Acuna

Well, I had been keeping the pot full of lead as recommended and it worked okay until this past Friday. Basically, the bottom heated up and the top didn't. The pot started leaking out of the bottom and because the top was not melted I could not move the plunger to stop it. Made a big mess after overflowing my ingot mold and was very dangerous. Good thing I had stuff in place in case this sort of thing happened, but still....

Which mold do you guys like for tying preacher/hair jigs in the 1/2 to 1 oz. size?

yep, I take it the 32796 hooks are a heavier wire hook. Per the specs they seem to be...

1. I don't normally tie hair on my jigs. 2. Little craw type trailers work great most of the time. Cadman is correct, both Netbait and SK make good products. I don't think it makes too much of a difference on brand. One day they may want a trailer that really moves, the next something more subtle like a double tail grub or pork trailer. As others have said, experiment on the water and find out what the fish want. The older I get the less I get caught up in the latest and greatest bait and the more focused I become on presentation. Tried and true baits presented correctly in the proper situation gets it done for me. Or don't. Remember we call it fishing and not catching. Enjoy the journey. 3. Tackle Warehouse is great for getting stuff.

Well I will be a monkey's uncle, it DOES say 32796 hooks on my mold.

Yes it is a finicky mold to get to pour right IMHO. I got pissed with my bottom pour pot, ordered a regular pot and ladle thinking that would solve my problems and I could NOT for the life of me cast clean heads when trying to fill the cavity with a ladle. Therefore I ordered a new bottom pour pot and also will be sending my old one that I was having issues with off to be refurbished. Thanks for the EC hook suggestion.

Light boxes work, but be sure to have a light set up that eliminates shadows. I just use my iPhone and take pictures on an interesting background. Sometimes I will use Instagram for effects. Here are some examples:

I am the one who is having issues with the bottom pour Lee pot and even I would say it is safer and easier than using the hot pot and ladle. I tried to use the ladle and hot pot and it was just too hard to get good pours for me. With the bottom pour pot it was almost automatic (when it would work correctly).

I personally don't think the fish care about the color of the jig head that much but I know a lot of fishermen do and if changing up the color of the heads gives you confidence then by all means go for it! Despite the fact that I don't think it makes that much of a difference, I always try to match the color of the jig skirts I tie and on my shakeyheads I am usually using a small straight tailed worm or craw worm. I just do it because I like it. My color choices, primarily, are watermelon with red flake and green pumpkin. Rarely do I vary from those two colors but if I do it is going to be a darker color.

LOL, I just saw this. I would cry if I had that many to pour. And once I can get these issues with melting the heads ironed out, I hope to be well on my way. I think I make a decent enough jig:

It is the flat eye stand up jig head mold, and I see where he has the hook listed as the 32796 hook on his current ebay auctions. I will have to double check the listing for the mold I purchased (if I still can) but I am 99% sure he listed the hook at the 32798 hook, and checking his actual website shows the hook for the mold as the 32798. I am still having issue with my melting pot so I am not pouring heads at this time, but did cut one of the hooks into a pin and it seems to fit appropriately in the eye of the hooks at issue and mold. Will keep you posted about whether I can substitute in the actual smaller pin without issue once pouring starts again.

I will take some pictures and post them. It will probably be tonight.... about to start getting ready for work. Man I am having some ISSUES lately! LOL, just making me appreciate the good times all the better.

On my Collins Mold that I am using, it has a pin you insert into the eye of the hook to keep lead out. I recently ordered three new boxes of 32798 BLN 4/0 hooks and all but like five of the hooks had the eye too small to fit the pin. I have never had this issue in the past and it does not seem to be present in the 5/0 hooks. Technically, there is nothing "wrong" with the hooks so I don't know if I can return them, and even if I do who knows if the replacements will have the same issue. Have you ever dealt with this issue? If so, what did you do?

I was looking around on the internet and the 20 pound pots have an adjustable flow. Do you find them to be more reliable than the 10 pound pots? It has been crazy difficult to work with my 10 pound pot due to clogging issues in the valve.

I am looking at giving up using my Lee bottom pour pot due to frustration with it clogging and switching to a regular Lee pot and ladle to pour jigs. Does anyone have any experience using a regular pot and ladle to pour the following molds: 1. Collins Custom Molds standup flipping jig with horizontal line tie. 2. Do It Arkie jig mold (1/4, 3/8, 1/2) 3. Do it Football Shakeyhead mold 4. Do It Football jig (1/2, 3/4) Thanks in advance.

Okay, I take back everything good I may have said about my Lee Pot. Holy freaking cow what a cluster #(*@&*&$(*@& today. So I get up with plans to mold 50 1/2 oz. jigheads. Fire up the pot and get ready for a pouring session that is like the one I had the other day. Lead melts, looks good, flux it, and then try to pour. Nothing really coming out of the spout so I take some wire for the "colonoscopy" clearing method. That never really gets it going well either. I get maybe five heads done and about five that don't pour all the way and yes I heated up the mold. Well, to make a long story short, I could never get the pot working. I got all the lead out of it and let it cool down. I then went and got a dremel with a wire brush and got to cleaning the plunger (removed it so I could really get it clean) and got the rest of the pot too. Got all the dross or whatever that crap is that shows up every time your pour out of the pot and off the plunger. Got into the bottom party where the plunger sets. Got it really , really clean. Way more clean than normal (I was pizzed). I then got some of this "really good" pure lead from a more experienced pourer who gave it to me a gift after I made some shakeyheads for him when he was in a bind awhile back...... Well it still didn't work. In fact, now it wouldn't even come out the bottom at all unless I got a 3/0 hook and rammed it up the sprue hole. Once I got most of the lead out, I took the plunger out and it still wouldn't come out of the bottom (I was just trying to get the lead into my ingot mold for future use. I really am at a loss.... The thing that is frustrating is that even if I send it to Lee for repair, I bet I spend at least $10 on shipping and who knows whatever else if it is out of warranty. A brand new pot is only $40. That said, I am thinking maybe just a regular pot with a ladle might be the way to go. I LOVE the idea of a bottom pour pot, but if the lead gets cold and blocks that dang sprue hole it is not much good to me. I bet I spent four hours today trying to get that pot clean and working and it just wasn't happening. Ugh.

Sorry I have been MIA on this thread I started, I have been SWAMPED at work. I did totally empty out the pot the other day, clean it really well, put in some lead, fluxed the #()U@%() out of it, and was able to pour 50 3/8 oz. heads just fine without any real issues once I got the pot going in the beginning. It is not great but better. THANK YOU ALL for the tips and guidance. It is very helpful.

Also, thank you for the tips and advice.

First, no offense at all to your questions! I have no ego when it comes to making baits, and we are all here to learn and make each other better. Right? I got the lead off eBay. It was advertised as "pure" lead. I sure did have to clean a bunch of crud off though when I fluxed. Looking at the ingots after I emptied the pot and they sure don't have a dull look to them at all. I don't know if that is from contamination or me cranking the heat up to "keep the lead from cooling in the spout". I have been pouring for about a year. Certainly not an expert. I will order some lead from Roto metals and see if that makes it better.

I am using a Lee 10 pound bottom pour melting pot and I cannot for the life of me keep the spout from clogging. I play with the temperature. I flux. I try to reload the mold and get the next pour going as quickly as possible. I use a screwdriver to rotate the plunger. Despite all this, the flow of lead from the spout invariably will come to a trickle and then a complete blockage quickly, and then I need to run a piece of wire up the spout to keep pouring (super safe, I know...). Any tips to keep this from happening? I LOVE the idea of having the spout so I can just put the mold up and go, but the practical reality is that I spend a fair amount of time during my pouring sessions getting my mold unclogged. I am thinking about just going to a regular pot and ladle, but I can see that being messy when I pour. Any tips? Part of my frustration is I have been making some jigs for me and my friends using a Collins mold and I put a picture of one of my jigs up on a local fishing board and my Facebook page to see if anyone else wanted some because I planned on making another run. I went back to work and when I checked my Facebook page and the website I had orders for almost 200 jigs. I normally make around 30-50 at a time and it will take me forever to make all the jigs if half my time when pouring is devoted to keeping the pot going...

when adding scent to the plastic, how concentrated do you make it? How many drops?

Looking at ordering mass quantity of laminated worm bags. Based purely on price, Johnson has Inpact beat by $30/ per thousand. Any issues with the Johnson bags? I know people use both and would love some feedback on who you use and why. Thanks! Acuna

Anyone else having any trouble ordering from Lurecraft? Every time I try and check out it empties my cart. It has been a hair pulling experience to say the least! Just trying to order some odds and ends and new colors to try. Oh well, I guess I will just call them on Monday.....

I also want to see pics of the machine!

Ho-ly Cow! I just read the complaint... all I gotta say is that if Netbait wins, there are a LOT of small manufacturers that might be out of business or in the middle of a lawsuit. Makes me want to get to work double quick-time on getting a patent approved for the bait I am working on!!!!