Mountain Man 26

No confusion. Thank you for the replies! Honestly, I've not been approached by anyone. I was just wondering.

Thanks

Suppose a bait store owner approached a hobbiest (like any one of us) and asked him to design a bait, make a mold, and pour resin copies for a "bait store house brand" line he was starting. If the hobbiest was only designing and pouring the blanks that the bait store owned the design for, would the hobbiest lure maker be subject to filing excise taxes on what he charged the bait store for services rendered?

I have building baits for several years. I have tried most every topcoat as well. With every pro and con factored in, there is no better topcoat IMHO. I'm settled on it.

Got my AGS Stainless cable cutters today. They do the job! If you use uncoated 7 strand for weedguards, your shop needs a pair. Thanks Smallmouthaholic!

Again, that's exactly how you do it. Ben, Poplar and Pine don't seem to splinter out with a low speed setting on the drill press for me. I use my fingers to reverse drill all balsa baits as well. I still use my fingers to drill the hole for hinge wires in jointed baits, but doing so will wear your skin out quickly. The skin on my thumb will peel off in a few days if I'm doing several baits at once. I fumble the bit to much in gloves.

That is exactly how you do it.

Agreed

I'm talking about uncoated wire. Thanks though.

Thank you so much!

I thought it was great video. Thanks for sharing. Confidence in your abilities, process of construction, and your building materials, while maintaining a humble and teachable spirit all make a great lure builder. You seem to posses all.

Has anyone perfected a simple way to prevent fraying in the cutting process? I've used Lureparts precut, but wanted a smaller diameter wire. I found a tip for heating and dipping in clear powder paint also. Any I other ideas?

Agreed

Cool looking bait.

John, did the craft hair hurt the action of the bait at all?

Just buy Johns video. It is a complete work on building a jointed hard swimbait. I had been building swimbaits for almost 8 years when I got it. I bought it to learn his techniques. I learned a great deal.

Do yourself a favor a buy John's DVD from off his website.

Thanks for the tip. Works also for temporary placement of swimbait tails in testing resin blanks before painting or foiling.

Same here. Really would like to see Wicked and Auto air paints also for one stop shopping.

Same here. I'll buy. Tell them to start stocking Auto air and wicked products also. The webinar promoted the products.

I highly recommend Johns swimbait video. It shows his technique of painting with a deerfoot brush by hand.

Mark, I use Alumiputty by Alumilite. You can get it from Hobbylobby. It's as simple a process as it gets. Roll 2 equal parts together till the white streaks are gone. It'll firm up in about 15 min.

Sorry for the delay. It took some time to find the best dealer for my needs. I went with Jelinek Cork Group in Oakville, ON. I settled on the Graulated Cork 0 mm-0.2 mm. It's a bit finer than what I tested with, but yields even better results. I actually have to use less 0mm-0.2mm cork dust than 0.2mm-0.4mm cork dust to achieve the same bouantncy. There is a 5 lb. minimum you must purchase. I got 10 lbs. delivered for $70ish. That looks like about 7-8 US gal. I am well pleased. It has opened up a whole new world in lure making for me. I hope it will be a blessing to you as well. Rangers Lead The Way!

Thanks

Could anyone point me to some larger realistic lure eyes? 10 mm is the biggest I can find without jumping to 15mm. I need an 11 mm eye to be specific. I love the fish skull series in ice, but again there is a 5mm gap between 10 mm and 15 mm. Any leads appreciated. MM26