mark poulson

I use clear nail polish with glitter as a top coat to add glitter. Dries fast, and very durable, especially Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails clear. But all clear nail polishes seem to work.

Welcome to the Jungle/dark side/Hotel California, depending on your generation. The women in my family seem to have a much better artistic side, so here's hoping your wife nails it, and you guys catch tons of fish on your homemades.

The only purple power worms I found there were the 4" curly tail. That is a weird color...it doesn't even look purple to me, so I'm lost. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Berkley_Powerbait_4_Power_Worms_15pk/descpage-BPWF.html#multiview

Years ago I posted three pictures of my garage shop. It's changed a little, but not a lot, since then. Mostly I just cleaned up a little. Here's the first picture. If you click on the next arrow on the right you can see the next two: http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/gallery/image/3590-my-paint-shop/

Erick, Can you post a picture?

I use a solvent based sharpie to add "fur" to my rats. It's a lot faster than using a brush, and the fish don't seem to care.

I just ordered an 8oz sample of the AC1315. Can't wait to give it a try.

I don't know anything about computers and software, but maybe there's different setup for the Forums than for the Galleries. I do know pictures take up a lot of space, and computing time.

Cami, For a long time I used a chrome-plated brass marinade injector for plastics, It got hot to the touch, so I wore gloves, but it worked. Maybe you can find something like that locally.

We should probably post any pictures in the Hard Baits Gallery, and then add a link to them here.

Good luck. Let us know how it holds up.

Hahaha!

Thanks for the writeup. From someone in the industry it is really meaningful, at least to me. When I began working residential const. in the '60's, the plumbers were still doing lead joints on their cast iron sewer fittings, so there was a lead pot going a lot of the time. None of us worried about it, because we didn't know any better. Ignorance is bliss. I used to take some lead home and pour my own surf sinkers, and never knew there was any danger. I also did my own brakes, and didn't know about asbestos dangers either. Funny, our country outlawed lead in paints in the 70's, I think, but, in Germany, when lead miners began having problems, they outlawed it in 1913, I think. So, just like Johns Mansville's memos proved with asbestos, lead's dangers were widely known for years in this country, but ignored, because it would cost money and jobs to deal with it. Instead, it cost kids their physical and mental health. "What profit a man, that he gain the world, but lose his soul?" The politicians who turned a blind eye and deaf ear to lead's dangers had no souls.

Cami, I actually have two of the Dexas cups. I use them for larger hand pours, and for heating plastic for injection. I like the flexibility of the NorPro cups. I use a heavy duty spring paper clip to hold the two sides together at the top and form a smaller spout, for finer hand pours. Plus the tall, thin shape holds the heat in the plastic longer.

Your baits are beautiful! It doesn't hurt that you actually know how to paint!

Not to beat a dead horse, but have you thought about using PVC instead of wood? All your water intrusion worries are gone with it, since it is totally waterproof and buoyant.

I hope you guys are using breathing protection when you're melting and molding lead. I had to attend a lead abatement school several years ago, and the stuff they told us about lead in residential paint made me ASCARED! Seriously, the fumes can't be good for you, so it's worth the effort and money to invest in a safe pouring/breathing setup.

After seeing the Aflac commercials, I've been trying to use a duck as an interpreter. No luck so far. The only word they seem to understand is food.

Molting crawdads with softer shells have lighter bellies. I saw it in a seminar video on the internet, so it must be true. Seriously, after seeing that video, I poured some green pumpkin/white belly plastics, and won a tournament on them, on a tough bite. So some white strands on the belly...just sayin.

I'm guessing Monte has been burned by hot plastic before. I know I have. I'm sure he's just trying to warn you to be careful. I use silicone NorPor cups to melt my plastic in my microwave, so I know it is a very stable material, but I also know it is flexible, like I am imagining your syringe assembly might be. From my own experience with injectors, I would also be worried that it is more dangerous than metal injectors because of that. But all plastic, heated to 350 degrees, is a potential disaster waiting to happen. So I am also worried about you getting burned, nothing more. People here at TU look out for each other. So be careful.

Ben, The way the hooks were in line directly below the mouth, like on the fish's centerline, it looked to us like the only way they could have gotten there was if the fish actually ate the blades. But, then again, what do any of us know about how bass think?

I would look at commercial lipped swimbaits that dive to the depth you want, and use that lip angle and size as a starting point. I've added lips to lure that didn't swim well, and that solved the problem. The closer to 90 degrees from the horizontal centerline of the bait you lip sits at, the shallower it will run, all the way to a wake bait with an 85 degree lip. Since you said 5-8' is the depth you're shooting for, I'd look at something close to 45 degrees. Anything more than that, closer to parallel with that centerline, and you'll probably have to put the line tie in the bill itself, which is a lot more finicky to do correctly. Here's one, made by a TU member, that works, and would be a good starting point as a reference for both lip angle and size: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Bettencourt_Baits_Dying_Trout/descpage-BBDT.html

Thanks.

I also use PVC for jointed swimbaits. Since it is so buoyant, I have found that making the belly thinner than the back by tapering the lure, in my case from 7/8" to 5/8", helps by reducing the amount of buoyant material at the bottom of the lure. I wind up with a V profile, with the back and the top 1/4+- of the lure full size, and the taper going down from there to the belly. I use center lines on my baits to judge symmetry as I taper them, but close is okay. I also use that center line to align my ballast holes. I find that my lures require less ballast that way, and it also keeps them from rolling over when I burn them on a fast pull or retrieve. By the look of you picture (very nice bait, by the way) you still have time to try this before you do you detail carving. But I still have to add more than an ounce of ballast anyway, depending on how big a lure I'm making, and whether it's a floater, suspend, slow sink, or fast sink. I use 1/4" diameter lead wire, which weighs 16 grams/inch, so I can match my test ballasting weight (I use egg sinkers over the tines of the trebles to test ballast my unfinished lures). I add my ballast starting at the head, and move to the second section only if I run out of room in the head. I never add ballast to the tail section, because it kills the swimming action. I hope this helps. Good luck.