mark poulson

I never know exactly how much ballast to add until I've got the lure finished. I'm just not that smart. But being able to play with the ballast without worrying about water intrusion is one of the things I like most about AZEK. For your poplar bait, if you know where you want to add your ballast, you can drill extra ballast holes, seal everything real well, add all the hardware and hooks, and then hang egg sinkers and/or split shot onto your belly hook until you get the float/sink you want. I use 1/4" lead wire, so a clean 1/4" hole works for me. I weigh the sinkers to see how much ballast I need, cut of that amount of lead wire, and, in the case of the Roach, put it into the two holes I had predrilled. Once I had foiled and top coated it, I had to drill out about 3/4gram to get it to sink really slowly. I filled the open 3/16" hole I had drilled with paper towel, twisted thin and masked in, then added a couple of drops of super glue to seal and fill the hole, shot it with some accelerant (I'm not patient) and tested it again. Now I know, for the next Roach I make, to take that amount off the ballast before I foil and top coat it. If it still isn't right, I can always drill out more, or add a little thin lead wire around the front treble hook shank, and anchor it with super glue, too. Keeping the ballast centered in the bait so it sits or sinks level is important. You may need to allow more or less weight for you ballast, depending on how you plan to finish and top coat your lure. Just be sure to make notes that you can refer to later.

Bill, It carves easily with a sharp knife. It machines just like wood, except that it gets hot and melts with dull blades, and the sanding dust is electrostatically charged, so it sticks to everything, and raises hell with sinuses. I wear a dust mask whenever I sand it. I cut out my rectangular blanks with a radial arm or chop saw, cut out my profiles and make my lip slots on a band saw, and shape my baits on an oscillating belt sander. I carve my details with a sharp exacto or other knife, use a drill press to make my ballast holes and eye indentations, and a cordless drill for pilot holes for my hook hangers and line ties. It's the same basic process I used to use with wood, except I can design, shape, finish, and fish a lure in one day, thanks to Solarez UV cured resin.

Bill, One of the best things about using PVC is that I don't have to wait to see how it floats when I'm playing around with ballast. No sealing, no water worries. I add the hardware, and put it into a bucket of water to see how it floats, or, in this case, sinks, and how it sits in the water. I used to use poplar, too, but I quit because of water intrusion issues. I could never seal it well enough to keep the water out of my jointed swimbaits. When JR Hopkins suggested I try AZEK, I found I could use it for almost everything, including poppers, so I seldom use wood anymore. I used the AZEK trim board, which is the more buoyant of their materials. I could have used the decking, too, but I think the buoyancy of the trim board let me put more ballast deeper, so the bait is more stable and less inclined to roll. For me, the lighter the building material, the better, when I want an active bait, and their trim board is almost as light as balsa, but holds hardware like the screw eyes just fine.

littleriver. Because I kept the Roach's flat sided design, it doesn't roll on the twitch. But, because it is only 3 1/2" long, it will almost walk in place if I twitch without taking up line at the same time. This resulted in fouling, because I was throwing it on 12 lb fluoro, which is what I had on the setup I took to test it. I plan to fish it on heavier (20 lb+) line when I take it out next time. That should cut down on the fouling, like it does with a spook or sammie. I made the drawing at my desk, with the finished lure in front of me, so I could post all the details more easily. I hope I remember where I eventually put the drawing. Hahaha

Dieter, I thought I was following the design pretty closely. I just tried to add whatever I've learned about keeping baits stable to the design. That's why I tapered the body from top to bottom, to make the belly less buoyant. I tapered from front to middle to back because I've found, with crankbaits and swimbaits, that livens the action of the bait, so I thought it might help my Roach turn and glide more easily. I kept the flat sides, like the Roach, because I didn't want the lure to roll on the twitch. I used the handle of a small screwdriver to add the scaling, first in one direction, and then at 90 degrees again. I got the idea from the video link you posted. Thank you. I did the scaling after I'd already foiled the bait. I couldn't figure out, if I scaled the foil first, how I would be able to burnish the foil onto the bait without ruining the scaling, so I waited until it was already applied and burnished. Fortunately, the BritBak foil has enough self- adhesive glue on the back to make it somewhat soft, and easy to scale once it's already installed. It's always fun to try a new lure design, and very satisfying when it actually works! Thanks again for the lure building site links.