Skeeter

It was the same with the Scorpion 1000. Like Bob said they sold for about $150.00 but right before they were discontinued they were selling for $234.00. Nothing much has topped the braking system on that reel. That little reel was ahead of its time. Skeeter

Thanks Gene for taking the time to post this. I appreciate it very much. Skeeter

The D5 is one of the most sought after crankbait reels ever. Great reel. Skeeter

I have 3 of them. Two of them were bought in 2003 and one in 2006. Mine are still smooth and work very well. I still throw them all of the time. I just replaced the bearings in 2 of them 2 years ago with Shimano open face bearings. The other one has a pair of ZPI ceramic ABEC 7 bearings in it. I tear them down and completely clean and grease them twice a year. I oil the bearings every month (unless I use them a lot). I hope to get 11 more out of them. If you have any questions about this stuff Jaw, just ask. Skeeter

I just don't know what to say. It is just a damn shame. All I know to do is pray for him and his family. Skeeter

So what are you looking for Jaw? What do you want the setup to do? I would think a spinning rod with 6 to 8 lb test would be good. If you want to throw it with a baitcaster then I would think the 50 Core would do good. I mean if you are really going to thow the light stuff a lot then there are baitcasters that can thow it well. You could probably find a lighter spool for the Core and get some great performance out of it. You can change bearings in the reel or you can do some polishing on the interal parts. Or there are reels that are already to go for the light stuff. The only draw back to all of this is the cost factor. It takes some money to buy or rebuild a reel for finese. I throw the Shad Rap a lot. I have several rods that I throw it with. * 6'9" Kistler Argon crankbait rod * 6'6" Kistler LTA crankbait rod * 6'6" Castaway Med. crankbait rod (this is a 16 yr old rod built with the old GLoomis blank.) It is even telescopic. Reels * Shimano Scorpion 1000 * Shimano Chronarch MG 50 They are both spooled with 10lb Suffix Elite One secret that I can give you is to put a #6 Owner ST-41 treble hook on the belly. It adds weight to the bait and honestly helps the bait cast better. It does not hurt the action of the bait and your hookups will really improve. Do not change the back hook. It will add too much weight to the bait and make it sink. This little change will really help you throw it better. Skeeter

The problem that I see with most of the Japanese lures is with durability. Especially with the paint. They paint beautifully. But after a very short period of time the paint is either worn off, knocked off, or taken off by hook rash. On most of those lures we are only talking a matter of days. I just don't understand why guys continue to buy them. If I sell a bait to a guy and two days later the paint starts comming off then the buyer would just have a fit. But his tackle box is full of $25 baits from Japan that can't even take a week of fishing. I guess the one thing that they are definitely better at than we are is selling. I just saw a Japanese site for a popular large wooden swim bait. They were showing one that belongs to a U.S. pro. The thing had bad deep hook rash scars on it down into the wood. They said that the more the bait gets beat up the better it is. BULL, all that thing is going to do is suck up water which will only change the heck out of the action and cause it to weigh a ton. And if you don't believe me... it will only cost you $400 bucks to find out. lol Skeeter

GillGrabber, Don't sweat it brother..... we know that. Skeeter

If possible, I would get a double action airbrush regardless of what brand you buy. Pushing down on the trigger controls the air flow, pulling back on the trigger controls the amount of paint being shot. It is just the way to go. Skeeter

I have two questions: 1). If you are going to bust the 10 ft. barrier when cranking, what crankbait that you currently own would you use? 2). What would be your choice of rod, reel, and line to throw it? Skeeter

It really does not matter where the lure was made. The bottom line is that this guy took the time to really make a nice bait. Time, skill, and patience are what it takes to really make a bait that is above the rest. The guy is a true craftsman, he makes the entire bait from scratch. My only questions are: Does it catch fish? and How does the bait hold up? Skeeter

Forget all of this water based paint. If I were you I would try shooting finger nail polish. Most of them are nothing but lacquer paint. Lacquers STICK! You can tell by reading the name or ingredients. The rest of them are urethanes. Stay away from anything with glitter in it. Unless the glitter is MICRO size. I like to use a #3 tip in my Paasche VL with glitters. A lot of times glitter can clog a tip. My Iwata doesn't like glitters. Shoot it straight on the blade with no prep. Then get some Sally Hansens Tough As Nails and clearcoat it when you are done. That stuff is straight clear lacquer. It will yellow, but it will take more than three years for it to happen. You will probably loose the spinnerbait by then. You can shoot the tough as nails through the airbrush. Thin everything at 3:1 for starters with acetone or lacquer thinner and shoot it between 25 and 45 PSI. You will have to play with whatever brand you buy to get it down. But the suggestions that I gave are a good place to start. With lacquer you could probably skip the clear coat. But clearcoats really brighten up the colors on the blade. Clean everything up with Acetone. Hope this helps. If you have any questions just ask. Skeeter

Bob, Have you ever considered being a mediator? You missed your calling son. Skeeter

"lacquer+enamel=recipe for disaster" Krylon also makes plenty of enamels. Enamel manufacturers use lacquer thinner, MEK, and acetone to thin enamel paint also. Many times it is a combination of all three in the same can. I have been shooting testors enamel over lacquer for years. No problems here. Chemical thinners (acetone, lacquer thinner, MEK, etc) all evaporate out of the paint as it is curing. Eventually, it evaporates from the mix and the paint is cured. My thought is that Krylon has to have something else in either the paint or the thinners that are used. So may folks have tried to use a white spray bomb to quickly base coat a lure. Krylon seems to be everyones first choice. I guess because it is so easy to obtain. But I am also a firm believer in letting one coat completely cure before adding another. I have seen so many folks take shortcuts because they just want to get it all done. The number one cause of sags is too much paint too fast. However, I have seen water based paint turn saggy or turn soft when Urethane clears are shot on them. But not a high grade lacquer. Again my opinion is: Krylon + anything other than a Krylon product = problems. "There is a solvent in water based stuff...it's called ethylene glycol. It's part of how a water based finish dries." Ethylene glycol is not a solvent. It has many uses. One of them is to keep water based anything from freezing. It is one of the key ingredients in anti-freeze. If water based paint has this stuff in it then I would imagine that is what it is for. Water is the thinner for water based paints. Once the water evaporates then the paint is cured. Hookemup, Do you own an airbrush? Skeeter

fishaholic211 What is it you are wanting to know? I have done a lot of this stuff. Skeeter

I don't know about the Krylon. I have seen a lot of complaints for many years about folks using Krylon anything. The guys in this post know more about MCU than I do. But from what I have read on this site. Krylon + anything other than a Krylon product = problems. Skeeter

Mark brings up one of the best points ever for buying a particular airbrush. * Ease of tearing it down to clean. Iwata makes an excellent gun. I have one myself. But in my opinion, the Paasche VL in the kit is the way to go. I have had mine for 14 yrs. and I still use it a lot. It tears down easily (exactly the same as my Iwata) and comes with the hose, tools, needles, tips, bottles, and cup. You need all of this stuff. If you don't get it all with your purchase you will end up having to buy it anyway. This gun is nothing but a workhorse and it is built very well. Plus most hobby shops carry Paasche parts. They are easy to obtain and cost much less than Iwata parts. There is nothing wrong with saving money. But if you go too cheap you will not be happy. Skeeter

"That's awesome! Get ready for emails with lots of orders!" "Never to fish again as orders will be flooding you now. So sit back and watch the $$ roll in and fishing time stand still." I made the FLW outdoors magazine in Feb. of 2007. I was put in there again with several other guys off of this site in May of 2007. Everyone told me the same thing. All I got was a bunch of inquiries from folks wanting me to make their ideas into a reality and to paint baits for them. One guy offered me a whopping $35.00 to turn his ideas into a prototype lure. Another guy had over 30 Poes 400s he wanted painted. When I gave him a price of $10 per bait he had a fit. If Hughes, Sellers, or Prior was doing the painting it would be $15 - $20 bucks apiece to have them done. But this clown thought $2.50 to $3.00 a bait was fair because he was doing the stripping. I don't believe that many of the other guys made much money as a result of the article either. Few people are willing to pay a fair price for custom work. I congratulate you on making the magazine. It is not an easy thing to do. You do beautiful work. I hope it all turns out well for you. Skeeter

I bought some DBIII magnums back in the 80's and they have the heart on them. You can put the lip angle the same as the originals or you can bring it up about half way. DBIIIs do not have good action with the lip comming straight out. The original Baglys were made with hard balsa. There are different hardness grades of balsa. Call these guys and tell them you would like some hard balsa (http://balsausa.com). They should be able to help you. The original Bagley rattles that were put in these baits were a metal disk. I have never been able to find any of these rattles anywhere.The belly weight in Bagley baits run high up into the bait. If you copy that then put the rattle behind the front hook hanger just above the curve. Otherwise I place my rattles directly above the hook hanger in the center of the bait. Right where the kill dot goes. Hope this helps. Skeeter

If Devcon isn't dry to the touch after 12 hrs. it is never going to be no matter what you do to it. I have had a couple of bad tubes of Devcon in my time, but it is very very rare. More than likely it just wasn't mixed right. Done that too. Skeeter

Hey guys..... need to take the s out of http of the link. http://www.mauryregional.com. Look down the page and you will see the e card option. Sent him one this morning. He and Judy have put up with me at their house several times. They are just beautiful people. Thanks for posting all of this Gene. Skeeter

What will the new crankbait be made of? Is there a way that you can make a prototype of the lure? You really don't have the money to have a company make the lure for you. You are going to have to make it yourself and see if the thing works. My suggestion is that you make the lure out of balsa first. Balsa is very easy to work with. To really make money on a lure either you or someone else is going to have to mass produce them. If the lure is to be made out of plastic, then an injection mold will have to be made. You are looking at a minimum of $3500 to $5500 for a one cavity mold. Those are prices from 10 yrs ago. Injection molds are rated at how many pounds per square inch (PSI) the mold can take as the plastic is being shot into the mold. The molds are made in two pieces and then the mold is strapped with metal bands to hold it together while the plastic is being injected. The higher the PSI rating of the mold.... the more bands it has and the more expensive it is. Plus you will need to find someone to make the mold for you and someone that has the machine to inject the plastic into the mold. Additionally, you will need to determine what type of plastic you are going to use. This can help determine how strong the mold will have to be made. Different types of plastics are injected at different PSI settings. So for starters, get some balsa and make one. You need to test your theories on your new design. NO ONE is going to invest that kind of money into making your bait unless you can show them that it is something special to begin with. At 15, I don't think anyone will believe that you have an engineering degree from MIT. So you have to show them. You need to prove to someone that you know what you are talking about. Sooooo, as we say here on TU......."Time to go play in the sawdust." Skeeter

"By the way, I'm 15, so i don't have access to a great amount of resources or money." So what do you have access to? Skeeter

"I do know I'm missing the O ring on the front." First off, you need to order and replace the part. Next, take your wrench and snuggly tighten the nozzle. Hand tight doesn't always get it. This should fix your problem. Skeeter

I honestly don't know brother. I would think that MCU will stay liquid for some time before it hardens. I would imagine that they just pour and use what they need. For 14 years I have just used Devcon. I am obviously happy with the results. All of this extra stuff and worry with other clearcoats is just too much hassle for me. However, I don't mass produce baits. Skeeter