benton B

The weight does not have to be smashed flat, just crimp it in the hole so it does not move. It will not add enough resistance to notice. You can trim the weight if needed to adjust the nose down position. Never mind, I like Lincoya's idea much better than my own.

I use a wheeled marking guage to mark the center around the whole bait then drill my holes.

gravity feed for me

I never saw the bait he discribed in the coverage. I remember him using a chart/blue backed Mann's 30+ yrs ago to win a tourny.

Mark, from what I've read from Dean it sounds like that would work. I've been using D2T for so long now I don't want to learn the in's and out's of another top coat. I must say the DN sure makes a lure shine.

A side note WASCO doesn't make Wildlife colors (Smith paint), WASCO's brand is polytranspar. I find it odd that the DN clear coat is having compatability problems with Wildlife colors. This is by far the best water based paint that I have used. That just means now I have no choice but to stick with D2T.

76gator, take a look at some taxidermy web sites. I've seen bass templates for the different scale patterns and you could shrink 1 down to the size you need on a copy machine.

You colors are not off or incorrect, just a little different. Bass look different from lake to lake and clear or dingy water. The only change on your bait that I would suggest is to use a dirty green on the back of your bait, then lightly dust it with iridescent gold. That's a really good paint job.

You don't want to use the 1/32 inch lexan for lips. It flexes and will crack the finish around the lip and let water get to the wood. I've still got about 3 sheets of that stuff left over. If you want a thin material try Garolite.

these are 1 3/4 long but are bit heave at .32 oz. Very nice action for little fat baits.

Kelp, if that bait is rolling and can't be tuned to run straight then something is way off. Line tie may be off center, lip is crooked, balast weight off center, but the tag ends going back into the bait should not be causing a problem. I drill a hole in the bait under the lip slot so the tag ends sit lower than the lip, that way the tag ends don't cause the lip to sit crooked. I use a piece of lip material in the lip slot to keep the hole flush to the lip slot. The line ties on the Man. baits are molded into the lip. I don't know of any way for a hobby guy to do that.

Kelp, I did misunderstand the first post.

diemai, the reason I fold the tag ends under the lip and insert in the slot is to add extra strength to the line tie. I like the way you did the line tie in the pics but I would not try that with the lighter materials that I'm using. I've also used the method that BobP uses and it's very strong also.

When I use SS wire I do the same method as you making the U and bending the tags under the lip. Make sure that you insert the tag ends back into the lip slot. You're making a 90 degree bend in the wire under the lip and the tag ends are inserted in the lip slot, the pressure on the line tie is all on top of the 90 degree bend. The loop on top of the lip is the only part of the line tie that is getting pulled. The rest of the pressure is in the lip. You can also cut a slot in the back of the lip and fold the tags back over the lip. Insert the lip as normal, the only way the line tie comes loose is if the lip comes out. I suck at explaining things, I hope this makes sense.

You need to make sure the bill is secure in the bait. That is what is holding all the pressure from the fish. If the tag ends are folded back and inserted in the bill slot the line tie won't come out. Drill some holes in the back of the bill so you have some anchor points for the epoxy to grab. If it's done right, no way the bill pulls out of you bait.

right behind the balast on my baits

I'm with 6 feet deep on this one, that brush is the cat's arse. I've sprayed everything thru that .35 tip including micro-flake (pain to clean that one). You can't beat that 40% off from hobby lobby.