smalljaw

I'm interested in those plugs now but I can't find the important info, like if they are reuseable, and if they are, how long or how many times can they be reused? If anyone gets some of those I think we'd all be interested in how they work, a little pricy like I said but it could end up being a 1 time investment if they last a long time. Clemmy, where did you see the silicone masking, I can't find any that would withstand high heat?

Thats pretty neat Clemmy but the dowel rod is so much cheaper and does a good job plus you can use them over and over again so all you need is one length of dowel to do thousands of jigs for 5 bucks compared to 50, I know it's only like 28 bucks but you need to have a minumum order of 50 dollars which is kind of high just to keep paint out of base holes.

Welcome to the site Matt, you got great advice from nova, I made the mistake when I was tying jigs and dyed fresh bucktails and it didn't take long for the color to get spotty. The only thing I'd like to add is you could also use kool-aid as a dye if money is short, it works really well but you have to experiment with the colors, its just another alternative that may help in a pinch.

Mtn lures, you can a few things, the base hole pins are pretty cheap and are sold in 50 count bags, if you get a bag you can use 10 base hole pins, you dip the jig in the paint and remove the pin and set it aside, and paint the next jig, by the time you finish with 10 they will be cool enough to put in another bait. I use 1/8" dowel rod, I have it cut in 1 inch pieces and use that, it works really well since the heat doesn't transfer to the dowel, one word of advice if you use the dowel rod, make sure you use pliers and pull the dowel out once it's painted, if you let the jig cool it could cause the paint around the hole to chip.

They did improve big time, I had to order to use the 10% off card but I'm really dissapointed on the new prices, every supplier I ever used has gone up but not as much as stamina, they're going to have to either have a huge sale or make that 10% off with every order permanent for me to use them again.

Before you begin to paint, take the time and use aluminum foil and put around the hook shaft, and you don't have to make it tight, just a simple pice to put around the hook to keep the hook from getting hot and then pull it off and dip your bait then simply wipe off the excess that sticks to the hook. You will always get paint on the hook but as long as it's not hot you will be able to just wipe it off.

Hey guys, I was hoping someone here can tell me what to use to clean Devcon 2 ton epoxy off of my brushes, I always buy the cheap nylon brushes, you know the ones were you get like 10 for a buck or 2. Well it seems like everyone is buying cusom lures as Christmas presents because I've never been so busy at this time of year, usually I get this kind of volume from the middle of February until the end of April and then it slows down again but anyway, I'm sick of having to keep buying brushes every 2 weeks so I want to see if I can clean them, I've tried mineral spirits but that didn't work so I need some help here, thanks.

Gloomisman, Mustad makes the 32768 60degree wide gap hook in a size 4/0 but I'm assuming you mean EWG (extra wide gap), the only one I'm aware of is the 91768 but that is a 28 degree bend. I hope this helps.

Tim, now that we know you use mold release, did you ever think that maybe just a little bit of it may begetting on the wire? I doubt that is the problem you're having but it doesn't hurt to check, just a tiny bit on a wire could cause that problem.

I agree 100% with reeves, let the bait in the mold for 10 or 15 seconds after its been cast, then when you remove it, grab the sprue and work it loose like that, if you are having trouble getting it out like that try smoking the mold with a candle, this will coat the cavity in soot and will make getting the bait out a little easier.

Not bad patrick, I like the copper on that pattern but I have a suggestion that may help, if you are looking to build up a body on the shaft why not try chenile, there are a lot of different types with different textures and colors, it may be worth your while to look into it.

I use a Badger model 260 hobby sand blaster and it works like a charm and I'm assuming that you are using the same thing or something similar, if thats the case I know what your problem is. Your air brush didn't bite the bullet but your paint may have, the reason the point is clear yet won't spray is that moisture has gotten into the paint or it was to close to heat and now has small clumps in it, when this happens it goes up the tube and gets blocked above the pick up tube so now it won't pick up paint, you have to take the tube off and unscrew the flow adjuster and take a needle or something similar and unclog it. Once you get the gun unclogged you need to dump your paint onto a paper plate and look at it and see if has small hard bits in it, if that is the case you can still use the paint (after crushing up the little bits) in a fluid bed or some other method but as far as using it in the air gun forget it, its junk and if you want to keep spraying you'll need new paint.

Cadman has again addressed the problem you are having as is evidenced from your pic. The eye is rolling over and edge and it creates a tiny gap and once the uncured epoxy or nail polish hit the adhesive on the back of the eye it's done, it seems that you either have to move the eye a little more toward the bottom or drop the size to 1/4", by doing that the eye will be down all the way around and the top coat will lay on top instead of finding its way underneath.

90 degree jig hooks are turned that way because of the types of presentations (jigging) that hook is used for, the purpose is to be able to work the bait in a vertical fashion while helping to keep the hook point riding upright.

Depending on what colors you want to use I'd say compare the prices and you'll find a supplier thats right for you. I use Barlows, fishing skirts.com, luremaking.com, as well as Janns and Stamina but the reason is that I do experiment with different patterns and make a wide variety of colors so I have to use more than one supplier because as you probably know, every supplier has the same basic colors but sometimes if you need or want a cetain color you have to look at the others because most of them carry different patterns in the "special" colors or in the fine cut or barbed wire skirt tabs or any of the other types of tabs available, selection is the key.

I agree 100% with cadman, Devcon 2 ton epoxy is about the best I've tried, it's the only 2 part epoxy I ever used that dries and stays clear.

All the major component suppliers carry them, you can even get them painted or unpainted depending on how much of it you want to do yourself.

That is a fair amount of time for the hot pot 2, there is a reason the sell spare elements but I think your problem goes way beyond that. Instead of that you may want to invest in a bottom pour furnace but if it's out of your budget or you don't pour a whole lot you may also consider the Lee precision melter and a smalle ladle, it doesn't cost but a few dollars more than the hot pot and it's a whole lot easier pouring from a ladle with 2oz of lead rather than 2lbs.

DDl, you must be doing something different with you painting methods because powder is more chip resistant that anything else I used, however the only paint worth putting on a jig besides powder is vinyl. Vinyl moves with the jig such as if your jig head develops a dent, the finish will conform rather than chip but it will chip eventually. Do you cure your powder painted jigs after painting?

Pete, I use a Badger model 260 hobby sandblaster for spraying powder.

I spray powder and I like the results however I don't use an electro-static system I simply heat like normal and spray so I can't say much for how you intend to do it but I can tell you that it is easier for multiple colors, and spinnerbaits but the fluid bed is still the best way to do just about everything else. If you get an electro-static system let us know how it works and what you find out as I'm sure most od us would like to know.

Once you pass.041 you are in musky territory which why you can only find closed eye wire forms, if you want that big of a diameter in an r bend you're going to make to buy the coiled wire and bend it yourself or have a custom order from a place like mustang wire and it'll cost you a pretty penny.

Smokeyj, jig man's pic tutorial is spot on!!! The video you posted is very informative but that is a jig tying video, notice the use of thread, unless I'm wrong the poster needs help with tying skirts with wire which is very different because you can't tie hair with wire, only silicone, lumaflex, or living rubber but using thread you can tie any material but it is harder and more time consuming than using small gauge wire wraps.

I don't tie my skirts anymore but I used to do them with 26gauge wire and it's not hard but it does require a little bit of time to get the placement right. If you're using silicone tabs then this will help you, take a length of wire, enough to make 2 wraps and then a small twist and using a diagonal cutters cut off the excess,I would use a 3" piece as it was easy to work with. Take your wire and bend it in a "u" shape around your collar then set it aside and get your skirt material ready, position the material where you want it and then hold it there with one hand and with the other hand place the "u" shaped piece of wire under the collar and sort of pinch it closed so it holds the skirt material in place but you still have the 2 ends sticking out. Once you get to that point the rest is easy, take the ends of the wire in each hand and pull or wrap tightly around the collar twice and then meet the ends in the middle, pull tight and twist the wire so that the twist is tight against the collar and then snip off or even break off the excess, I hope this helps as its harder to explain than it is to do. The hardest part of tying skirts with wire is keeping your material in place untill you can make a wrap,but after you do a couple it becomes easy and do yourself a favor and get a fly vise, it'll make it that much easier, if you don't want to use a vise you can use rubber skirt collars and put the skirt on with those first and then wire tie them and cut the bands loose afterward.