nova

Well let's keep this going. Has anyone who smokes(cough cough) noticed that when you throw your butt in the water a bass will sometimes come up and take it?

Well, I guess it all comes down to what you believe and how confident you are using the baits you use.

I understand that fish don't think and that humans have the fault of trying to overlay their feelings and thoughts on everything around them. Animals, including fish, learn by repetition and by instinct. We as animals also learn this way. eg: if you put your hand on a hot stove once you are not likely to do it again. That is instinct; there is no thought at the time of the action, it's only afterwards do we think how dumb that was. As far as fish go, how do they "learn" that some things are edible and some things are not? Thet also learn that if they swallow a baitfish tail first they will be in trouble. Most of what they "know" comes from instinct. A "school" of fish is only a bunch of fish.

This has probably been asked before, but here goes anyway. Has anyone ever tried a "slow cooker" or "crockpot" as a stay warm pot? I know that the thermostat only has 2 or 3 settings but I'm not so sure that it will be good enough. :

Eyes, or at least the distintion of a head, are very important on a strike. Preditors, if they a can tell where the head of the bait is, will strike it first most of the time. Anytime one fish eats another fish they do so from the head as the dorsil fins will lay down and allow the prey to be swallowed. eyes are always at the "head" of the bait. If you run your hand up a fishes back from the tail to the head you wwill see what I mean. Some companies have taken to putting 2 small black dots on the back of their baits as well as eyes just to cover all the bases.

Try Hagen's.

I haven't gotten one from Ebay, probably because I've never sold on it, but I have gotten several from PayPal saying roughly the same thing. I just ignored them.

And here endth the lesson. When you're right, you're right Rodney.

I knew that,lol.

Chris, my point is that I only use the micro jet if I'm on the water and running out of a particular bait. Saving a bait is not worth the loss of fishing time when you are in a tourny. You can't catch a fish if the bait is in your hand. The other side of the coin is that if you can't afford to throw away a plastic bait you can't afford to fish.

Forget about pyrex on a stove or hotplate. I put mine on a hotplate and it exploded. Invest in a cheap micro. It's easier to control the heat than a cook stove. (I can see you ruining a lot of plastic on that) In answer to your question about pots. Use aluminum pots only; and not the cheap thin ones.(don't get the really thick ones either) You can use a hotplate with the aluminum pot.

I've done the super glue thing and I glued my fingers together more time than I care to remember. It's a real pain in the a** when you're in a tourny and you have to rip your fingers apart. The solution is to bring some acetone with you(oh goody, more things to put in the boat). I now use one of those micro torches and a thin strip of metal. I hold the metal with my pliers and heat it red hot. Then pass the metal into the break in the plastic, pull it out immediately. Hold the break together for 5 seconds and away you go. No more messy glues for me.

I also use a vent but the problem comes when you start pouring. As you move your pot/pyrez around the smoke/fumes are now not under the vent and are free in the air. When I pour I use both at the same time. How important is your helth to you? :

Did the same thing when I first started some years ago. The only difference is that I did it for a couple of years. : Now I have problems with my sinus and I take prescribed medication for it. Not alot of fun. But, in my defense, I was told that it would not hurt me. Hope I'm lucky enough that that is all I'll get out of it. Only time will tell. I guess it's one of those things in life that you say" I wish I knew then what I know now".

Sounds good to me Jake.

Don't use teflon, use straight metal. That's why the glue won't hold. Even with that I still(every so often) get one of the baits to float in the resin. The double-sided tape will leave a void under the bait where the resin will run into. This will cause you to have to do a major clean up to get the mold into pouring shape and more you mess around with the mold cleaning up the more chance you have to damage the features of the bait ruining the mold.

Seems like there is always one in a crowd.

The scales might roll up with the heat but worth a try.

Anybody's plastic can be toxic. The basic materials are the same. Don't pour in the house; if you are married, that won't stay the same for long. You have to have good ventilation and wear a respirator. There are lots of posts in this site dealing with the same subject.

I've seen his site and your right, it is pretty neat. Those baits look good; kinda like busted gills.

Wheel weights have antimony and tin in them which make the end prduct too hard. I mix 1/2 and1/2 wheel weight and pure lead. Works great. The impurities will cook-off and float to the top (slag), you then simply scoop them off with an old spoon(not your wife's good ones,lol) I find tire shops are glad to get rid of the old weights although some will charge you $5 for a 5 gal bucket full. I have a couple of plumber friends and they save me the old lead pipes they take out. That's where I get my lead from for practically nothing. As for plastics. I used to buy all my molds from LC and now I hardly use any of them. I make my own from resin.(lots of posts here about that too) I get my plastic from Del Mart. Once you get going you will find what will work best for you and the way you pour. I've never used a Lee pot; I only use a micro and only on 3 color pours do I also use a hotplate. Hope this helps.

I used to use Hagen's when I was doing metal baits. Good service and fast shipping.

I wouldn't use the micro that you eat from or the pyrex for that matter. You can get a very basic micro quite cheaply.

I prefer the micro to the hotplate. Although I still use the hotplate for 3 color pours. The drawback with the micro is that you can get small bubbles in the plastic, but if you heat in short bursts they aren't so bad. The problem with the hotplate is that it is much easier to burn your plastic.

Pop; don't worry about it. I do mine in my basement and it's about55-60 degrees. You just have to increase the amount of hardner. I make large molds which take the whole liter and I use all of the hardner that comes with it. If you do it in the kitchen; make sure your wife is out for the day or you might be out for the count. lol