GB GONE

TRUE!!! You should see the BIG white ones I wear on tournament day!!!! Love coming in with 22lbs and funky white glasses, flowered board shorts and my tourney shirt!! Guys don't know what to think but have to respect you for your sack of fish!! Jim

If we would focus on the process and leave the personal attacks out things would be great! Doesn't seem that is possible with some hear. I asked valid questions and now my other posts are being hijacked and I am personally being attacked. Lets talk about making baits or is there nothing but jabs to be offered? Jim

Thank you!!! Can I ask after looking at your pictures, do the injectors produce curled flake in a lot of baits? I see the green and blue seem to be curled in most bait photos. Does the plastic have to shoot at a higher heat or is that a result of possible bad flake? Just trying to cover my bases and get honest info. I do not like to send out baits with curled flake. Thjanks again for the info and your email. I have a few other questions that I will ask via email tomorrow. Jim

Thanks!!!! Whew!!!!!! Jim

Bear: Can/will you answer my questions? It is OK if you refer to your injectors even though I am asking in general. I truely want to know about this stuff before I get started!!!! Jim

Trying to get info here!!! You guys are going to get the topic locked!!! How much do you, 96dak and Shane, inject in a week or day? Gallons, cups? Curious as there does not seem to be anyone really using these in a higher volume situation. Might require several injectors to be rotated during use. I can go through 5 gallons in a week. That would be a lot of injecting. Jim

I don't have an issue with glitter either. Pour out the full cup and you have no problem. Salt is my big question. Sure there has to be some guys out there using salt with the hand injection system with all that use them now. Really want to hear about saltas I might make flukes and would definitely use some. You have to have an even dispersion or the baits will not have proper action. Love to get my hands on a bag of hand injected salted baits to see if there is a noticable difference. May not be... As far as blowback or a potential failure, it may not have happened yet but it is just a matter of time as the injectors get older with use or sit around and the o-ring breaks down. No one knows the actual time frame of failure on the o-ring that keeps everything together. Repeated heating and cooling plus pressure will eventually cause a failure though. Happens with all devices with time. If I get into this, I will have a time frame to replace that o-ring. That was all my question was based on. Not 100% sure as I have not read the MSDS on my recent plastic, but I think a face mask/shield is already called for when using. Thanks for the info Shane. Jim

Del.... LMAO!!! Did the dog crap stick baits??? Jim

Sound like a relief valve is needed that points AWAY from the injector might be in order. Figured you and Bob played with these a while ago as I tried it with old glass syringes and pop molds when I first started. Lucky I didn't get burned! You guys probably have seen and done lots. I'd be afraid if I made these things that someone would come back and sue my azz if they got hurt/burned. Heck, I'll probably still give it a run just to say I did it!!! Jim

Thanks Del, your injectors look nice. Last question is: Can sticks that weigh the same as the GY sticks be shot through the hand injectors or do you have to go lighter on the salt? Seems the salt would get out of proportion easily unless you have a pot stirring all the time (but I guess you can't do that if the gun has to rest in the pot to stay warm) or do exactly the amount in a cup as you have for your mold(s). Thanks!!! Like to hear from all those that use Bear's system as well. Jim

Thanks Del.... This crap scares me a little but I gotta see what everybody is slobbering themselves over. Jim

I am curious on a few points guys so here goes: How quick do the seals in these injectors wear out? If I started using a method like this, I might shoot a gallon a night for several weeks in a row. How do you "load" the laminate injectors? Are they 2 seperate injectors that you hook together after sucking up your plastic? How well does the glitter and salt stay suspended if you have to stop, de-mold and restart shooting? Seems this would be more of an issue tahn with hand pouring because you can't re-stir. I have looked at the teflon aprons closely and I think that would be a good protective device as well for errant plastic. Thanks for any insight. Jim PS Maybe we need a sticky on hand injection do's and dont's like the hand pour one.

All good info Del. Del is 100% correct, limiting factor is molds and plastic. You can have a pot or syringe or cup full of plastic but if you don't have the molds for it to go into, it doesn't matter what system you use. I like being able to see my plastic myself. Trying to find my "old" glass syringes I used to inject some resin and plaster of paris molds. Worked super for single colors... Curious, how many cavities do you think a hand injector would do? Guess it would depend on the bait as a trick work type mold might be able to be bigger (more cavities) vs a stick mold as mentioned. I'm not going there but I wonder thwe max you could do with one shot.. A face mask would seem to be a must as well. One small squirt and you could be blind if the plastic finds the right spot. Jim

You can use the same jugs but as mentioned, be double sure you mix before separating. Or...you could use M-F plastic and never worry about the separation again!!! Jim

This style is poured and then dipped. I had a shop make these for me personally. Can't be bought exactly like these from anyone right now that I know of. Check with Del though, he might have something. Sorry... Jim

Bear....Re-read my posts and you will see that I never mentioned anyone's company. Others did! As a matter of fact, instead of plugging away at just one particular technique, I offered up hand pouring, injection and presto pots as all viable options. I have ordered products from your company in the past and am heading over to order the hand injection set-up so I can speak knowledgably on this particular system mentioned. I did speak of the injection process in another post not being suitable for swim baits such as the Baby e type baits or hollow belly baits. I'll stand by that. Jim

Nice!! I like the pearl/smoke ones with tiny black flake. Jim

Why would you open the molds and cut the tips? Just pour a color then pour the other. Simple and efficient. I guess if you are doing it that way, tips are possible. I do mine by pouring the tip color and then pouring the other color. No mold to open and close. If you are opening and closing molds, cuttin plastic etc. then hand pouring tipped baits would be far faster. In addition, you do not get cold cracks. Sorry if anyone thought I was steering anyone away from a product or manufacturer. Some like the hand injection, some like hand pouring. We each have talked about benefits and I actually spoke about some draw backs about hand pouring as well. To each his own. I never hear any drawbacks mentioned about the hand injection systems but there are drawbacks to all systems. No reason for Bear to attack me by name on this forum or to claim that I continue to steer people away from his products. I do not attack him by name ever as there are other companies that currently offer, and have offered, hand injection processes far before these that we are seeing. I am talking about the processes, not about the particular companies. Jim

Again, if you want to make a chartreuse tip on your baits, I think you will find it more difficult to do that with a hand injection system. Consider a pot system for making sticks as this is a very efficient way to crank them out. You could nuke the chartreuse or cook it in a seperate cup. I played with hand injectors and a small pressure injector a few years back. With the injection molds, you can make some great baits but tips will be tough, if not impossible. Also, if you are considering laminates (2 color sticks) at any time, the multi-cavity hand injection molds will not reliably make those. It is not an efficient process with a hand pour mold either but can be accomplished easily with little practice. A single mold will limit the numbers you can do though so you might just want to start with a pyrex cup and mic or burner and pan system and consider a pot later. You will need some way to heat your plastic with the hand injection system so the pyrex/mic or burner/cup will have to be purchased anyway. Another consideration will be cost as one system is $70 more than the other listed. Good luck in your choices!!!! Jim

Jeff... I'll pm you info so we don't hijack this post... Jim

Just remember, injection IS different than hand pouring. Your options will be limited on some things with hand injection vs. hand pouring. Some say core shots can't be done with hand pouring but I beg to differ. Not saying one is better than the other, but if you want to hand pour, then injection is not what you want. If you want to make quantity, hand injection might be right. For swims, hand poured is the way to go. I can't see how you can do anything like the California Baby e's or other line through baits with hand injection. Here is a hand poured, hollow belly gizzard shad that cannot be accomplished any other way than hand pour. Check Del's starter kits, Bob's Tackle Shack and Bass Tackle as well. I would look for a baby e type mold, a slim swimbait mold with hook slot and something like a skinny dipper to start. They all give different types of actions and catch when others may not. Jim

As manufacturers have changed and tweaked colors, I would say no to the cookbook being foolproof. LC's green pumpkin and watermelon are distinctly different now compared to the old formula. Other colors from Del have been discontinued and replacing another manufacturer's colorant will not get you to the same end result.... Of course, if you don't know exactly what the original color is or what it looked like, then the cookbook will be dead-on 100% of the time! I have a friend that is red-green bad. He doesn't see the colors on the stop lights at all, just a grey color. He has to remember the position on the light... The side-ways lights really goofed him up for a while!! Jim

All these posts confirm what many have said in the past.... Make your own Green Pumpkin and go forward. I promise I have caught as many or more fish on my green pumpkin, and other green pumpkins. I know customers want Zoom's or Gambler's or who evers colors but how about YOUR color. Matching is fun but gets old fast and not as fun as just bringing your own color to the table! Jim PS Since the "old" green pumpkin from LC is not available nor the "old" watermelon, some recipes in the sticky are no longer close. All the more reason to get your own thing going!

Not exactly sure which bait this is but if it is any type of swim, you have to let the bait firm up in the "correct" position for at least a day or 2 to keep the tail straight. Even after that tiem, you will see the tail bend and get out of position. Here is some vital information from Matt at www.mattlures.com on swimbait maintenance: "Another common problem with soft Swimbaits is they tend to get warped or twisted when they are not stored properly. It is usually very easy and quick to straighten them out. Soft plastic will return to its original shape if you put it in boiling water. It is not a good idea to submerge the glue on eyes in the boiling water because they could become clouded or fall off, but the rest of the bait will be fine. Dip the body of the bait in the water for about 1-3 minutes and then suspend it in cold water until the bait is completely cooled. This should bring it back to its original shape." I think you will find that a bag will not work for any type of swim, you will need some type of plastic container. Jim