Skeeter

There are different grades of Polycarbonate aka. Lexan. For each lesser grade there are impurities mixed in with it. The purest is used for bullet proof glass. A 1/16" thick 1ftX1ft piece is $80 plus. If you buy cheap polycarbonate then you get alot of impurities mixed with it. In 7 years of making baits I have never had a lip break. I have only had 1 lip come loose in the slot due to a rock hit. Do your homework and get the best grade that you can afford. Skeeter

Get a 6:1 reel for all of them and forget about it. YOU are the one that controls the speed of the retrieve, not the reel. Just pay attention to what you are doing. That is all that is needed. The biggest advantage of high speed reels is that you can bring in excess line and bad casts quickly. All of todays' modern reels have more than enought wenching power for any size bass. You would be happy with the combo that 6ft. is telling you about. The diawa outfit that he is using is very light. It is expensive, but good equipment. Skeeter

I really learned something in this post. Thanks, Skeeter

You guys got some stuff to look forward to. Shimano is getting ready for another revamp. You should like what you see. They will be introduced at ICAST. So stay tuned. Skeeter

I have heard alot of good things about the high end Revo. All of the people that I have talked to have been very happy with them. Sinbad made an excellent point about the adjustment. Since the Japanese Shimano and Diawa reels have become so popular, many people have ordered them and then just turned around and sold them. All of the new reels of today are shooting at being tricked out. They are "hot" reels to throw. It does not take much to backlash them. Many of us like to think that we are pretty efficient at throwing baitcasters. But as hot as the new reels are, you will have to practice at throwing them. Read my article under general topics about these reels. There is alot of information on them in the article. The largest problem with all of these new reels is the heavy spools. Their "moment of inertia" is really too much. Moment of inertia is the revolution of the spool when you first make the cast. Heavy spools take a fair amount of force to get them started. Once they start that spool wants to continue spinning. This is what causes the backlashes. It is like trying to slow down a freight train once it is running at high speed. That weight gets alot of momentum going. You really need to train the thumb to handle it. The spools on my Scorpion 1000s are as thick and as light as paper. I really wish I could let you hold one. You would freak on how it is made. I still ball them up now and then, but once you get the hang of it you will be just fine. Tighten your stuff down untill you get use to it. You will get the hang of it. Skeeter

There is all kinds of stuff out there on supertuning ABUs. The round Black Max is not much. I have worked on those reels for folks. However, the C3 could probably be souped up alittle. www.hartlandtackle.com is a good place for bearings and oil. Find Don Iovino's site. He sells soup up kits for ABUs. Skeeter

It is hard to get the exact date of the reel. However if you do a search on abu serial numbers, then you can get pretty close into the ball park. I use to know all of this stuff, but it has been quite a while. If you cannot find it then send email to Don Iovino. Search for his web site. He will answer you. Skeeter

Net Man, Let me make this simple. You will have to strip and dry your bait. Once the bait is dry, then wipe on one or two coats of polyurethane and let it dry overnight. Once it is dry, lightly sand to smooth out. Then paint your bait and clearcoat. If something cracks, then more than likely your are missing something when clearcoating. Water won't hurt plastic if it gets to it. But it will wood. If you really want to make the bare wood completly sealed, then polyurethane the lure, dry, sand, and then clearcoat the lure with Devcon. Then shoot the paint straight onto the Devcon and clearcoat the lure. If you do it right....NO water will ever get to the wood. A stripped down Poes can take the extra weight of the Devcon. Original Tuffys are balsa....... balsa can handle with no problem. But it is extremely important that the wood is COMPLETELY dry, otherwise no matter what you seal or clearcoat with the lure will eventually crack. Skeeter

Mossy, Here is the deal... first when you give the measurment of the line tie replacement, measure from the nose of the lure to the line tie. Not the full length of the lip. The reason is, because it does not matter how much lip is in the slot. The crucial measurement is from the nose to the line tie. The line tie appears to be in the center of the lip. That is fine to start with. Next the lip must be square with the body. It must be at a right angle with the belly hook hanger. If the lip is square and it starts to spin then it is due to not enough weight in the belly. Judging from the size of the lure and assuming that the bait is made of balsa then I would start with 1/4 oz. of lead and work up. If your lip is not right then cut it out and redo it. If the weight is not right then drill it out and redo it. In other words you will have to sacrifice this lure to the R&D gods. Anyone that is any good at making crankbaits has done it. I know that you spent alot of time on it... but..... welcome to crankbait making. Beat on this one bait untill you get it right. Then the next ones will fall into place. Lip shaving is not your answer. Trust me. Skeeter

I would be interested in your results. Please let me know. Skeeter

This should be perfect for you>>>> http://heartlandtackleservice.com/articles.stm#abu Or you could try these......http://super-tuning.home.mindspring.com/index%20page.html http://www.ultimatebass.com/content/view/72/148/ There are six pages in the index to the right on the article that explains each part tuning in detail along with pictures. I have also written an article in the General section on this site about servicing reels. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7335 Skeeter

Does anyone know where you can get a Kistler style hook hanger? Skeeter

If your drag jerks when it releases line then LIGHTLY grease the drag. Skeeter

The urethane clear, hardner, and activator are sold separately. When you select a brand of clear then there are manufacturer recommendations for the type of hardner and activator to use. They can also suggest different mixtures of the three parts to either slow or quicken the drying process. I do not use urethane clears. I use Devcon. That is right.... I brush the clearcoat by hand onto every lure that I make. I just prefer it that way. You can still find alpha-cryl hidden away in some places. But it is hard to locate. Plus once you run out of the gallon that you have found, you are back to looking for another clearcoat to take it's place. Good luck... let me know if you have any other questions. Skeeter

Urethane is not lacquer. Urethane is the modern replacement to lacquer. Urethane clears can be used as a clearcoat. However, many brands and types do not work well. They flake off. Plus with urethane clears you need to buy an activator and hardner to make it work. You do not need activators and hardners to use urethane paints, just the clearcoats. For a quart of good urethane clear plus activator and hardner you are looking at around $100.00 USD. And unless you know what you are really buying, you could be wasting alot of money. Clear lacquer was used for many years in the U.S. for clearcoating crankbaits. The main product was called alpha-cryl. It was made by BASF. It was good stuff. But it contained lead in it and was banned here in the U.S. by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Since you are in Switzerland you may be able to find it. Check with your local car paint dealers. They may know how to get it for you. It sold here in the U.S. for $80.00 USD a gallon. With Alpha-Cryl you just dip the lure in the clear and hang it to dry. Strings will run off of the end of the bait. Just let it dry and cut off the strings of lacquer from the end of the bait when dry. Then just take a small brush with some clear on it and wipe it on the end of the bait. This covers up the marks from cutting the strings. The bait will look perfect. Good luck. Skeeter

Jim, I touch sand the primer. But after that I never sand again. Primer sands so easily and smooth that you don't have to mess with anything after that. Skeeter

You are not just ruffing the surface of the lure with the sand paper. You are leveling out the surface. If you use a good primer, the one shot will take care of any scratches. But the bottom line is this... you do not need to prep devcon before shooting it with lacquer. Skeeter

Bob hit the nail on the head. The guts of the new lures are still like the old ones. Bagley has not changed the way they pour there belly weights and brass wire is brass wire. The lips are different. And you can make lips like the originals easily. The one thing that I have noticed is that the bodies of the old lures were much better porportioned. Many of the new ones were turned in the Dominican Republic. Quality and shape of the body sucked. Skeeter

Just touch sand it with 220 sand paper. Lacquer will stick to Devcon without sanding. There is no real problem there. But what the sanding will do is show you any dips, holes, or missed spots in the Devcon before painting. This is REAL important if you want a true smooth finish. When you are done lightly sanding, then wipe the lure down with a damp paper towel to get the dust off and then shoot. Skeeter

I would try lacquer if I were you. It won't cost you much to try. Dry time is almost instant. And once you get the hang of it you will like it. Send me a PM if you are interested. Skeeter

Excellent LP !! Lets everyone see what it takes to make lures on a very large scale. Skeeter

Nathan is one of the true original master craftsmen. I have always said that to be good at making crankbaits you have to love it. Nathan does, it shows in his work. I have always looked at his crankbaits in awe. Skeeter

Yeah guys... skip the Devcon!! "Can Pelucid be Buffed Out and Waxed Like Other Clearcoats? Yes, but wait several weeks after application to make sure it is fully cured." Skeeter

I am just really curious..... How do you guys know that polycarbonate has more flex than circuit board? How do you really know that you are getting an extra foot of depth? And how do you really know that circuit board has better reflecting properties? How in the world does a trailing edge cut through the water???? And how does this trailing edge create a vortex? I just can't see how this trailing edge creates a stronger pull down force. Skeeter