mark poulson

When I have a spinnerbait break at the R bend, I bend a loop in the wire, and make it into a chatterbait.

I'm asking because I mixed up some med. plastic yesterday for Ikas, 2 oz, and added a half a cap of heat stabilizer and a cap of softener, along with 1 oz of kosher salt. I also added two tbs. of Caney Creek silica sand weighting additive (I found it in the last place I looked). Even with the salt, the bodies came out really soft. I like it, but I didn't add that much softener. So I'm left wondering, with all the different things I added, what made the plastic so soft?

I posted this in the Wire Baits forum by mistake: Most of us have some crappie jigs with soft bronze hooks lying around. Straighten out the hook and thread the jig into the head of your bait, like you would a necko weight. Works for me.

Most of us have some crappie jigs with soft bronze hooks lying around. Straighten out the hook and thread the jig into the head of your bait, like you would a necko weight. Works for me.

I bend my chatter blades, too. I do it to store bought baits, and the lures I make myself from online components. I find you can fish them faster without rolling.

I guess it does pay to clean up your work area once in a while! Hahaha Those are really nice. Do you make a bullfrog tadpole with that mold? Seems like it would get hammered on the Delta or Clear Lake.

How does he get them to stop wiggling so he can carve them?

I feel your pain. When the hormones flow, so does the drama. My last two kids were girls, and, even though they're seven years apart, I still remember the fights over all kinds of stuff. I'm lucky. It never gets so cold here that I can't run and hide in my garage. Plus I have a parabolic heater out there, if things do cool down.

Great video. Thanks for finding it and reposting it. I've found some clear spray-on electrical insulation that works well for me here: http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Liquid_Tape

You might try clear nail polish to seal them onto the head.

Maybe you can save the mold by cleaning the faces and then coating them with thin bondo and resqueezing them to get a better fit. You can sqeeze them until most of the new bondo is out, and then, once it's set, clean out the cavities again. I'd try something like that before I'd junk the mold.

Jdeee, The secret is good filter material, so the air you're blowing out is clean.

I just got off the phone with Lew's, and they are sending me a new handle, free. Plus they are upgrading it to the 85mm handle that comes on the newer Pro series. I guess they have had issues with this handle before. Great customer service. Thank you Alison.

Bob, I also have a lot of rods on both sides of my front deck, so my first thought was, did I step on it? But it was on the left side of my deck, so I think not. I am not a ballerina any more, since I have sciatica. I don't move around that much up there. I tend to stand either directly behind the TM pedal, or on the right side, because my balance is better from that side. I do step on the handles of the rods on the right side sometimes, but it's usually just barely on the knobs, and I'm used to working on scaffolds, so I am very aware when I step on things and keep things out of the way. In all my years of fishing I have guillotined a rod with my trolling motor, but I've never broken one by stepping on it. Watch, now that I've said that, I'll probably go out and break one the next trip! Hahaha These are my first Lew's reels, so I really didn't know what to expect, but my friend has several and really likes them, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I bought two on sale for $150+- each. Aluminum frame and side plates, 11 ball bearings, both centrifugal and magnetic brakes, 5.9 oz., I figured it was worth taking a chance. With computer controlled machining all of the new reels are amazing now. These reels are a pleasure to fish with, and cast like a dream. It's funny, but the only thing I don't like is their handle, which is only 80mm long. When I first looked at them in my hand, I thought they would be too small. But I don't really notice it when I'm fishing with them. I spoke to Alison, the customer service rep. for Lew's, and she's going to see if they can send me another handle. That would be great. Fingers crossed!

Now that looks great!

I just went to Cabela's and couldn't find an injector bigger than their 4oz. marinade injector, which is what I already use. I saw the Hudson's sprayer for big injections, but it's all plastic, and I'd be a'scared to heat that much plastic and put it under pressure in something plastic!

Why not just fish the fat Ika? It weighs 7+grams without the hook, and casts like a bullet with a baitcaster and 12lb fluoro. I rig it by bringing a 4/0 EWG offset worm hook through the skirt, turning it out, and then bringing it back right through the middle of the bait near the end. The hook I use has enough bite to pass through that thick plastic and Texpose on the other side, and still get great hooksets. Here's the hook I use now: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/VMC_Ike_Approved_Wide_Gap_Hook/descpage-MVCWGH.html I add weight to get a faster fall or to help in the wind by pinching a small split shot onto the line and pulling it down tight to the hook eye, and/or by adding a nail weight, necko weight, or straightened crappie jig into the end. And finally I add a buckshot rattle strap to the bend of the hook just before I pass the point back through the bottom of the bait, if I want to drag it and have rattles. I made a 12 cavity two part POP mold, so I can pour my own, and just buy the skirts from GYCB to weld onto the top.

For home pourers, homemade POP molds are easy, and fun. Check Mantase's site for a how-to video. You can mix and match, using Soft Bait Glue or Mend It, and come up with a craw that has all your favorite features by cutting and pasting. Since looks aren't important in making a master, seams are okay. Just keep them as tight as you can, so they don't show in the final plastics. If you're planning to sell your baits, you'll need to hand make your masters so you don't infringe on anyone's patented stuff.

A dust collection system is the key to cutting down on sanding dust. That and a dust mask. Because I can shape a lure so fast with my oscillating belt sander I had to find a way to cut down on the dust, or I would have been buried in it pretty quickly. There are portable dust removal systems out there that work, so check the woodworking sites, like Rockler's. For hobbiests like me they are a great way to go. I used to build a lot of cabinets and furniture in my garage, so I decided to make my own dust collection system. I had a homemade portable system that I used for a while, but then I had some down time and decided to do something more permanent and convenient. I used two 1000cfm wall mount kitchen ventilators I got off a job, and mounted them side by side on my garage wall outside, next to the rear corner. Because they are designed for kitchen hood exhaust they are explosion proof. That is important with dust collection. Inside, I built a raised shelf to hold a 55 gallon plastic trash barrel just below the level of the fans, and rigged a homemade 6" cyclone-imitating duct separator for the dust coming in, so the incoming air and dust circulates in the chamber above the barrel and the heavier stuff falls into the barrel. There is a washable HVAC green filter in front of the two fans, which are connected by a big plywood rectangle that holds the filter. I get almost no dust on the exterior wall below the fans, and the green filter is easy to remove and clean. The barrel slides out from under the collection chamber to empty. I put a clear plexi. window on the front of the collection chamber that's removable, so I can see when it's time to clean the green filter, and I can access it without removing the barrel. I ran 6" main trunk ducting across the ceiling of my garage from above my machine locations to the side of the collection chamber, and 4" branches down to my saws and my sander. I used manual gates at each machine so I can open only the one I'm using, to keep the head pressure up. It keeps the dust way down, but I still have to clean up with a shop vac. around the sander every so often. I spent a long time thinking about this system before I even started, and wouldn't have done it at all if I hadn't gotten the two Thermador side draft units for free. When I get a chance I'll take some pictures and post them in one of the galleries here.

If he ships to Canada, Baitjunky is the way to go.

Making your own POP mold is your best bet to getting that mold now.

Lots of smart people out there, Dieter. I'm just hoping some of it rubs off on me. Hahaha

Post it in the Hard Baits Gallery, and then attach the location to your post here.