mark poulson

Do you consider how much time it takes to box and address an order when you think of how much shipping costs?

I fished a coated 2.5 today, and it held up fine. As far as I could tell, mostly by feel in the dirty water, it still has the wide, throbbing wobble.

I recently fished two of the 2.5 knockoffs I painted several years ago, but never got a chance to fish. I don't remember the source, but it was either Predator or Bustin Baits. The lures fished fine, and caught fish, but the bills broke when I bounced them off the riprap during the retrieve. Being able to grind cranks off of rock is key to getting bit, so I'm PO'd. Has anyone else had the same experience? I wound up coating the rest of the 2.5s I have with Solarez resin, to try and reinforce them. Fingers crossed.

The glass blasting medium makes them really tough, but not stiff. I add softener anyway, for more wiggle on the fall.

I mix my E tex in a plastic salsa cup, and then hit the bottom of the cup with my hair dryer to help get rid of the bubbles. Once it's bubble free, more or less, I let it sit for a minute and then apply. I watch for bubble when I brush it on, and either use the brush to get rid of them, or breathe on them to get them to pop.

That's why I use Flex Coat syringes. They are made for epoxy, and are silicone free.

I live in NoCal, use this in my 2/1 senko mix with soft plastic, a tbl. spoon/cup of salt, and a tsp. of softener, and my senkos are flexible and stronger than the original. http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-LBS-Glass-Bead-Medium-Grit-MIL-SPEC-8-70-100-grit-Sand-Blasting-Abrasive-/111672165459?hash=item1a002e0453:g:VocAAOxydgZTKU6c

The tips of the nozzles are tapered, so if you drill a hole in the top of each bottle that is just larger than the tip, but not as large as where the nozzle enters the syringe, you get a friction fit. That way you can leave the nozzle in the top of the container, and just hold it tight to the bottle, turn the bottle over, and suck however much you want to mix into the syringe from the upside down bottle, and then turn it back over, set the bottle down, remove the syringe, and squeeze out the material into your mixing cup. When I used a lot of E tex, I used the syringes, and could just mix a little more if I ran short while coating. It is very convenient.

From my experience with spook-type surface gliders, the center of gravity needs to be slightly past the midpoint, so it sits slightly tail down in the water. That way, when the more buoyant nose stops, the heavier tail wants to keep moving past it, like a jack knifed truck trailer, and that causes the lure to turn, which begins the side to side walk the dog action. I would imagine that a sinking glider would need the same slightly tail down posture as it sinks. The reason two piece glide baits need to fall level and at the same speed is that the S swim action is caused by the lure actually being retrieved on a steady pull, not on a walk the dog, jerk/pause retrieve. I tried to make a short one piece glider, and I think that was my downfall. I wanted a bluegill-type bait, but I think it needed to be longer than the 4" bait I tried to make. In hindsight, I think if I would have weighted it as a walking surface lure first, and then just added enough ballast to get to fall slowly at that same angle, I might have had more success, but I was too inexperienced to figure that out back then.

Those look great!

Createx Air Brush Restorer (thank you again Ben). I get mine here. It's the second item down on the left: http://www.coastairbrush.com/products.asp?cat=128 Take your brush apart, and soak overnight. I put my restorer in a glass pickle jar, and just put the brush parts right into the jar. It will loosen all the old paint that's in your brush. The next day I reassemble the brush, back flush with some of the restorer, and then flush with some clean water and a little dish washing liquid. A drop of Iwata needle oil on the needle, to lube the tube, and I'm back in business. The restorer lasts forever, even though there's old paint in it. It just settles to the bottom. I only do a complete break down and soak a couple of times a year. The rest of the time, if I'm having a problem, just backflushing with some restorer usually takes care of it. Funny, I'm much better at cleaning my air brush than I am painting with it!

I found that I had to test each half individually, to be sure it fell level, and at the same rate as other half. After I got them both to fall level, I put them side by side in the test bucket and let them fall together. I added ballast needed to get them to fall at the same rate. Before I did that, I struggled, too. I just reread you first post, and it sounds like you're making a one piece glide bait. I totally sucked when I tried to make one, and gave up.

I usually poured two molds at a time. I would cook and mix all three colors first, to get them ready. Then I would put the first two back in the microwave, heat them to 340, and pour the first one. When I thought it looked like it had cooled enough not to mix with the second, I'd reheat the second and put the third color in the microwave with it. I'd pour the second color, and then heat the third color to 340. By the time I had the plastic ready, the second pour was firm enough to pour on top of, and I'd top it off with the third. By putting two colors into the microwave at the same time, I was trying to keep the plastic hot enough to make bringing it up to 340 quicker. It was not an exact science for me. I just looked at each layer of plastic after I poured it, and tried to judge when it was cool enough to pour over. It was almost like a jiggle test, where I'd shake the mold a little to see how the plastic moved. One interesting thing I found was that, even though the laminates held together really well when I fished them, I was able to pull them apart pretty cleanly afterwards, once the plastic had gotten torn up and I wanted to salvage the weighted hooks to reuse.

No, the epoxy would be much stronger than nail polish.

You might try pouring to near the top of the mold, letting it cool enough to shrink, and then topping off the last little bit with hot plastic. I used to pour 6" swimbaits, and I noticed that the ones I laminated with three pours had little or no shrinkage. I've never injected that big a swimbait, so I can't help you there.

1. Dangerous Use a respirator and a fan of some kind to get the fumes away from you. Your eyes can absorb the fumes, too. 2. Don't know I use a microwave. I tried a hot plate first, and it didn't work at all. Scorched my plastic. 3. I get my soft plastic and pouring supplies from Baitjunkys

Does anything survive pike teeth? I'd try runny super glue, and then the clear nail polish over that to give a smoother finish.

Just be sure you spray your injector tube with PAM before each batch, so you don't wind up scoring the inside from the blast medium. If it feels gritty, push the plunger out, and spray down the barrel, so the O ring on the plunger cleans the barrel on the way back in. I've been using the same injector O ring for years, and it's held up. I just have to take care of it. Bear in mind I'm just a hobby pourer, so I only do small batches for myself and a couple buddies. I have no idea what's involved with using my methods/materials for production.

I read here years ago that the original GYCB ratio was 2 parts soft plastic to 1 part salt. I follow that formula, and get stick baits that weigh the same as the Senko. I switched to glass beads, same ratio, and just a tablespoon of salt for taste per cup to get stick baits that are more durable. I add a teaspoon of softener, too, because I like wiggle. http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-LBS-Glass-Bead-Medium-Grit-MIL-SPEC-8-70-100-grit-Sand-Blasting-Abrasive-/111672165459?hash=item1a002e0453:g:VocAAOxydgZTKU6c If I put an O ring 1/4" down from the nose, I can T rig one of my baits and pitch it back in the tulles all day, or until enough fish have eaten it to either break it at the hook, or make the plastic too shredded from burying the hook point to keep fishing it.

What type of mold are you using?

Insight: I use dollar store nail polish, and find anything with a clear, like glittered polish, holds up fine without a top coat. I also find that putting a color like red holds up if it cures for a day. I threw a spinnerbait with a red nail polish chin through tulles all day yesterday, and it held up with no clear over it. When I put glo powder into clear to coat the inside/cupped/concave faces of my spinnerbait blades, I put a coat of clear with In The Spotlight Sally Hansen polish over it to protect it, and to add flash. Generally speaking, anything with a strong solid color will be softer, because there is less of the clear base in it. In that way it's similar to air brush paints. But a coat of any clear polish over it will make it "bullet proof". Just load the brush, so you don't have to brush so hard and often you wind up softening the color you're trying to cover.

I wouldn't worry about finding the "top" of the lure. I just worry about the grain running front to back, and don't bother trying to find the "top" of the bait. Even if I don't add ballast, the hooks and hook hangers will overcome any differences in the bait's flotation. I make my wooden baits with a dropped belly, so the belly hook hanger ballast is really low in them. My spooks have enough ballast toward the tail to keep them sitting true in the water.

Whenever I have trouble shooting with my air brush, I disassemble it completely and soak it overnight in Createx Air Brush Restorer (thank you Ben Siegel). It's amazing how much old paint there is in my "clean' brush. Here's the link to where I buy mine. It's second down on the left. http://www.coastairbrush.com/products.asp?cat=128 I put mine in a gasketed pickle jar, and it has lasted for a few years now. The old paint just settles to the bottom, without ruining the restorer. If I have a balky brush, or leave the paint in the cup a little too long, and don't want to stop painting to soak the brush overnight, I just wipe out what I can, wipe the needle, and back flush with water and a little dishwashing soap. Then I put some restorer into the paint cup, and back flush with it a few times. Another backflush with clean water, and, presto, I'm good to go.

They do have some very nice eyes, and a YUGE selection.

Be sure it's a quick dip. Since acetone is a solvent for most plastic cranks, you can melt the crank body, or cause the glue joint between the two halves to open up if you let it soak. Having said that, I've been dipping my cranks for years, and have never had a problem. Just be sure you have a good grip on the crank, like a pair of vice grip pliers on the rear hook hanger, and then put a bent out paper clip through the line tie, and hang it with the bill up to dry. It doesn't take long for the acetone to flash off. By the time you have the bill masked, you're ready to paint.