mark poulson

I do the same thing with chatterbaits in the winter. I drag them slowly along the bottom, with a rage bug trailer, so the blade acts like a rattle.

I would test that idea with an air compressor to see if it is actually the case. That's how I test all my propped baits.

I'm still stuck trying to figure out 3D glasses!

What is the reason to add the bead on the shaft inside the clevis?

Reading and thinking.

I tie my skirts on with thread, and then wire wrap over that, so the skirt is pinched and forced away from the jig's head. The jigs I use have a skirt color to tie the skirt onto which helps force the skirt material up away from the jig head. I've found that rubber skirt colors don't pinch tight enough to do that.

Smart! I never thought about shrink wrap, but I'll try it now. I figured someone else would have done it, too, but I never read about it anywhere, so I just thought I'd share. Ever since I had a 5lber eat the blades only, and get both the main hook and the trailer hook in it's underjaw instead of in it's mouth, I've been closing the blade wire before I wrap the R bend, so the blade vibe is closer to the bait and hook. I want them to focus on the part with the hook in it.

Really well done!

Chris, I have used those, too, but they have heavier gauged wire, and don't seem to vibrate as much. I got "hooked" on R bend spinnerbaits from the original Revenge baits made by Ray M. He used lighter wire to get more vibration, and they were fish catchers, but they did break a lot more often. That was before I wire wrapped the R bend to keep them from opening up as easily. If you wrap the R bend, they won't open up nearly as much.

I have learned almost everything I know about lure making here on TU, so I'm happy when I can give something back.

Thanks Cadman. I hope it helps people save some money by repurposing their otherwise ruined baits.

I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum for this, but it is wire bait related. I fish spinnerbaits on the CA Delta a lot. Even though I wrap wire around the R bend, they do eventually get weak and bend out. I've figured out how to salvage them, because they are still good enough to fish. I cut the weakened wire at the R bend, grab the remaining wire about 1/4" in front of the head with a pair of round jawed pliers. I hold the wire near the cut off R bend with needle nosed vise grips, and wrap the wire back down over the round bend pliers, forming a loop that's in line with the hook, and just beginning down past the wire. I put the wire loop that's formed into the sooth jaws of a bench vise, and then use the wise grips to wrap the wire tag end around the wire between the loop and the head, forming a closed eye loop. I try and wrap it twice around, just to play safe. Once I've removed the vise grips and made sure the eye is straight, I use a dremel with a cut off wheel to trim off the excess close to the main wire. And now I have a swim jig! Since I wire wrap my skirts, and the head's paint job is seldom damaged, it's ready to fish, except for the weed guard, which I make from weed whacker plastic wire that I super into into a hole I drill in the top of the bait's head. I can also put a chatter bait blade onto the wire once the loop is started, but not yet wrapped around the main wire shaft. Just stuff to do with old, tired spinnerbaits.

It's like Gary Yamamoto told the audience at the Anglers Marine Bass a Thon one years. He was asked how to keep senkos from getting torn up so easily. He said, "Just buy more worms." Megabass is probably just happy to sell more baits.

You're a braver man than I, azsouth.

I rough cut my Lexan with tin snips, and sand to final shape. For me, the key is having one flat side to use for layout on the blue tape I cover the Lexan with. I draw a centerline off of the flat face, and use that to draw a final shape with a ball point pen. Then I trim close to those lines, sand to the actual lines, and dry fit the lip into the lure using the centerline to get it sitting right. Then I remove the part of the blue tape where the lip seats inside the lure, and glue it in, using gap filling super glue and accelerant.

I think the simplest solution is to use an epoxy designed to move, like a decoupage epoxy, instead of a glue epoxy, which is designed to cure extremely hard and rigid. I found that using D2T epoxy over the larger surfaces of my swimbaits resulted in cracking upon impact with anything hard, and the epoxy peeling off in large chips. That never happened with Etex.

The way to avoid adhesion problems is to use thin coats, dried with a hair dryer between coats. Too thick, and the paint will glaze over, trapping moisture inside.

I used Etex instead of D2T on my bigger baits. D2T is a glue epoxy, designed to be hard and rigid, so it can't move with the lure body if it expands or contracts. Etex is a decoupage epoxy, designed to cover wide wood surfaces like bar and table tops. It stays flexible, so it moves with the lure body's thermal expansion and contraction.

I coat my blades with glow in the dark white/green powder suspended in clear nail polish. They work great at night, or early morning/low light conditions. I used to get mine from Glo-Nation, but they're not around anymore. You might try https://www.technoglowproducts.com/glow-in-the-dark-powder/.

I have one in the garage. It's the 2004 baspro version. It has 13 teeth to the inch, according to my thread gauge. It looks like it's 1/4" diameter, but I don't have a tap or die to check it against. I don't think just a threaded insert would have enough leverage to make a long butt extension work. I think you'd probably wind upbreaking it out of the rod butt. In the past, I've cut the butt end off, worked a 12" wood dowel down so it fit into the last four inches of the rod butt, epoxied it in, and then wrapped it with some grip tape I had from fixing golf clubs. I don't know what's available now.

I think you're right. Between the metal bill with screws, and the hooks and hook hangers with screws, that looks like all the ballast on that lure. I really like the two color paint job, and the "textured" paint. Really neat.

I'm with Apdriver. Why not give it a shot. If it doesn't work, you can just remelt the lead and try again.

Really clever idea! Good for you!

You can see the Ferris wheel turner in the background of this photo. A bbq rotisserie replacement kit, with meat holders mounted on plywood discs, and suspended between a plywood bed setup. Not hard to make, and cheap. The kit came with motor, mounting bracket (which I rebent to fit my design), a rotisserie shaft, and two meat holding forks that locked onto the shaft with set screws so I could move the discs apart to fit the baits I was turning.

Do forms made with Legos leak? I had that happen with a form wooden form I glued down to some plexiglass. The UV resin I used snuck between the wooden form and the plexiglass. Would the same thing happen if I used Legos to make the form?