Jig Man

I remember the first time I lighted flux. I had a lot of wax in there and got a flame that about made me wet myself. I was given 100# of printers lead. It is quite hard but I use it on baits that I don't want to paint as it is very slow to tarnish. In order to get it to pour well, I put the mold on top of the pot as the lead is heating so the mold is very warm when I start pouring. Good luck to you.

The first thing I'd do is get a new lock washer and turn the nut over to get a clean side. Put the ball in a vice and crank that nut down with a big pipe wrench. Keep an eye on it and if it comes loose then bugger up the threads below the nut. You might also look at your trailer tires so see if there is uneven wear because of them being out of balance. That may be extra vibration coming up through the trailer to the ball.

Get yourself a pair of snap ring pliers. I use mine all the time for jig and spinnerbait skirts with the bands. Craftsman Snap Ring Pliers

I have been using the PT mold this year and find it to be very good. I use the Mustad hooks. I bought both molds and find myself using the heavy ones (1 and 3/4 oz) as often as the lighter because they swim better bumping the bottom around stumps and rocks.

I use a Power Zap from Bass Pro. It is also good for cutting braid.

You want good paint finishes get a toaster oven and see cadman about a fluid bed.

I have the Arke and have had it for several years. There are no pouring problems but I don't much like the hook so I don't use it a lot now days.

This is the first place and only place I come for advice on any of the bait making situations I find myself getting into.

On line catalgo Batson Enterprises - Home

Loctite superglue gel in the squeeze side bottle with the pointy tip. Works great.

They for sure do powder paint better. I take the pins out, paint them, then redrill the holes. Some guys paint with the pins still in. As for glue, I use Loctite super glue gel. I get it in the plastic bottle that has the squeeze sides. It lasts for months without drying out when not in use. It is easy to apply and I have never had a weedguard come out.

GMAN that is the one that has been driving me nuts. I am having to crack the mold to get the 4/0 to pour. What is your secret?

Well, we do have a moon coming and my boat and truck are ready to head for the lake.

Sounds like you are good to go Gman. Many happy pours.

Well this is kind of embarrasing. It was operator error all the time. I went out and pluged in the pot. I took some 600 grit sand paper and smoothed a couple of spots inside the 1/2 cavity. I put the mold on the pot to warm up and went in for a cup of coffee. Later, I went back out and refluxed the lead. Now I am already to start pouring. I got to looking around for the material that I had used to crack the mold ( 2 penny wrapers folded and 1/2 of another one). All I could find was 1 and 1/2. So I went back in the house and got another penny wraper and the problem was solved. I should have known when I couldn't get flash yesterday that the problem was close by. Sometimes I just don't pay enough attention to detail. Sorry guys. BTW: smalljaw, you wanna trade molds?

It may be the pot. It is several years old and has poured 10s of 1000s of jigs. It poured the 1 oz and 3.4 oz just fine and the mold was smokin' hot before I started the 1/2 oz. Maybe I need to buy another pot or play with wider cracking or just go back to the 3/0 hook even though I think it is too small. I know a couple of guys who have pots. Maybe I'll borrow one before I buy a new one. I really like the Poison Tail jig but it has become a pain to pour.

Other than the smoke that is what I did. Now tell me what hammering the bigger hook into the slot will do to help it pour the 1/2 oz. I just don't follow the logic of that part.

Ok is see where the hammer will fix the hook hole but will that help the pour? Cadman I couldn't even get flash today with it cracked a bunch. We are in a low humidity time. Should I pour in high humidity.

As far as I am concerned a 1/2 oz jig should have at least a 4/0 hook. My Poison Tail is set up for 3/0. I got some advice on here about cracking the mold. It worked a month or so ago about 2/3 of the time. Today all I wanted was 10 simple 1 oz, 3/4 oz and 1/2 oz with 4/0 hooks. The first two groups poured just fine. Out of the 10 hooks for the 1/2 oz I didn't get any complete pours with the mold cracked. I varied the crack from front to back increasing and decreasing it. I did it again and got 1 good pour out of the second 10. I tried space between the pot and sticking the nipple in the hole. My lead is soft with the pot on the hottest setting. The mold is hot as I poured the 1 oz and 3/4 oz one at a time before the 1/2 oz. I have even used the Dremel to buff this booger. What to do next????

The transducer mounted behind the skeg shouldn't be a problem. The cards are not that expensive. 2008 Navionics Premiums are $99 at Bass Pro right now. LEI cards only run about $100. Did you check to see if your lake is listed on either site? Depending on the unit, your lake may also be in its base map.

Your gps unit will mark a wpt where ever you are whether or not you have a topo map. My first one only had a lake outline with no contour lines. I could mark a wpt and go right back to it. Accuracy on a gps can be affected by the atmosphere, your position relative to the sats., time of day and department of defense. Most are accurate to within a few feet. The big money difference is not the gps part but the sonar part it has always been about pixels and now it is about hd and side imaging. Go to Fishing Hot Spots and Navionics sites and look for your lake listed on different cards to see if one of them has it.

I agree with the soft lead on spinnerbaits. It wears out quickly but puts a nice wobble into the bait. Do you have your molds and lead pot yet?

GMAN I have some JB Weld that has been holding for over 10 years with several thousand jigs made. Only once have I had to replace any and I have it in several mold mods. My PTs do it sometimes and I take a pair of old gate cutters and clamp onto the wire and run them around and most of the time the lead falls off.

G why a round head? Why not use the PT 1/8 and 1/4 you already have w or w/o weedguard?

I buy singles from BPS and Back Country Outfitters. I buy 2-3 dozen at a time from Stamina.