RiverMan

This is the beast I bought at the recommendation of Chip and it has worked fine. I bought it at HD for about 125 dollars.....I think. Once the tank has filled (about 3 minutes) I can spray continually for about 10 minutes before it kicks on at which point I am startled to the point of having an H-attack! I put a cardboard box over the top of the thing to quiet it down a bit (tried the same thing with my ex-wife but she kept taking the box off) but it still scares ya half to death (so did my ex). I have no idea if it's a piston type of pump or what but I do know if you push that little black button on the top it comes on. Hey Rich, if your compressor outlives you can I have it? Jed

I have been working with the same idea Corey...hook the bait on one side and then have a spring on the other....still not as fast as my old method with the dowel but it does work. Thx. Jed

Corey, I think I understand what you are telling me, sounds like it would work good, kind of like an "etex" 0-ring. I will give it a try on a bait and see what happens. I kind of like the way you are doing it too with the eye bolts in the pic. Looks like you are holding it tight with wire which seems like it might be time consuming....is it? Mark, Thank you very much for the offer...will see what I can get worked out on this end and contact you if necessary. Thank you again guys! Jed

Of course I can't get the strapping here Mark, figures. So instead I have embarked upon the task of carving each of the frames I need from rock! I expect to have the first one completed in about a month at which point I will post a picture. Thanks again. jed

Thanks Mark, will see if I can find some of the strapping here in this little dusty town I live in. Thanks too for the lead on lure eyes; I contacted them this morning and they are sending me out some samples. Jed

I am currently following the exact process that Gene (Lincoya) outlined and it has served me well but I do worry about water getting in at the screw eye hole that was used to hold the bait. Muskie 1958...trying to remember is this Mark? You are in the heart of muskie builders my friend, the best come right out WV, Cobb, Wyde Glyde, Hughes River, etc. I have a question for you....what type of strapping are you using? Is it the stuff with holes in it already? Where do you think I could obtain some? The reason I ask is I had seven built from aluminum and they were a bit spendy....about 3 dollars each. Also..this is where I lose you...how do you hold the bait tight in the frame? I tried using wire through the screw eye on each end and then through the hole on my metal frame but the bait wants to move some...doesn't stay tight in the frame. I also found the wire to be time consuming to secure. I was thinking about going to hook eye on one side of the frame and a spring on the other so that I could simply stretch the bait tight. Anyway, would appreciate some explanation of how you are holding the baits firmly in the frame. Thx. Jed www.bikinibaitcompany.com

Yeeehaw! Lol, my guess is that this post will quickly be moved to another forum. That being said, as a kid I used to keep "dads"...short for "crawdad" in a bucket with wet grass. We would hook the unfortunate fellow in the tail and toss him out into likely haunts of bass, cats, and carp, pronounced "caup" by some in Texas. If you put too much water in the bucket they will drown once the air is gone...well unless you provide each of them with a snorkel. My boy has tried to keep them in his fish tank but we typically find them on the carpet the next day all dried up attempting to make good their escape. My suggestion is you just do a search online for pics. Jed

I like Poplar but many guys use western cedar or balsa....it's all personal choice. You can get the wood at Home Depot, lumber mills, or craft shops, check prices as they can vary greatly. Jed

Some very interesting comments you added on fish behavior LaPala, thank you for posting them. Jed

Dean, I'm curious as to why you would say to use Etex as a sealer if you are using it as a finish? You may be right, sounds like a great idea to me. I am, however, using BullsEye as my sealer and then going to Etex and haven't had any problems...well except for that one bait that exploded in the kitchen, yikes! Thanks! Jed

Guys that understand the chemistry of the paint such as Shawn and Rich can be of more help than I can Robert. I have had this problem though when I got a heat lamp too close to the baits when they were turning and also with some woods....mahogany in particular. I have no idea why. That was about as useful as a three-legged chair huh, lol. Jed

Chip, This is a photo-finish bait.....if I could paint like this I wouldn't be building lures! The top, bottom and all the red on the bait I airbrushed in as I felt it added to the bait. Most photo-finishes in my opinion lack color brilliance and the red on this bait helps remedy that. I also think it's possible to get a more natural looking bait with "all paint" but I enjoy using the photo finish on at least part of my baits. You have a good looking bluegill pattern up you have painted though. It would be nice if you could somehow get a realistic looking scale pattern into the paint. Jed

Like this! Jed www.bikinibaitcompany.com

I think greater detail does make a difference if it increases your confidence. We tend to fish harder and more focused when we think that what we are offering may be successful very soon. Beyond that I think detail may be important when fish are keying in on a particular prey species or in very clear water. Finally, it's fun to make a bait that looks as good as you can possibly make it. RM

Muskie 1958, I think you are entirely correct in suggesting that I have all the screw eyes in before sealing. I do have two of them in before sealing, the front and back, but the middle eye I generally just glue in after the fact. My dryer is set up to hold the baits in the bottom screw eye but I could modify this set-up with some effort. Your suggestion is right on though and I really need to make that move. Thanks for the offer Corey, may take you up on that someday. Can you believe that beast in the picture, that's unreal! Thanks again everyone! Jed

Skeeter, I certainly hope it won't happen again although I fully expect it will at some point, it's inevitable I'm afraid when you dealing with a freshwater shark! After speaking with some of the guys that buy my baits in the last couple of days I now feel alot better. Guys have been telling me that many all of the top baits they have develop problems over time. Corey, I asked the guy several questions that Rich posted and he has yet to answer, he travels alot with his job. I will fill you guys in when I know more. Nathan, It's not the "tore up" that worries me, it's the unraveling of the finish, that's spooky! Rich, I hear what you are saying and hope at some point hope to hook one of the beasts! Thanks! jed

Hi 5 fish on, You may be having problems with the size of the photo. You will note when you try to attach a picture that it cannot exceed a certain pixel size. Pixels are small pieces that make up your pictures. You will need to use software on your machine to resize the image. If you have a digital camera it probably came with Adobe Photoshop..you can resize it here. If not, you may be able to use microsoft imaging that comes with Windows98, see if this is on your machine. If all else fails, email the picture to me and I will resize it for you and post it in the thread. Best Regards, Jed tossmealine@yahoo.com

You guys are awesome! Between all of your answers I would have spent literally a solid year figuring this stuff out. As you guys know I spend "alot" of time here, it's my fav spot and still I learn something nearly every day. Corey, Guess what....you were EXACTLY right, my "misfit" bait that I drilled the holes in and tossed in the water......it split along the belly sometime today. The photo image is just fine but water went in through the bottom screw eye that was just a hole, no screw, and expanded the wood, Etex split, lights out! I always use a sealer on my baits but if water gets in through the screw eye hole...too bad. I have heard that some guys use hardwoods for just this reason, they are less prone to swelling. I found this to be true with mahogany but went away from it as it got too expensive to buy. Jed

I haven't been doing that Dean, do you have a method for cleaning the screw eyes? Corey, That musky head is unreal, wow, cool pic! jed

Good point guys and well taken. You know my coworker from Ohio just brought me ina magazine called "Musky Hunter" and you would not believe this musky in there that some guys caught, it's as big as a gator, I'm not kidding ya! I would post the pic but not sure it would be ok by site rules. It's like 5' long and it's head is huge!

What do you guys think about water getting in around the screw eyes? The way I build my baits now the screw eyes on the front and back are in place before the Etex goes on so they have a thick coat around them. The bottom screw eye hole though I use to hold the bait while it's drying and this screw eye goes on last without the benefit of Etex surrounding it completely. I do cover the screw eye in Devcon before screwing it in though and always felt this would seal it properly. Jed

It's funny you say that Lunge as the guy told me he's extremely happy with the action of the bait and fishes it all the time. He also ordered three more baits in the same letter! I seal all of the baits so I don't think that was the problem. You know last night I took a "misfit" photo bait and drilled about 10 small holes in it along each side and down the back. I then tossed it into a bucket of water and left it there until this morning. I squeezed that bait this morning looking for any signs of water entering and cannot see a bit of problem! Jed

Dean, Perhaps you are right about the acrylic. You know tho when the photo is in place you can't peel it off, it rips into tiny pieces before coming off. Of course if the entire thing is wet for a period of time as water leaks through a hole this may change which would then cause the entire image to fail, that's scary. I would guess that an "all paint" bait would hold up better when water gets through a hole and starts working on it although I don't know this for fact, just guessing. Rich, You brought up some good points that I hadn't thought of. I was just going to mail out a replacement bait for him but think now I will ask to get a better look at it. He's a great guy and a "several return" customer and I will do all I can to make it right. Thank you! Jed

Thanks Chip. Like I said I kind of expected this to happen at some point with a photo finish bait. Whether a guy is using a paper photo or slide decal it always seemed to me that if the image got wet it would dislodge and the whole thing would come apart. Of course if you are using a water-based paint like I am, I guess if water got in it would also likely fail at some point. Oh well, hope it doesn't happen again. Jed

So are you saying you have seen this happen before Chip? I just haven't had this happen before but then again I'm not producing a fraction of the baits you are. I use three coats because the baits are going to Musky Fisherman and I had hoped to not have a problem with exactly this! I have a guide useing my baits in IL and he's told me the baits are holding up very well so this took me by surprise. In the past I drilled holes through the etex with both photo and paint baits and tossed them in a bucket of water and both sat for days with no problems. So would you guys expect a bait with either photo or paint to fail if a hole forms in the clear coat? I always thought that the water would still have a heck of a time doing enough damage to ruin the bait in the event of a small hole. jed