mark poulson

I saw this on a headlight restoration video on Youtube, and it looked like it would work for hard bait clear coating. At least for plastic baits, and maybe for resins and PVC, too. Has anyone here tried it? http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/painters-touch-ultra-cover-2x/clear

They are only $4-$5 new, so why bother trying to find blanks?

Have you tried painting them with nail polish? It will outlast the jig, if you put a layer of clear polish over the colored polish. You can add soft plastic flake to the clear polish to add a second color, or use a clear with glitter already in it. The clear polish is a much harder polish than the color. That's why it's put over colors on fingernails.

I found using Bait Junky's watermelon color and his black flake helped me get a better color with no bleeding of the black flake.

I still remember the old hand grinder my mom used. It clamped to the table, and she ground all kinds of stuff with it, not just meat.

Which creature bait are you talking about?

I don't think you will find an epoxy-type clear coat that will work on lures that flex. Dave is right about Spike-It paints.

Nice job! You are already very accomplished. I don't think this forum is for photos of our work,unless they are to illustrate a problem or offer a solution, so, next time, post your picture in the Hard Baits Gallery, and just add a link to it here.

Does anyone know of a glow in the dark glitter?

That is a beautiful bait!

If you are planning to carve a master and then make a mold and pour them with resin, there is a thread here about Art Resin that seems to be very good. I have not used it myself, so I'm just going by what has been posted here. If you're going to carve them using wood for the finished bait, look for a decoupage type epoxy, like EnviroTex Lite. There are others, but I've used that one and it works. It is designed to go over large wooden surfaces, like bar tops and tables, so it move with the wood as it expands and contracts. I used to use two coats. I would put my bait on the turner in the evening, brush on the first coat, turn on the turner and check the bait for the first 30 minutes, so I could catch any drips or sags from too much material, or see any bare spots, in time to fix them before the epoxy got unworkable. I would let the bait turn overnight, and then brush on a second coat and let it turn all day. Because it is meant to move with the wood, it is stays flexible. Hard enough for bass baits, but not hard. A toothy critter can puncture it, and rocks will dent it. But it is the only top coat I found that would work with decent success on big wooden lures. Good luck.

In the past I've used sharpies, but the best way I've found for me is to score the surface of the bait to get parallel lines, like fir running front to back. I use a sawzall blade like a scraper. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/15396-otter7/

I am just a hobby pourer, and only inject a handful of molds at a time, so I don't know if this will help. Silicone molds hold heat longer than aluminum molds, in my experience. If I were pouring an enormous swimbait like yours, I'd make sure I had a long enough sprue that would hold enough hot plastic to allow it to be sucked back down into the mold as the plastic cooled. A tall vertical sprue provides gravity fed pressure. I also would seriously consider open pouring the bottom half, and then closing the mold and pouring the rest of it. I realize you have modified the mold to be a top pour, so this may no longer be possible for you. Your mold is so big you might even be able to hand pour it, if you make the sprue hole big enough, and just keep topping it off until it stops sucking plastic.

But they catch fish!

I wear a painting respirator from Home Depot that's meant for paint solvents. I try and use my super glues either outside, or with a fan blowing the fumes past me, and I use the respirator at the same time.

Ben, If you only heat and bend one part, and then it is encased in the lead part of the jig, will it still be too weak?

Yeah, those are the pliers. I have the 5" version, with no aligning pin, and they are great.

I just watched your video again. I forgot how elegant you jig is, and how much fun the video is to watch!

Go to this site, and scroll down 2/3's of the way. You'll see his version of a Mega Bass popper in the center column, between a Sammy and a popper jr.: http://www.predatorbassbaits.com/id69.html It casts like a bullet, pops great, and walks really well, even with a feathered rear hook.

You forgot the link.

Does Mustad make the Trokar hooks?

I've opened up both VMC and Owner Beast swimbait hooks, to get the profile I wanted. They are the only two hooks that seemed to keep most of their strength after being opened. If I were going to put a sharp bend in a hook that would be inside a lead body, like a jig head, I'd probably heat them to red hot, bend them, and then quench them in oil, to keep as much of the temper as I could. I think the lead would reinforce them, even if they are weakened by the heating and bending.

I have two pair of Leadmaster split ring pliers. They are 10+ years old, and came with an 800 number engraved on the hinge face for service. If they're still in business, they are worth checking out: 800 533-9966