Skeeter

Spo, Use plenty of oil..... don't want to get em smokin!!!! Skeeter

Send me a PM or email and tell me what your concerns are and what you are trying to do. Skeeter

Interesting, I have never noticed this. Probably never really paid attention. Another Devcon fact for the old head. But I will tell you that since the weather is getting colder, Devcon will start to thicken. You will start to notice this as the temp drops below 70degs. in the room that you apply it in. Skeeter

I know that it hurts. But I am just thankful that you are ok. You can be thankful that you will be back to pouring again soon. Hope you heal quickly. Skeeter

Allen, Balanced is a word that has been thrown around on this site a lot. There were folks that were trying to go as far as to take a balancer that is used for model airplane props and use it on a crankbait. I think that those of us striving to build the best crankbait possible sometimes take things a little too far. But since you have read my posts and understand my definition of balance, then we will get into what I feel a deep running crankbait should do. 1. It should float ? All of this stuff about suspending and sinking crankbaits is just a way to get you to loose more baits so that you will buy more baits. If you run a bait that is made that way into a brush pile one of two things is going to happen. You will either hang it and loose it, or you will be spending your time trying to dig it out with a plug knocker. If the bait will float, then the bait will have the chance to float upward and free itself. A slow rise is fine, but the bait has to rise. When the bait rises then it should stay pointed at you and sway as it rises. Some baits will back up and do this. That is the perfect senario. There is a reason as to why most baits will spiral. There is an art to taking that spiral out of the bait, but that is one of my secrets that I will not post. 2. It should throw straight, even in the wind - Baits that won?t throw straight without cart wheeling are garbage. Get rid of them. I mainly make baits that are used for competition. A guy that is trying to pay the bills and hit a stump in 18ft. of water, needs a bait that will throw in a straight line consistently. If it is windy and the boat is pitching around and the guy is standing on one foot with the other on the trolling motor trying to hit the mark, he cannot be plagued with a bait that will not throw straight and far. He is doing nothing but wasting time, energy, and effort. As a crankbait maker it is my job to make him the best tool to get the job done. But the individual has to know how to throw a bait also. Yes, there is an art to that too. As a general rule, give the bait about 18 inches of line from the tip and then throw it. You may have to adjust, but believe me this helps. 3. The bait has to run straight ? Personally, I do not tune baits after I make them. It is up to the individual to do that. Anyone that does not take the time to completely tune their crankbaits (especially with money on the line) is a fool. An individual needs to take the time to finely tune every bait that he throws. If the bait is balanced, then the bait will run true. Maximum performance can be gained out of that bait. I even go as far as to make sure that the belly hook hanger is straight and at a perfect right angle to the lip. To me that hook hanger is a rudder. Small or not, it has an effect. A perfectly tuned deep running crankbait should come straight back at you and end up back underneath the boat at the end of the retrieve. You know that the bait is right when that happens. Some baits just won?t tune. Those need to go to your buddies that you fish against or someone that has pissed you off in the past. 4. The bait and the fisherman has to perform - Everyone gets hung up on this depth thing. What a crankbait fisherman should concentrate on is the performance of the bait. Once you have a balanced bait that is tuned perfectly, then you need to see what the limits of that crankbait are. You need to play with it like you did those two baits that started this whole discussion. Your thinking was right on the money. You need to know what that bait will do and then apply it to a situation that fits. In other words.... if the bait will run 16 ft. you should not be throwing it in 6 ft. of water. However, if you have a stump in 14 ft. of water then I would throw it. Everyone got hung up on this chest weighting thing that Fritts did. The only reason that David chest weighted a bait was because somewhere he had a situation that required the bait to get down a little further and stay there longer. He had a need and came up with a way to make it happen. Anyone can do this also. But it takes alot of time to learn and a fair amount of baits that you will peel though in order to teach yourself how to do it. This is where 99.9% of crankbait fishermen and crankbait makers fail. Those awful 3 words " it takes time " stops most from learning. If you have a bait and the lip is crooked, then fix it. If the belly weight is off center, then fix it. If the body is crooked, then fix it. Folks just won't use their head. Think! What will it take to make it right, and then make it happen. Luckily for me thinking, taking time, and putting forth hard work kills most folks. That is why I make money at this art. It is not rocket science. :idea: Strange about that one bait. I would love to see it. Tell you what?? I need a poes 300. If you have one and are willing to give it to me, I will rework that screwed up 400 that you have and send it back to you with completely modified and repainted. It may take awhile because I have a lot of work to do for some customers. But I promise you that the bait will be right when you get it back. I should be able to tell you what was wrong with it also. Skeeter

The company says 20+. I would say overkill has it right. Skeeter

Devcon will work just fine on a plastic body. Skeeter

Jack the pressure up between 20 and 24 psi. Since you are using a double action gun and hopefully a Paasche VL, here is what you do. Take the cover off of the back of the gun. Loosen the nut that holds the needle in place and push the needle all of the way forward. Next, when you spray, push down on the trigger and get your air going. Then pull back slowly untill you get the paint going. This is what is known as a "dry shoot". It should spray a real thin coat and dry fairly quickly. I think that you are laying down too much paint and it is blowing on you. Practice on a piece of cardboard first. It will only take a second to see if you have it right. Also, your stencil has to be laying flush against the bait. If is does not then paint will blow under the edges of the stencil. Try a document protector or brown masking tape for your stencil. Skeeter

Allen, The 400 should cruise to 10 ft. easily. However, I will not say that it will hit 18ft. The average a 400 will run with 12 lb. line is around 12 - 14 ft. This is if the lure is tuned and lined up properly. By lined up I mean that the body is straight, the hook hangers and the belly weight are centered, and the lip is installed straight and is level across the front of the bait. So if the lure will not reach 7ft. then there is something definitely wrong with the lure. Remember, you will need a nice long cast for the lure to obtain its depth. The lips on Poes lures are garbage. They won?t hold up. You will notice the seam in the center of the lip. This is a point of failure on these lips. They often crack around the line tie and the seam. I really don?t know if the lips are true polycarbonate. But if they are, then the polycarbonate that is used has a lot of impurities in it. There are different grades of polycarbonate, with the lower ratings being full of impurities. For example, bullet proof glass is made of polycarbonate. The cost per square foot is around $85.00. This is why I use a high grade polycarbonate in my baits. Longer rods do cast further, and thinner line does make the lure go deeper, but lower ratio reels are not the best for cranking. We have been told that lower geared reels are what is needed for cranking. These reels are suppose to crank easier and have the ?power? that is needed to throw these large deep running cranks all day long. BUNK!! All of today?s modern reels can throw cranks. In my opinion, high speed reels are better because they will take up slack quickly after a long cast, and if you mess up a cast, you can reel in quickly for another one. Throwing crankbaits requires your attention. The speed of the lure should be controlled by you and not the reel. As far as the wobble?? this is what a good crankbait should do. When the lure hits something and you stop it, then the lure should back up alittle and wobble. The lure that you tested has the right characteristics, but there is a fault as to why the bait spirals on the way up. What you want the lure to do is backup and wobble without spiraling. The lure should stay pointed at you while it is backing up and wobbling. Now there is a reason or reasons as to why the bait is spiraling. What problems do you think could cause this? Also, take a look at the lure and tell me why you think the bait will not go beyond 7ft. Skeeter

I order mine from Laird Plastics. You can contact them at..... Laird Plastics, Inc. 6100 F Harris Technical Blvd Charlotte, NC 28269 Tel: 704-597-8555 Toll Free: 800-873-8418 Fax: 704-597-7309 I got a 4X8 ft. sheet cut into 2 ft. squares and delivered to me for less than $50.00. You will need .060 polycarbonate. Skeeter

What style of Poes were you using? How do you know that the first one would not hit 10 - 18 ft.? That is a pretty big spread. What did you expect the lure to do when you stopped it? Do you think that the rod, reel and line might have a bearing on how the lure acts? If so, why? Skeeter

Go here... http://heartlandtackleservice.com/articles.stm and here for abu garcia schematics.... http://www.angelfotogalerie.de/rollenservice/abu/ Skeeter

Lacquer will stick to water based latex paint just fine. I don't like oil based paints just for the simple fact that it is a bitch to clean off of your equipment. The real problem is that water based latex is slow for doing base coats. Normally you will need 2 or 3 coats per bait. You can shoot the first coat thin and just let it dry for about 20 min. Then shoot the second coat and let dry for 2 hrs. Finally shoot the last coat and let the entire bait dry for 24 hrs. There is a reason for these dry times. Or you can really get nuts and just dip the lure into full strength white latex and then spin the lure on a drying wheel for about 4 hrs. and then hang it to dry for a full 24 hrs. When done right, the lure has a good thick coat on it and turns out really smoothe. Then shoot your lacquer. Skeeter

Do you have an air regulator guage on your compressor that shows you what the output is while you are spraying? If not go to Lowes and get one for around $20.00. If you have a Paasche VL do you shoot with the red rear cover on? If so, take it off and learn to adjust the needle. Use the #3 tip. I use it for all of my spraying. Next decide on a paint and stick with it and learn to use that type of paint. Jumping around to all types of brands will drive you nuts if you are just starting out. Next, go to the Createx site and send them email. Tell them your problems. They will answer you. Dean is right, your paint is too thin. That is part of the reason that the paint is blowing. Remember, most of the createx that most folks here shoot is made for spraying fabrics such as T shirts. It will paint a bait just fine, but you need to work at it and learn to shoot it. I wouldn't thin it at all to start. Createx is pretty well thinned to start with. I will tell you that you will need to keep the psi above 20. If you have questions about adjusting the needle in and out of the gun just ask. This should get you started a little better. Skeeter

When I talk about straightening a lip I am talking about having less downward angle to the lip when it is installed. Having a lip comming straight out from the nose of the lure will give a lure the tightest wiggle that it can have. If you want more wiggle or wobble then you need to start dropping the end of the lip down. Therefore, you are adding a downward angle to the end of the lip. As a general rule....... the more downward angle the more wobble. Skeeter

What is WRC? Skeeter

SpoRoller, You are correct about the width of the lip at the nose. You are learning aren't you? Everyone always worries about the width of the lip at the end of it, but very few pay attention to the width of the lip where it enters the bait. You are right, it can be addicting. But you have to be addicted to crankbaits before you can take it to the level that you are on right now. Congratulations. Spinner, Spo is giving you good information. But there is nothing better than experimenting and taking the lure to the water to see the results. Maple is a hard wood to make bass size crankbaits out of. It is very dense. There isn't much wood to displace water to help it float like a muskie size plug would have. If you really want to work with hardwoods then I would suggest cedar or poplar in that order. The one thing that I have found is that when you put a lip in at a severe angle, the width of the lip does not play that great of a factor in the wobble of the lure. I made a bait with the lip inserted at over 20 degrees in the bait. The bait had too much wobble for me so I took a dremel and thinned the width of the lip. It made no observable difference. So I got the dremel and thinned it more, again no real difference. By the time I was done, the lip was 1/2 inch wide and the lure still had a sever wobble. The crankbait was a round bait. I don't know if a flat bait would be different. But the only way that I could get less wobble out of that bait was to straighten the lip. Skeeter

If you want to decrease the wiggle then straighten the lip out or go to balsa. Hardwoods have a wider wobble and a stronger thump than balsa does. Believe me.... it will make a difference. Cut the amount of weight in half and put the belly hook back on the bait if you stick with the cedar. Square or round bill, the bait will have a wide wobble. Keep the lip the same length and straighten it out if you want the cedar to have a wiggle instead. Now one other thing. The closer the line tie is to the nose, the greater the wiggle, not the other way around. Skeeter

I have spots on my lake where I know Exactly how deep it is. Plus I have a depth flasher. Then I make the cast and feel for it to hit the bottom. That is the only way that I know. I don't know anyplace that has a 20 ft. deep pool. Plus you are going to have to get distance out of your cast to give the lure enough room to reach that depth. Skeeter

Bubbles are going to happen in any type of epoxy. Anytime that you stir anything you are going to be injecting air into the mixture. I never thought of it but putting the brush into the mixture could cause the problem also. If Devcon cured slower then you could have the chance of giving the mixture more time to expel the bubbles. But usually with the temp at around 75 deg. you will have about 15 min. to work with the mixture before it sets enough to where you cannot not work with it smoothly. Skeeter

Devcon will definitely give you bubbles. And then again so will any epoxy. It is just something that you have to practice at. You can breathe on a batch and watch the bubbles come to the top. I am told it is the CO2 in your breath that causes this. However, it won't get them all. Blowdryers and such will get them comming to the top also, but not all of them. I have found that if you brush the area multiple times with the brush that alot of the bubbles will expell on their own. Do not mix the epoxy with wood. It contains air in the pores and it will cause you even more problems. I just use the stir that comes with the epoxy and just wipe it clean when I am done mixing. It will last you a very long time that way. As you work with Devcon you will learn how to minimize the bubbles that you get, but you will never get rid of them completely. Skeeter

Mike, You can get a bait to go just about as deep as you want to. The length of the lip is what gives the lure its depth. As just a general rule, you will get about 10 ft. of depth for every inch the lip goes out from the nose of the lure. But like everything else...... type of wood, body shape, weighting, etc. all has an effect on this. But that is a good place to start. To decide what type of lip to use depends on the action that you want the lure to have. That is what is most important. Design a lip that gives the bait the action that you want and then just adjust the length from there. You still may have to adjust the design of the lip, but again it is a good place to start. Another thing to remember is that the farther a lure is casted the deeper it will run. You can take two identical lures and cast one 40 ft. and it may run 10 ft. deep. Take the same lure and cast 60 ft. and it may run 11 ft. So the point is that your equipment plays a roll into how deep you can get a lure to run. If you have any questions send me a PM and I will discuss this further with you. Skeeter

The lure sank because it soaked up water. It doesn't take long for the lure to become water logged. I would forget that lure and get some balsa. You can make lures out of hardwood, but you will experience alot of what you are going through now. Balsa is forgiving when you weight it, and you will have to weight it some. You can shape balsa quickly so when you make mistakes you can make another one and keep trying untill you get it right. You can seal a bare balsa bait with a clearcoat and test the bait. If it works then you can paint over the clearcoat and clearcoat the lure again and then you are ready to fish it. Skeeter

Some put the weight a little more forward on the lure to give it a more forward or downward tilt. Mostly this is done to get the front of the lip under the water as it sits still in the water so that the lure starts to dig as soon as the reel handle is turned. Or it could be to give the lure the right attitude or angle as it is digging on the bottom. This is what you want a crank to do. If the lure has the action that you want and your hookups are not hindered, then go with it. cesportsman, You are learning the right way. You are seeing what it takes to truely make a special crankbait. Tally, is the best person that I can think of that could help you do what you are trying. You see over a year ago he bothered the heck out of me wanting to learn the same thing. All I did was give him suggestions. He did the work and experimenting by himself. Now, he is one of the best that I know of that can really weight baits that close. I have some of his work and the baits do exactly what he says they will. He is a one of the best to learn what you are trying to do from. I think Tally needs to move to the Piedmont. He would be alot happier here. Common Tally, we have room in Lexington for you. Skeeter

If you are fishing a graphite rod then use mono. If you use a fiberglass rod then most use copolymer. Why? Graphite rods are more sensitive than most glass rods. Therefore you can still feel pretty well with a graphite rod. So you can use mono without any problems as far as feel goes. Since fiberglass rods are more forgiving then you can loose alot of sensitivity while cranking the bait. This is why folks like Fritts use copolymer line. I have been using 12 lb. Bass Pro Shops Excel mono for over 15 yrs. now. It has a good price, I trust it, and I buy it in bulk so that I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the year. Go to the General forum and read my article on Deep Water Crankbaiting. Alot of your questions could be answered there. Skeeter