Skeeter

Acrylic will work well enough in warm water. However, when it gets cold and runs into a rock it will crack. Polycarbonate is the way to go. Nathan has it right. 1/6 th inch. or .060 for the thickness. Circuit board will work but I personally don't like the looks of it. Skeeter

Most of your clears in a spray can are lacquers. You can use clear lacquers but they will not hold up. MCU is a good suggestion, but, it takes a long time to fully cure. I sprayed a bait with a popular MCU that is used by many here on the site. It felt good and hard after 24 hrs. However, I was able to scratch the bait with my thumb nail for over 3 weeks. It took that long for it to fully cure. Since you are in South Africa you might be able to obtain a product called Alpha Cryl. It is made by BASF. It is a clear that comes in a gallon can. It would cost you between $80.00 and $100.00 US dollars. It has been banned in the US for about 13 years now because it contains lead. You can just dip your lure straight into the can and let it hang and dry. Strings will develop off of the tail as it drys. Just snip them off and take a little alpha cryl on a brush and paint over it. That will get rid of it. It was used by many bait makers here in the US. Good Luck Skeeter

That is a huge part of it. However, there are crankbaits that catch more fish than others. We all have had a bait that just seems to catch them better. These are the baits that are just made right and the baits that you should study. I am a student of deep water cranking. It is the most difficult fishing technique that I have ever done. Lord only knows how many casts I have made with a deep running crankbait. Over all of the years I have learned the "feel" of a crankbait that will work better than others. Fritts made the comment once that he can make a few casts with a crankbait and tell if it will catch fish or not. I can do this too. However, I also know the feel of a bait that will be "special". It is a feel that you aquire through years of cranking. You just know that it is not a case of if the lure will get bit........ but when. Skeeter

We will get more into the actual crankbaits later. What I am about to give some of you is a real dose of truth. It is not the glamorous picture that the press paints for us. I have lived here in Lexington for 17 years. Some of the best crankbait fishermen in the world live within a 50 mile radius of my home. And trust me, there are plenty of them that you have never heard of. But, we can start with the ones mentioned above. To begin with, you have to realize that these guys are pure "fishing machines". I have watched them fish. They rarely show up at the lake with a $70,000 Ranger in tow. They practice out of aluminum or old boats. They do not want to be recognized. They will plant brush piles for tournaments and then when it is over they will go back and drag them off of the spot. They have a tremendous amount of contacts that they can call to help them find the fish. Some spend time with crappie fishermen so that they can learn where other brush piles are. Plus, they spend a lot of time on the water. Their day is a run and gun method when it is time to crankbait. They run to a spot, fish it quickly and thoroughly and then the pull up the trolling motor and move to the next one keeping notes on each spot. They will do this at a grueling pace 6 days a week 8-12 hrs a day. In large tournaments that go to other lakes, they will travel together taking their own boats. They practice individually so that they can cover much more water that way. Then at dinner it is time to share what they have learned. Everyone here on this site can fish many of the same baits that they do. Most of you probably own some already. Bomber 6 and 7 A’s, Fat free Shads, small Rebels, Shad Raps, Rapala DT’s, and Bagleys of all kinds. These are just some of the store bought baits that you can study for their action. Next are the the custom crankbaits. The deep baits that have been altered and have been custom weighted (loaded). These seem to be the ones that everyone wants to know about. Baits are loaded for two reasons only….. to get to the maximum depth of the lure as quickly as possible and to control the speed that a lure will rise when stopped. I watched Fritts fish ledges during a FLW championship on lake Murray years ago. He did not make 100 yard casts trying get the lure down to the stumps lining the channel ledge. He did not try to cover as much of the ledge as possible on one cast. He made concise casts with a lure that will dive quicker to cover the area. This keeps him from having to throw his shoulders out of the socket trying to make super long casts every time. A properly loaded crankbait is much more comfortable and efficient to fish. Skeeter

"But in the back of my mind, I still wonder how they compare to the ones that the crank bait masters such as Fritz, Wright, or Beck would like to fish." What would you like to know about their baits? Skeeter

I have never seen a clear coat of any kind that is rash proof. I use hook protectors on every crankbait in my box for that reason. Skeeter

Take a piece of balsa and cut it to the correct thickness that you will need (you will have to experiment). Then glue the two pieces of hardwood on each side and shape your lure. Or if you need more bouancy, glue a piece of balsa on each side of the hardwood and shape it. You will end up with either a balsa core or a hardwood core. This was Coley's idea. Guess he wouldn't mind me sharing it. Anything he came up with worked. Skeeter

I don't use auto clear anymore except on baits that have sharp edges or where weight matters. I can't share what I use because someone told me what to buy and I told him that I would never let his secret out. (And I won't). The stuff is real high dollar. However, in my opinion, there is not one auto clear that is tough enough for crankbaits. Auto clear, regardless of how many coats that you shoot,will never be durable enough for crankbaits. BobP is correct, auto clears contain isocanates which is known to cause cancer and all kinds of resperatory issues for some. To my knowledge, there is no filter on the market that can catch it and stop you from inhaling it. Skeeter

Both water based and solvent. It is good paint. www.taxidermy.com Skeeter

Wow.... Sorry Rowhunter. I guess your idea worked better than you thought. Maybe I need to have a discussion with Gentleman Jack before I get on here after working all day. I promise to stop by the store and get some tommorrow before I sign on. Well, gotta go fellas. Some guy in a white coat is standing here telling me it is time for my pill. Good post. Skeeter

"Hi I'm new to the site and I would like to start my own Custom Tackle company. I plan on buying cheap Chinese knock-off baits and putting my own paint job on them. Where can I buy the cheapest baits? ( higher profit margin )" Finally someone that understands what we stand for on this site. Yep, sell some un-suspecting sucker some cheap crap and load your pockets in the process. Guys like you are a real credit to the craft. Your customers should be very happy. I am sure that you will do well. Don't be shy guys.... jump in and answer his questions. I am sure that his work will boost the reputation of the craft that we love so much. Skeeter

I started making my own baits because I was tired of spending my money on commercial and so called "custom" garbage. Except for a few small shallow crankbaits, I throw my own baits or baits that I have re-done (Poes and Bagley) exclusively. They just plain work. Nothing in my bag is stock. So for me, it is not a hard thing to do. A really good plug knocker also helps me hang on to the lures that I make. Skeeter

Usually if you paint any color pearl over another pearl it will fade quickly. I.E. Painting blue pearl over white pearl. Skeeter

This may help.... http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/24488-how-to-apply-devcon/ Skeeter

I am not a lawyer, but I don't see why not. Let's say you buy a plain shotgun. Then you add a scope and a sling and then sell it from your web site. I don't see that is any different than selling it through an auction site. Skeeter

Congratulations on your baits. Glad you got them running the way that you want. The number one thing to a good paint job is preparation of the lure. You stated that They've all got a rough looking base of opaque white right now. I don't really understand what you mean by rough. All of the baits that I paint get a coat or two of polyurethane before I paint them. With balsa I find that after I coat them and sand them with fine grit sand paper they will usually come out pretty smooth. After they are sanded then I take a damp cloth and wipe off any paint dust that is left behind. Once you reach that point you can shoot your white base coat. Nothing should be rough anywhere. If it is...... touch sand the lure and shoot another coat of white. Once you have reached this point it is just a matter of picking your colors and laying them down. I would get a bait in the color that you are wanting and studying how they lay the colors down. You just have to experiment with colors until you get it like you want. Take the lure to the paint store with you and try to match it. There are no real shortcuts. Unfortunately, you have to go through the same experimentation with your paint that you did when you made the bodies themselves. You use the words light and faded. Personally, I don't know how that can be achieved to your satisfaction using a single action gun. You just can't control your air and/or paint flow with a single action gun. But, maybe you will find a way. Painting is a skill just like figuring out the right weight to use in your baits. It all takes time and patience. You have to develope a "touch" when you paint. Paints are finiky too. White pearl in one brand or type of paint may not look like white pearl in another. You just have to experiment. Good luck. Skeeter

The bagleys I have are balsa and possibly cedar? Either way they are all covered in the same white shell. Bagleys are made of balsa. I know that the older ones were made out of hard balsa. Balsa does come in grades. Older Bagleys were sealed with clear lacquer paint. Then they were dipped in a thick white lacquer paint (So were the Poes). This was done to cover any inperfections in the bodies and cover any raising of the grain (Bagleys rarely had any....Poes had a lot). Skeeter

"Making a living" is a shaky statement. How much money do you need to "make a living?" In my opinion you can make a living making lures. The higher the amount that you expect is relative to the amount of money, dedication, and work you are going to have to put out. There are already people and companies making money doing this. So it is a no brainer that it can be accomplished. The number one thing that you need is drive and determination. Then, you will need to use your brain to design your product. Next you will need some MONEY. There are so many participants on this site that make statements like; "I don't have much money", "need something cheap", and "too much work" that I feel that you can count them out of being any competition to you. Very few people have built a successful business on nothing. To me…. this is a no brainer too. Next, you will need a great product. Those that started on Tacklemaking.com and moved over here 15 years ago did so because they were tired of buying crap. They were tired of putting out hard earned money for garbage. The base for all of the stuff on this site came from the dedication and hard work from those individuals (especially the work of Red Gator that started this site to begin with.) The work that they did was so original and innovative that big bait companies came here to get information on test results and how it was accomplished. A lot of truly wonderful and innovative work was lost here due to sever crashes. SO DON’T MAKE A BUNCH OF CRAP AND SELL IT!! You may make money in the short run, but once your name is trashed by turning out crap you won’t be selling for long. Your name and reputation is everything, so protect it! All of this tax stuff is pointless. If you are trying to make enough money to make a living you will have to make yourself a legitimate business. Why, because by doing that you get huge discounts and tax breaks on buying material to make your product. If you pay full retail price on material to make your product you stand to loose huge amounts of profit. Plus, you could be caught by “The Man”. We all have an idea what could happen to us now if we don’t pay taxes on the money that we make at our current job. Same thing applies here. Once you make yourself a legitimate business you will need to keep detailed and accurate records of where your money is spent and how much profit you make. Take this information to a tax preparer and let them worry about it. Most of us do this now and the cost is a little more because more than likely you will file quarterly. However, as in everything, the more you know the better off you are. If you truly believe that those that are successful at doing this are going to just lay it all out here on the site for everyone to follow, you are mistaken. You will be their competition. Most businesses of any kind don't want to help their competition. That would not be very smart to their bottom line. So if you are one of the few that have the drive and determination to make it happen, get to it. Time to roll up the sleeves and get busy. You will learn as you go. I wish you the best. Skeeter

Oil based anything is not good. Oil messes with too many things. Plus it is hard to clean up. If your clearcoat is put on properly then polyurethane works just fine. Skeeter

In my opinion.... nothing beats epoxy. There is no need to waste your money on anything else. Skeeter

Gino, Auto clear is only good for coating a plastic bait for someone. It is not tough or durable. I will only use it on baits with sharp edges (because epoxy cracks on sharp edges) or any bait where weight of the clearcoat is concerned (such as weighted jerkbaits). That is the only thing it is good for period. You can get flex additives so that it can bend like it does on fiberglass car bumpers. But it always feels rubbery to me. And personally, that just drives me nuts. You also have to use many coats to build it up to be tough enought. My thought is 3-5 coats. I use a car clear that a was suggested to me by someone that did a ton of painting for pros. (No not Hughesy). He shot 3 coats on his with no flex additive. The baits look great, but the durability is in the dirt. The stuff is real expensive. By the time I got a quart of clear, hardener, and reducer; I had spent around $124. However, you can clear a lot of baits with a quart. To me brother, it is just not worth it. The best clear to use for clairity and durability is epoxy. Skeeter

Signed up today Curt. Looking forward to it. Skeeter (aka SkeeterZX)

Heated some today with a hair dryer. It appears bass100 is correct. Haven't coated a bait with it yet, but the crystalization dissapeared after heating it. Skeeter

Just did some experiments and it appears that bass100 is right. I took a hair dryer to two tubes of devcon and they cleared right up. One tube did just fine, both sides stayed clear. With the second syringe, the opposite side of the syringe (the one that did not have the crystalizaion) started to get a light yellow tint to it. But I don't see any problem with it. The time that bass100 stated (4.5 min) is dead on also. That is exactly how much time it took for the syringe to clear. It was like watching ice melt in a glass of water. Once I started seeing the crystalization decrease I took the hair dryer away from it. I thought that after the tube got warm the crystalization would continue to dissapate. But it did not. You have to keep the heat going to it. Heating the devcon really turns it into the consistancy of water. You have to leave the tube upside down until it cools down. So once everything back in the tube is back to the right consistancy I am going to try and clearcoat a bait. Let's hope it all works. Keep your fingers crossed. In all of the years I have been using devcon I have never seen this happen. Seems weird to me. bass100..... thanks for doing the work for us. Bravo! Skeeter

Very well..... hope everyone enjoys using it. Skeeter