Skeeter

If you are pleased with the action of the bait then tail weighting the lure is the worst possible thing that you can do. I don’t care who it is that tells you this, it is the wrong way to go. I have sent you a private message on how to fix the problem. Skeeter

What a healthy and good looking young man. Way to go stud. My congratulations to you and the wife. Skeeter

You are right that this is a fair forum. We are fortunate to have the class of members that we do. As far as Tony goes, it was never proven to the public that he did anything wrong. Rumors and smack are always thrown around in any controversy. If they have cleared him to fish, then I hope that he does. True friendship should always be protected. The decission is yours. Personally, I think Tony is lucky to have you as a friend. Untill they prove without a doubt that an infraction was commited then in my opinion they should shut the %*&(^ up and let him fish. Skeeter

Mallard, I'm glad that something I had to say actually helped someone. It is what we are here for. I hope everything is a success. Oh, by the way....... Anyone can controll the action of either a flat or a rounded lure with the lip. I promise that I can get either a round or a flat lure deeper than any bait found on the market. I can make either one move any way that you like. Wide or tight, allot of roll or a little bit of roll, it doesn't matter. It is all in the design and angle of the lip and the placement of the tie. Skeeter

Coley, Here is the post that I am basing this on. http://www.tackleunderground.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=3212&highlight= Dean, Sorry to hear about the guide business. You were able to do what most of us would just love to do. How can you be certain that they did not lie about their brand of golf balls? Heck all they have is their name on them. If it isn't that I am sure it is something else. Skeeter

Jed, You are not the Lone Ranger. I had the same thing happen to a balsa bait. I think I put a post on here called Devcon Failure about it. It was not because of a drilled hole, it was because of a small pin hole that formed where the lip joins the body. I did not catch it and water got to the bait. The wood swelled ant the clearcoat cracked. It doesn't matter whether you use hardwood or balsa or what ever, water getting to the wood will swell the wood and crack the clearcoat or destroy the paint in some fashion. Whether it does it sooner or later doesn't matter. The bottom line is that something failed. It was really hard on me because I had never had any of my baits fail due to workmanship before that bait. I just had to suck it up and fix it. You do good work. I'm glad that the problem was found. And I will bet that it won't happen again either. Will it? Skeeter

I both agree and disagree with you Dean. On one hand Tak came over here to a strange country, busted his chops, and won the Classic. He didn't speak the language and still came over to compete against the worlds best. He had no other job than to fish. Honestly, I would talk some smack to get endorsements. Even if I was not in his position, money pays the bills. Most of the guys that fish the circuits full time are only bringing in around 25 to 40 grand a year. I truely believe it is like Tally said, "It is all about the money." It is that way for most of us in our jobs too. Even though I don't like it, I do not fault Tak. I fault the tournament system on both the FLW and BASS trails. This is partially why Tim is not getting his recognition. On the FLW trail, contestants cannot wear the patch or advertise anything that is not a sponsor of the FLW on the final days of a tournament. We learn about the other things that were used from independent sites. But really not on the official tour sites. BASS is more forgiving on this but it is just a matter of time. H&T does not pay FLW a wad of money to sponsor the trail. Therefore their name and product does not get mentioned on T.V. at the weighin. I agree that the sport is starting to get some mud on its face from the induction of big money comming into the tournaments. But that has happened with every sport that big money touches. Tell me there have not been any money and/or sponsorship scandals in football, basketball, or hockey. Jeff Coble, a fisherman from N.C. won the last Redman All American and then won the BFL All American the next year back to back. He voiced his opinions about the direction the sport was headed. It falls along the lines that we are expressing here. His thought is that there should be a governing committee that controls the sport. It should be the final word over all tournament trails regardless of status. (i.e. professional or amatuer). Jeff voiced his opinion on the regulations of wearing sponsor patches in the finals of the last Redman. He wanted to wear a Duke hat and Operation Bass said no. He wore it anyway. Operation Bass gave him an admonishment. Even though he got into the next BFL All American and won it, he has since been banned from fishing any more FLW tournaments because he didn't shut up and continued to voice his opinion. And lets not forget the run in that Rick Clunn also had over the same thing with Irwin Jacobs. What do you guys think? Skeeter

Good points Red. I am sure that H&T have more work than they care for. Quality and tallent is what makes great crankbaits. One of the folks that taught me some of the finer points of crankbait making told me that "you cannot get rich making great crankbaits." You can either make great crankbaits or you can make allot of money..... but you can't do both if you make them by hand. They are just too labor intensive. Greed has killed allot of great crankbait makers. I don't think that we will have to worry about H&T falling into that category. And you are right.... I won't ever fall into it either. I hope that H&T get all of the business that they want. I love to see good things happen to good people. Skeeter

Your beard will hit your knees first. Bow-Wow.............. Skeeter

I will have to agree with Chip. Either you missed a spot while clearcoating or he knocked a hole in it somewhere. Water got under the clearcoat. Oh yeah, Chip....... He uses three coats because it is E-tex. Skeeter

Beautiful baits Chip. Your becomming quite a painter. Excellent job on the color schemes. Skeeter

Man, we have some fine tallent on this site!!! I love the Cream Shad myself. Beautiful work. Skeeter

AHHH! Finally some fire on this site. You guys were really falling asleep on me. I believe cullin8s and Tally, as well as the rest of you, all have some good points. Fishing competition for a living (especially at that level) is a dog eat dog deal. Sure there are clicks of fishermen that share with each other, but when you get down to it, only those that win or place high go to the bank with a smile. If Tak paid out right for the bait, then in my opinion, he owes nobody nothing. However, I do not agree in saying the bait is something that it is not. To be honest I never thought of the idea of saying it was a Bagley in order to obtain sponsorship. (Interesting thought) If Tak wants to keep the bait a secret then he should just shut up about the brand. But as Tally says... its all about the money. I can understand that. Most fishermen want Mo Money. I have always said that if your lively hood depended on catching fish, you would keep some secrets too. I know that I would. I would love to see H&T get credit for their work. It is only right. Those darn baits have won more money than any other crankbait that I know of. H&T have it right. We are taught as children that if you work hard and do right then success will come. Tim and Jeff work hard to produce those baits. I know because I build them too. I just hurts me inside when someone works so hard at their trade and does not get the credit they deserve. But for those of you that have read enough of my posts know that I have always said, "don't believe everything that you read". I just hope the sport does not become a real mess. But it always seems that the more money that is pumped into something the more of a mess it becomes. Skeeter

Ok. According to the site here, Takahiro used a Tim Hughes/Jeff Thompson (H&T) crankbait to help him win the Classic. However, the bait being talked about in all of the magazine articles and websites is a Bagley BBII. Do you think that Takahiro has an obligation to say the correct bait that he used? What is your opinion and why? Skeeter

As usual Coley has it right. Skeeter

I have been out of the loop on this post fellas. Could you please explain to me what this psudo lip is? I just love playing with different weights and lips. But I can't figure out what you are talking about with this concept. Skeeter

If you don't have a jig to hold your work then use a rubber based grout trowl. You can get them at Lowes for less than $10. It is the safest way to hold a small piece. Start your cuts in the top of the rounds of the back and belly. Otherwise you stand a greater chance of the piece kicking out or gouging. Skeeter

Your thinking is good. Let us know how it turns out. Skeeter

Mitcheal, For the small time guy there is no shotcut to rounding the edges other than sanding or routing. That is why making crankbaits is so labor intensive which is also why good ones are so expensive. You are right about routers being a dangerous way to go. But if you have some engineer in you and can design jigs to hold your work then it can be done safely. Gang cutting crankbaits has been done, but cutting crankbaits in this manner allows for a fair ammount of waste. Skeeter

I think that it will work. Since the line tie is in the nose then the bait may have a sweet spot as far as retrieve speed is concerned. My thought that if cranked too fast the bait may try to lay on one side or the other. It may not. If it does and you want to get rid of the problem, then move the line tie out on the lip about 1/4 inch and try again. Skeeter

John, Usually the wire is put in with epoxy. This will seal the hole. I cut my baits in half and epoxy the two halves back together with the wire harness inside. No water will get into the inside of the lure through the hole. Skeeter

A laser cannot round the edges of a bait. It can only cut flat surfaces. I am sure there are exceptions in industry, but most businesses have standard engraving lasers. The price I got was 40 cents per body and per lip. Contact a laser engraver. They will give you a price. They pay allot for those machines and are usually happy to keep them busy earning money. Skeeter

I think Timothy Leary taught FF how to make baits. What an imagination!! Beautiful work. I could never have that much patience. Skeeter

It's a beauty. Skeeter

Lincoya, Those knives are Beautiful !! How do you fix the blade in the handle? I know that Mylures did a post I believe on this board about how to sharpen knife blades, but how do you keep yours sharp? Are the blades carbon? Skeeter