smallmouthaholic

smalljaw- Your posts are informative and detailed and i do enjoy reading most of them.That stated,your adamant convictions concerning reduced snag river jigs is incorrect and compels me into this response. . Football jigs w/out a flexible wire guard,placed on the correct angle, are snag masters.Open hooked ball jigs are snag masters.There are jig heads that do stand up-BUT-you just have to spend the $ on custom molds to produce them w/ a complete understanding of plastics and wire diameter/weight and length of hooks.. That fact separates reality from conjecture.I'll not enter into a discussion again w/you concerning stand-up jig heads,design and central balance.- we tried that before. BTW-layered,river ledge rock is the enemy for jigs.. The wider the jig head,the more snags you'll experience-regardless of the hook used. .I'll refrain from going into a lengthy discussion detailing the effectiveness of single and dual ,flexible wire guards- concerning hooking ability,balance,durability and snag resistance . I spent 5 years and a tidy sum of $ developing and refining a complete line of reduce snag jigs for all types of bottom environments in rivers and lakes.. That doesn't make me better then anyone,just more experienced and accurate when I state performance facts. Remember- i fish the same rivers you do and so do my customers-which- have the final say.

Worth ball bearings swivels are the real deal.Being a manufacturer,i do not have the time to assemble rings on ball bearings.I purchase them directly from Worth w/ the 2 spit rings assembled.on the ball bearing swivel. That said, I believe Barlow's sells smaller quantities of Worth B.B. swivels for the home hobbyist.Really-how many spinner baits do you need in a year to worry about the cost of quality ,American made ball bearing swivels? The b.b. swivel is the heartbeat of any spinner bait.

There are bad batches of these-typical of the junk components on the market today

http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm

Don't mean to argue but drop-out left as an over spray inside Custom CNC lead molds most definitely will cause flashing.I speak from experience using 34 different ,custom CNC lead molds. Possibly the tolerances are a bit looser on the sand casted Do-it molds and they'll accept some drop-out-over spray outside the internal cavities w/out flashing. I've carefully applied drop-out and cleaned all over spray but a smoked mold seems to work better and- is much easier to clean. I do like the drop-out applied to the sprue entrance to the cavities. I approached Jerry Bond 20+ years ago concerning custom lead mold designs but he adamantly refused to make them regardless of an open check book. Custom CNC lead molds cost approximately 3x's + the cost of a standard Do-it mold but their performance in conjunction w/ a custom design is well worth the extra money.

I'll give your suggestions a try-thank you

Drop-out works well on the sprue holes but I prefer smoked cavities inside the mold. Drop -out dries very quickly on the inside of the mold and will cause the mold to flash requiring 200 grit sandpaper to remove it. Smokes cavities are "wipe-clean" easy along the outside edges.

I use Bear's stirring system(complete) for both Presto Pots. they've worked flawlessly for 2 1/2 years

I use this Lee pot for ladle pouring- 1- Keep the ladle submerged,in the pot w/ hot lead in between pouring 2- Close the loop around the hook tightly w/ pliers or in a vise 3- The hook eye w/ wire form must be centered in the wide part of the head cavity-not down towards or @ the collar 4-Put a very small piece of masking tape in the wire form entrance of the mold to keep the position of the wire form and hook w/out slipping. Seat the very small sliver of masking tape in the wire form cavity-but not into the mold or it will flash. Your wire forms will slip w/out this trick and result in incomplete pours. 5- You must use a small eye,spinner bait hook 6-Caution: Warm your ladle as the lead begins to melt. Placing a cold ladle in the hot lead can cause serious splatter and hand/facial burns. 7- Use lead w/ antimony or your buzz-baits will loosen up on the shaft after a fish or two.lead must be fluxed and clean. Soft lead is not good for buzz-baits and/or slpnner-baits 8- This small pot will push the lead temp over 1000 degrees. I monitor the lead temp in all my pots w/ a digital pyrometer w/ an immersion probe. 9- i use the original Do-it buzz-bait molds

.Have your PP. on w/ hot plastisol and the stirrer operating Open the spout fully and heat the brass carefully w/ a torch.Have a container under the spout. It will start to drip and then -walla-walla the melted plastic comes out and you're ready to go.

You can't take the spots off of a leopard. I'll polish apples before dealing w/ him-ever again!

Spinner -baits and crank -baits are seasonal, pattern and water color, chuck and wind reaction baits. Bass are either on them or off them. Spend your time and money on Worth ball-bearing swivels,Worth 24K gold blades and Worth nickle blades plus mufti-colored silicone skirts. Red hooks- LMAO!!

I laugh out loud every time an angler buys into the red hook B.S.

The necessary thinned walled and narrow width appendages necessary for many various types of successful soft-baits cannot be accomplished repeatedly w detailed accuracy -without the flash and time consuming hand trimming -using the hand pour method.

Add 5-8 drops of green pumpkin to watermelon and stir thoroughly. 1-to 3 drops of black can have a positive effect but proceed slowly. Folks simply add too much L.C. watermelon color and then fail to adjust it properly.

Bears Baits has a thin,5 cavity stick worm mold in 4 1/2" and 5 1/2" length. They produce excellent laminates as well as solid colors.

Relax- I fish swim-baits on 1/16,1/8,1/4 ,3/8 and 5/16 oz heads and they can be rigged weedless and snagless- that means fished in weeds and submerged timber and horizontal ,underwater lay-downs.I don't need a fiber weed-guard jig to fish swim-baits. Possibly you may wish to broaden your knowledge and experience w/ the use of swim-baits for bass located in sub-surface structure.Try something new- you may be pleasantly surprised. Every day on the water is a learning experience for all w/open minds and the willingness to learn new techniques.( no sarcasm intended) edited for spelling

I'm tickled pink you take the time to make 3 color swim-jigs w/ flake. I'm sure they're a work of art.I use swim-baits instead since i have found a good,3-4 color,laminated swim-bait will out fish them w/ a more realistic profile,color and adjustable swimming,sink rate. Did I mention I only powder paint jig heads two colors?- Black or green pumpkin

Experiment on white 67 weight,white card stock paper w /either two q-tips or toothpicks.You'll get a rough idea how the mixed colors will turn out w/out wasting a great deal of paint.

You've name the all the productive colors for jig heads. Use your experience and the colors of the lake crayfish for your silicone skirts and trailers. That said,pay more attention to your jig head design/weight,angle and sharpness of your jig hooks.Some days rattles are the deal ,other days not. Your jig hook should float upright when the jig and trailer is on the bottom.Hold your finished jig perpendicular to the ground and slide the jig across the palm of your hand(also held perpendicular) . If you don't feel the sting of the hook point,open up the angle(carefully) and repeat this simple test. Did I mentioned fancy colored jig heads are a waste of time ?

CS vinyl lure and Jig paint works over cured powder paint. 1st dot white 2nd dot yellow 3rd-black

There are many realistic swim-bait representations available w/ excellent ,weedless capabilities and varied sink rates.

What do you consider production molds cavity wise?

Color me respectfully curious- exactly what type of natural bait are you trying to imitate w/ your detailed swim jigs-shad or crayfish? What type,color and size trailer are you using w/ these fancy jig heads?

Question-Why would you invest 3K in a pressurized,hand pour pot when 3k will buy Bear's shooting star system complete, many CNC,precision injection molds plus associated equipment ?