mark poulson

A friend asked me to match some laminated worms she liked. I made an 8 cavity PP mold, and poured up the first batch. The are 6" straight tail worms. They came out fine, but, between pouring and trimming, it's taking me 20 minutes a batch. I pour using Norpor silicone cups, pinched down to a small spout with big black paper clip after the plastic's heated, for both heating and pouring the two colors. My problem is it is killing my back to stand over the mold and pour that fine stream, first of the clear/flake back, and then of the pumpkin belly, which is up. Is there an easier way, other than a dedicated Lee's plastic pot? If not, I'll struggle through and get them poured, because I don't pour enough to buy a pot. But my back is hoping there is an easier way. Any help is appreciated.

Well handled on both sides by two adults who take personal responsibility for their own actions.

If you like that stuff, you should love Solarez. it is also a fiberglass resin, meant for repairs, and cures via UV light. http://www.solarez.com/productsnew/gloss.html I dip my cranks, and they are ready to fish after three minutes in the UV fingernail light. I have brushed it on, too, but I'm lazy and dipping is easier. When my resin gets too low to dip, I'll brush.

Maybe it's because I build with PVC, but I don't get cracking. It will chip if it hits the rocks, but, so far, no cracking.

I've found that, with any 2 part epoxy that I've thinned and then had it not set up, it's that I haven't mixed it thoroughly before I add the alcohol. One part or the other will take up the alcohol and not bond with the other epoxy part if it's still separate, so be sure you mix both parts together really well before you thin it with alcohol.

That's why my first bass boat was a welded hull Tracker. But the welds wound up failing, so I got it replace under the CA lemon law, when it was in the shop 6 out of the first 18 months I owned it. It actually was a dryer ride than my Ranger, because it sat higher in the water, but it was a sail in the wind. When I got rear ended and it got totaled by a hit and run driver on the freeway, I moved up to a fiberglass boat, and it's much easier to fish out of, but it is a wetter ride in rough weather.

I have been puzzled at how many here have experienced hazing when they use Solarez. I just got an email answer from a top coat tech rep. that may answer that, at least in part. While it is in answer to a question about their ultra gloss acrylic concrete sealer, part of it may apply to Solarez, or any top coat. This is from the SealBest Concrete Coating rep.: This sealer is water-based making it environmentally-friendly; however, it has a few provisions that need to be followed for the optimum result. It does not yellow or change the color of the concrete. Drying time varies, due to the amount of direct sunlight available to the area and the air temperature. This product should not be applied if the temperature is expected to fall below 60 degrees through the overnight of the day of application. Temperatures colder than 60 degrees at night and dew that appears this time of year, can cause the product to blush, or turn white upon curing. Blushing does not go away unless the product is removed. Also heavy or dense application may cause blushing as well. Blushing does not mean the area is not sealed and protected, but it is noticeable. Thank you for your interest. So I'm reading that to mean any water still in the paint, or condensation from cold air, before it's top coated can cause hazing (blushing), as well as lower temperatures in general. I heat set the crap out of my paints, and use a U.V. light nail box to cure them, so maybe that's why I don't see anything but the tiniest hint of hazing. And I live in SoCal, where it seldom gets really cold. The nail box is warm inside when the lights are on, since it has four U.V. bulbs and reflective sides. For those of you in colder climates, maybe heating you baits before you dip them, and then using a U.V. nail box for curing, would cut down on, or eliminate hazing. Just an idea. Solarez is sooo easy to use and fast, I'd hate for it not to work as well for you as it does for me.

Here's what the tech. rep from SealBest said: This sealer is water-based making it environmentally-friendly; however, it has a few provisions that need to be followed for the optimum result. It does not yellow or change the color of the concrete. Drying time varies, due to the amount of direct sunlight available to the area and the air temperature. This product should not be applied if the temperature is expected to fall below 60 degrees through the overnight of the day of application. Temperatures colder than 60 degrees at night and dew that appears this time of year, can cause the product to blush, or turn white upon curing. Blushing does not go away unless the product is removed. Also heavy or dense application may cause blushing as well. Blushing does not mean the area is not sealed and protected, but it is noticeable. Thank you for your interest.

Back in the '60's I was surf fishing in SoCal, when an angler walked up and started fishing just down the beach with this kind of reel. I was using a Penn Jigmaster, and he outcast me almost 100%. His reel looked like a 6" circular spool that pivoted from an open faced position (like a spinning reel)on the cast to a side reel (like a direct drive bait caster) on the retrieve. He said it was Australian (so was he), and he called it a Quik Reel. I just found it again, after all this time, and wondered if anyone here was familiar with them. Here's their USA link: www.alveyusa.com And here's the reel I just bought, for $32+: http://www.alveyusa.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_8&products_id=2

You can also mill out the eyes to take flat eyes or larger hook eyes by locking a drill press with sharp, short bit at the right height, so it acts like an end mill, and slowly moving the mold by hand under it until you've enlarged the eye hole enough. You shouldn't try this with a hand held drill, or the bit can grab and go crazy. A dremel with a grinding bit would probably work, but I don't trust my hands to control it enough.

That looks really promising. Let us know how it works out.

Would that be the same as propionate?

I don't use a mask when I dip in either waterborne urethane, or Solarez, either. There isn't enough solvent smell to bother me, and I'm super sensitive, unfortunately.

The PVC I use is white, so I just put my first coat of Createx right over the smooth sanded PVC, with no primer, and it holds just fine. I think heat setting the paint actually heats the PVC, too, and they kind of bond.

For eye catching colors, either a red background and chartreuse eye dot, or the reverse.

Ted, Be sure to get a model with both centrifugal and magnetic brakes. The ones with magnetic brakes only are much harder to adjust properly. I think Daiwa uses only magnetic brakes, but their brakes must be a better design.

If you find a mold that is right, but doesn't take the bigger hooks, you can easily enlarge the hook slot with a fine triangular file. Just take your time, count your strokes so you can repeat it in each cavity, and be patient. Remember, you only have to do this once to a mold, so take your time.

Michael Douglas says women cause cancer, too. "Everything in moderation". I don't where or when I first heard that, but it is a truism of life, especially when it comes to using chemical compounds. Read the safety warnings that come with anything you want to use. Use a respirator designed for the solvents in whatever you're using, and you're protected. Some of the really nasty stuff out there is absorbed through any mucous membrane, so it can be absorbed through unprotected eyes, too. Stay away from anything like that. In addition, always paint or coat using in an open area with a fan behind you blowing the fumes out past you, so you don't breathe them in. If I'm doing any work with superglue, I use a dust mask and a fan behind me. I find the glue odors don't get past the mask. I try and apply stinky/odorous top coatings either in my garage with the big door open and a fan in the back blowing out, or out on the driveway in front of the garage, where I don't worry about a fan. And I spray any solvent based paints either outside or in the front part of my garage, and hang them to dry from the underside of the big door, with a fan blowing out. If you have to paint or coat indoors, you need to have very good ventilation to the exterior (not under an open window) and use a respirator. Once you mess up your lungs and sinuses, they stay messed up. And you don't want to expose your family to anything dangerous. If it smells, it's not good for you.

Joliepa, Building lures isn't rocket science (otherwise how could a carpenter like me make them?), and it's supposed to be fun, at least for us hobby builders. If you stay with simple, proven lure shapes and configurations to begin with, I doubt you can build a lure that won't work eventually. I have found that the most important things in getting a lure to run "right" are to cut the lip slot while the blank is still rectangular, so it's square to the body, use a centerline drawn after you cut out and rough shape the profile to keep you line tie, lip, hook hangers, and ballast all centered, try to keep the lip symmetrical and centered, and to trust you eye when you're shaping the lure. If it looks evenly shaped to you, it is probably good enough. Flatter sided lures make for less wobble (roll), and less flash, but they imitate shad better. I stick with proven shapes and designs from baits that have worked for me in the past. You can tune a lure by bending the line tie to counteract one that pulls to the left or right, and you can usually eliminate blowout (turning 360 degrees on the retrieve) by either moving the line tie or adding ballast between the front belly hanger and the lip. And testing a lure before you paint it saves heartache. Post here after you've tried a few, and there are smart people here who can answer the questions that only come up when you're actually building lures. So don't be afraid to fail. Just hitch up your pants and go for it!

The Gen 3 reels are light years better than the originals, and I know that's saying a lot. I still have two of the originals that I use for shallow cranks and spinnerbaits, where the brake settings I need aren't as finicky. They are really smooth, and a pleasure to fish all day.

Bill, You're right, there is no substitute for good communication, and there's no excuse for not responding to his emails. That is just piss poor customer service.

The Thule I bought from a fabric store was stiff. I found that shooting a couple of heat set coats of paint through it softened it a little. I really like the plastic mesh that garlic heads from Gilroy are packaged in. It is a fine mesh, but it stretches, so it hugs my smaller cranks better. Another soft mesh is the green mesh that avocados come in. It is a larger, multi-sized mesh that really makes for a neat, almost 3D effect, when I put it over my Thule mesh before I spray my scale color. I had some pictures of swimbaits with that effect, silver over black, in the gallery, but I don't know how to find them now. I'll repost one I found in my computer in the Hard Baits gallery now. It seems to be the only one I have left. I hope you can see the effect. The 3D effect shows more in the water, for some reason.

You can't go wrong with a black topwater. It is visible in low light, since it's always darker than the sky above, and in off colored water, too. Your Vixen is the size of a small bass, so maybe that's another choice. A small bass chasing shad would be a good meal for a larger bass. It would probably work well in the spawn and post spawn, when there are always small bass chasing fry. But I tend to stick with clear/silver back, silver/black back, bone, and black as my primary walking bait colors. A bass looking up needs to see the bait, but not too well.

It's not me, it's the chemicals! I try not to inhale.