Each one you make it gets easier and you will get better, chalk it up to experience. jed v.

You say they are not tight...has the devcon hardened? Be very careful not to overdrill the hole for the hook hangers. If you are using a hard wood like maple you can drill them and put the hook hangers in and out several times during the balance process with no problems. If you are using a soft wood tho, like balsa, poplar, pine, you should drill a very small pilot hole and try not to take the hook hangers out once they have been installed. Also, devcon does hold and will seal the hole but you can still grab a screw eye with devcon on it and turn it loose if you try hard enough. Don't expect the screw eye to be "set in stone" with Devcon, it will move if you twist it hard enough but you won't pull it out. If you don't believe this, screw one into a scrap piece of wood and try to pull it out. Jed V.

Woodie is a veteran, I am a novice. However, I have most certainly crossed into the realm of "business" and away from hobby. Like you FF I want to keep it as a hobby because I have a great day job. What happens tho is that guys write you and want another bait, another custom color. Shops write wanting to add your baits to their line up. Many of these guys are good customers and some are friends. Ultimately, I have trouble telling people "no", so for now I do the best I can. I refuse to let my baits fall in quality regardless of how long it takes to build them, repaint them, etc. Quality takes time, but in the end is far more rewarding. I won't send out a bait unless I expect the person to be very happy with it. You mentioned "obsession", from my experience only those that become "obsessed" truely build great stuff and do great things. Think about great athletes like Schwarznegger, Bruce Lee, these guys were said to be total "freaks" in the gym. Results from any endeavor can generally be measured by the amount of effort. The worst part of getting into the business for me is the loss of time doing "research". I enjoy trying new ideas and searching for new concepts. Once you figure a bait out and go through the process from beginning to end, much of the mystery is gone. If you are not careful it can very easily turn into drudgery. It's the theory, testing, and retesting that ends in something that swims better than you expected that brings joy. Jed V.

Devcon jed v.

Here is a link to the brushes that I use. http://www.rsquality.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=654&idproduct=3201 After you paint the Devcon on, run a propane torch lightly over the entire bait then put it on the dryer to turn....it will look like glass every time. Jed V.

You can make money at it, I do. But...you will earn the money you make. Jed V.

If you really dilute the paint down to where it looks like milk you can shoot at about 15 PSI which is really nice for detail. The problem you can into tho when it's diluted this far is that multiple coats are needed since there is very little paint being sprayed. If you go higher...30-40 PSI you can leave the paint considerably thicker but with this comes some loss of control and detail. I generally dilute the colors that I need to spray for detail work and leave the others a bit thicker...... kind regards, jed v.

Yea...run only createx paints through it, be patient. You will find that some colors spray easily, others do not. Thin your paints with windex, have fun. jed

Hi Basstech, Welcome! You have come to the right place....building baits is something you can enjoy forever...there is always something more to learn. Have fun! Jed V.

Be aware that HEB will only mail out COD. The other thing is that their customer service appears to be managed by Beavis and Butthead....not very impressive. My last two orders have come from them but the next will not. jed v.

There is no reason why a bait should roll over...send me an email. jed

If you use 30 minute Devcon you don't even need a wheel, paint the stuff on and turn it by hand (flip it one way then the other) for 15 minutes, set aside to dry. Jed

All of my gliders and topwater baits get hook scratches on each side of the hooks from fishing them. I "T" the hooks but they still get them after some fishing. I haven't tried the small piece of rubber you are talking about, might be a good idea. If it's going through the clear coat I would suggest one of two things: 1. more clear coat; 2. changing the hooks...maybe something with longer shaft that puts the treble points further away from the bait . The other thing you might do is post the same question at one of the musky forums........muskiefirst, muskiefix, muskiehunter, etc. jed v.

They look great! Don't be surprised tho if you find more weight is needed. As I said before, WRC is as buoyant or more so than balsa! An advantage of this wood tho is that it's very "lively" in the water. Be careful pre-drilling the screw eyes. Make the holes very small and don't put the screw eyes in and out as this will weaken the hold you have with this wood. Put the screw eyes in with glue and leave them! It is plenty strong but use precaution. Jed V.

Lots of musky lure builders use eastern red cedar, it's a very popular choice. I have access to all the western red cedar I want but generally choose not to use it because it's so soft. In fact, WRC has a specific gravity that is nearly equal to balsa! Poplar is a good wood but has the a tendency to be soft then hard making it difficult to smooth things out as Skeeter mentioned. Poplar also gives you problems with bubbles in the clear coat if it's not sealed properly. Redwood and Fir both work but they are wide grained making some areas soft, others not and they are awfully soft for holding screw eyes. Pine is also too soft in my opinion, at least the pine I have access to. My favorite of all woods is hard maple but it's quite expensive and not very easy to obtain for me in the west. If you find a wood that works for you, stick with it! jed

It's just those silly bass lures Husky, that's the problem. jed

Hi Steve, Both Devcon and Etex are good products. I use Etex mostly because I can get it in bulk but if were just starting or doing a few baits for personal use I would use Devcon. Good luck. Jed

You can get like a year's protection through the USPTO for the idea without putting together a full patent. I forget the name of the form necessary to do this, go to the USPTO and see if you can find it. The paperwork gives you a year (I think) to develop the patent further, work out details, etc., to decide if you want to go ahead with it. In my opinion very few ideas are worth getting a patent on. First it will probably cost you 3-5k to get a patent done through an attorney. Beyond that the next guy can then change your idea in a slight way and start building it himself. Or, a big company can flat out take the idea and then bury you with attorney fees because they can afford it. Good luck. jed v.

Hi Ken, I like a bait with a natural white/off white belly mostly. It makes the most sense to me since virtually all bait fish have a white belly. However, there are probably times when the water clarity is such that a red/chartreuse belly may be more effective. The only time I go for a black belly is on topwater baits since black is likely to produce a better profile for predators approaching from below. Jed

Well the verdict is in on the topwater. Again, I weighted the bait so that it would sit at the level I wanted it to when completed. I then added primer, paint, and two coats of Etex and will likely add another. I tossed the bait into the water and.......................it sits just where it did before clearcoating, can't tell that it dropped or raised in the least bit. It seems to me that the gain in water displacement is very close to compensating for the additional weight gained by the primer, paint, and clearcoat. Cool!! I will post a pic of the bait in the gallery later today for those interested. Thx Guys. Jed

Thanks Martin, she's getting her first coat in about 5 minutes. jed

Thanks guys, funny this subject hasn't come up on TU before, at least not that I can remember. What I ultimately did was weight the surface bait so that it sits just about where I want it to. I then sealed and primered the beast and will be painting it tonight. Tomorrow it will get it's first coat of clear and I am hoping that it doesn't sink! I will know more in a couple days what happens and will report back to TU. Rich, I have kept accurate measurements of what the bait weighs in grams prior to the clearcoating. I then tried estimating the amount of weight that will added from the clear coat. If I add this amount to the bait in lead it sinks! I am hoping that the Archimedes law (thanks to Lapala reminding me) of water displacement will offset some of the weight of the clear coat. Some other things were also mentioned, air bubbles, etc., and maybe this is having some effect too, time will tell. Corey, Making a topwater walk the dog type bait. I am using redwood and it's light enough that I think at least some lead will be needed. Jed

I wish I had an accurate way of measuring all this. It might turn into more "trial and error" though since the amount of clear coat, paint, primer, etc., is probably not the same from one bait to the next. I have only built one, very happy with the action but have no idea what's going to happen once I clear coat the beast. What I did was lighten it up quite a bit and hoping that once the clear goes on I will be about where I need to be. ?????????? jed

Good point LaPala! The bait with the clearcoat will be larger thus displacing more water and requiring more weight to sink it........altho I would expect this to be a "slight" difference as you have suggested. I will let you know more as I am making a topwater bait now and trying to come up with a formula for being able to predict where the bait will sit in the water once it's complete. I am measuring the weight of the bait in grams before adding sealer, primer, and clear coat. I will then weigh again the bait once it is complete and try to use this number as a predictor. thx. jed