mark poulson

For me, the most effective replaceable tails are soft plastic (plastisol) tails that are "screwed" onto a coiled sst wire that is embedded in the back of the tail section. I made a pop mold of two sizes of tails that I took off of other soft swimbaits, and it works. I've also used the harder clear plastic from margarine tub tops, slipped into a slot in the tail section, and held in with super glue. I used to pin them, but I found the tails hold fine with just the super glue, if you roughen the part that slips into the tail first, for a better grip. By not using pins, when the tail gets worn or broken, it's easier to replace. I've even used plano box dividers on split rings, and they work, too. I've found the soft plastic tail is the most effective in colder and clearer water with slow retrieves. Because they are soft, they also act as an additional section when they are retrieved, and, for surface baits that are dead sticked, the tails wave as the bait sits still, which is a natural look. For warmer water, the harder tails work fine, since there is enough speed on the retrieve to get them moving.

"For some guys that isn't an issue but for some well lets just say fit and finish ain't their calling." I resemble that remark! Hahaha

Nice job, but this forum isn't for sharing photos of baits, unless it's to illustrate a point, or ask for specific advice. You really should post your lure photos in the Hard Baits Gallery, and then include a link to them with your posts here. Just a heads up, not meant as a "shame on you" deal at all. I hope you understand.

How do you seal the vaseline into the test holes before painting?

If you've never seen lead fluxed, it is amazing, at least to me. I don't pour, but I've see guys clean their lead, and the first time they lit the flux it scared the crap out of me. My friends had a good laugh at my expense. I was also amazed to see steel hook float on top of the molten lead. It makes sense, but it was still a trip!

Dave, The amazing thing about Huddleston 8" trout swimbaits is how little forward motion is needed to get the tail moving. Plus they look so real on fall that big bass follow them down, and eat they as they are dragged slowly along the bottom, like a dying trout. There are others that do the same thing. I used to drag Ospreys and Optimum swimbaits, and let their belly treble catch and stick, and then release, causing a kind of a stuttering retrieve along the bottom, with short bursts as they released. It was the best retrieve for late winter/early spring. Of course, I had to change the through line treble a couple of times a day, because the rocks dulled them pretty quickly. The top hook baits, like the Huddleston ROF 12 and 16, don't have that problem. Check out this link, where a Huddleston is disected: http://www.tackletour.com/autopsyhudd.html

But toys are fun! I stole my ex-wife's coffee grinder to grind my salt, and her blender with no top to make Hobo Margaritas. Now that was fun!

I didn't read it as a commercial.

Man, I thought you had found a new line of Chinese baits! Hahaha

That is one bait I would say it is easy to make a pop mold for, even a two piece mold, if you can't find one made from aluminum.

But I am soooo jealous!

Doesn't Larry Dahlberg's company, Alumilite, make foamed resin for lure making?

I had to laugh when I read Dave's last post, because of how different our approaches are. He uses his brain first, and I use my eye and hands. But we both seem to get to the same place, eventually. It just takes me a little longer. When I started making lures, I use successful commercial lures as a starting point, and learning tool. I would pick a lure I wanted to imitate, measure it, weigh it, float test it, and then try and make a similar lure that worked. Once I got one that worked, I began changing different things, like lip size, shape, and angle, to see how it affected the successful lure I'd already made. If the modified lure didn't perform, I'd begin playing with the ballast first, to see how that affected the lure, because that was the easiest thing for me to adjust without changing the lure's shape and lip shape. The next thing I'd play with would be line tie location. Actually, thanks to Dave and Dieter, I began building prototypes with multiple line ties, so I could play around with them more easily. The last thing I would play with would be lip shape and size, because it really hard to make a lip longer or fatter again, once you've shaved it down. When I'd get a lure to work, I'd sit back and try to understand why it worked. As opposed to Dave, who understands why it works from the start. It's really hard not to hate him, but I'm trying! Hahaha

I'm pretty sure I could duplicate+- the Huddleston tail and attach it to a hard swimbait, but I don't think it's worth the effort. For me, jointed swimbaits are a warmer water bait. Because fish are cold blooded, and the cold water of winter slows down their metabolism, a slower, less active swimming motion probably seems more natural to a predator. I know I get bit on slow moving stuff in the winter, instead of burning a bait. That retrieve has to wait until prespawn in late winter/spring. It's really hard to get the low speed stable body/swimming tail action that a Huddleston has with a hard bait. I've tried. The closest I've come is with a glide bait that just barely sinks, so I can swim it slowly. I use a Huddleston ROF 5, or another slow sink soft plastic bait, in the cold water months, if I'm fishing swimbaits. As long as the stripers will stay away from them, I can get multiple fish on the same swimbait. And I really don't fish near the surface much in the winter. I'm usually fishing the bottom in deeper water, with a top hook swimbait, so I can drag it along the bottom.

But can you get a resin splinter up under your fingernail? Gotcha! Hahaha Seriously, thank you for the informative write-up. As a carpenter and wood lover, I too moved away from wood to a plastic, PVC Decking and Trimboard, for my lure building. Having a material that is totally waterproof lets me concentrate on lure making, rather that lure protecting.

I understand your using unsealed wooden lures. With no paint to protect, it will take a long time for wood to absorb enough water to really affect it's performance. As long as you use waterproof glue to attach your hardware and line tie, it will continue to work for a long time, at least until the expansion and contraction caused by the wet/dry cycling between fishing trips finally causes surface cracks. Anyone who has been on a lake has seen how long it takes tree trunks to get waterlogged enough to actually sink. But how do you protect against termites? ;O)

Stay away from those rats you make. They probably gave you something!

Nate, Does the Plasti Dip react with the plastisol from soft baits?

Will the eyes stick to the Plasti Dip finish, or do you have to clear over them somehow?

I know you're right, Dave, but I still hate to see us becoming part of the problem with our choices. Would air have to be brought down to the same cold temps. for it to be liquified and used in the same way as CO2?

Watch what you say....he's back!!!

I have found that, for me, one knocker baits work better in off colored water than either baits with multiple small rattles or silent baits. Lead balls are best for this. Maybe lead has a deeper/lower frequency knock. To me, it's more of a thud. Sst balls click. In clear water, it's the opposite, once the early morning/low light period is gone. I seem to recall reading, years ago, that whales communicate across great distances using ultra-low frequency sound. Elephants do something similar. Maybe the lead thud just travels better through the water.

Nice to see you're up to posting again, Mr. President.