Skeeter

I think that the Association could be a good thing. Here is my reason why. I think that there should be some type of rating so that folks that want to buy custom baits will not be getting ripped off. It is too easy for someone to make a crankbait (or any other type of bait?. plastic, wire, etc) and say that they have it right. The customer will buy the bait and think that they have the real deal for catching his fish. Then they take the bait out and it falls apart. At that point the customer will be disillusioned and probably not buy anymore. Long story short?? I went through the process of buying a lot of custom crankbaits. Most of them fell apart or were just slapped together. I caught very few fish on them too. I have paid as high as $25.00 for them and many were from well known crankbait makers. It was my disillusionment with what I had bought that got me making crankbaits. I swore that I would not turn out garbage. It has been 5 yrs. now that I have been making crankbaits. I cannot even begin to account for the tremendous amount of hours that I have devoted to learning, experimenting, failing, and succeeding. By having the Association that sets standards and a rating system, we as bait makers can protect the reputation of the custom bait making community. I think that we have a duty to protect our craft as well as the people that support us by purchasing our product. I also feel that there needs to be a catagory for painters. This is an art in itself. When I fist joined TU there were about 32 of members. Now there is over 2500 registered users. There are a lot of people learning from our work This is a good thing. It is what TU was created for. I and so many others, have learned from the goodness of skilled craftsmen sharing what they have gained through much hard work. I cannot see where the formation of the Association will stop this from continuing. As far as those that are not pleased with their rating?? this is that individuals problem. It is not like childs T-ball where everyone gets a trophy. It takes hard work to be good at anything. If someone does not want to do the work then they will never make that high rating. If it is the case that they do not have the talent then again?.. that is their problem. Not everyone does. It is a fact of life. People have a choice of either joining the Association or not. No one is forcing anyone?s hand. My work will be judged by my peers just as anyone else. I agree that this will not be an easy undertaking. But it needs to start. I applaud Nathan for having the guts and taking on the tremendous task of getting it all started. Skeeter

Lee Sission designed the B series plugs for Jim Bagley in the 1970's. He now makes his own. They are made out of Jelutong. Jelutong kinda reminds me of basswood. Jeff Thompson makes his baits out of Balsa. All Bagleys both old and new are made out of balsa. Charlie Mitchell and I talked to Lee at the Classic show in Charlotte. He is quite a gentleman and willing to discuss anything with you. There is nothing but honesty when you talk to this man. Nothing will be made like the original baits that Lee designed. That is because Lee cared. Now Bagley baits are just turn, paint, and give me the dough. They are now made overseas. They are no longer made in Winterhaven Fla. So the absolute best thing that you can do is find a good crankbait maker that cares and makes them right. If you have the skills, you could try to break an original Bagleys apart and put it back together the right way with everything lined up and some weight added. Skeeter

Yes, the hook bonnets. I use them when my baits are in the tacklebox. I never used them for years. But I got them to put on baits that I sell to folks since I don't package my lures. It makes looking at a lure safer for everyone. Plus people can actually look at and touch the bait. They can see if it is coated well, if everything is straight, and anything else that they want to look at on the bait. I like being able to do that for people. Plus they are cheap and will protect your bait. Skeeter

Check out your Bass Pro Shops catalog. They have hook guards in there. They just slide onto the hook and will protect your finish. You get 30 of them for around $3.00. Skeeter

Thank you very much Dwain. Skeeter

Does Don still have a web site? Does anyone know the url to it? Thanks, Skeeter

The only Shimano Japanese reel that comes in that gear ratio is the Calcutta. Diawa Japan has quite a few reels with that ratio but they are expensive. Go to www.japantackle.com and check them out. They list the gear ratios with the reels. That is not the only place to get them. And you can find some sites that have a little bit better price. But the best information in the world about these reels is on that site. Check out the link called Jun's recommendations. Tons of good info there. Even if you do not get one of these reels there is still alot of great information about reels in general that can help you make an educated decission about what you do buy. You will really learn what to look for. Skeeter

Dink, To each his own. Personally, I think that the fisherman can control the speed of the bait himself with a high speed reel. But it takes concentration. Most folks don't like to do that. It is easier to slow down a high speed reel that to speed up a low speed reel. How can you fish quickly with a 4:3 ratio reel? Many of the guys down here still love their Lews. Even though they have their parts failures, they are still loyal to them. They too cuss the new ones. They do not like them at all. The folks that I talk to seem to like one style or other of Abu Garcia. Most of them are older round models. Some are using Shimano Calcuttas. The rest are going to either Curados or the high end Quantums. Skeeter

Poes used white cedar to make their baits. Fence stock cedar that I had was pretty coarse. The grain was always harder than the rest of the wood. It was hard to get the bait flat. Also, fence lumber is pressure treated with a solution to keep water out. You could end up with problems down the road as the solution works its way out of the wood. Coley gave me a big piece of cedar and it looks like it will make some great baits. I am going to start cutting on it soon. Just look your wood over closely. Good luck. Skeeter

Lots of good tips here. The idea of the wet cloth that Tally gave is one of them. That white chaulky substance on some fishing line is called monomer bleed. It is caused when line is getting old and starts to deteriorate. A trick that I picked up from watching a guy spooling line at Bass Pro Shops in Mo. was to move the line back and forth with your fingers as you spool it. Just hold your line between two fingers in front of the reel and move it back and forth to get your line evenly loaded across your spool. This will eliminate line building up on one dominate side of the spool. This has really helped eliminate backlashing. Skeeter

They told you wrong. Go to Wal Mart, get some Devcon long cure epoxy, (30 min) use that, and forget it. If you want you can get some 5 min Devcon also for glueing in lips etc. It will cost you $2.00 and you can get it anytime without worry. Skeeter

Believe me.... you will need to weight the bait. It is just a trial and error thing. Do a search for weighting. There are some tricks to test the amount of weight that a particular bait will need. They are in the posts. Also, don't forget that the hooks, split rings, and clearcoats will also add weight. Skeeter

Mr B, I don't understand..... how does the higher ratio cause you to loose sensitivity through the reel? Skeeter

Tally gave you alot of good information. I will see if I can add to it some. Alot of the fish that I hook have the belly hook in their mouth and the rear hook in their cheek. The crankbaits that I make have some size to them. I put a large kill dot on the side of the lure above the hook. The fish are honing in on the kill dot and hitting the lure from the side. When I set the hook the back end of the lure is swinging around and slapping them in the cheek. This has been happening to me for years. However this summer I am catching larger fish than usual. Most of my fish over 4 lbs. are being caught with one hook on one side of the mouth and the other hook on the other side. Looks like they are playing a harmonica when I bring them in. But I will tell you that color can play a difference on how deep a fish will take a lure. Tally has good points on using a sensitive rod. I use to laugh when some crankbait fishermen say that they can feel a fish getting ready to hit their crankbait. But after years of cranking I have learned to know the sensation also. As we know, a bass takes in its food by inhaling. If the fish is real close to the back of a lure and is sucking in water through its gills, then it will take the wiggle out of a crankbait. The feeling that the lure has lost its wiggle and is just running straight like a board is a possible indication that a fish is on your crankbaits ass and ya better get ready. You can't always feel it. But when you sense it and set the hook and that fish is there........ well you feel like a pro. The hardest thing for 80% of the fishermen out there to do is to pay attention. An hour or two without a hit is hard to put up with. We all have a tendancy to become complacent. It is hard to concentrate when things are dull. But it is something that we all must work at. Now to answer your question. To begin with I would try a different color or two. Next, I would slow the retrieve. Your fish might be hitting out of a reaction strike and is just taking a hard swipe at the bait. Last but not least, I might try downsizing the lure. Also, make sure that your hooks are needle sharp. Take your hook and run the point over your finger nail. Many say that if the point scratches the nail then it is sharp enough. Mine don't scratch. They stick. Immediately !! There is no slide. You would be amazed at the number of fish that touch the hook point in one spot of their mouth and get hooked somewhere else. This is because the hook point will slide before it digs. How many of us has caught a fish and seen a slit cut in the mouth of the fish before the hook finally took hold and penetrated? With needle sharp hooks you will not see this. Skeeter

I am lucky enough to have some of Tally's craw pattern crankbaits. You can look at them and tell that he has poured a ton of time into them. He turned me on to a site with different species of crawfish and their different colot patters. Believe me, Tally has hit these patterns dead on the head. Most of us (myself included ) get to use to the standard crawfish patterns that most bait companies use. Tally did his homework and opened up all of the different colors that nature has given these little critters. He is the man to ask. Skeeter

In 1989 I bought 2 black Quantum 410 MGs. I paid $48.00 apiece for them. They had bushings in them instead of bearings. I wouldn't even begin to estimate the number of fish that these two reels have hauled in. My sons are still fishing them today. Never had to replace a part. They are starting to break down now. But they are still being used. Proper oiling kept the bushings from wearing. The reels will throw as far as most of todays modern reels. It was money well spent. According to reel manufacturers, the average expected life of a reel is 7 yrs. Beyond that is a plus. Skeeter

Dink, Like Tally said.... you control the speed of the bait. With a low speed reel this can wear you out if you do it for any period of time. You just need to pay attention to what you are doing. Tally, The reason that he cannot get the reels referbished is because they don't make them any more. Zebco no longer has the parts for them, and reel repair dealers are raping peoples wallets for the parts. A pinion gear for a BB1NG that I had normally sells for 12.50 A parts dealer tried to sell me one for 42.00. ^%#^^& crook!!!! Cranker, I have owned Diawa, Quantum, Lews, Shimano, and Bass Pro reels. I know what you are saying about the performance of these reels. However, there is a large difference between any of these reels and the Scorpion 1000. The Lews BB1NG and the BB1N is the standard cranking reel of David Fritts and many other crankbait fishermen here in the Piedmont of North Carolina. I have owned three BB1NGs There is a huge performance difference between my Scorpion and those reels. I sold every one of my Lews. You could not pay me to touch one anymore. I agree that the price of some of these high performance reels will take your breath away..... but so will fishing them. Skeeter

Isn't it so cool when all of your thoughts, ideas, and hard work come together to produce a catch like that!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations. Skeeter

Bill, That is fine if your are using balsa to make the lure. Balsa is forgiving with weight. However, with hardwood you risk deadening the action of the lure. If a pro wants to be an idiot with his equipment, that is his choice. Skeeter

Devcon is just plain "Bad to the Bone"! All of my crankbaits are clearcoated with it. I fish around rocks all of the time. If the bait is just getting scuffed and water is getting to the bait then you have not covered the bait completely. Every clearcoat regardless of what it is made of or who makes it will scuff and scratch. Devcon will take alot of punishment. I have been fishing the same large deep running crankbait most of the summer. So far the bait has clocked over 34 hrs. of digging into stumps, ledges, rockpiles, and getting banged repeatedly with a plug knocker. The bait has caught over 45lbs. of fish and it is still solid and still going. Do not thin Devcon with anything and apply it with a slightly stiff brush. Wimpy bristles do not spread the clearcoat evenly. Pay close attention to the area where the lip enters the nose of the bait. This is where you can miss a spot when applying it. Also make sure that it is sealed around the hook hangers. Skeeter

I believe that if you pay the original maker of the hooks for them, it is ok. Skeeter

I agree with Dean. I am so happy when one of our own gets recognition. Congratulations. Skeeter

One coat will do just fine. Skeeter

Go read this article....http://tackleunderground.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=3493. Skeeter

Hunting crankbaits are somewhat rare. I have seen a pair of BIIs on ebay going for $97.00. The buyer was hoping that the older Bagley baits would hunt. I promise you that those two baits did not. Some poor dude just got parted from his money. Very, very, and I mean very, few baitmakers really know what makes a crankbait hunt. I promise you that they are not going to tell you how it is done. Even baitmakers that produce some hunting crankbaits don't underestand what they did to make the lure hunt. A known true hunting crankbait is worth alot of money. As far as how a hunting action should be..... do a search on the site. It is explained in detail. Good luck. Skeeter