smalljaw

I do it the same way since 2005 and it works well. I put the mold on top of the pot and then turn the pot on. After the lead is melted I run 5 blank pours without hooks and I have an ingot mold under the mold as lead will come out on some molds. The only time I warm hooks is in the winter when it gets cold. I have a small stainless steel dog bowl that I put the hooks in. I heat the bowl with a torch for about 8 to 10 seconds and my hooks will stay warm for 20 minutes or so until I have to heat the bowl again. Remember, I only warm my hooks so they stay a little warmer than the room temp. The bowl is hot but the hooks on top only get warm, maybe 75 degrees. You don't need hot hooks, just warm and I only do that when it is really cold.

Until you get the graphite spray there are some things you can do. The first is temperature, that mold needs to be pretty hot so make sure you heat it up. The next thing is the lead itself needs to be really hot. If you are using a LEE pot look at the number you are melting he lead on. If you are using 6 then bump it up to 7, if you are on 7 then bump it up to 8. Once the lead and mold are good and hot then pour 5 or 6 blanks without a hook, this will get that cavity nice and hot. After you pour your blanks place the hook in and close the mold. Put the pour spout right in the gate and then pour. This is what I do and the last time I used the mold I poured 30 3/8oz heads. Out of that 30 I only had 2 incomplete pours. As the other guys have said before, the Drop out spray will help a lot. You could try smoking the mold as well but the spray has always worked better for me.

Get the .062" size and cut it with a razor blade. Using any type of shears or scissors will deform the end.

One of the reasons I use a small swivel when fishing in-lines is because they all spin around. The only in-line I ever used that didn't completely turn much during the retrieve was the Mepps Comet with the minnow. While it didn't spin a lot the fact is that it still did. I think you did the right thing in using a buoyant material on top of the hook to keep it riding up. That is probably the best way to keep the fly oriented the right way but it will still spin sometimes, especially in current.

Get A Harbor Freight oilless pancake with a regulator. Probably $70 - $90. The hose the powder sprayer comes with should attach directly as the fitting is 1/4NPT.

Jig Man, my Midwest finesse jig mold was the culprit. As soon as the mold got hot the lead would flow around the eye every time. I first tried slowing the flow and it helped a little bit. It would still fill in the hook eye but not as much. I slowed it down a little more and then the head wasn't filling out. I ended up using RTV silicone to fill in the hook eye and that fixed the issue. Your problem sounds a little different. It sounds like the mold isn't closing all the way. The only way to really know is to try one thing at a time. Start with the easiest, slowing the flow and then go from there.

Dink Master is right. Owner Twist Lock Light, I will use the 1/0 in the 1/8oz and a 2/0 in the 1/4oz. Owner Twistlock Light Hook - Tackle Warehouse

Do yourself a favor and get a wire bender and make your own wire forms. I do this because I make many different models. Some of my spinnerbaits have 1.25" extending from the nose of the bait and others have 2", it is because my baits are made for specific purposes. If you want to buy the wire form I understand. Try finding a wire form with a hook arm that is at least 2.5", that should be close to what you need.

When a spinnerbait leans to the side at high speed it is due to a large blade. The faster the bait is retrieved the faster the blade turns and the more torque it creates. Smaller blades on a heavier head will allow you higher speeds without as much force pulling it over to one side. I'm using willow leaf blades as an example here. A typical 1/2oz spinnerbait usually has size #5 or #6 blades, that makes a good "all-purpose" bait. You can slow roll it in shallow water or work it at a moderate pace in the middle of the water column. That spinnerbait is a jack of all trades and master of none but they have a purpose. The larger blades create a lot of flash, so it is a good stained water spinnerbait. In clear water I love burning a spinnerbait, especially for smallmouth. In order to do that I use a 1/2oz head with a single size #4, you can burn that with little to no lean. It is even better if you use a shallow cupped blade.

There are a lot of good spinnerbaits out there right now. For me, a good spinnerbait should perform the duty it is meant to do. For example, if you have a spinnerbait mean for burning then it should do that well. That means it should be able to handle high speeds without rolling over or leaning heavily to one side. If it is a slow rolling model, then the blade should spin at very slow speeds without causing much lift. I should be able to crank that lure at least 10 times or more before having to pause slightly for the bait to get back down. An "all-purpose" type bait should be stable at moderate speeds and the blades should spin at relatively slow speeds. Good components, and doing its intended job is what makes a spinnerbait good. If it does all of those things and if used in the correct situation, a good spinnerbait will always catch fish.

I do the same as Cadman. I only emptied mine when I got bad lead and since that time it has been full.

Jig Man, I'll echo what Cadman said. I started buying my lead, the 3%-5% antimonial lead from Rotometals after my Lee pot was ruined from bad lead. I also got some before from a trusted friend that was bad and I had to clean out the RCBS, that was the last straw. My pot works perfect and there is no black slag or any slag or dross that comes to the surface when I melt the lead. I just skim off a small skin coat and begin to pour and no more issues, it costs a little more like Cadman said but it is worth it for my equipment.

You got bad lead in there and now the material in it has caked the bottom. I had to clean my pro-melt once because a friend gave me "pure lead". He didn't understand what I meant by pure lead and after I had the same issue I found out what he meant. He smelted down a bunch of scrap and poured ingots with it. He was using it to cast no-roll sinkers and he offered some to me when I said I needed some pure lead to get the ratio of hard and soft lead right. Well I added 6 pounds of his lead in my pot and yes, I fluxed it as well and after 4 days of pouring the flow began slowing down. I emptied the pot and saw some kind of build up on the bottom around the spout entrance. I scraped it all out and took the entire 18lbs to the scrap yard. After that I just ordered the 3-5% antimonial lead and use that for everything. It turned out that his "pure lead" was from a lot of scrap that he wasn't sure where it came from. He knew there was old lead pipe and some other stuff as well as some old shot, wheel weights, and some stuff given to him from someone else. I don't know what the stuff caked around the opening was but it came from that lead, it has been over 5 years since that happened and I have not had anymore issues and have not cleaned the pot since. You got something in the lead you have and the flux didn't remove it just like it didn't remove it for me. Whatever it was it didn't float to the top, it settled in the bottom and was like a hard clay, I'll never use scrap lead in my old style pro-melt ever again.

For me it depends on several factors. The first is how big the bait is, you say 3/4oz but is it a 4/0, 5/0, or 6/0 hook? Then the question is how deep you are fishing and the type of retrieve used like slow rolling. Spinnerbaits like that are usually more open to create more drag for slower retrieve speeds and maximum vibration. If it were me making the bait, I'd use a 5/0 hook with the blade arm around 3-1/2" to 3-5/8". That should put the front of the blade (The front has the hole in it for the swivel) right near the hook bend. Positioned there it should give you the best balance and limit the amount fish hitting just the blade.

Do any of the weed guards have the "hairy" or uneven top or are they smooth and uniform? I'm asking because that was the main benefit I got from those weed guards. I'm thinking if the weed guards are free from the fuzz or "hair" and they are smooth on top they probably just changed the way they make them.

Jig Man, just so you know, the original non-weedless Midwest Finesse Jig mold did the same thing to me. I finally broke down and filled in the hook eye cavity with hi-temp RTV silicone gasket maker - Permatex. I was able to minimize it without the silicone but had to use the silicone to eliminate the problem. On my mold it seemed to get worse as the mold got hotter. I use an RCBS pro melt and found that slowing down the flow of lead did help but I'd still end up with too many with lead in or around the eye.

This is not normal at all and different than what I experienced. I have only had 3 bad ones out of thousands but the Matzuo sickles were really bad. I'd get 100 and I'd have between 20 and 30 bad. The worst was an order of 1000 Matzuo sickle in which I had 331 unusable and over 160 that I had to bend to make them work. The EC version has bee a lot better but it looks like they may be having some issues.

I've been using powder paint since 2003 and I've never ever come across that issue. I'm going to give a guess and say that if it is only happening with certain colors there may be an issue with the powder. It may very well be that there is excessive moisture in the powder and during curing it boils off but why didn't it happen when the head hit the paint in the first place? I'd send that picture to the people at Do-it, as I said, this is the first time I've ever saw or even heard of this happening.

I use D2T but you have to work in small batches. The actual working time is around 12 minutes but the finish is tougher than anything else I've used. KBS Diamond finish is really good but you need 3 to 4 coats to get it as tough as D2T. The thing I don't like about KBS is the fumes, so you have to have really good ventilation.

You said you are curing the jig at 275 for 30 minutes, right? Are you using a toaster oven? If you are, is the 275 what you set on the dial or did you check the temp with an oven thermometer? If you are using a toaster oven and just set the dial at 275 that is probably your problem. Toaster ovens are notorious for being off......By a lot! I have my toaster oven set at 325 and the actual temp is 354, that is 29 degrees. So if your oven is off by say 25 degrees, it is only 300 but 30 minutes at that temp is probably too long.

I may be able to help with some stuff here. The 1/8oz Arky jig mold is hard to find and I use it a lot!! It calls for a 4/0 EC 570 hook but I like using smaller hooks. I typically use a 1/0 or 2/0 5313 in that mold but I have made some with the 1/0 Gamakatsu 4124 big river hook. https://barlowstackle.com/gamakatsu-4124-big-river-hooks-sizes-2-4-0/?afmc=cj . You got an answer for the poison tail, the FG-12 weed guard is 5/64" in diameter. I get PTFE wire (Teflon) in 0.78" diameter and cut it into pins and it works great. PTFE Wire | Contenti . If you go to my YouTube channel you'll see that I have a number of videos making micro jigs using a variety of different heads, it may help give ideas on molds to get. (12) Smalljaw - YouTube

I don't know if anyone here watches this on YouTube but it is a good show. I wanted to let you know that I'm going to be the guest Thursday, March 31 at 7pm CST. Classic and New Bass Jig Designs With Smalljaw! - YouTube

I haven't found those hooks bigger than a 6/0. I have the 10786 which is the round bend version and it is on par with the Mustad 32786.

Mark, JJ has that technique down to a science and its brilliant!!! I don't know if you tried his method but he taps on a good amount of one color then repeats it for the second color and then dips the jig in the silver vein or crinkle. I really like that look, unfortunately they don't all come out looking awesome. I'm sure if you asked him the percentage of good to bad he'd give you his results which I can guarantee you his number are better than mine...LOL!!! The point is that no matter how much you try, the look of the head is completely random and you will get some that don't look good at all. If you want to try and develop a way to do it to produce consistently good heads you need to practice in batches. Start with 30 heads all the same size, do 10 one way and cure to see the results. Then do 10 more maybe adding more or less color. Then do the final 30 another way and see how they come out. You have to do it that way simply because of the randomness. Doing it like that will help you know what kind of color ratios work best. I'd like to know how it goes and would love to hear the results you get.

Silvermine is not the same as veined powder paint and pro-tec doesn't have one. Jig armor silver/black, TJ's silver crinkle, Columbia Coating silver vein will all work but silvermine won't because it isn't a veined paint. Silvermine has black splotches in the paint but it isn't veined, there is a difference and that is why you can get the heads to come out.