cadman

I have a current dilemma that I never had before. I bought a stainless steel receiver for my truck along with a 2

Fatman is correct. There are many variables here. I use beeswax to flux my lead you could use candle wax. You really don't want the flux to smoke you want it to flame up so you can mix the flame into the lead. You only need to put in a small piece about the size of half a dime cubed. On the lead just get some really soft lead and mix it to half of your current lead, you will have a 50/50 mix. You can try that and see if that helps.

Well it looks like you tried everything, but here are my suggestions and tips. I'm sure you will get more from other members. The Darter jig is one of the easiest jigs to pour since it doesn't have a lot of detail in it, so I'm surprised you are having problems with it. 1) When you put the flux in the pot you need to light the smoke so it doesn't infumigate your whole house. Also as the smoke is flaming, mix the lead carefully with a metal spoon. 2) You can smoke your molds, but I never do and have no problems pouring. 3) If you are not getting full pours crack the mold with more paper to see if you get better pours, do this until you get good pours and no flash. 4) When you have a bad pour and you want to re-use your hook, just stick the bad jig into the pot partially not covering the hook or hook eye, the hot lead in the pot will melt the cold lead off of the jig and you won't have to waste time cutting lead off of a hook. 5) I think your lead is too hard, just a guess since I'm not there. I also have never had "Bad lead", maybe too hard but that's about it. Try softer lead. 6) On my pot I pour all my lead in the summer at #7- #8 7) Do all the cavities pour bad or just one? There are instances where one cavity will give you problems. Other than that you seemed to have all the bases covered. I still think the lead is too hard, but that's a guess.............Let us know how you do.

Smalljaw, I will agree with you. I am not a big fan of Gamis. I did it as a favor for a customer. I am a fan of Mustad hooks. Also I've never used Gami trebles on my crankbaits, but based on your statement, they remind me of the Mustad Triple Grips. Really sharp out of the box, and I've seen these hooks imbed in the fishes skin after they missed the crankbait. All my crankbaits have Triple Grip hooks.

Can you please PM me your e-mail and I will get it out to you, apparently I lost it

I do not believe that Gami has a hook in an EWG for this mold. I do however have a Gami non- EWG that will work in the 1/2 to 1 oz. sizes of this mold. The hook was a special order. If you're interested PM me. You will like the Mustad hook they work well in all the Poison Tail cavities.

If I had a choice of only 4 jigs, I would buy molds in this order. #1 Poison Tail #2 Snootie #3 Football #4 Arky Smalljaw hit it dead on with the top 2. I started fishing the Poison Tail and the Snootie this year and my bass count has risen dramatically. Not always big fish but more fish. I have been using a smaller jig 1/8 oz with the EWG hook. I can put an EWG hook on all of those jig molds. Put on a trailer, and it is a deadly combination. I think the EWG hook has better hook-up percentages, and the smaller jig has a slower fall. It has definitely brought more fish in my boat this year.

Well that's a very clever idea. I like it. I love the Norman speed clips for crankbaits, however don't use them on spinnerbaits (SB'). I've lost too many SB's when casting. Somehow the wire eye of the spinnerbait gets under the speed clip and good bye. So now only for spinnerbaits I tie direct.

I'm glad this helped out. That's what we're all here for to help each other out. Just think of all the frustration there would be if there was no internet?

Tutorial sent

Thanks for all the help guys.

Kayser Lure Corp. P.O.Box 68 Ursa, Illinois 62376 217-964-2110

Can anyone tell me if Hilts molds pour well. Also is Hilts the only place you can buy them at or do they have distributors? Thanks for the help.

Brendandrage, First of all Smalljaw is correct all glow powder paints should be applied over a white basecoat. Also this may sound trivial but the jig head should be smooth and void of all gouges, flash lines and sprue marks. Finally if the paint is blotchy and rough looking, it means that the paint hasn't had a chance to melt evenly. It takes a little practice with glow powder paints to get them even all around. I only use the clear glo which has a light green hue, I did test studies at work on the clear glow and feel that all the other glows by Protech (CS Coatings) don't come close to the glow value of their clear. With that said I don't use the colored glows and I don't use the clear glow over a colored jig. Also if you put the clear glows in the sun, they definitely do glow longer.....This is just my opinion.

E-mail sent.

Thanks, and I'll look for the thread.................

I want to ask you guys, how do you glue(mend) plastics. I have a few hollow Netbaits Tiny Paca Craws. Apparently the bass by me love these and they just destroy the hollow bodies along with pulling off one of the claws. So now I have ripped hollow bodies from the hooks and on some baits and I have 1 missing claw on others. So what I would like to do is glue or whatever works, the rip in the hollow body and then take two craws with the missing claw and cut a claw from one and glue it onto another making one good full craw. How can this be done? Thanks for any help.

Well, I went out Thursday, and the reel performed flawlessly. In an 8 hour fishing tournament cast after cast with no problem. 12 bass all aroud 14" and the last one of the day was 20-1/2" (3.8 lbs). So far so good. On another note, I'm surprised that you didn't get a better response from Abu. It's pretty sad, however it was nice that Tackle Warehouse took care of your problem

There are several ways to paint. You need to find what works for you. I heat each jig with a heat gun, swish it through the powder paint jar or fluid bed and then rack it. Ready for the rack to be put into the toaster oven. Or you can preheat all the jigs in a toaster oven in lieu of the heat gun, then take the rack out and start swishing your jigs in the powder paint jar or fluid bed then rack again and it will be ready for curing. Either way all jigs have to be baked. The baking cures or hardens the paint.................A fluid bed is a chamber that holds a powder paint cup with powder paint. There is an external air pump that pushes air into the chamber which then pushes the powder paint up in a fluid bed cup and fluidizes the powder. The powder looks like moving water. This process puts a thinner and a more even coat of paint on all of your jigs. You can either buy one from Benjamin Welcome to TJ's Tackle or if you are handy you can get instructions from me. Sometimes it's easier to just buy one. Benjamin's units include everything ready to go right out of the box. You can't beat the set-up

Mark you are correct they are very light. I am going out fishing Thursday and I will see if my reel will work after it had a nice bath in the lake. I didn't take it apart to see if there was any water in it, but it seems fine. Will give you a report after Thursday's day of events.

flippinfool, I have both of these molds. On the Arky no problem at all. On the brush jig, since I pour harder lead, the jig after it's poured has a tendency to stick to the cavity a bit. Also I personally feel that the 1/4 oz version of this jig is too top heavy with the hoook it calls for. Just my worth.

fishnde, If they are for yourself just fish them. If the the jig itself is good before you painted it and you have a really bad paint job you can take the whole batch of jigs and put them in a bowl of paint stripper. In an hour or so you will have clean jigs. The jigs will get dull from the stripper, but this will not affect the new paint you will apply. You will have to take each jig out wipe it down and then wash it in water, and then let dry. If there is still some paint on the jig after you take it out of the paint stripper just put it back in the stripper for another hour, preferably clean paint stripper. I use Bix paint stripper which I bought by the gallon. As far as stripping jigs goes this all depends on how many jigs you have with bad paint jobs. If you have 5 or so it's not worth the time. If you have 100 and you don't want to pour again then maybe yes. This is your call. Stripping jigs is a slow process but it does work...............Like Gman said I would not re-melt them in your pouring pot. The paint smells horrible and you are going to have to re-pour them. If the jigs are good strip the paint off as mentioned above and you will save re-pouring time......Your choice. If you need more help PM me. I'm sure you will get more advice here as time goes on.

Mark, Well it's nice you're catching fish, it kind of sucks the nut stripped. I'm still really hesitant about buying another one. I think this reel will get the best of me. I was out Saturday fishing and I put my rod down. Forgot to turn the trolling motor off however it was on low. Next thing I know, I see my rod and reel go overboard. I grabbed another rod, snagged the 1st one with my Revo in the water, and retrieved it. Unfortunately the rod tip snapped as the line got caught around the trolling motor prop. Maybe I should've let it gone to the depths of the lake put me out of my misery and buy a different one. Anyway it is still drying out. I will let you know if I have any more strange dilemmas with this reel. BTW I did see the new Revo Premier that you mentioned. That price is what I paid for mine at the beginning of the year. I have a couple more months of fishing and then it will be cold here. Hopefully my Revo will last. If not next year I will be looking for something else. Maybe less cost =better reel.

I will totally agree with you guys. I have learned a lot and I'm slooooowwwwwlllllyyyyy getting into air brushing, and if you ask with heart in hand everyone is willing to help you out. I enjoy helping newbies and anyone that asks, on the flip side guys have gone out of there way to help me out as well. No matter what forum you're in............TU guys/gals the best:yay:

George, What diameter wire form did you use? Did you buy it or make the wire form? Can I PM you for some more info?