mark poulson

This is the thinnest I've found: http://fishingskirts.com/fishing-skirts-categories/skirt-making-material/frog-hair-fine-cut-silicone

One thing I've learned with open pour molds is to try and keep them level, or they won't fill evenly. Also, the cooler your plastic when you pour, the less shrinkage you'll get, as in hollow back. I usually pour half a dozen 5" swimbait 2 cavity molds at a time. I line them up in a long row, head to tail, and fill one line of cavities at a time, so any drips are on the way to the next cavity and not on the side of the bait. If the plastic gets too cool, I stop and microwave it for a short burst, and finish my pouring. For laminates, I do one row at a time, so the plastic will bond. It's a little more trouble, but the results are better.

I can't help you with stencil making. I suck at it. Predator Baits sells some stencils for the baits he sells. http://www.predatorbassbaits.com/id69.html I'm sure others do, too, but Jim is the only one whose stencils I've used, because I like his baits.

Do NOT go fishing with Barry Sterud unless you want your butt whooped by him, using his own crankbaits! Seriously, he put on a cranking clinic today, all with his own balsa cranks. I had a blast. Thanks Barry! Mark

Thanks for the picture Bob. I'd never seen a bait like that. Would tying to a double wire that can move wear your line?

Welcome to TU, and good luck. First of all, a really good source for info is the hard bait gallery. If you see a bait you like, you can usually PM the maker, and they will tell you how they did it+-. There are some secrets, but usually not in how they painted. Also use the search box at the top right to find threads on your topic. I am no artist, and only airbrush because I have to, so don't take this as gospel. It's only what I've learned by doing. From my understanding, the difference between transparent and opaque is the amount of pigment. I know I can make an opaque color transparent by thinning it. I would not thin with Windex. It is supposed to have nasty ingredients that can attack the innards of your air brush. Either just use water (only a little, or you're paint will not form a strong skin/film strength), or, better yet, use Createx 4011 thinner. It's made to thin their paint without losing film strength. I usually use Wicked White as a base coat, because it can go on thicker and still dry (it has some solvent in it) and then work up from the belly with progressively darker colors. Some paints do better with a black undercoat. I'm thinking of metallic silver, but you have to experiment. Be sure to dry each coat thoroughly before you apply another, or you'll trap moisture in your paint, and your baits will always be soft, and may bubble as the trapped moisture gets warm and vaporizes. I use a hair dryer for my baits. Do yourself a favor, and get a 12"X12" piece of white gloss formica and a piece of white PVC pipe to test you paints and painting skills on. Both will clean up easily with soap and water, and that will give you somewhere to experiment before you move to painting your bait. I hope this helps.

Bob, What is a spiral eye? I agree about the Trilene knot, but my eyes aren't that good anymore, and a Palomar knot is much easier to tie on the water. I retie a lot, because of the cover I fish, and because I think knots fatigue.

I have seen Frank's setup, and he uses a hot plate, but it is some kind of a warming tray, not an exposed element. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/20895-two-color-ripper-baits-and-production-video/

Pyrex, and all tempered glass products, are under tension. They are tempered by cooling the outside quickly. It's almost like case hardening. The heating/cooling cycle causes fatigue. They can fatigue, and break. Your cup may have been manufactured with a slight defect that made it fail more easily. Thinner containers seem to last longer, because there is less glass to be affected by the heat/cool cycle, so they expand and contract more evenly. Somewhere on TU is a thread about thinner beakers that seem to hold up better.

I have the Essential 5" senko mold, and I have to hold pressure for a few seconds. I am also careful to shoot at 315-325. Hot plastic shrinks as it cools, and gives me dents.

I have the Essential 5" senko mold, and I have to hold pressure for a few seconds. I am also careful to shoot at 315-325. Hot plastic shrinks as it cools, and gives me dents.

I always thought it was called circuit board, too! Doh!!!

When I am figuring out how much ballast a bait needs, I always think of Vodkaman Dave, and make a silent apology. I am no engineer, so, when I am making a new bait, I use a similar successful commercial bait to get a good idea of how my bait should hang in the water to achieve a similar ballast and action. Even if the baits are built with different materials, if they are similar in shape and lip, and they hang in the water the same at rest, they will have similar action when they're fished, all other things being equal. Since I use PVC trimboard, I can shape my bait, add the lip and hardware, and test float it without any sealing. I have a 5 gallon bucket of water next to my work area. I add the trebles and the line tie split ring, and then put both the commercial bait and my bait into the bucket. I add egg sinkers and/or split shot to the front treble's hook tines until my bait hangs like the other bait. I weigh the sinkers to determine how much 1/4" or 3/16" lead wire I need for ballast. I usually have already used a weighted belly hanger, since I like to keep the ballast as close to the belly hanger as I can, to get maximum wiggle/X'ing. It's not scientific, but it works for me. One other thing I've learned is that, if I can extend some of my ballast up above a center line between the line tie and rear hook hanger, it makes the bait a little unstable, so it hunts. Now that I've discovered using circuit board caps for my rattles, I deduct the weight of my rattles from my ballast weight, so I can add them in a side to side rattle chamber just above the bait's center line. I hope this makes sense.

Here's where I get mine: http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Lure-Lips-Bills-Bibs/12x12-Fiberboard-Sheets-1-sq-Foot.html

Jig Man, I brush crazy glue onto the wrapped wire to make it smooth. I was more worried about the wire collecting grass, but that hasn't been a problem, so far. If the 24 gauge wire breaks, I'm going to go back to using braid, too.

I like .035 for my senkos.

I just posted three photos in the Hard Baits Gallery of some bluegill frogs I made. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/15892-three-bluegill-frogs-two-only/ The bass here in the CA Delta love bluegills, so I thought I should give them what they want.

Well, I fished a wire-reinforced spinnerbait yesterday for two hours. I caught a dozen bass, up to 2lbs, hauled them out of tulles and grass, and boat flipped them all. Then it happened. The wire broke. Not the spinnerbait wire, but the R bend reinforcing wire! I am going to try 24 gauge wire next time. The 28 gauge wire was clearly overmatched. P.S. The spinnerbait is fine.

I get my circuit board material here: http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Lure-Lips-Bills-Bibs/12x12-Fiberboard-Sheets-1-sq-Foot.html