KelpKritter

After reading some threads here I am a little more familiar with how the iradescent paints work and show up on a white or silver base. My question is how will a green iradescent show up on a green base, gold on a brown base, organge on an orange base and so on. Basically, how will darker iradescent colors show up on similar dark colored bases. I am new to airbrushing and am not in a position to buy a ton of paint that will not end up giving me what I am looking for. I only plan on a few schemes for a line of baits I am working on for a very specific application. Thanks for the input. DaveB. KelpKritter

I am trying to find something to package my 7" swimbaits in and am having touble finding a suitable product. Someone mentioned photo tubing a while back but I am not sure what that is. I did a search on McMaster-Carr and found way to many things made out of materials I am not familiar with. At Lowe's I came across a tube with rubber ends that is used to hold small items like screws and the like. It is made out of a plastic similar to that of a two litre bottle or a tennis ball can. Does anyone know the technical name of these kinds of plastic and where I might be able to find somthing like it in either a square or cylindrical shaped tube. Any other ideas are welcome. Thanks, DaveB. KelpKritter

Husky, The "mini-blender" is a slick idea, I am going to give that one a try. DaveB. KelpKritter

Billy, Are you referring to the screw eyes being the weak link because of the salt water or general set-up in using them in the bait building process? The pin I am using is plenty strong and the screw eyes are embeded in epoxy and set in 1" on all sections and are stainless steel. I am cutting all of my baits out of solid stock. I believe John laminates his batis together along a centerline. I started with the idea of the swivel as I was rethinking some hardware placement when I saw your new clear bait with all of the glitter on bloodydecks. I figured a few things, took some measurements, and it came together. Swam the first bait today and it does exactly what the others before it did, even with the slight changes, so I am happy. Some of the baits are off to Catalina again next week for real tests to begin. DaveB. Kelpkritter

Dave, I failed to mention that the baits are made from PVC so I am not to worried about the water issue. Although you made me think that water might be a problem because the intended use of these baits is in the salt, therefore I should consider a way to seall off the area around the top of the swivel to avoid having salt water sit on the swivel for extended periods of time. I think I can do this without affecting the movement of the swivel. DaveB. KelpKritter

I got an order of stainless screw eyes to start using on my swimbaits last night, I had been using cotter pins and these are so much easier to work with. Anyways, I was laying out the hardware on the bait to maximize everything and had an idea for a different hook hanger. The fish will be the final judge if it will hold, but tell me what you think. I headed out to the tackle store and picked up some SPRO Power Swivels in size 2 which are rated at 230lbs. I hang the hooks on my four piece baits at the rear of the first and third sections. So for this new idea I drilled hook hanger hole the same size as the swivel. I then lined up the swivel where the screw eye inserts into the bait and drilled pilot hole for the screw eye. I screwed in the eye to the point where it intersected the hole for the swivel hook hanger. I then inserted the swivel into the hole with the swivel eye facing in right direction so that when I screwed in the screw eye it would pass through the end of the swivel. Now the swivel is haning from the shank of the screw eye with approximately 1/2" of screw eye on either side of the swivel. There is nothing holding the swivel in place but the screw eye. It is snug in the hole I drilled for it and now the hooks rotate 360 degrees without any binding. Rated at 230lbs. I am pretty confident this will hold up nicely. I hope you can follow the process, any thoughts that might increase the effectiveness of the idea. DaveB. KelpKritter

Mark, That right there, with a few pics, can take anybody from start to finish and end up with a good bait. In your first step where you cut the "hinge slot", I assume you mean where the bait will become an individual segment. And later when you say "hinge eye slot" you mean the section where the screw eye and hinge pin meet. We are about identical in our approach in the step by step process. The trouble I was talking about is the cleanliness of the hinge eye slot. I am using a bit for the Dremel that is a high speed cutter, but it still wanders a little, but not as bad as a drill bit trying to ream out the slot. I am still on the lookout for the bit you are using. Good stuff, DaveB. KelpKritter

Mark, Good stuff there. I am still having enough trouble getting consistent cuts for the hinge slots in the PVC I could not imagine trying to make a full harness to accomodate all of the hardware. John, I am not an expert yet in building swimbaits, but I have been able to create a system that works for me where I can work on three baits at a time and have pretty consistent results. I am using cotter pins and stainless brads, I just ordered screw eyes to replace the cotter pins and can have the baits ready to paint in a couple of hours. The only negative feedback I have received from an angler testing my baits is the topcoat. Hinges and hook hangers have not been a problem and the baits have been catching fish. Good luck and nice looking baits, DaveB. KelpKritter

I have been applying only one coat. In this case the D2T was not thinned but I have thinned it in the past with denatured alcohol. I am going to see the results I get with multiple coats and the use of an epoxy called Marinepoxy. It is a brand made by a boat building company in Florida that I have used for marine building projects. It seems to be a little more flexible than the Devcon, but I am not sure about it's toughness and abrasion resistance. Bob, you are right about options. It is one of the great things about building anything for yourself. You get to choose exactly how you want something done. DaveB. KelpKritter

Bob, Thanks for the response. I am fairly familiar with the properties of epoxy, but the D2T seems to be so popular here for topcoating. I have had problems now with baits with no sharp edges, however I was sealing the baits with the solo cup and virgin laquer thinner method. In this case I think the problems was a result of the brittleness of the sealer. With the swimbait there is no sealer, just the paint and topcoat. The trailing edge of the swimbait sections is not rounded over so that could be part of the cause. I was not expecting these issues with all of the positive feedback here. Unfortunately, the bait was lost so I cannot examine it, but the good news is he wants three more ASAP! Thanks again, DaveB. KelpKritter

I just got the first feedback from one of the guys I have given my swimbaits to for testing. I topcoated the bait with D2T with one coat. The feedback was that after a few fish the topcoat started to chip off. The bait is made with PVC and painted with waterbased acrylics. Any advice on why the finish was chipping? The fish were calico bass which have heavy grit sandpaper like teeth. The angler was willing to pay in the $50 range based on the performance of the bait, which to me, was a bonus. However, the reason he is testing for me is to provide this type of negative feedback to avoid it in the future with other potential paying customers. Any help would be greatly appreciated. DaveB. KelpKritter

Mark, Here is one link McMaster-Carr I think I may be getting my next roll of stainless wire from here. DaveB. KelpKritter

I know that UV rays will yellow and cause other problems with epoxy if it is not painted over. I learned this as I built some small boats using epoxy resin in the build and was told very plainly in the plans to cover the epoxy with paint. For lurebuilding my question is two-fold. First, are there any other factors that would cause yellowing of a cured epoxy top coat other than UV exposure? Second, assuming the first answer is no, would a clear spray on top coat of some kind, over the epoxy, keep it from yellowing? Thanks for the help. DaveB. KelpKritter

It seems this post has taken on two different arguements. One is the dynamic of a crankbait and how it works as stated by Vodkaman. I am not nearly as scientific about how a crankbait works so I will take his word on it. The other arguement, which is why I believe a sinking crankbait has it's place, is how you fish it. Getting a sinking crankbait to the depth you intend to fish and straight grinding will bring it right back up to it's intended running depth, but cranking it a bit and then letting it sink out again keeps it in the water column you desire to fish. To make the point look at a plastic worm which is clearly meant to be fished on the bottom. Unless it is fished very slow or even quicker and then given time to settle back to the bottom it to will come up off the bottom and straight back to the boat defeating the purpose of this lure. This is the same concept Dave presents with trolling a piece of lead. My point is you can make just about any lure do just about whatever you want if you set out to fish it in that manner. It may not be the traditional way but it probably will work none the less. DaveB. KelpKritter

I am not able to comment on the problems associated with the failure of the lure you mention running the way you would like, but Dave is right that it is hard to help without a little more information. Dave I disagree though that with a weighted crank "there is no advantage to it". I have learned in the last few years fishing tournaments and seeing 50-70 teams each time out that it is not always the standard baits that catche the most or biggest fish. Every event sees something outside the box raising eyebrows. Why can't a weighted crank do the same thing. The great thing about being the builder is the chance to try new things and hopefully have the joy of seeing those baits work on the water. I have built some cranks that with just that little bit of extra weight made it a sinking bait and the action did not change. Now the bait can be presented lower in the water column, something that could not be done with the floating version. Sinyo, keep experimenting and have fun in the process. Even the frustrations can be very rewarding in the end. DaveB. KelpKritter

On the SoCal saltwater scene my main target is Calico bass and the big girls love a mackerel and what we call "brown baits" or types of herring. They also readily take smelt, sardines, and grunion. My intent is to use my mackerel patterned swimbait to bag a few of the larger models on the coast and at our local islands. I have been experimenting with creating a swimbait to mimic the other baitfish as well. Once summer rolls around I hope to target the yellowtail and dorado that will make there way into local waters using the mackerel bait as well. DaveB. KelpKritter

Just thought I'd throw up a quick note on my recent experiences with PVC. I have only been building baits for a little over 8 months so I do not have a lot of experience so take this as my two cents. I started with poplar and now work only with PVC. Specifically AZEK decking material. I have finished a few swimbaits that work great and started shaping my first crankbait in the PVC last night. I have cut both of these baits out of wood as well. The one thing that stands out to me more than anything is the consistency of the PVC material. There is no grain so blades do not wander and all the cuts are dead on the money, assuming I feed the wood properly! Plus the material is waterproof, which of course is a plus, as it eliminates potential problems and building steps. If you have not looked into using this material yet give it a try. Any other PVC users want to add their impressions? I know there are a few of you out there. DaveB. KelpKritter

Dave - Your idea of using heat has some merit. I fooled around a bit with the idea. I heated the screw eye and used it to make an impression in the material and it actually worked pretty well. It seems you can make a hole without actually removing all of the material. It seems to move the material and then hardens with the impression when it cools. It still needs some material to be removed, but I think I can work with this idea. Only down side is there was some charring of the PVC. Mark - I was hoping you would chime in as you are using the same materials as I am. I will look for that Dremel bit. What is the hardness of the bristles on this bit? Are they totally rigid or is them some flex in them? The biggest problem I have been having is when the bit seems to 'grab' the material which causes the bit to wander. Thanks again guys, DaveB. KelpKritter

Thanks for the replys thus far. I appreciate the feedback. Let me go a little deeper into detail. The baits are four segments. Segments one and two and two and three are held together with two screw eyes each, segments three and four have one screw eye. On the final joint if the up and down play is to great the tail section is all over the place and does not sit quite right. It needs to be pretty precise. Also, on each screw eye if the depth is to great in the hinge slot it changes the travel of screw eye on the pin which can make the bait to loose. As for concealment of the slot, it is not seen from the side, but if you inspect the lure it is very easy to see the slot and it is not clean or "professional" looking. I would like to get to the point of at least making my baits available for the tournament directors of the series I fish for the sake of raffle or tournament prizes so I want them to not only fish well but look like a quality bait. By the way one of the problems with previous methods is that the PVC has a tendency to melt under certain cutting and sanding techniques. What I have tried so far would fall under these categories. Thanks again for the help. DaveB. KelpKritter

I started using Azek decking, a PVC material, for the swimbaits I am experimenting with. I have two designs that swim nicely and I am happy with the overall design. I am using a pin and screw eye for the hinge but I cannot seem to cut the slot for the screw eye straight and uniform in depth. I have tried drilling multiple holes along a straight line and then cutting with a knife to clean the opening, rocking a drill bit back and forth, using a cutting bit on the Dremel. Nothing is giving me a clean opening. Any advice from those using PVC materials would be greatly appreciated. BTW I am trying to keep the slot inside the edges of the bait to better conceal the screw eyes. DaveB. KelpKritter