BigZ

Man, the plastic they sell there is 3G, it might not need any hardener. The FW in San Jose has hardener, so Fresno probably does too. If you are gonna make a ton of baits you should buy some calhoun or LC 502 and some hardener. I make 6" fishtraps during groundfish season and they work good. Just beware of the plastic they sell at FW if you want consistent quality to your baits. Stir the crap out of it if you do buy it from them! Make sure you scrape the bottom of the jug too loosen the hardener and MIX MIX MIX it!

The best place for you to look would be under the search function. Type beginning under soft plastics forum, or beginner. You might be best off buying one of the kits first from Lurecraft, M-F, or Del. Otherwise, I would recommend the following. 1 gallon of plastic. a few 1oz bottles of colorant (Purple, Watermelon, black?) about 10 bucks worth of glitter form senkosam. (black red holo) You don't really need worm oil. Throw some kicn'bass or other scent in the bag. A pint of softener. Skip the hardener unless you are making saltwater baits. Good Luck.

I just got a bottle of LC Oxblood, it looks like...blood red. Poured a few, they came out looking like regular old oxblood.

That was my first design and I still throw it! I haven't caught any 11lbers on it yet! I hope there's a big fat close up of it on TV!

I got some stuff from the local ceramics supply place. They had a ton of additives for glazing pottery. A lot of them are micas, I don't know what some of the other ones are but haven't had any adverse reactions in the plastic yet. I'll check the pricing on that stuff next time I get a chance to get over there. I remember Senko Sam playing with this stuff too, so maybe he knows more about it since he's been doing so much good research on plastic additives.

Send an email to abuse@ebay.com with the purloined picture's auction listing and your UID for eBay. They should at least pull the other guys auctions. If you get a few other ebayers to bitch about it, it could cause them to get a warning and possibly a suspension. My .02 cents.

I used to think scent was a joke...until I started fishing a certain series of ponds. No Garlic=No bites! In stained water I think it also helps quite a bit. Fish can detect something like 1/3 ppm in the water using taste/smell (this is from a steelhead/salmon study we did in marine bio). I don't think scent hurts anything, and I agree with a few of you that it is a huge confidence thing. Kinda like me and rat-l-traps, I never go bass fishing without one...or a hundred of em. Confidence is a huge part of the game. Pro-Cure has been getting a lot of my money lately...LOL.

This is a pretty good generic morning dawn. 2oz plastic (Anything but 3G...LoL.) 2 drops MF fluoro pink 1 drop MF Red 2 drops MF pearlescent white Blue Highlight to suit your needs.If you want to be a stickler about it, omit the blue highlight and pour a vein seperately of: 2 oz plastic 2 drops LC california blue a lump of blue highlight. This formula works for me.

Jim...you can stop at any time...LOL.

I like that Fugly color. I'm with Al on this one, I think it would work good out here in CA! I've been finding out that sometimes I have to throw something besides smoke, watermelon or green pumpkin to catch fish...only sometimes!LoL.

I have the double jumbo extreme like Cal, it holds a ton of baits, has little pockets for hooks, weight, swivels, etc. I like the bag and it holds about 1000 worms but mine is getting beat up after about 7-8 months of use.

I run the raytek, I use it at work to check CPU temps on servers, I think it was 180 when I got it.

Sears has them in the tool department, but they are about 50 bucks. I would look on eBay if you want a good price. They are called infrared thermometers and some have the nifty laser diode pointer built into them. Pretty cool toy. . .

That color bangs here during the spring and summer. Zipper grubs in PBJ are still one of my "goto" baits if nothing else works. Z. Purple with red flake over MF transparent brown (lots) with gold flake is what I usually use.

Ahhh yes, an interesting puzzle. I am thinking MEK+a powdered or paste pigment, since most of the painted soft plastics I see are opaque and not transparent. I'll go to TAP plastics this week and ask them, a few of the guys there know their plastics well. I don't have MEK on hand, so I can't test it, maybe I can get it at a regular hardware store??? Safety first, gloves and respirator with the hard stuff...

Ah yes, the pinnacle of societal boredom...I don't know if anyone ever wins in court unless they are playing basketball or tennis.

On the Reaction Innovations website it says, and I quote 'The bait's tail pinching action sinulates a crawfish like no other soft plastic' Since you can't patent anything that simulates nature, I fail to see where this could go legally for just the bait. As far as copyright or trademark, I would be wary, it's a lot cheaper to get a tm or c on a name than it is to complete a patent on an actual product and infringing on that could get you a big fat cease and desist letter from some attorney or other. Too many laws, too many lawyers. Can you tell I just spent the morning in court? LoL. Proper credit to website for quote in MLA format.... Bigfishtools.com. "Reaction Innovations". Friday, November 05, 2004. Tuesday February 15, 2005. http://www.reactioninnovations.com/sweet_beaver.html

I personally don't see how this guy can whine about his bait too much...I thought "Imitation was the finest form of flattery..."? For one thing, that bait is made to mimic a crawdad, which is unpatentable by law as it copies nature. The original beaver is also fully round, injection molded and sold in fancy bags with hot looking cartoon chicks on it. It would be worthwhile to check and see if the patent is actual or just applied for (pending). If the name is copyrighted and you use the same name for it, they can go after you for that, but it's doubtful he'd get anything more than a cease and desist order against you. That would be a waste of money and time.I don't think you're stealing his sales as it's a different bait entirely, being flat on one side and probably gliding better...LoL. The original ones work best if you cut em down the middle and dropshot them...2 baits for one, he'd probably get bent about that too! A point of interest too is that if he just sent you an email without a trackable routing (i.e. responder reciept), you can just tell him to pick two of his favorite words from the english language and chew on them for a while because he can't prove that you actually read his mail...unless he reads T.U. LoL ;^) You could call it "Sweaty Beaver" or "Splittail" and probably still be OK by the eBay rules....LoL.

All you would really need to cut spoons yourself would be a (large) hyrdraulic press, preferably automatic (power) and a few dies to get you cutting spoons. You would also need a large quantity of plate in the thickness and metal you want to use (I like brass for spoons). Add paint and terminal tackle and you're done.

I haven't even started making hardbaits yet (GOnna mill some molds I think?)and I think I am going to run into one big problem...the money...and the other problem that goes with that...the money's manager...LoL.

If the mold is really cold, you might get some lines from the plastic cooling too fast. Most likely, the plastic is running down the side of the cavity, and when the cavity fills up it leaves a line where it fills in over the "stripe" of plastic down the side. Your plastic might be too cold too.

Only way I could think of doing it .... if you put a dowel or something through the pour funnel on the stick mold while the plastic was liquid still...blow it up while it was still hot...and melt the end shut with a lighter?

I pour the cavities to the top of the "funnel" part and by the time I get across the mold I go back and fill the "funnel" again. It's the easiest bait to pour and fun as well. The only thing I can emphasize is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!! (You can remelt the left over "cones" too...) As for the smooth end, I use a razor knife to cut the cones off , they work good, just push down and you're done. The most important part about senkos is that you need to get the salt/softener to plastic ratio right (personal preference). Make sure you mix the hell out of the plastic before you pour and stir the plastic often while you are pouring because the salt settles with a quickness. Good Luck and welcome to a hobby that is almost as addicting as fishing...LoL.

I've been using kicknbass anise+shad mixed with lurecraft garlic and crawfish oils, I think it makes the lures work better, but maybe it's just a confidence thing? THe smell is bad enough to keep the neighbors away... I'll look at fisherman's whorehouse and see if the have that bassectomy stuff so I can join Al out on the corner "hookin' it" for scents...LOLOLOL (j/k)

Hey, that's a great idea SenkoSam! Gonna have to try it!