mark poulson

I know you're right. I'm just sitting here, drinking coffee, and reading what real bait makers do, and kind of day dreaming. I know I'll try it now. I can't help myself! Hahaha

For us hobby guys, could we use an L bent piece of heavy fluorocarbon line and set it in epoxy, so we can use the jig heads that already have the weed guard hole? I realize it would take some experimenting to come up with a jig to hold the line in place while the epoxy sets, but I really line the idea of a soft, split dual weed guard. Maybe setting it in bondo, and adding a drop of super glue to make the bondo stronger after it sets, would be easier than epoxy, or the epoxy putty some builders use.

I guessing he or she worked hard to figure out how to get that effect, and now they make a living using it, so I don't think they would give it up easily, but you can try. They have a contact email on their site, BB Lures.

Man, it's tough to keep a secret around here!

Maybe you could cut a short section of PVC pipe that slips over the tube, and slide it up past the tube body so it just covers the tails. Drill a hole through both the PVC and the dowel, and us a small wire pin to hold the PVC sleeve in place while you dip. Afterward, take the dowel off the rack, pull the wire pin, and slide the PVC sleeve up over the end of the dowel. That would seem to me to be faster than having to tie them up every time with a bread wire tie.

Bob, I use "In The Spotlight", a clear with mylar bits from Sally Hansen, for coating one side of my spinnerbait blades. It hold up for a long time. I just make sure to wipe the blades with acetone before I brush on the polish. Any additional weight from the polish which might slow down the spin is more than made up for by how much flash the mylar bits put out. Just don't tell anyone else! I typically fish clear, rocky lakes, so I lose my jigs before the polish comes off the powder coated heads.

Air brush painting with a two stage air brush, so you can control the air and paint independently, is the way to go. Using one is like learning to throw a baitcaster, a learning curve that is doable. Buy a good brush to learn with, and you'll continue painting. A cheap brush that doesn't perform can be discouraging. Go onto the air brush websites and check out their free videos, especially on how to clean an air brush. Air brushes have tiny passages that the paint is forced through to get an even spray, and those passages can clog easily and stop your brush from working. Clean brushes work, dirty brushes don't, no matter how much you pay for them.

I don't think it has a future as a fishing lure, but it could be dynamite as an untethered remote camera!

How long between dips if you dip more than once?

It must have worked, you're still around!

Just a question. Would hand pouring with hard plastic that had been stirred fast to incorporate air bubbles work?

The old folks in my neighborhood used to use that when I was a kid. It was horrible! But everyone switched to Vick's Vaporub as soon as it came out. Menthol smelled waaaaay better!

I do pinch a split shot onto the line above my weightless wacky rigs when I want a quick way to get a faster fall. It's easy, and the fluorocarbon line doesn't get damaged by pinching the lead onto it. But I have to tie an overhand knot onto the tag end if I want to use split shot as a drop shot weight, because they will just slide off the fluoro otherwise.

Smart!!! That's the fix that Do-It needs to make. Changing the wire form is a lot easier than changing the mold.

How do you keep the paint on only the head?

I like how flexible the rigging is with the Jika setup. It's easy to make a rig with two split rings. That way you can change the weight or hook if you like. If you put one ring through the hook eye, and the second ring through the first, and attach the dropshot weight to the second, you are able to tie your line to the first ring above the second ring, so the weight is always on the bottom of the soft plastic, and dragging the bottom, or leading it down through the grass. Depending on what shape weight you use, you can vary the wobble of the bait as it's dragged along the bottom.

I do the same with twist wires. I use them, sst screw eyes, and Spro swivels for hook hangers.

I only powder coat jigs for myself and a fishing buddy, so this is just what works for me, not for production. I add whatever glitter I want to a bottle of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails clear nail polish, and then shake it up and brush it on. It dries really hard, and I'll lose the jig before I lose the polish and glitter.

Dieter, I watched the video again. Always fun to see you at work. How do you anchor your in-lip line tie wires back into the lure body on your deeper divers?

Actually, for me it's the opposite. 3 1/2" baits are easy. I'm struggling to get a 7" bait to glide. I am going to have to add Riverman's beer belly to the next one.

Try adding some scent. They hold onto it longer, so you can still set on them. Funny how that doesn't seem to work with women.

Ed, my kids say that goes for road apples, too! Hahaha

I also added feathered/flashabou trebles to my Roach gliders, and it did calm the glide turn down. I like how it "tamed" the first glider I made, so it glides instead of turning radically on a twitch, twitch spook retrieve, and how they flare on the pause. I think it acts like a tail on a kite, lending stability. But I learned that feathered trebles can affect action too much when I put some on spook-type baits a while back. I had to trim the feathers down to even with the hook bends to get the side to side action back on some of them. I haven't tried to add plastic baits as tails on topwaters, but I do use worms as true tails on my rat wake baits, and they lend an intriguing, very visible wiggle to the bait's action.

That does make a lot of sense. Nothing teaches like experience, and lots of times failure teaches more than success.

Hahaha