smalljaw

Last year I started using the quick coat paint markers, they come with a couple different tips that range from fine to heavy and it's paint, not ink so it'll stay on. I usually powder paint my jigs and spinnerbaits, then use the marker and cure afterwards, the heat doesn't seem to affect the paint at all. After the cure I'll put a coat of clear epoxy on to really seal it up but it really isn't necessary.

I just use a weedguard and place it at the entrance, it leaves a small nub thats easily filed off.

Barlows gets my vote also as I find myself giving them most of my business because of the service and selection and they are very competitive with price too. I like the fact that I get e-mails everytime they add a new product to their inventory, a really good company to deal with.

It sort of reminds me of the berkley blade dancer, the scoungers are more of a chatterbait type lure. I would like to find that plastic body thats being used on that jig, if anyone knows where I could get some of those I'd appreciate it.

I never used the stuff from Janns but I do use Devcon and I don't have any problems with it running, just make sure you don't use heavy coats but instead use 2 thin coats and you'll be fine.

You can probably bend you own like that if you're careful but why? That angle is one of the reasons why I never liked Strike King spinnerbaits, they ride really far back when coming through the water which allows the knot alot of room to move in the r-bend.

You would have to use something to hold the weedguard in place and keep the lead from running down the guard.

I prefer the poison tail but the arkie is a good choice also, the snootie is awesome in grass and it falls different than most jigs which has given me alot of success over the years.

While all paint chips when fishing rocks, it'll usually last longer than an hour so you may have some issues. First thing is the lead you are using, if it's too soft you may be getting alot of dents in the jig which will lead to your paint chipping, it also may be when you are painting them, if you cast your jigs and let them sit for a week or 2 before painting they may be oxidizing which will keep the paint from completely bonding to the lead and if you are using devcon as a top coat and it's still chipping in the same amount of time, then I would have to say it's a matter of your lead being too soft for the conditions you're fishing.

I just checked out Stamina's website and I can almost say that I'm officially done with them as a supplier for one big reason...PRICE! Maybe I'm wrong here and I noticed that every supplier has had price increases which is understandable but Stamina's increase is outragious. I last ordered from them in July and I was waiting for the new site and what I've seen really disappointed me, oh well, at least there are a good number of other suppliers that are still reasonable.

The Badger hobby sand blaster, I use it to spray powder and it works well. One thing you must remember when spraying powder, I'm assuming you're not using an electrostatic system, is that unless you make yourself a small booth with some sort of a catch basin, you'll waste alot of powder, but it will make painting multiple colors easier plus with some practice you'll be able to add shading effects by blending colors. Good luck!

Using wire to tie skirts is fairly easy and works, I used to do it but I now only use bands because it's quicker and often times I'll only take 6 baits on the water with me but I'll have 2 dozen skirts to change colors if need be. The quickest and easiest way to tie a skirt with wire is to make the skirt with a band and slip it on the bait and then tie with the wire and then cut the band, it will cost a bit more because of the bands used up but it evens itself out in the amount of time saved. As for the sticking problem, I've only encountered it with some living image samples I got directly from GLC fishing and what I did was what I used to do with living rubber, I took a small sandwich bag and placed some skirt material into the bag along with some unscented talc and shook it up a bit, afterward i wiped the material off with a paper towel and it was ok. I hope this helps.

From my experience there isn't really much you can do to keep the paint on blades except for appying some type of clear 2 part epoxy. I've been painting blades for some time and I've found that sanding the blade and then powder painting it works about the best but even that chips after awhile. Devcon 2T works but like other epoxies, you have to brush it on. I hope someone here can help as I would like to know myself if there is a better way of keeping a blade finish intact.

Booneangler, I like the metal rattles with the steel balls inside, they have a more subtle sound than glass that seems to work a little better in the waters I fish.

You are now going to end up with unbelieveable amounts of skirt tabs to make any color possible!!! If you want to make an exact copy of a particular bait you'll have have one in your possession to look at first, then you'll do a search for the colors you'll need. Most suppliers have the same basic colors but you'll notice that after the basics, each of them carry colors that are unique to the supplier, I usually end up ordering from 3 or 4 different suppliers. For PB&J I use the PB&J barbed wire skirt tabs from Stamina, these are a brown barbed wire pattern that have purple flake in the silicone and a subtle purple hue when the light hits it, it's about as good as it gets for a jig. Good luck on the search, I'm sure you'll discover some color combos you come up with yourself that work well on the waters you fish.

I don't think that would be an issue due to the fact that it's a componet made specifically for that purpose and alot of companies that make spinnerbaits advertise that they use hildebrandt blades.

I just use the pumpkin brown powder first then simply dip in clear/black flake powder, it's easy and it works.

I've tried using .031 and .035 on buzzbaits and it does work but the bait really has an exaggerated roll and you can't slow it down much. I wouldn't think vibration is an issue with that type of bait but I tried it to see if it made much of a difference in action and strikes but to tell you the truth, the baits that have a .051 diameter wire run much better.

I only use a top coat on larger colored blades for the reason Munkin stated, it really unbalanced the smaller blades but had no effect on the bigger ones, #4.5 and #5 blades worked well. As for your problem, it sounds as if the devcon is too thick, you brush it on and when it dries it seems dull and you can see the brush strokes. I had this problem with some jigs and all I did was use a small amount of denatured alcohol to thin the devcon out and it was perfect. Thinning it out will increase the drying time slightly but not enough to be concerned about. That being said, I do basically what Cadman does, I use the clear powder with the glitter in it and I have never had an issue.

The biggest part of your problem is cleaning up after you finish, make sure small bits of flashing or sprues are cleaned up because the cats may eat them if they are like mine...lol. Also, cats are extremely curious and anything different in thier surroundings will give them cause to investigate so make sure your lead melting pot is cool before you let your cats back in, if you keep your area clean and ventilated you should have no problem.

I really like the poison tail, the head is perfect for brush and for weeds I like the snootie, it comes through grass really well. Cadman, does that hidden eye jig mold accept base hole pins? I'm not sure because they don't specify it in the new catalog.

I'm not sure if this will help or not since I don't use a bottom pour melter, but even using a ladle making the smaller sizes I had the same problem, break the sprue off and a hole is left. What I've done since is to make sure the hooks are at least room temp when you place it in the mold, I pour in my basement and it's a bit cool and I noticed that during the winter I had very few problems but the one problem I had was the hole in the top of the jig, now when I turn my pot on I place the hooks I'm going to use around a foot or so away from the pot, this makes them warm but not too hot that you can't pick them up, another thing to do is when your mold is good and hot is to put your hook in and close the mold and wait a few seconds before pouring, it may help because I found that my problem was the hook was causing the lead to harden quicker right at the bend. I hope this helps.

On that type of bait I would go with nothing less than .041, that'll work with an R-bend or coiled eye. I prefer the R-bend because it's easier to bend in the first place and I've had a few break offs because of the line getting caught in the coil of a closed eye bait. I landed a 16lb. catfish on a 1/2oz spinnerbait made with .035 wire and while in bent the wire pretty badly it still didn't straighten out the bend so I think you would be good to go with .041 on a 3/4oz bait.

You really don't have to clean the lead as the impuities will float to the top and can be simply scooped off but the glue and foam on the lead will make for some nasty fumes and possibly flames, so my suggestion would be to do like jig man and melt it outside.

I go a little on the expexsive side by using flex coat 2 part epoxy but it goes a long way so it really isn't that bad. The reson is it's tough, water proof, has a little flex to it and I have never had a weed guard come close to coming out, I just use a tooth pick and put a tiny bit in the hole and then I take the weed guard and just dip the end in and stick it in, by putting a bit in the whole, when you seat the guard in place a little bit come out the side and competely seals the weed guard in. One other thing is it dries clear so there isn't any residue that shows up like I've had with some super glue gels.