mark poulson

I ordered two Essential molds from Zeiners, and they were very prompt. I was surprised how fast the molds arrived.

That stuff looks amazing! Have you tried it yet?

Dieter, I know what you guys are going through must be terrible. I have had to deal with the same issues with my father-in-law, and it was really hard on us all. Dementia is a rotten trick to play on someone, and their family pays the biggest price. I don't know that there is anything good to say, except we miss you and are pulling for you to come through this stronger than ever. Keep the faith, and don't be a stranger. Friends are here to help get you through this, if you need us.

http://fishingskirts.com/index.php?main_page=index

I have had several bags of the Elaztech craws for a year now, and decided to try them as jig trailers again recently. I had used them before and they worked fine. When I opened the bags of both the pearl white and the watermelon/red flake, the claws have come off or were weak and ready to come off when I tried to use them. Is this typical of what happens to those baits? I also had a bag of Big Bite rib worms come apart at the joints in the worms, and have no idea why that happened, either. I used them both last year and they were fine.

Moved.

Clearly an utter failure! Send it to me for proper disposal! Hahaha Seriously, you may be injecting your plastic too hot, and not stirring well before you load your injector. The hotter the plastic, the faster the salt settles out. I start with my plastic around 320 for injecting, and my 4 cavity Essential Senko mold fills fine. The baits are very similar in weight, and the color is consistent throughout. I use heat stabilizer when I first make up my batch of plastic, so I can clean out my injector, open the mold and cut the baits loose, drop the sprues back into my cup, and reheat and pour again, over and over, until the plastic is too low in the cup to inject.

I am not an injection expert, either, but I would offer a suggestion. Having all those cavities in one mold looks very complicated. Solving the venting is fun, but you might wind up with a mold that won't shoot. Why not make three separate molds instead, so you know they'll shoot?

I had no idea you weren't well. Get better! That's an order!

That looks like a really clever setup. Did you adapt an existing caulking gun, or does one come with the alum tube?

It's doable, provided you take it off when you're finished fishing for the day. My baits only had problems with prolonged contact. With the clear nail polish barrier on the rats' butts, I haven't had any issues.

I've found the better fish (largemouth bass) take advantage of the reduced visibility whenever it's raining or blowing, or if the water is moving or dirty, to slide up to any current breaks and feed. I use a chart/white tandem 1/2 oz spinnerbait, with a small Colorado/large Indiana, with a Kalin's 3" single tailed grub as a trailer, Big fish get big by not missing meals, and that blade/trailer combo puts out a lot of vibration, immitating a bluegill or other larger prey item. If the wind or rain stops, or there's no current, I let the blade drop to the bottom on the outside of the grass line, and slow roll it.

Just be sure not to let your AC1315-coated baits touch soft plastics. Something in the plastisol will dissolve it with prolonged contact. I dipped some rats in it, and put a clear nail polish barrier around the hitch hiker I used for attaching my soft plastic worm tails, and have had no problems.

I have good luck shooting a coat of Createx Clear Gloss over the sharpies before I dip them. Red and chartreuse are the two worst sharpie colors for me. But the best tip is what BobV said. I dip fast. In and out. Just slow enough to be sure everything gets coated. Because they hang, it does seem to coat everything anyway, as long as I immerse the entire bait. I let them drip off over the jar, blot the remaining excess off the bottom with a paper towel, and then hit them with a hair dryer a couple of times in the first hour. That lets me dip them again after an hour.

Lurepartsonline has some rubber skirt material: http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Rubber-Material/

I use a "borrowed" coffee grinder to make powdered salt. Maybe it would work for other stuff, too.

Since the thing that makes cork buoyant is air trapped in it's cell structure, does grinding it to make fine dust break that structure, and reduce it's buoyancy?

Brian, How did you chop up your cork?

Use a drill press, a work table-mounted vice, and sharp bits. Drill at a slow speed, and don't rush. I haven't drilled down the middle of a DoIt mold, just enlarged hook eye holes for larger hooks. The aluminum is pretty hard, and can grab a drill bit and spin the work piece dangerously.

I haven't noticed any problem with my injector since I began using bead media. Having the material settle to the bottom more is actually a plus for my hand pour Ika molds. Since I rig them with the hook passing through the skirt, the heavier end helps with casting, and also helps them fall away from me when I pitch them. The hotter the plastic, the more settling I get. Typically, I try and pour with the plastic at around 330 degrees when I begin, so the settling is minimal.