mark poulson

Jeez, that's tough! Hahaha

If you're fishing them yourself, look at the scratches in the water. They disappear.

Frank means p o p, as in remove, the lid, not Plaster of Paris. The site changes it automatically if you just type in the letters without any separation or punctuation. I don't know how much plastic you bought, but I'd ask the manuf. for a sample of the same stuff, and see if you get bubbles with it. If you don't you have a bad batch. If you do, follow Franks directions, or go back to the brand that didn't have bubbles. Good luck. I know it can be frustrating. I once repainted a wall in my house three times before I realized the "stains" I couldn't cover were actually shadows from the window.

I don't really know, and I can't post pictures until he has finished with his tournament. When I fished there in '05 or '06, threadfin shad, bluegill, and gobies were the prevalent bait fishes. But that was before quagga mussels infested the river, cleared the water, and made the smallmouth population explode. When he reports back, I'll let you know.

I got a call from a friend who's going to Havasu to fish his trail's TOC, asking for some custom swimbaits. I haven't made any in a while, and I was surprised at how much faster I can make them now, using the experience I got making all the cranks and top waters I've been making lately.

If you make a mold of your hard sculpey master using the 100% silicone that comes in caulking gun tubes, you can use that mold to pour enough copies to make a larger, multi-cavity plaster of paris mold, so you can pour multiples from the same batch of plastic. Hard master, soft mold. Soft master, hard mold.

You can make stirrers from wire coat hangers.

You can do some fun stuff if you drill eye holes, smooth the hole's bottom with filler, paint in the eye scheme you want by hand with an artist's brush, and then fill with epoxy or solarez, and dome it slightly. Both will hold a curve, so you can get a 3D effect.

We'll take all we can get! Seriously, if the Feds can build an interstate highway system, can't they build an interstate water system, to pump water to where it's needed? Heck. the oil companies can pump oil anywhere. Let's hire them to build the system. Just don't let them control it, or the water!

You sure make it look easy.

Man, you better never let your wife find out about your shop. You'll never stop paying for it! Hahaha Put on a guest room, and I'm there!

Rain. I'm so jealous! I live in SoCal. It's been so long since it rained here we've forgotten what it looks like.

I don't know what Texas requires, but we have to have a final inspection and sigh off from the Building Dept. in order for the power company to heat up a new service out here in SoCal. You might have a problem getting a new service hung on a building on skids. You might not want to mention that to the Building Dept., or the power company. It is also kind of dangerous to have leads dropped down to a shed that can accidentally be moved too far, and cause the leads to drop, or short out. Maybe you could get a service on a pole, like we do for temporary power on jobsites, and then run a connection to a sub-panel inside your new shop with a waterproof flex line. That way you can move your shop around without worrying about the drops from the power pole being compromised. If you want it in a new location, you can just run a longer conduit to that location. As far as power needs are concerned, unless you're going to put AC into the shop, HAWGFAN is right. 200 amps is overkill. Of course, the cost for a 200 amp panel and breakers isn't all that much more than for a 100 or 150 amp panel, so it probably gives you flexibility in the future. Let us know how it turns out, and post some pictures.

Hahaha...too true!

Ben, I tried something similar to begin with, but found I had to hold the hook bend closer to it's final transition to the straight pointed section, or I would wind up with a hook that is too long overall for my lure. By leaving a 1/2" section between the transition bend and my curved portion pliers, and by using flat jawed pliers on the hook portion, I have been able to open them successfully. I just got the pliers on the curved portion too close to the hard transition bend, so the bend took all the force, and it broke. Live and learn. Mark

Cry me a river! Hahaha

Hahaha!!!

On a happier note, I just base coated three lures with Wicked White straight out of the bottle, using my Badger sipon brush with the .5 tip, and it was a breeze. No paint clog worries.

Well, lets just say I learned not to put my rod tips across my TM mount. Hahaha I don't actually have a ceiling fan in my garage, but I do seem to knock the dust off the fluorescent lights quite often. Where my Club meets there are ceiling fans, and a number of members have had their rods rattled.

I used a ferris wheel to turn my swimbaits when I used Etex on them, and I found the safest way was to use paper clips, bent to size for each lure. Carburetor springs sound like a good idea.

Thanks Pete. That's actually how I open the eyes, and it works great. I was opening the bite of the hook, so the hook point on a 4/0 winds up 1 1/2" from the eye. That's how I need the hooks to be in order for them to work on my lures, kinda like how we used to open jig hooks a little to get a better hookup.

I have been using a VMC swimbait hook for one of my lures, and opening the bite up with two pairs of pliers to fit. I broke one today, right at the hard bend from the curved bite to the straight section that has the point, and I realized I had grabbed the hook too close to the hard bend from the curved shaft to the straight hook point section. I'm guessing I have been holding the bend of the hook a little farther from the hard bend when I open them, and got too close this time. Just a reminder that little things make a big difference.

1/8, 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2". A lot of commercial eyes are metric, so I try to get what's close.

Like Artie Johnson used to say, "Verrry interesting!" Almost like a mini A rig. I wonder if the blades coming out of the head are so even with the body that they will interfere with a good hookup. Let us know how it goes.