BobP

One problem with epoxy is that it draws away from a sharp edge while curing. That makes sharp edges on a joint susceptible to finish failure. The epoxy LOOKS OK but is actually paper thin. Sand the edges to a radius if you use epoxy. I'm not sure of the function of washers in a joint, but if the metal doesn't have to be thick, you can cut them out of a soft drink can easily with regular scissors.

Yes, if you heat the epoxy or the bait you put in on, it will cure faster. But you also run into problems that are hard to control, like sagging and running, soot on the bait, or curing too fast to level out, etc. I know everyone wants Instant Gratification (me too!) but epoxy takes time to cure. More patience = fewer failures.

I always install the lip before clearcoating, so the lip/body margin gets covered and waterproofed. If you are epoxying the bait to cover the foil before painting, I'd still hold off on the lip until just before clearcoating. BTW, I paint directly onto Venture BriteBak foil and then just clearcoat the bait. The BriteBak holds paint OK and it's thin enough not to be obtrusive along its edges.

I shoot a color, dry it with the hair dryer, immediately shoot the next, etc until I finish painting. It should all be dry at that point. Do not try to "heat set" clearcoat, especially not DN. It dries so fast anyway, you'll just mess it up.

My tip is this - do everything you can to make the bait symmetrical. When you install the hardware, make sure it is centered. Making a symmetrical bait by hand shaping is hard because you're dealing with complex curves and seeing them 'through the filter' of wood grain. It's worthwhile to mark out what you want to do to the bait when rounding it over and tapering it. Look at some of the tutorials and note when and how guys lay out their cuts and contours, and what sequence they use in building them. For instance, draw your lip slot and cut it immediately after cutting out the basic body shape, while the sides of the body are still flat. If you cut the slot after rounding over the bait, you no longer have a flat surface from which to index the cut. It's all logical step by step stuff but it requires a little thought and planning to get the right sequence going on your first baits.

Like Whittler says, 1/16" "Lexan" is very popular - clear, tough, durable, unobtrusive. Lexan is a brand name of polycarbonate and there are many brands. All brands are pretty much the same functionally, as far as I can tell. Another good source is mcmaster.com, which also sells polycarbonate, circuit board, wire, etc at good prices. I like circuit board on shallow baits intended for fishing cover - which swimbaits are not!

It will be interesting to see how things shake out with Stamina. What I liked about them was the wide array of otherwise hard to find items (like hooks) they stocked. Yeah, they took too darned long to get orders to you but it was stuff you couldn't find anywhere else. I'm hoping the New Stamina will differentiate itself from their competitors like Janns Netcraft by continuing that tradition while improving customer service. Here's to their success!

If you want to buy lips, several TU sponsors sell them. You can also buy them from Janns Netcraft and several other net stores.

It's a challenge to get a slow floating bait that will dive 6-8 meters. There are a few that will go to 6, very few that go to 8. The lip has to be oversize and the bait has to dive really well. A majority of the baits I've seen in this category have lips made from thin 1/32" G-10 circuit board. And they weigh 1 to 1 1/4 oz. I use basically the same method as Fishwhittler to shape lips in Lexan (polycarbonate) or circuit board. I make a paper template, trace it onto a sheet of plastic and cut that out. Use the plastic template to outline the lip shape on the paper backing of the polycarbonate or directly onto circuit board. Do a rough cut with metal shears and sand down to the exact line with a Dremel. In my case, I just use a 1/2" diameter fine grit Dremel sanding drum. You can dress the edge with a Dremel felt polishing cylinder if desired. As far as consistency of shape, it starts with the first paper drawing. Either use drafting tools and be exact, or use a CAD program (free versions are available) and do it on a computer. I use a CAD shareware called "Powerdraw". The benefit with CAD is that you can get it symmetrical and the shape measured exactly in the computer, with the line tie exactly in the center of the lip surface. And with CAD, it comes out the right size when printed on a standard printer.

My son and I went fishing on a deep, clear lake last week. Surface temp was 65 degrees and it was overcast. We left the ramp enroute to a 'usual fishing spot', hoping to catch a few bass on crankbaits/worms. As I accelerated into 55 ft of water only 200 ft from the dock (I said it was deep!), I glanced at the sonar and noticed a cloud of baitfish down near the bottom and a big pile of larger fish under them. Time to rethink the plan! I "slammed on the brakes" and we tied on a couple of 3/4 oz Janns Netcraft jigging spoons. I had painted the spoons glow white and added feathered trebles. We dropped the spoons down and big white bass hit both spoons before they reached the bottom. Over the next hour, we caught white and spotted bass as fast as we could unhook them and get our spoons back in the water. Eventually, we drifted a few yards off the action and I noticed even BIGGER fish on the sonar. Bang - a 3 1/2 and a 4 lb largemouth bass. 3 other good size largmouths in the next few minutes before the action died out (or we lost the school!). We unhooked the largemouths and got them on the way back down ASAP before their swim bladders distended. No disabled or dead fish! It turned out to be a great outing with a lot of fish caught. There was no surface activity. All the action was taking place deeper than most guys look for catchable fish, deeper than most think for spoon jigging here in the Southeast. 65 degree water temp would not be considered cold enough to encourage shad schooling. But they were, and the bass knew it! While we caught fish, I could see at least 5 other boats within sight - all pounding the banks with worms, SB's and cranks. And none catching fish. Moral of the story - plans are great but stay open to opportunity and keep an eye on the sonar! Like gold, "Fish are where you find them" and finding them is 90% of catching them. Secondly, if you are spoon jigging and catching white bass or small bass, larger bass will often be lurking on the periphery of the action to pick off easy meals. We've all heard of large fish lurking BELOW the smaller fish but when the action is near the bottom, there is no "below". I've found that to be true with both largemouth and stripers. So keep an eye out for them!

I thnk rlcam is right. But some shallow baits with great reputations for fishing cover, like the D-Bait, have rounded lips so there are exceptions to the rule. Fast rise buoyancy, body shape, where you put the ballast, and hook size all work into making a good shallow cover bait.

On a wood bait, just cut it out with thin cuts along the top and bottom of the lip (actually, cutting on EITHER the top or bottom usually gives you enough room/leverage to pry it loose). When you get it out, the slot is now too big for the new lip. Here's a fix - fill the void with epoxy putty and cut another lip slot. Or, pack the slot with putty and push a new lip into it while still soft. Works surprisingly well and you don't have to fret about keeping the lip straight while the epoxy cures - the putty holds it still immediately. The putty has a density similar to hardwood. I use whatever brand quick cure 5 min. epoxy putty is available at a home center

Having trouble posting new topics, am trying another browser here. Excuse my dust.

It worth a shot. I'd look to see if a contact on the switch (or elsewhere) has come loose. If not, try jumping the switch contacts to see if that's the problem. If it is, you can buy a new one at Radio Shack. Careful you don't electrocute yourself, of course. One thing I'd check first - If the Bear has auto-off, the switch that controls that can also be a problem. On my cylindrical Badger compressor, that switch is under the end cap where the air intake is and you can remove the end cap simply by removing 2 screws. It's a simple switch with a single screw adjustment that determines the pressure level that will open/close the switch. It can get stuck open or closed, or vibration can cause the adjustment screw to back out.

If I could only afford one, I'd get a Hackney. He seems to have the best swim action.

Yep, I should have been clearer that I was speaking about different things - undercoating vs topcoating. JMHO, undercoating on balsa is to reinforce the wood, keep wood grain from rising, and provide a hard smooth surface on which to paint. If it's waterproof, that's good but should be a moot point because it shouldn't get exposed to water in the normal course of events, because it's protected by a waterproof topcoat. When I use epoxy for undercoating, it's always Devcon because I have it on hand for topcoating and it works well in both roles. I was thinking of different practical scenarios. For instance, you might use a polyurethane topcoat instead of Devcon or ETEX. And Devcon Two Ton is getting harder to find in stores since Walmart stopped stocking it. In that case, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up a different brand of slow cure 30 min epoxy and use it for undercoating. I've used Devcon for 7-10 yrs and have come to appreciate its good qualities - it's not finicky, it brushes well, it cures faster than most alternative epoxies, and it levels out great to produce a nice hard topcoat. I order it online in 9 oz bottle sets so I won't run out. But if I did run out .... Plan B

Thanks. I have some 9300 and have been vacillating about trying it. So far, I've only used it for undercoating and it worked OK. I'm not sure about long submersion tests - seems to me that's not how baits are used. If the 9300 absorbs water and becomes softer during several hours of fishing, that would accelerate finish erosion and hook rash, and would be negative. Guess I'm gonna have to break down and try it. Like anything, every builder has to try something for himself before he can say whether it fits his idea of "the right stuff".

For the most durable waterproof undercoating, I recommend epoxy. It reinforces and hardens balsa extremely well. I use 30 minute epoxy glue (Devcon Two Ton) but any "30 minute, slow cure epoxy" will probably work for undercoating. Mix the epoxy and then thin it with lacquer thinner until it is fairly thin. That helps it penetrate the surface of the wood. You need to rotate the bait for about an hour to keep it from sagging. Sand the cured epoxy with 400 grit paper to remove its gloss and smooth out any end grain areas that absorbed the epoxy differentially, then give it a second coat if needed. You end up with a very smooth hard bait. Epoxy is chemically inert so any topcoat you favor will work fine with it (including more Devcon Two Ton, unthinned or slightly thinned). Baits crack when water gets into them. If it does, no finish will withstand the internal pressure of expanding wood. So you want 100% encapsulation of all the wood, including around the lip and hook hangers. That's why Devcon Two Ton is so popular - you can use it to undercoat, to topcoat, and to glue in the lip and hook hangers - and it's waterproof. It's one of the few "do it all" products for bait making.

I recently bought an umbrella rig for striper fishing and it has the weight (2-3 ounces) in the center of the rig with the arms molded into it. If you are comfortable melting lead, you can build a small wooden box as a mold, with holes drilled to fit in the umbrella arms. If you want one shaped to come through the water with minimum drag on the center weight, use Bondo as a mold and shape the lead form with a Dremel tool. I can't think of any other way of attaching the arms and lead weight together that's better than molding them together.

Cleaning bearings - personally, I soak mine in aerosol STARTING FLUID (aka Ether). That's about as volatile a solvent as you can find so it removes old oil and dirt better than most others. I don't shoot mine with compressed air. If done to the extreme on an unlubricated bearing, that can damage it. I just swish them around in the ether and let them soak for a few minutes, then put them on the end of a pencil and spin them by hand to check how smooth they are. If they're clean, they will spin long and smooth with ether acting as the lubricant. Still rough? Put them back in and repeat. Sometimes it takes several cycles. When clean and smooth, I sit the bearing on a paper towel and the ether evaporates out in 5-10 minutes. You can tell when they are dry when they no longer will spin long - all the lubricant is missing. Then add one drop of oil, rotating the bearing to work it inside. Done. BTW - bearings can occasionally "take a set" and spin in one direction better and smoother than the other. When I test a bearing on a pencil point, I flip it and check it in both directions. If one spins better than the other, I put the bearing back in the reel so it is spinning in that direction. BTW2 - I use fast, low viscosity oil only in spool bearings. For low speed bearings in the rest of the reel, I like higher viscosity oil like Reel Butter regular oil or Abu Reel oil. Oil doesn't 'wear away' or evaporate - it migrates or gets slung out of a bearing. Low viscosity oil migrates faster, so high speed spool bearings need to be lubricated more often, while low speed bearings will stay lubed longer and better with thicker oil.

Excellent! Now wasn't that FUN? Catching fish on a bait you made by hand is why many of us build crankbaits. Now, do it again

In my experience too, BC's are more accurate and that's important when you are fishing a shoreline from a boat. As far as distance, it's debatable which reel will cast farther. IMO, there are too many line and rod dependencies to argue that point. Like most bass fishermen, I use 8 to 20 lb line on BC's and 6-8 lb line on small spinning reels. You can use any size line on most BC's. But on spinning reels, you run into handling problems if you use heavy line on a small reel with a small diameter spool. So if you want 15-20 lb line on a spinning reel, you need a big, heavy 40 size reel.

Bearings are sized according to: Diameter of the hole X outside diameter X thickness. For instance, the spool bearings on a Shimano B200 are 3X10x4 mm. It's not hard to measure them with a ruler. Stainless steel bearings are also classified according to internal tolerances by the ABEC system. Most reel manufacturers use ABEC-3 to ABEC-5 bearings. Many guys buy ABEC-7 bearings when replacing worn factory bearings. They will run a little smoother and longer at higher rpm because they have tighter tolerances, plus you can buy them open market for less than ABEC-5 replacement bearings from the reel manufacturer. Will they give you smoother and longer casts? Yes, but not huge gains - maybe an extra 5-10% distance on a long cast. Ceramic bearings are much more expensive but will cast a little farther than ABEC-7's. What you have to ask yourself is "how much am I willing to spend to cast a little farther?" Personally, I fish out of a bassboat and have to say I rarely cast for max distance. Max accuracy yes, distance no. It makes sense for me to buy ABEC-7 replacements but less sense to buy ceramic bearings that cost double what ABEC-7's cost. Others want to 'hot rod' their reel to the max, so it's a player's choice.

I mix it for about a minute with a 1/2" wide plastic strip in a shallow dish. Others use a piece of wire, so "how long" and "with what", even "in what" are variable but important. My experience is that ETEX requires more thorough mixing and I think you can let up a little on the mix time with Devcon. I say that with reservation because the next thing you know, we'll have a rash of posts complaining about epoxy not curing hard! When it's cold in the garage, I fold in a few drops of lacquer thinner after mixing to make brushing easier and and extend the brush time by a minute or two. And I don't mix more Devcon than I can brush on 2 baits. As far as weakening Devcon by mixing solvent into it - that seems intuitively true but I haven't seen evidence one way or the other. Sure, it's weaker because the coating is thinner. But I can't tell a difference in the hardness of the final product. Smart idea from Husky!

There were TU discussions about it when the video originally came out. It is a custom made machine that would be pretty costly to reproduce commercially - I think $20K was mentioned? I also remember seeing it for sale at some point? Anyway, a couple of TUers know the owner/builder, who I believe produces On The Line crankbaits. Pretty neat piece of equipment! There have been other threads about reproduction machines for crankbaits but I don't know whether anyone is currently marketing one.