muskie1958

Best place I have found for large amounts of finish is www.creativewholesale.com They sell Envirotex Lite, Crystal Sheen, and EX-74 and 88 All good finishes. Mark Smith

I am interested in trying the propionate. Would like to get at least one pound of it, maybe two. My email is msmith0903@aol.com Thanks, Mark

21xdc, I first used Envirotex Lite. I like it but it does have some odor concerns. I switched to crystal Sheen because of low odor. I can not do as many baits per mix with it. And it is affected by cold and humidity more than the Lite. I have now switched to EX-74 Much better all around qualities for me. It seems to be harder and I can do many more baits per mix than I could with the Sheen. Mark Smith (Smuttly Dog Baits)

Look at the WASCO website. They have several stencils available and all are very good. I use the bluegill , crappie and smallmouth. buy the smallest one available. Mark Smith(Smuttly Dog)

I have used both the Devcon and ETEX and Crystal Sheen. Crystal Sheen is the best of the three in my opinion.Devcon costs way too much to use in production baits. I still use Devcon to seal up the wire ends in my baits(Smuttly Dog Baits). Another option for finish is EX74 or EX 88. I have used and like both. But the EX74 stinks much less. It is very hard. initial tests are looking very good. I will relay my findings at a later date. mark Smith

I coat my baits first with MinWax Poly Acryclic. Them put them on my drier using a coat of finish. Take them off the drier and dip in white basecoat. then paint and then apply 2 more (or more) coats of finish. I have very few fail. Virtually none.

Jed, Just saw your post here at work, 4:00am. I think you need to let the Auto Air cure overnight before coating the baits. You know what finish Jack and I use and he told me to never coat the baits the same day you paint them.He refers to what you are descrbing as lifting the paint. It is pulling away from the primer coat I think. That huge bait on EBAY looks awesome. Very nice work. Mark

I have been routinely using40 psi for more than 4 years. No problems.!!! If I am doing a bait with small spots like a Rainbow Trout, then I will drop it to 20 PSI . but most of the time I use 40# My baits can be seen on the Muskie Inc. Chapter 9 website. Under the baitmakers section look at Smuttly Dog baits..

Jed, Email me if you really want some of the strapping. I will ship a roll to you. You could make 25 or so from one roll. Mark

In my previoous post I said the strapping was 1/8" thick. Checked it last night and found it to be closer to 1/16" thick. Thought I had better clarify it. Glad I could help on the lure eyes..Mark

Jed: The baits will be held securely because the metal strapping is a good bit longer than the bait. You will be compressing the rack from each end to get it to the bait.The bottom of the baitholder will start to look like a "C". About the wire: You need to use pliers and crimp the wire tightly to the metal upright of the frame. The strapping I am using does not have any holes in it already.I get it at LOWES. It comes in a roll about 30' long. It is 1 and 1/4" wide. About 1/8" thick. 30 feet of it is only $9.00. It is used for holding mobile homes to the the their piers . Yes I am in Muskie baitmakers heaven. This is Mark. The guys you mentioned are friends of mine. We only live a couple of miles from one another.Jack and Gene are nice guys. Do not know Jim Wilson with HR baits. J.P.: Trip last spring was not too good. Had a good time but the fishing was lousy.Baptiste and Elephant lakes where 3 to 4' high. Managed not a single muskie.Raised probably 30 in 2 weeks but no takers. Some pike and walleye and even a nice lake trout. Might want to try Stoney sometime. Is it one of the better lakes in the Kawarthas? Some of my fellow Muskie club members go to Buckhorn, Eagle, and Bobycageon(probably spelled wrong). As of now I have no baits in any Canadian store. Have been talking some with J.B.s Fishing depot in Toronto. Might get something worked out for next year.

Heres how mine works. A 6 rpm gear reduction motor mounted on a work bench. Underneath the motor is 5 lenghts of 2x6 , each being about 12" long.Each piece is mounted ,flat, one on top of the other to the work table. Then the motor is mounted on top of all the 2x6"s. This raises the motor above the table and allows for my baits to spin. Now you need a way to attach a piece of pipe to the motor. I used a 5/8" splined shaft coupling available at Grainger( all my parts came from Grainger). The 5/8 coupling allows you to use 1/2 copper pipe to spin your baits on. Heres how you attach the baits to the pipe. I went to Lowes and bought mobile home strapping. Cut it in lengths long enough to allow you to bend the strapping into a u shape with the ends turned up about 3 to 4"and enogh space left to allow your baits to suspend between each end.Mine required about 15" to 18" depending how big a bait I was finishing. I am making 6" to 12" Muskie jerkbaits. Now drill a hole in the center of the strapping 1/4" in diameter.Now take a pair of tin snips and cut out a slot into the hole. Then drill 3/32 holes in the end of the part that you turned up. This is where you insert a small piece of wire and suspend your baits from the wire. Now you are ready to attach your bait to the copper pipe. Heres how to set up the pipe. I used a section of pipe 12' long. You will have to support it a couple of times , every 4' or so, and use a bearing on the far end to allow free spinning. For the supports I used a piece of 2x4 turned upright and attached to a pice of 2x4 nailed flat to the table. The upright piece has a u shape cut into it to allow the pipe to turn. Now you have the pipe supported. Now drill holes evry 3" or so through the pipe. Try to stay in the center of the pipe. Use about a 3" piece of all thread. Insert the allthread through the hole you drilled and attach with a nut and washer on each side . I used thread lock to keep the nuts from backing off. This should leave about 1and 1/4" of all thread sticking through the pipe on each side. Now put a wingnut on each side.The aforementioned mobile home apparatus can be slid onto the allthread via the slot you cut into the side of it. Tighten down the wingnut. The bait will now turn around the pipe . I used a timer with mine and found 4 hours to be enough time with ET Lite or Flexcoat or EX88 . Any of this that is not clear , just ask and I will explain better. This apparatus is used by at least 5 or 6 well know muskie lure makers here in W. Va.. The motor I bought is a Dayton motor and the elder baitmakers I know are still using the first ones they bought over 20 years ago. They last.

Jed, If at all possible I would reccomend you put all scew eyes in the bait before coating. I know other baitmakers here in W.Va. that use screw eyes and all of them insert the eyes first. Its takes a little more effort because you have to drill out the eyes but it is definitely worth it. I use wire myself but am thinking about going to eyes because of time constraints. Or maybe cotter pins for the middle eyes. Also you are 100% correct for using 3 coats of ET. I have never had a bait to fail( other than been broken finish on rocks) with 3 coats just from water contact. Here is something I have been doing. When I get my baits complete I run a entire bathtub full of water. Soak the baits for a day or so. Thanks, Mark

Jed, I started using hard maple but it is like steel.Very hard on tool bits ,router bits or saw blades. The maple I use is red or soft maple. But don't be fooled by calling it soft maple. It is certainly harder than the Mahogany you are using

I use Minwax polyacrylic for a sealer. 2 coats. Then Zinser bulleyes for a basecoat ,water base. Let this dry over night. I like to thin it slightly to a 4 to 1 ratio. Then I prefer Createx paints. I use an Envirotex product for my final coats. But you need something to spin the baits with if you use this stuff. If you are only doing a few baits then I would recommend using 2 coats of Devcon.