Skeeter

To hell with any "fair use act" !!!!!!!!! Whatever that is...... You made or modified these baits by hand. They are not the same as the originals. Even if they were it would not matter. YOU as an individual are not a threat to the larger bait companies. You could never make enough lures to cause those companies any grief. You are not a factor on their profit. Make all that you want and sell all that you want. Unless you are making tens of thousands of baits a year and taking their profits, they will leave you alone. I know a man that has made a huge pile of money modifying Bagley and Rapala lures and reselling them. As a matter of fact Bagley has talked to him about the modifications that he came up with for their baits. Make your lures, make a little money, and enjoy catching fish on them. That's what it is all about. Skeeter

Sure there will be a difference in the action for a lure that is 1/4 vs. 1/2 inch thick. There is less weight in the 1/4 inch thick body. There is no rule for a lure being a certain thickness. It is all in what the lure is made out of, weighting, and the lip of the lure. I don't know if they have a site.... but Suddeth lures make 1/4 inch wide lures. You might do a search on the internet and take a look at their stuff. Skeeter

Beautiful work LaPala. Really Beautiful Work. Skeeter

Createx will thin with water. That will get your paint back to normal if it is drying out. If that is not the problem try jacking up the psi to over 20. Splatter can be caused by not enough pressure also. Skeeter

The Etex Devil is right. I am pretty closed minded. But there is a reason for that. I have been on this type of a site now for almost 5 yrs. I have seen and tried alot of different things, and so have alot of other people. Not that I have tried it all...... but I am done with it for awhile. In over 4 yrs. of making baits I have had only two baits fail due to the clearcoat. They were both my own personal baits. I have Never had a bait returned due to a clearcoat failure. That is good enough for me. I had to put my 2 cents in on this thing. You gotta understand that. You gentlemen have fun. I wish you success. Skeeter

Let's see....... we had Etex, Spraying Etex, Moisture Cured Urathane, and now the greatest epoxy there is. If I were you guys I would not delay and make my appointment at the detox center NOW !!! Skeeter

LaPala, This is great stuff. I couldn't really add anything to this because I am just awful at taking pictures. Nothing I have done comes out as well as the picture that you took of my bait. You can bet that I will be trying your suggestions. If my pictures would turn out half as good as the ones that you take I would be more than happy. Skeeter

That sucker just plain looks good to me! Skeeter

I'm planning on it. Skeeter

Tally's spinnerbaits are great. I have a few of them myself. My son grabbed one out of my tackle bag yesterday in the boat and I told him to put it back. There are certain baits that are just for me and that is the way it is. Same for the jigs and crankbaits that I have gotten from him. Tally is a class act. Skeeter

Yes, it can make a difference. Bringing it in close to the nose like they do could make a bait wiggle a little tighter. But this does not mean that the bait will necessarily have a tight wiggle. Skeeter

Really nice lure. I love the paint job..... it is unique. Skeeter

Getting a bait to sit right in the water will not get the bait running correctly. Once you start to crank the bait at different speeds you will see what I mean. You need to figure out the proper weighting for the bait. out2llunge has a good idea as to where to start. Skeeter

sducoach, What is your setup? Do you get that nose sway? I run a Skeeter SX160. It is the second smallest Skeeter made. It is 16'8" and has a stock Yamaha carburated 115 hp. motor. I don't recall the prop size and pitch at this moment but it is the same that they run on the VMax 150. It is the middle of the three sizes that the boat will take. It will run a consistent 56 mph with 2 grown men, 20 gal. of gas and full load of tackle. By myself I can run a consistant 58 mph. On a good day and 10 gal of gas I can hit 60 mph. I can get the boat to chine walk but I never get the nose sway. Maybe it is not fast enough. But for what the boat is ..... it will flat SCAT. It will take rough water pretty well. I have had the boat on Ky Lake, Barkley, Old Hickory, Biloxi Back Bay, and High Rock and have never been worried for my safety. As you said, drive time is the best teacher. My boat rarely chine walks. Only when trying to string it out do I get it. Skeeter

The bait needs to be weighted. What is it made of? If it is balsa try 3/16 oz of lead for a starting place. If it is a hardwood then cut that weight in half for a starting point. With #4 trebles it should do just fine. Skeeter

I think what he is getting fellas is that little bit of sway in the nose of the boat as it is running around top speed. It is not a chine walk as most of us know it. At least I think I am right ..... Is that the problem Fleury9816? Or is it more like a chine walk? If you have enough throttle you can drive through a chine walk. But you can't with the nose sway. If you ask me... anything that will run 60 mph or more is a race boat. I have been in the Allisons and Bullets. But a Ranger hitting 80 mph is just as fast as an Allison hitting 80 mph. That kind of speed is just plain fast. My fastest ride has been 98 mph. I still tense up when I think about that ride. Skeeter

What you are getting into is bow sway. In some of the older faster boats the tip of the bow would look like it was rotating in a very tight circle. I had an older Cajun that did it. I have also had this happen with a 201 Cobra. There is nothing you can do about it. Trimming the engine down a touch will take care of it just like porposing or chine walk. I am sure that you could probably put out some money at the dealership and they could come up with something that might stop the problem at that particular speed. However, once you climb much above that spot it will start to do it again..... just at a different speed. Off of the top of my head I would say that a trim tab adjustment may be the simplest thing to try. It would be inexpensive also. But you will have to do test runs in the boat to test your settings out. Or an engine height adjustment may help. But you could loose a little speed. If it is an engine height adjustment that fixes it, then you could get your speed back with a hydraulic jack plate. But be ready to throw out about 800 to 1000 bones for it. It takes time to learn to use it also. One other thing that I could think of is the nose cone on the lower unit. You could go to a racing lower unit and there would be less resistance on the engine which may fix it. But again would the extra couple of miles an hour be worth the money it would cost. Have you checked with the dealer or with Ranger? From what I understand, Ranger is good at working with its customers on any type of problem. Or you could sell it and buy a Skeeter Skeeter

Beautiful Red....... Thanks for all of your hard work. Skeeter

Personally I do no use primer. What I do is wipe the bait with a rag dipped in polyurethane. All you need to do is wipe it on. It doesn't need to be thick. This will kinda toughen up the balsa and make it easier to handle without denting it. It also seals up the pores in the balsa a little bit to cut down on bubbles caused by trapped air in your white undercoat. You can then use a fine grade of sandpaper to smooth the bait out. Something aroun 320 grit. Just sand it lightly. Then just shoot the white base coat untill you have a good even surface. Then you can just finish up with the rest of the painting that needs to be done. There are different ways to paint and refinish a Shad Rap...... but the lure is made to be extremely light to begin with. Layering a bunch of primer on the bait would just ruin the action. I would use a regular flat white house paint. It sands well and is cheap to use. If you use a water based paint to shoot it with it will work just fine. On the clearcoat I would use an automotive clearcoat. Devcon and Etex will work........ but most folks put devcon on too thick. I like a thick coat myself. It will add weight. Etex for me is too much trouble and time consuming. Since the bait is extremely light to begin with then a high quality automotive clear should work fine. You can spray it through the airbrush and the bait will remain light. It will take about 2 to 3 coats. We all look for tough in a clearcoat. But the Shad Rap is a light bait and when it comes in contact with something the shock to the clearcoat is not that bad. A heavy wood or heavily weighted balsa lure generates quite a shock to the clear when it hits something. The automotive clear will protect this type of bait well enough. It is also very easy to refresh the clearcoat if you need too. Skeeter

The wood is balsa. You can prime and paint the lure. Just make sure that when you clearcoat the lure that it is completely sealed then. If you use a quality clearcoat water will not get to the lure. Skeeter

Try this link. http://tackleunderground.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=5213 This should answer alot of your lip questions. Skeeter

I started painting using water based latex house paint. I shot it through the airbrush with good results. I still use it in some applications. I started buying it in pints from Lowes. It was made by Velspar. I don't think that the brand is dead on important as the quality. What I mean is that any high quality latex house paint will work. You can get it for about 3.00 a pint. That is dead cheap for paint. It thins with water and you can wipe off mistakes before they dry with a damp rag. You have to be patient with it and let it dry between coats, but the colors show up and hold up really well. The other option is Createx. Alot of folks use that. It is water based also. It is an acrylic and dries pretty quick compared to the latex. Both of these paints will clean up well from your airbrush with hot soapy water. They will also wash out of your clothes. There are no real fumes and they definitely aren't harmful. If I can be of any more help, just ask. Skeeter

dragline, There are many folks on this site that paint. I really don't think that many do it the same as the next guy. Have you used and airbrush before? Where do you plan on doing your painting? The reason that I ask is because spraying with lacquers involve solvents and thinners. Not a good thing to do in the house. You cannot erase mistakes with lacquer paint either. Water based paints are safer and easier to clean up. They are much more practical for the novice ( and experienced ) to use. Skeeter

You are right to a point Robby. Some folks just see to make things more complicated than it needs to be. You don't need to be an engineer, but there are things that we all have learned along the way that we still apply to our bait making today. What questions do you have about design. What in the books have they told you that you are having questions about. Let us know. We would be glad to help. The firs thing that I can suggest to you is that you select either a bass or muskie bait and stick to it untill you are happy with the way that it works. Select only one and stick with it. You will learn alot of priciples by doing that. Those same priciples will work with the other styles of baits in one capacity or another. Jumping around to different types of baits only complicates things. Concentrate on making one bait well instead of making several different baits half @$$. Skeeter

Thank you for sharing with me Blackjack. This site is great. I am always learning from folks like you that are willing to share. I will go back and check the post. Skeeter