dampeoples

Good thinking Ben, I'll get on that now Yeah, I don't even add a handling charge, the box was free, the packing material is free (I use the junk newspaper they send me every week, and get extras from work), and the tape, paper and ink are next to nothing, considering how many labels I can print with a cartridge, roll of tape and a pack of $2 paper. Hell, I handled the damn thing from start to finish, that's what we're charging for anyway

I print them out on my printer, just standard paper, half is the label, the other half a receipt. They make paper just for this, where the label part is available as a sticker, but I like the security of taping the box shut. Like Ben said, both USPS and the Paypal site offer this, the Paypal advantage is that you never have to type the address, or even cut and paste, as long as the payment was made with Paypal. You can also pay out of your Paypal balance using the Paypal version. Paypal also offers a First Class option, which may be useful for small stuff, but you have to use your own packaging then. I chose to use the USPS because not everyone pays with Paypal, and you an add 1000 addresses to the USPS address book. I assume it would boil down to if you want an address book and an easy wy to order supplies, then use USPS, if you want to use your Paypal account or potentially use First Class, use Paypal.

What 152 said, you can get a lot of stuff in those envelopes. The shipping cost is $4.60, they hand out the envelopes. If you get set up with Click and Ship, you can go online and order supplies, keep an address book and pay for shipping right from the computer.

Now that makes sense, Ryan. Of course, depends on how much production you are looking for. If you're mixing up say, 8 oz. of plastic, and you know it's good for x amount of baits, then time isn't really a problem, as they may cool before you could mix and heat another batch.

Yeah man, that would be cool. It's such a simple idea, makes me wonder if it's not been done before because a) Molds command a premium, so why? or there is an issue that crops up Either way, good luck with it. and have fun

Ah killer, solves that warp problem Mr. Sock was speaking of, correct?

What would the purpose of the 3rd piece be?

What George said, Ben has everything you need, even the fluid beds and cups

Look up member Elken, Steve is his name, not sure if he has such large stuff, but he's good to work with.

Getting the claws thin enough to work well without injecting it will be the problem.

Yeah, was reading the Fluoro showdown at TT, some good info there, but I still didn't pick any up. I'll get some and spool it before I go back to the lake.

Wow! Thanks for the info, heading to the river this weekend, but will be giving that a try on Falls when I get back. What's the norm for a skirt on one of these? I like rubber, so an 80 strand, or back off to 60 or so? Glad you said to keep it on the move, or I woulda been out there stopping it, then giving it a nudge to tip it up every now and again to hopefully provoke a strike. One thing, I use Excalibur on all my bottom baits, it's a Copolymer, I gave fluoro (Berkley Vanish, not the Transition, though) a shot, and the first trip out, it was great, the next four I lost more Tx fish than I care to even think about, you have a recommendation on some Fluoro, or should I roll with the Silver Thread?

Been reading about, and hearing about some local guys tossing pretty large football jigs, and working it like a c-rig. I've never tried this, always c-rigged, drop shotted, or especially, deep cranking. What are the properties of the football jig that makes people want to use these? the stable bottom? The tip up action when pulled? Would a Poison Tail or other heavy jig work in it's place, I don't have a football mold Thanks!

I think I see the differences now, thanks for the explanation. You tried emailing barlow's? They're pretty good about answering

Isn't that kind of what the umbrellas do?

I've heard this color mentioned, but never seen a bait poured with it, anyone got a pic handy?

Well, all you'll find are personal preferences, it's a lot different from say, a plastic color mix. If I were going to do a firetiger pattern, for instance, I'd use orange, yellow chart, then green chart, might even put a strand or two of black in there. What you really want to do is decide how thick you want your skirts, most pads come with somewhere around 20 strands on them, and I'd say a large number of skirts are 40-50 strand, so put 5 strands orange, 10 strands yellow chart, then 5 strands green chart on top, and maybe a strand or three black in the middle, and there you go.

You might get some better replies in the hard bait forum, even though you might be pouring soft plastics. As far as the vacuum, from what i've read, it's not necessary unless your mold is very detailed, has undercuts, etc. There are video tutorials on the TAP plastics site, as well as a few others that cover this as well. Good luck!

I prefer the Fishing Hot Spots Elite, the zoom level goes further than the Navionics from what I've seen. Of Interest, check out the free maps on the Lowrance site, they seem to be the same detail as the Navionics maps I've seen. Here, but there's only one lake in IL, don't know how close you are to neighboring states, though.

How does that help him in making a mold for himself? If you have a machine shop in your area, that would be a good start. Guys like Collins Customs do it as well.

Here is their site

Just read the crack thing, I've experienced this twice, and I sat around for days on end trying to figure out what I did, and it turns out that that I went really, really thick on the paint on these lures, so that might be something for you to look into. I had let the lures dry inside on a rack for a few days, too lazy to clear them, I guess, so I'm not thinking it's the moisture, but still have not ruled it out, as the thicker the paint, the harder it would be for the moisture in the lower coats to dry. Give Dean's method a try, see if that works better for you, the coating is excellent, high gloss, super strong and thinner than epoxy, might take a bait or two to get the hang of it, but before long you'll be on track.

I learned it from Dean and BobP