Senkosam

The senseless restriction of consumer tastes cause some people to get locked into believing paying more for a product means better quality. In the case of the Senko, how many tournaments are won with Senkos - FLW, CITGO, ABA, BASS opens, etc.? Either the winning contestants are keeping secrets or the lures mentioned in the media are anything but Senkos. I myself like to alternate with Del's 5" T-Stick and a 14 cent stick made by Alluring Baits. My friend has caught over 8 bass on the latter and I'm sure I've caught more. But the minute you post on well visited fishing sites that you have cheaper alternatives to the Senko, the diehards come out of the woodwork (some of which are supplied bags of Senkos) to shoot down anti-Senko anglers. The moderators of one site even locked a post down regarding an Alluring Ika k/o's because it competed with the Yammie sponsorship of that site. If the Senko goes much higher, alternatives like Yum Dinger and handpoured baits will blow away their profit margin and take away customers.

King, those metal cups look like stainless steel, shaker containters for mixing drinks or the aluminum drinking glasses my mom used to own.

Other than the popsicle stick preform, I made a Shadalicious swimbait in a 2 part POP mold and since it was a solid bait (with great action I might say! and that has caught 5 bass), it wasn't hollow. So, I poured the bait and placed a large nail down the center, let cool and removed the nail. I'm assuming the cavity is supposed to trap air and allow more body flex, but the difference in action is negligible, so now I'm forming a thin wood blade from a popsicle stick (coated of course with Valspar) and using that to insert down into the hot plastic. No need to put it all the way down through the tail since the tail (1/4" from the back end) is solid anyway. The excess that come out the top is thrown back into the pyrex cup. Two part molds are so easy to use for this bait and the tail comes out perfect everytime!

Nice fish! The nicest thing about handpouring is that we can make or buy molds of most designs, including our own prototypes and modifying existing designs. I will never buy a Senko or if given a bag as a gift, will return them for store credit! I'd rather catch 5 bass or cast 30 times per stick vs. catching 1 bass or making 10 casts before losing the bait.

Agree totally!! You can't be M-F's or Dels mo or irridescent chartreuse. If you want a bait more greenish, add LC green; more red, add some LC red translucent dye. The color preference is between STP and Quaker State.

Ground salt (uniodized) creates a milky appearence in a bait. Too little and the lures weighs the same; too much and the lure get too hard requiring added softener. The nice thing about floured salt and fine salt (the kind you buy from the market for 69 cents a lb.) is that the crystals stay suspended whereas regular table salt settles fast, even between pours unless stirred. Fine salt (not floured) allows an almost translucent appearence and glitter show through. You can see the salt which looks like melting ice in the plastic. I've also found that if you also use fine salt, regular salt stays suspended better and I like regular salt for the grainy feel (ie Senko) and the weight. For drop shot worms, c-rig. t-rig baits and jig trailers, why would anyone want to weigh down their baits with salt? Ditto for frogs, flukes and jerk baits. A little salt is a good thing for the last three, but IMO counter the float action for the other lures. IMO sticks always need salt - how much depends on how the stick is used.

Your design gives me an idea. How about rigging a one blade blender (like the one used for cake batter) over top of the pot? It has multiple speeds and 4 blades joined at the center. I have a small rechargeble one that I only use to whip mashed potatoes and can make the sacrifice. LOL Salt and flake settling are the biggest PITN (you know - pain in the neck ...) associated with pots and it's one of the reason I sold mine. (Wil be getting a Presto soon for better thermal control.)

Elmer's Glue might work as a coating. Tongue depressors would have a larger depth for wider baits and you could us that size blade to make the paddle and attach it with epoxy. A small sander or Dremel would shape it easily.

Seems like a popsicle stick coated with epoxy would work for slim swimbaits - good shape and easy to attach a Colorado blade.

A friend of mine has and he says it works great!

I pay about 10 bucks for 25 lbs at Home Depot (use to be 7.50) If the bubbles are very small, the sealant will take care of them. Getting the big bubbles out is crucial and the only way I've found to do that is to add enough water to keep the plaster thin enough and then push the plaster to the sides of the container after knocking it on the table. Durhams to me sets up in almost the same time, but has a finer grain and texture than POP. I like it for fine details when needed. Nothing is as good as metal, but Durhams does a good job. Regardless of the media, coating with a good gloss sealer makes up for texture roughness. In my experience, two part molds won't chip or crack if the water to plaster ratio is correct and the parts are at least 6/8 to 3/4" thick and cured completely. (I know some use heat and if I'm not in a hurry, I'll place the mold parts on my truck's black dashboard to cure faster.) The mixture is not chemistry and after a while, you get a feel for plaster consistentcy and time to work with it.

Does anyone else heat their plastic to 400? I thought 325 was hot!

400 - as in degrees?! Wood is not the best stir material IMO(bubbles). I use a steel butter knife. I'm selling my Lee's for 30 bucks on E-Bay. Too much hassle.

Look at the colors you normally use and duplicate them. For example, if you like Zoom color #54 - watermelon, green and black flake, note the size of the glitter in the lure. #54 uses .040 and .015 black flake and .025 red flake. Super color and a big seller. Few soft plastics I've used have no flakes or color so here are a few ideas; dye/flake colors: green pumpkin/ .040 black flake chartreuse (irridecsent/ .040 and .015 black flake pearl (already mixed from M-F) with .015 sugar flakes (also for laminates/shad color) watermelon with any of the following in any combo: black, red, gold, bright violet, lime or kelly green black smoke with any bright flakes in .015 motor oil (irridescent)/ gold and black flake hot pink (bubblegum) methiolate (florescent) (no flakes) sugar .015 flakes and fine salt in clear orange pumpkin for flash tails and laminates (IE with watermelon) rootbeer/ kelly green, gold and black flakes in any combo white / sugar flakes in clear (.015 silver or gold optional) Again, looking at baits in the store and making notes as to depth of color, flake size and color combos is the best place for ideas. Yamamoto's site color chart is also a good start. This site has a cook book of colors and pictures in the gallery. M-F and LC have the largest selection of dye colors and a little goes a long way.

Are you using fine or floured salt? The only way to get consistent mix of salt throughout the plastic is to use a mixer in the pot (Lee's) if you're using large grain salt which sinks as fast as sand. Floured salt makes a bait a bit more opaque, but many brighter colors do as well with less translucence. Bedside, floured salt creates the most natural white there is for laminate shads.

Nova, I don't know if it will be a problem as long as the hot plastic flows around it on either side when laid across the cavity.

I like the dryer sheet idea - unscented of course. LOL Double up with two narrow layers across the cavities before closing the mold.

Many tackle crafters on this site sell Senko k/o's that are as good if not superior to the Senko and all are far cheaper and last longer. Other big companies (Yum, Alluring Baits, Niffken.com etc.) sell excellent k/o's (the last one selling in bulk). I will never buy another 70 cent stick that comes off after one fish!

Have to agree with Jim. Light (to me meaning florescent or light pearl) and dark (black, green pumpkin or other opaque plastic) usually are the only colors needed. I never match the hatch and let the fish tell me which color is hit more often. I came in second this last Sunday using a super bright, florescent methiolate colored stick under dark skies, in calm water and in thick shallow weeds. My partner came in 5th using a short 4" pearl T-stick I poured. Pumpkin and black with blue flake got few hits; florescent chartreuse, in my mind, would have also outfished any dark color I cast. Anecdotes make for some wonderful illusions when it comes to why fish bite this or that; it's just a matter of remembering those experiences and using them when something different may be the key to the best reflex strike. Dark lures on dark days, light lures on bright days, hasn't held up in my experience when it comes to soft plastics. Will I continue to use weird colors? Not if they don't work, and then it's back to the basics.

Great idea Ed! Would plastic screen work? I was even thinking of placing an O-ring in the mold midway down, closing it and then pouring. Of course the O-ring would have to be slightly smaller or equal in diameter to the cavity, The ring could be in any position - upright and perpendicular to the axis or laying down, centered and parallel to the axis, depending on how one hooks the stick. The screen idea is the easiest and fastest method and also seems like it might give an interesting internal scale pattern if cut longer.

One part molds for simple, flat designs are easy. Trailers with flat, thin tails come out nice as long as you keep the form from floating upwards and keep the tail just deep enough for the outline to show. Curl tails on round bodies or Senko style sticks can still come out decent as long as the form stays deep enough in the plaster. The flat side on a round bait pour doesn't seem to bother the fish. Two part molds require a thick, hard plaster top and bottom before separating, but it's worth it.

The idea came to me when I was getting a large air bubble in my stick molds near the top, so I figured that trapping air in the rear would work (kind of like a fart that can't go anywhere). It works! I've made a stick body completely hollow using that process.

Note: maroon (fuscia) and violet are not stable above 320 degrees. I've tried MF and LC (purple is grape) and find that a lower temp and mixing in flakes just before the pour maintains plastic color integrity.

No salt; soft plastic (less hardener to weigh down the lure) My first 5" sticks maintained an angle greater than 45 degrees off bottom. Injecting air has never worked for me, but if you must have the highest floating tail, pour tail 1/3 to coat the mold sides; imediately pour the hot center out; open mold and cut out the plastic above the tail; plug the tail by pouring the rest of the body. You should have a sealed, elongated cavity in the tail section.

Hologram green - no (have seen it though and it's cool in chartreuse!) Lime, emerald, chartreuse, kelly green - yes.