BobP

I like the oval rings on Lucky Craft baits but it's VERY easy to distort those suckers when installing or removing them. I stick with round rings because I don't see much practical advantage in the more expensive ovals. Stronger? Put on some 2X or 3X. The trebles will straighten before they fail.

I think you guys are right - put on the Devcon! However, that's a little beside the point since you got a result you didn't expect or want. Maybe next time the result won't be so lucky. I'd also stick with one brand or family of coatings for reliable results. Even then, you can get incompatibilities at which the paint company will scratch their heads and say "Huh? Never saw that before".

I use 2 coats, guess it depends on how bulletproof you want the finish. One thing you'll notice is DN becomes much harder and tougher as its moisture cure process continues over days and weeks. I don't know how fast that happens but it seems very gradual. It is actually very tender after only 24 hrs. I don't fish them for at least a week and really prefer to wait a month. I always dip, I think Dean prefers brushing.

I think that works well with Apple Barrel and similar hobby paints. I use AB with a large tip airbrush and thinning it with plain water in the bottle has not caused any problems. Not so with many airbrush formulated paints that don't like being thinned until just before spraying.

Patents and copyrights are worth only as much as the owner is willing to pay to defend them by hiring expensive lawyers. Practically speaking, that means nothing in most cases. But if you infringe, you might get lucky and be the exception to the rule, especially if your knockoff is a big success. Howver, looking at how rapidly every successful fishing lure is knocked off by competitors, the risk must be pretty miniscule.

I don't like stiff stencils because I want it to make contact around the curved sides of the bait. I tried "light tack" adhesive stencil and it pulled paint off the bait when it was removed, plus it's not reusable. So now I still use the light tack stencil material (a soft plastic with a paper backing) but I leave on the backing. A couple of advantages - you can just flip it over and use it for both sides of the bait, then keep the stencil for reuse. Plus it's thin enough to bend well around the bait and easy to cut with an Xacto knife. A roll of the stuff will last almost forever.

I've done it both ways but prefer using the cheap paint-on glitter and thinning it with water before applying it with a brush. I can control the distribution and density of glitter much better that way, plus the glitter paint is very inexpensive and comes in a large variety of sizes and colors.

It will probably stick "as is" but sanding with some 400 or 600 grit is OK too. I'm usually making a clear bait from a painted one so have sanded off the finish with 400 grit paper. It looks cloudy but turns clear as the epoxy topcoat fills in all the little sratches. So sand or no, it should be OK. BTW, I think crankbait bodies may be one several types of plastic but not polycarbonate.

I remember a post by a guy who built a box lined with tin foil and placed two regular 100W incandescent bulbs inside it, with his lure dryer. He reports that it cures epoxy much quicker. You need to be careful about the amount of heat you apply to a lure while the clearcoat is hardening. Too much heat (particularly on balsa) can cause air in the wood to expand and bubble the clearcoat.

I have a Crescendo 175T and like it very much for larger pattern spray jobs on crankbaits. I just ordered one of the 360's from the garage sale. The price is right, hope the brush is too since I've not used one! Tks for the tip!

I'd guestimate around 2 hrs, it depends on temperature. Save the unused epoxy while the baits cure and poke that to see how it's going. If there's any doubt, keep those wheels a-rolling.

I spray starting fluid (aka ether) into a shot glass, drop in the bearings swish them around a bit and let them sit an hour or so. Cover the glass or the ether will evaporate. It's about the most volatile solvent you can get. Take them out, put them on the end of a pencil and spin them. If they're smooth and fast, they're clean. If not, it's back into the glass. Most shielded reel bearings can be brought back to life this way. When clean, lay them on a paper towel to dry. When dry, they will not spin so fast or smoothly as when they had ether in them to lubricate the balls. A drop of fine oil will relube the bearing. Bearings usually run smoother in one direction, that is the direction they were broken in, so put them back in to rotate in the same direction.

The hitch hikers I've seen have a coil that's only about 1/8" dia. That may be small for a musky bait but it would work. You might find a larger coil if you look at jig pouring suppliers, otherwise I'd try wrapping one from .029-.031 stainless steel wire using a bolt as an armature. Epoxy it into the wood body. Maybe someone knows a source for larger ss wire coils?

Devcon Two Ton thins easily with a few drops of denatured alcohol or acetone. I mix the epoxy for 2 bass baits at room temperature, then dip my brush into the alcohol and flick in a few drops, and mix it in with a plastic strip from a credit card. You can dilute D2T up to about 50% and it will still cure into a smooth coating. The thinner the epoxy, the more you need to rotate the bait to prevent it from migrating to the tail. I use a flat 1/4" artist's brush for application. Clean it vigorously with the alcohol afterwards and it will last indefinitely. With a solvent added to the epoxy, it will make any solvent based colors such as a Sharpie, run.

Yes, I'd give it a shot. Unless it's an optical illusion, DT-16 lips also have a slight up angle. The bait's float attitude affects the angle at which water will flow over the lip, so a few degrees of up angle may not mean disaster.

http://www.floridafisheries.com/fishes/non-native.html#tilapia Take a look at this url for some pics, drawings and color descriptions of the Blue Tilapia aka Nile Perch

Hey, when I was in the Congo there were Nile Perch there too - they weighed in around 100-200 lbs and would eat a trophy bass as a light snack

Mike, alternatives to Witchcraft seem interesting until I see the prices and learn you have to buy in lots of 1000 minimum. Then, they don't seem so bad

Shoalie, I used exactly the same mix of paints you did, heat cured with a hair dryer, and then dipped in DN 2 hrs later. No problem. I always let DN drip onto a piece of newspaper until I'm sure there is no pooled areas that will migrate around as it flashes, then clip it on a 4 rpm dryer for an hour - usually in my cold garage. The only time I had a problem is when I directed a fan heater onto the bait while it was rotating. Then I got some ripples. Maybe some DN problems are magic and can only be cured with voodoo, but I think if you keep the coating thin and the bait rotating, many of them can be avoided. I recoat with a second dip of DN after 24 hrs and let the bait cure for 3-7 days before fishing. Honestly, if I were going to brush the finish on anyway, I'd use (and do) Devcon 2T because it's more bulletproof in application.

That makes an interesting and unique pattern! Very nice.

Sweet job! You'll be proud to catch fish on those

I'm really not surprised some Japanese baits by small volume "noted builders" go for $60 - especially considering the dollar/yen exchange rate The same high prices pertain to Japanese reels souped up with custom parts and tweaked by noted reel smiths. I think the price is more due to fans' appreciation of the esthetics of the product and its celebrated maker versus more practical concerns.

I also hear 1/3 their length is the optimum forage size for a bass. But that's usually not what they're eating. It depends on what's available seasonally, daily, etc. A hungry 27" bass won't sit idly by and watch a school of 5" minnows or a 4" crawfish wander by just because 9" is her "optimum prey size". Most of the soft and hard swimbaits thrown by pro tournament fishermen outside of California are 5-6". And that's in areas where LM bass are typically 4-6 lbs, with 8-10 lb fish possible. So I think 5 or 6" swimbaits are probably the sweet spot. And in northern climes, it would probably be better to use one with a slimmer body style than a Strike King King Shad. Besides, when you get into larger swimbaits, you're talking 1 oz + and special rods and reels, so it becomes a "specialist presentation" pretty quickly.