smalljaw

I have to agree with cadman, I use the 1/8oz size for my finesse jigs and it is a real killer on smallmouths when they want a smaller offering plus the head design lets you fish in wood, grass or rocks effectively. I like the EWG hook, my hookup ratio with jigs has gone up dramaticly since going to the poisontail jig and 99% of the fish are hooked in the top lip.

Ley us know how you make out.

A pic would help but Ibet you have the bottom blade on upsidedown, the bottom blade should have the cupped side facing the up toward the main blade and the finished side facing down toward the head. If that isn't the problem it may well be either the spacing or your bottom blade may be too small for the size bait and it will spin but you have to reel quickly, sort of a burning retrieve to get undersized blades to spin.

Magnum willow or olympic blades are what you need to look for, the only difference is the oklahoma blades on Terminator spinnerbaits are custom stamped so they have a unique bevel. If you want the exact same blade as the Terminators then go to Janns netcraft and look under closeouts or special buys, sometimes they have the size 5 blades that have Terminator stamped right on the blade.

You can powder coat tungstun weights but as far as getting them at a reasonable price, forget it.

Your best bet would be vinyl paint, the problem with using rattle can paint is that jigs are made out of lead and will dent if it hits a rock on a cast and that will chip the paint off, quickly too. If you are just using them for yourself and don't mind repainting your jigs after every outing then by all means use whatt you can afford but I don't recommend it if you want it to look good or last even a few outings. Powder does cost more but it does last longer and vinyl is flexible but that may be a little more than you want to spend also so take the hardware paint and try it out and let us know how it works for you, it may be good enough for a quick paint job for those looking for some color without a quality finish.

I don't think you have anything to worry about, it sounds to me like the super stainless you got is actually piano wire. Piano wire makes a great bait becuse it vibrates like mad but what you have already discovered is that it isn't very durable, when you catch a fish on a bait made out of piano wire you'll really have to tune it afterward because they get pretty bent up and you may only get 3 or 4 fish before it's ready to break depending on the size of the fish.

Thanks for the link cadman, I like the prices on the molds I'm sorry I didn't do a longer search for molds in the past.

Markw, as long as you are using some sort of booth like a box and a shop vac you don't need much more ventilation, even a small vac is enough to keep the dust inside the box however you may need a dust mask is you're using a small box as a booth but other than that you should be fine. If you need any more help just let me know and I'll be glad to give you any info you need.

I get the coils of stainless in .035 and .040, depending on where you get it from you may need to straighten the wire out after cutting off what you need, I tried piano wire but it was a bit too flexible for my liking, it really need to be tuned after even small fish plus it cost a great deal more than stainless.

I use a Badger model 260 hobby sandblaster to airbrush powder and it works really well but not for what you want to do. Airbrushing powder is a good way to blend colors evenly when using mutiple colors, the purpose you are looking at won't work because in additon to spraying powder you also spray air which cools the jighead rapidly. You may be able to do 5 or 6 in a single color on some type of rack but you'll never be able to do the amount you are looking at, I think the best way to something like that would be to have some type of large fluid bed that would let you dip a large number at one time. I do understand what you are trying to do but spraying isn't the answer, I've been doing it a long time and I can tell you that doing single colors is done faster in a fluid bed. The only way to do what you're asking is to get an electro static set up but be prepared to invest a few thousand dollars on a set up.

Devcon 2 Ton epoxy is what I suggest but don't use the 5min version as you've already found out, it sets up to fast. If you get the 2 Ton you should be able to do at least 8 or 10 in 1 application and thats if you are really taking your time otherwise you can do a lot more.

Cover them in unscented talcum powder overnight and the rinse well with a lot of cold water, the talc will absorb the gas smell and pull it away from the material.

I've been using a ladle for years vand I don't have a problem but like I said, I've been doing it a long time and in the beginning it was a little tough. I can use wheel weights for jigs but not the ultra minnow spinnerbait, it just doesn't work. I do something similar to cadman although my mix ratios are different, I use either a 50/50 mix of hard and soft lead and sometimes a 60/40 mix depending on jig type, with the ladle you don't get the fine tight stream which is one problem but there is a way around this, if your ladle has a pouring spout. First thing to do is make some practice pours without hooks, this will help with your technique while getting your mold hot at the same time, I like to actually put my ladle on the mold and give it a quick tilt to get the lead into the gate fast, this takes practice as the first time I tried it most of the lead went over the side of the mold...lol. The point is that the closer the ladle is to the gate opening the better off you'll be but I will tell you that you'll have more success with soft or pure lead doing those ultra minnow spinners, so if you have a plumbing supply store near you give them a call and see if the have lead for sale, if not you can buy it on the net but it does get costly. Good luck!

I'm using the Badger model 260 hobby sandblaster, it requires very little pressure to operate and you can use the containers that the powder comes in.

I vagree with everyone else, you aren't hot enough, I keep my pot around 6 or 7 and sometimes 8 depending on how cold it is in my shop.

Thank you for the kind words, I did that paint scheme to show something more than a basic 2 color paint job using the spray gun. I know what you're going through but it takes practice to learn how far to hold the gun away from the bait to get the desired effect but over time you'll get the hang of it. It will not give you fine details but it does allow for shading and blending colors. Try practicing on some scarp baits, hold the gun at different distances and spray and see what the results are and after you start getting comfortable then try some 2 color baits and see if you get the type of effect you want, as I've said, it does take time but don't give up on it, you will get the hang of it in time.

I guess I have to add my 2 cents into this... I see a lot of major manufacturers using Mustad or Gammys, not too many use Owners even though they make a good hook but in my opion, the Mustad ultra points can't be beat for the price, they are sharp, the point doesn't get as dull as the Gammy does after snagging a limb, log or hitting a rock, and the don't tear giant holes in the fishes' mouth! The reason some people don't care for them is price, plain and simple and I've proved that, I had several friends thank me for baits that I gave them because if it wasn't for the Gamakatsu hook they would have lost a big fish well guess what? They were using the Mustads and never knew the difference! Trokar will do well because its how the industry is geared, I never though Lucky Craft had a chance with the price of their crankbaits but they seem to keep on going and now Rapala is folloowing suit as most of their baits are in the 9 and 10 dollar range and the new Max Rap is 18 bucks!!! When will it end! What scares me is that if Trokar does real well at their price point other manufacturers will follow suit but it all dependson how much of the market they are content with having. Lucky Craft is doing well but they don't have near the sales that Bandit does but they are content with that small piece, the same can be said for others but since there are other really great hooks on the market I'm sure they will have to drop their price or be content with a very small percentage of the market, the enthusiast crowd will get them because for that crowd its all about equipment, not so much the fish but as we've seen and are currently witnessing, the lure manufacturers are slowly but surely going the route of Lucky Craft and if hooks continuely keep getting "better" with higher prices, others will follow but for now they are just too expensive for most to even consider.

I've been painting spinnerbaits and such with a similar if not the exact same set up for a long time, first off let me tell you that you aren't going to do fine lines and patterns, powder just doesn't work like that but it will blend nicely and you'll be able to do some shading with it as well. Are you using a compressor or can? You need to turn down the psi to about 3 or 4 , if the regulator is set too high you get a cloud of powder instead of a stream, you also need to set up some kind of booth and a shop vac inserted into the corner of the booth will keep overspray in the booth instead of flying around, also hold your jig 4 to 6" away from the gun, any further will give you a lot more over spray, if you get time check out the spinnerbait gallery, I have a pic on there as an example of doing mutiple colors with a spry gun.

I used a large paper clip and straightened it out to do a few of them, I just put them on the wire and made small kinks to keep the beads in place and then heat and dip, you can do a bunch if you get a roll of small gauge wire from the hardware store, just thread your beads on and inbetween each bead make a small kink to keep it in place and then after they are finished with the paint, if you leave enough wire on the end you can make a hook from the excess and just hang in your oven and believe it or not if you do this quickly you won't get paint in the beads, just a bit around the hole but when you pull them off the wire the paint will just come right off.

It's not the thickness of the blade as much as it is the cup, look for extra deep cup blades if you want thump.

It sounds as if you want a set of standard colors, thats pretty easy as most throw White, Chartreuse, white/chartreuse combo, black, Chartreuse/blue combo, chartreuse/white/blue combo, red, and red/black these seem to be what most guys throw on a consistant basis.

I use a spray gun to paint blades and I found a way to hold it so you can do both sides without ruining the blade. This will work with the brush method as well but it won't work well trying to dip it because of the way you hold the blade. First get a pair of small needle nose pliers, the kind of pliers you need will have a very fine grip toward the tip of the jaws, you can take your blade and actually hold it by the sides, but you must do it at the end of the jaws, it will take some practice because you have to maintain a consistant pressure, not too hard but not too soft, once you have the blade secured in the jaws you can heat the blade up and then take a brush or gun as I use and apply the paint and then simply turn to the other side and apply paint again for a completely painted blade, once both sides are painted drop in a cup of water to harden the paint quick because now with both sides painted you don't want to set it on anything until it is set and the water will give it an instant set.

I never fished that Cobra jig but judging from the looks of it I'd have to say that it probably has a slow gliding fall rather than a wobble, every jig I fished that had a wobble to it had a curved surface, not flat, now the Cobra jig you have pictured has a wide head but at the same time its flat and that usually amounts to a slow gliding fall, the jigs I have fished that wobble are a Cabelas' wobble jig, and a grave digger jig, I'm sure there are others but none that I have actually fished with.

Certain hooks you can bend, like hooks that are tempered but if they are forged they will most likely break and its much better to use a vise and elbow grease to bend the hook rather than heat, by heating the hook you change the temper of the hook and it'll be forever weak and may break easily.