Mags

This may sound stupid, but what about shooting the colors that are used to color soft plastics. I had a pearl swimbait that was up against a red shad worm and the red bled into the pearl. Looks great. If this stuff can be thinned it can be shot. You just need to know what the carrier for the pigment is.

Went to Lake X today and tested them. The action is good and with the right hooks they suspend just fine. Tested both the small and large ones. For the money I think they are a good buy and you can paint your own colors. Gambler, that is an excellent paint job. What airbrush model do you use? Steve

The suspended in 75 degree water. We chilled the water with ice into the upper 50's and they still suspended. it doesn't get much colder than that here. Temps in the 40's they may rise with the number 6's. Steve

Yes, I was a lttle perplexed as to how that screwlock would stay in place. I would think it should wrap around the bend in the hook. That is how I have done mine.

Yes, they will sink with number 4 hooks. Put number 6 hooks and light split rings and they will suspend. The painted ones paint will come off easily, but you can clear coat with a light coat of Devcon. I have not fished these baits, but fixed some up for a co-worker of mine. When I tested the baits before clear coating they sank with number 4's. The number 6's, devcon clear coat and light split rings and they suspended. He catches a lot of fish on these, even when they sank! I am going to our test pond this week and will give you a report on action compared to the Lucky Craft. The pond has a high boat dock and clear water, so we can watch the action of various baits we test. Steve

I am also cofused on how to make the tail. Dipping the knife I understand. I have built a protype with a colorado blade as a tail, but how to dip this for the tail has me stumped.

The tail action on these poured baits doesn't seem to be good at slow speeds. I've heard the Basstrix swims great at slow speeds.

Coosa Tackle is now selling a knock off. www.coosatackle.com By next year I'll bet there will be twenty different versions of these.

Regarding the LFT Magic Shad patent. How can you patent somthing that has already been commercially available from another manufacturer? Doesn't seem right.

I have both the Silly Rabbit from Poor Boys and the Bowfin from Rainbow worms. They are basically the same bait, but the rabbit has some molded markings on the side. Both baits are solid baits with a hook slot like a fluke. Both baits appear to be good baits, but I haven't fished them much yet. I can't get a Basstrix, so I won't comment on how they may be better or worse. The detail in the Basstrix is certainly amazing and is some kind of paint. I would like to paint soft baits like that, but am so far clueless on what kind of paint this is. I don't think it's the LureCraft stuff. The Bowfin and the Rabbit are convential pours. I have designed a weighted hook for both baits and the Magic Shad that we have been testing. Works well. Steve

Thanks for all your help. I'll give your excellent suggestions a shot. The expense on these baits is ridiculous and making them myself, besides being fun, should make things a little more economical.

Thanks guys. I will seal the mold the next time I try a pour of the paddletail. I'm making a new mold of that one and am making some changes. I could add a few vent holes in the tail with a small piece of wire that could be removed and then re-inserted to clean the plastic out. That may be on mold three. I'll try one without it first. One the Lake Fork magic shad I had the fore thought to add vent holes to the tail. The problem is the plastic cools enough that by the time it hits the tail it has solidified, even with a hot mold. The idea of using a small syringe for a vaccuum is an interesting one. Many moons ago when I tried pouring plastic my dad (a dentist) made a two piece Guido Bug mold for me. He had lots of practice with molds and could really produce some good ones. The only way to get the plastic to the pinchers was to inject it with a big syringe. Worked well, but kind of cumbersome and dangerous. Can't make many baits that way. I bought the syringe I think from Hilts Molds 20 years ago. Do they still make these things? I haven't seen one. A syringe for a vacuum on the tail end is alot safer and may actually work to draw the plastic down. With these swim baits I don't want to make many. Just some for myself and fishing partners. I've seem the top pour Magic Shads people have made on this board, but if you look at the bait the tail is in the middle of the head (aligned) and the bait is injected half and half to get a perfectly symetrical bait. I just wonder if a top pour would perform right in the water as the symetry of the bait is wrong. I would think it would end up rolling in the water.

I'm new to plastic pouring and am going through a learning curve. I had the same experience with crankbait making/painting, but I eventually made it work for me. I made a swimbait mold, similar to a basstrix paddle tail, but not a tube. The mold is made of Durhams water putty. The problem I'm having is the paddletail, which is thin and large (3/4 inch across by 3/4 inch deep, 1/8 inch thick) wants to stick in the mold. It is also very difficult to get plastic all the way into the tail, even when I start at that end and carefully let a stream enter the tail. This is a top pour mold one piece mold. I haven't sealed the mold yet, because I wasn't sure if I liked it (and I didn't!). If I had sealed it with expoxy would the tail have poured and pulled easier. Any ideas on how to pour the tail and get it to release better? I am making a new mold. Thanks. On a second note I made a two piece mold (nose pour) of the Lake Fork Magic shad. The mold looks great, but I couldn't get plastic to run all the way to the tail. This mold was sealed with exopy. I tried heating the plastic way up (ended up burning it) and pre-heating the mold. The plastic would work through the chambers almost to the tail and then stop a little short. Without some type of pressure to push the plastic I'm wondering if the only way to pour this one is with injection molding or a one piece top pour. I just wonder with a top pour if the plastic would run through the small slits between the chambers and produce a bait that works. This bait appears to be split longitudinally. A one piece may end up spinning in the water.

I just made a nice rattle. I used two 22 caliber shell casings. I drilled a hole through the bait. I cut the shells so one fit in each side of the bait. I used a steel BB from a number two shotgun shell as the rattle. The steel against the brass is very loud. The base of the shell sticks out a little, but no big deal. Steve

I notice that Lure Craft doesn't have that many colors. Do you mix colors to get what you want?

Take a rubber spinnerbait collar and slid it up the hook to the point where you want the lead to stop. Check the post on making shakey heads out of a do-it football mold. This is described there. This will eliminate the collar and the rubber doesn't melt. I poured a bunch of them last weekend.

I form them before I pour the head. Use a nail that is small enough diamater so the screw lock fits in the weedguard slot. You can then use the same size nail to keep the lead from entering the screw lock. I ended up using a small finishing nail. Making the screw locks with the drill is easy.

Thanks for the info. Brilliant! I just poured a bunch using your method. Works great. I used some stainless wire for the screw lock. Put a small nail in my cordless drill. Shoved the wire in between the chuck and the nail and activated the drill. Turned it three or four turns and presto. Makes a great screw lock. You can make various diameters by using diffent sized nails. Nothing holds plastic better than a screw lock. You can turn out 50 scew locks in no time. The time consuming part is getting everything lined up in the mold.

Thanks for the info on your experience with this product. Sounds like it shouldn't be used for this application. My buddy fished Amistad with the new baits I did for him and no failures this time. Of course he didn't catch nearly the fish. It was a rough weekend because of the wind.

Of the four DLN's one was a floater with two number 4's, one suspended with two number 4, and two were sinkers with two numbers sixes and light split rings. These were all Jap hooks. Of the Poes I painted and coated all floated like corks except for one which was a suspender with two number two gamagatsu's. All the Poes were labeled as suspenders. This was in 60 degree water. I painted and coated some DLN's earlier this year and they were suspenders in 70 degree water. This is with number fours and the stock split rings. I already use the Skeeter method for Devcon, except I have thinned it some with denatured alcohol. My work shop isn't heated or cooled, and has no insulation. My shop is actually designed for holding my boat. While I have used Devcon in the past this is my first failure. When I have received baits from Hughes and Brian they aren't clear coated with Devcon. The 3/4 ounce HotLips Express has an almost flat belly about 1 inch across. It is set up for hook wear. I'll see what happens this weekend and post the results.

I just did some more baits for him and used warmed full strength Devcon for a first coat and a thinned de-natured alcohol coat for the second. He's off to Amistad with them this weekend. We'll see how they hold up. If they don't hold up I'll post a picture of the damaged goods. On another note I did three Norman Deep Little N's for him and two ended up sinkers in 60 degree water. This was with one coat of Devcon and after I went with lighter split rings and changed the hooks to number 6's from the stock number 4's. These were older baits and when we compared them to some other DLN's they were slimmer. They also had no rattle. These must have been bad right out of the box.

Anyone ever try this http://cgi.ebay.com/Fishing-Lure-Coating-None-Yellowing-Clear-Gloss-Quart_W0QQitemZ270074941847QQihZ017QQcategoryZ794QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I have been using Devcon and I recently did some foiled 3/4 ounce Luhr Jensen Hotlips Express for a friend. Clear coated them with a one coat de-natured alcohol Devcon. He fished them hard and after one weekend he returned one bait with a destroyed finish clesar coat and foil gone on the bottom). He caught a bunch of good fish on it and used some wide gap Gamagatsu trebles, which he thinks dug into the bait. I just re-did it for him and this time used un-thinned Devcon and gobbed it on (no worry about getting a sinker with these baits). It's a little cool here (low 60's today for a high) in Central Texas and the Devcon was a major pain to put on unthinned even after warming it with a hair drier. I've almost always thinned it and returned to that method with some other baits I now have on the drying wheel. I'm wondering about an alternative to Devcon, since I've had other troubles with it (e.g. some areas not covering). Using Devcon with even just a few baits is a real pain and putting on thick coats for me has killed the action of the bait, or created a sinker (e.g Norman Deep Little-N's, Poes 400's). Most of the manufacturuers surely don't use Devcon and they certanly can't brush on multiple coats. Their finishes hold up pretty well and they're thin. I don't know what Tim Hughes or Brian Huskins uses, but it doesn't appear to be Devcon or Lite (?). Thin, but tough is what I need. Any thoughts on an easier, less time consuming alternative? A dip instead of brush sure would be nice.

Thanks guys. I received my lexan and wire yesterday from Mcmaster-Carr and I'm going to go find some wood and kick this thing into high gear. Skeeter, thanks for the tip on the dremel tool. I have one and will put it to use.

I think this will get me going in the right direction. I've used power tools all my life, just not for this purpose. I will try to keep all my fingers! If anybody else has some advice I'm all ears.