Sharp9

It's prime Walleye fishing here at the moment and I have traditionally used a lot of standard curly tails on 1/8 or 1/4oz. jig heads. I was considering trying Dels paddletail stik on a jig head and was wondering if anyone has tried them out on Walleye?

After reading numerous posts about salt in soft plastics I started wondering what are the true benefits. Most of the big national soft plastic vendors proudly market their baits as "salted" or "heavily salted" or some other variation. They have been adding salt to the plastic or salting the finished baits for years and I always assumed that the salt caused the fish to hang on longer. Based upon several comments here, many seem to believe that salt is only useful to add weight to the bait and should be avoided if possible by adding "sugar" flakes or other items to accomplish this. When I first used a Senko I was amazed that a fish would swallow the bait without hesitation and swim away with it proudly, I attributed this to the heavy salt content. The wiggle or drop speed may have attracted them to the bait initially but once it's in their mouth what makes them hold on? In my experience I've never found an unsalted soft plastic that the fish "eat". So, did I buy into the marketing hype of salted plastic, or do the fish like it better?

Well, I got my 5" stick kit from Del and within a few minutes was pouring baits and the heat isn't an issue. I actually just used a hand towel and didn't have a problem. I'm surprised that I've read about so many beginner problems, I was expecting this to be a bit tricky. I reproduced my favorite color Senko with plenty of salt and two colors of glitter and after a few tries was pouring 4 perfect baits each time. It really isn't rocket science and it's a great deal of fun, I wish I would have done it a long time ago. I'm really looking forward to experimenting.

I'm new to pouring soft plastics and just setting up my equipment. I'll be using the microwave method and was curious as to what type of gloves you folks are wearing when handling the Pyrex. Welding gloves? Pot holders? Prosthetic hooks? Also, I was considering buying some type of warming device to set the Pyrex on when I'm in the middle of a pour (like when assembling a 2 piece mold after the first color of a laminate is done) or when moving on to a second mold etc... I was thinking that something as simple as a coffee pot warmer (such as Bunn) might be helpful but I'm not sure that it would be warm enough to make any difference. I was just thinking that a warm surface might help assure that the Pyrex doesn't break because I'll be working in a relatively chilly area this winter. Any thoughts or suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!