Skeeter

Way to go Chip!!! Glad to see hard working bait makers getting some press. By all means let us know when it is out there. Skeeter

Excellent !!!!! Be carefull though...... There is no cure for Crankbaititis. Skeeter

I see. I was using acrylic lacquer and then using urathane clear for the clearcoat. The baits looked so beautiful. The clear just couldn't take the rocks and plug knocker without chipping. Thought maybe I was doing something wrong. Thanks. Skeeter

Can any of you guys give me an ordered type list of rod guides? Like are Hardaloy guides better than Aluminum Oxide. What is the top of the line in guides. I hear allot of talk about Cermet guides. Is Fuji the thing? Or does Pac Bay have some good stuff for a better price? Any help anyone could give me would be appreciated. Skeeter

Your pressure is fine. Somewhere between 20 and 24 psi. is about standard. The problem is that you are putting out too much paint. Is your badger a double action airbrush? With Createx you are only going to get 1 or 2 passes with the gun and then you are going to have to let it dry. If you need more coats you will just have to wait. Createx, even though it is sweet that you don't have to thin it is still a thin wet paint. It will blow on you with just a slight build up of paint. You just have to keep at it. Painting takes practice. There are no shortcuts. Just stick with it. You will learn in a short period of time. If you are happy enough with the colors, then stick with the Createx untill you learn how to shoot it. Jumping around to different brands of paints will cause more confusion because settings in pressure and thinning may have to change. You are better off learning one type of paint well before moving on to other types. Skeeter

KC, Are you saying that if I use Urathane Lacquers, that the Urathane clear may hold up better and actually be harder because of this? Skeeter

Choosing A Custom Crankbait So, curiosity has finally taken hold and you have decided to purchase a custom crankbait. But where do you start, what should you look for, and what should you expect to gain from your new purchase? It is not an easy decision, and these are just some of the questions that you should consider. Hopefully, this article will help eliminate some of the guess work out of making the right purchase. I break custom crankbaits into three different categories. page_break 1. Modified Crankbaits - are store bought baits that are modified by changing the lure in some fashion. For example, the lip style or lip angle could be changed, weight could be added or removed, rattles could be installed, or a custom paint scheme could be done to the bait. The normal price for this type of bait is $10.00 to $20.00 2. Handmade Crankbaits - are made from scratch. Raw materials are either machined or fashioned by hand to make the bait. The normal price for this type of bait is $10.00 to $20.00 3. Specific Handmade Crankbaits - are made like the bait described in the second category. The difference is that they are precisely balanced and tuned to do a specific task. You really have to know what you want when ordering crankbaits of this type. Let?s say you want a deep running crankbait that will run 20 ft. deep, has a steep dive angle, and rises slowly that will be used during the summer. This type of crankbait is both labor intensive and time consuming to make. Since the baits are made by hand, each one should be made and tuned individually. A deep running crankbait that is used in the winter will be made completely different than one that is made for the summer. Personally I have spent as much as ten hours to create just one of these baits. When they are done right, they are the most accurate and finest performing crankbaits you will ever own. But, they are also the most expensive. The normal price for this type of bait is $35.00 to $50.00. Where do you start? Begin by searching for your new crankbait on the Internet. This is the quickest and easiest way to gather information and to see what is out there. If the lure maker puts information on his site about how the bait is made and the materials he uses in construction, then all the better. Check with friends and other anglers that have bought custom crankbaits to get their inputs. But best of all, bum one from a buddy and give it a few casts. What should you look for? Personally, the first thing that I look for is a straight body. I want the body to be well proportioned. Crooked crankbait bodies will never achieve optimum performance. In particular, round crankbait bodies are hardest to get straight when they are made. The center of the tail should line up in a straight line with the nose of the bait. The sides should be of equal distance from the center line of the bait. The tail should start to taper at the same place on both sides of the bait. Check the lip. If the lip is not straight in the slot and not lined up with the body or the lip is not straight across the face of the lure then your lure will never obtain maximum performance. Flip the bait upside down and see if the back hook hanger, the belly hook hanger, and the wire for the line tie are in a straight line. Not always will it be perfect, but to me it is a sign that the bait maker takes his time and really cares about attention to detail in his work. Like I have told people in the past.... ?You wouldn?t shoot an archery tournament with crooked arrows, so why would you try to hit a stump or a rock pile repeatedly in 10 to 20 ft. of water with crooked crankbaits?? Attention to details adds up to maximum performance of the crankbait. This is why you are shopping for a custom crankbait to begin with. You are probably tired of putting out your hard earned money for garbage that doesn?t perform. A well made crankbait should run true, float, and throw well even in the wind. Sadly, buying a custom crankbait is not always a guarantee that you will get what you pay for. In the beginning of my crankbait searches, I bought custom crankbaits from several different bait makers. Some of them fell apart. Others, the lip either pulled out or was installed crooked. Most of all, many of the bodies were still not straight. When this happened I called the bait maker and told him of the problem. For the money that I paid for them, I wanted them right. I thought that they would offer to either fix the problem with the current bait or replace it. To my dismay, none of them would correct the problem. Before you buy from someone, make sure they will stand by their work. But also keep in mind that some people will take advantage of others. That bait maker probably took a long time and put in allot of work making that bait. If you throw the bait 70 mph. into a rock and tear it up don?t be calling and complaining to the guy that the bait doesn?t hold up. A good bait maker can usually tell what happened to the bait anyway. Check the bait out before you fish it. If you see something you don?t like, then call the bait maker and tell him your concerns. Just like dealing with any other business, if you are being reasonable, then he should stand behind his work. If a lip pulls out then you are just up a creek without a paddle. That is just a hard thing to prove since the fish is probably still swimming around with the bait in his face. But the bottom line here is that the bait maker does not have to guarantee anything. In closing, let me remind you of one last thing. Just because you buy that custom crankbait doesn?t guarantee you success. No matter how much you paid for it or how perfect the bait is made, you as an angler must be proficient in the skills that it takes to find and catch the fish. Owning a well made crankbait will make that job easier and hopefully more enjoyable. Skeeter

There are clearcoats that you can spray, but they are not that tough either. If you get a bait that starts to loose its clearcoat, they you could try either urathane clear or a product called dura cryl. The urathane clear will spray through the airbrush just fine. It is crystal clear and very light. BlackJack has mentioned dura cryl. It sounds like it is similar. The only problem with this stuff is that if you fish were there is alot of rock or have to go to the plug knocker often the finish will chip. But it is easy enough to spray another coat on if this happens. You won't have to strip off the previous coat to respray. Scratches and divots will dissappear with a coat or two over them. Skeeter

The fastest way to increase action of a lure is to increase the angle of the lip. If the lip has a 5 degree drop from the center line of the lure, then try 10 degrees. You will not loose much in the line of depth the lure will obtain, but it will take longer for the lure to obtain its maximum depth. Keep droping the lip in 5 deg. intervals untill you get the action that you want. The other way would be to widen the current lip. Most Rapalas have a narrow lip. You could try a lip from a Poes 300 and see if that will do it for you. Skeeter

That's a real fine looking lure Vy. You do good work. Skeeter

Any action can be put back into a bait with lip design. Since you have changed the bait pretty radically you may have to change the design or the placement of the lip to get the action back. Skeeter

Congrats Chip. I just love it when one of the guys on the site wins one of these things. Skeeter

This is really great !!! Red, I really want to thank you for putting a rush on this for us. I am really interested in this whole thing. My dad ordered the original plans for the old machine, but he lost them and I never got to see them. I am really going to do some study on this concept. However, I am really mentally challanged when it comes to this type of thing. I just don't have the insight you guys have. Guess it's time to start. Thanks again. Skeeter

The best way to remove Devcon is with Acetone. That is the best shot that you have. Chip, I'm an old hippy....... PEACE !! Skeeter

This is getting easier all of the time. Skeeter

Excellent job. You do good work. Skeeter

Oh yeah baby.... the E side. Don't worry Jed, you'll love the stuff like Chip said. I'm sure that there are enough guys on the site that can give you more steps to take care of all of the problems that you are having. As you can tell by Chips picture...... Fish prefer Etex baits 2 to 1 over Devcon. I might be able to help you with the bubble problem. In one of Chips posts he had a picture of himself using a propane torch to help get rid of the bubbles. In the post he explains how he does it. As far as doing allot of baits and Devcon being too slow, you could just use the Etex and buy about 10 of those torches and cook 10 of them at a time. Then you could build an oven and broil those puppies so that they could dry faster. Sounds easy enough to me. That would surely help you get them done in quantity. Just hang in there and keep at it. Someday it will work. Skeeter

To all of the glue sniffing, paint huffing, meth making @$$holes out there, all I have to say is thanks allot !! You have made another thing difficult for society. Not that you are the first to abuse stuff and make things difficult for others, but you should be the last. Since it is apparent that you have too little brain cells to begin with, I would not make things worse by snorting toxic chemicals. Since it appears that it is allot of the youth (AKA Minors) doing this, all I have to say is that you better protect that brain. You are going to need and use it for a long time to come. If I have to show my ID to protect you from yourself then so be it. It is just ashame that you are your worst enemy. Skeeter

Regardless of the type of clearcoat used, hook rash will occur. Skeeter

Benton, The wrist is doing well. I get this (@$& cast off on the 28th. The only problem is that my arm looks like a tooth pick. Got alot of ball squeezing to do to get it back to size. Not being able to work on my baits has just killed me. I'm behind on everything. The wrist is stiff but getting back to sanding will loosen it up. Skeeter

Chip, I had that type of failure once too with Devcon. I did a post on the problem and the cause. My thought is that somewhere you missed a spot when covering the bait with the Devcon. If I am not mistaken you guys pour the Etex over the bait. This probably ensures a complete coverage over your painted surface rather than brushing it on like I do with Devcon. Once water gets to the wood and the lure starts to swell, the cracks and finish failures will happen. Skeeter

Sam, You do need to check the labels on Acrylic paints. They also make acrylic lacquers. Skeeter

I can hardly wait. I just gotta see this one. It will probably work totally different than what I am thinking. Skeeter

Boys, Boys, Boys, This is a very serious subject. We wouldn't want to steer the new crankbait makers on this site in the wrong direction. As everyone can see.... Richoc and Chip are constantly talking of "The Dark Side" That should be hint enough. Tally, Get that Choirboy look off of your face...... some of us know better. Richoc, Sure, I would love to try your jigs. I use them allot in the fall. Do you think they would be dry by then? Skeeter

Tally, Believe it or not, short lips are a different ball game. Last summer I did alot of experimentation. I learned so much. No, the bait does not have to be small to use a short lip. Also, the width of the lip does not effect the action that much. The main thing in short lips is how far down the front of the bait from the nose the slot is cut and the angle of the slot itself. This will control the wobble and the dive angle. The other real important thing is where the line tie exits. You can take the large crank that you made and put a short lip in it with no problem. If you have any questions, you know how to reach me. Skeeter