mark poulson

I would contact Bait Plastics and ask them.

Yes. But not over any other solvent-based paints, because the lacquer will melt the other paint. I add details all the time with lacquer based fingernail polish over water based paints.

Funny how that works. Life is too short to be chickenshit.

Am I the only one here who uses drywall screws instead of nail weights? I can get them in lots of sizes, cheap, and once I screw them into the head of my worm they don't come out. And they are cheap, so I'm not bummed when I lose a worm.

Funny, but I've had the opposite experience, at least with jig hooks. The Gamakatsu hooks must be fired much harder, or made with a harder steel, I guess, because I've had the eyes break when I tried to open them with an awl to make bladed baits. The Mustad hook eyes don't break.

Roger, I am a retired carpenter, 50+ years in the trade, and I feel the same way. I was fortunate enough to learn my craft(s) from WW2 vets who were used to pulling on the same end of the rope to get the job done. There were a few who were selfish, always worried that teaching someone else would mean eventually losing their job to whoever they taught , but I have never found that to be true. Selfish people never lasted on the job, but I've had people I've taught come back to me and say thank you, years later. Everything I know about lure making I learned here on TU, from others willing share their knowledge. I think it's only right to turn around and share what I now know with other people. What goes around comes around.

Be sure you get virgin blasting beads, so the glass isn't broken.

I have made some two piece POP molds with the craw baits flat in each half, so I can hand pour one half, let it cool a bit, and then close, clamp, and inject the second color at around 340 degrees, so it bonds to the first half. I do the same with one piece open pour silicone molds. With the silicone molds, I pass my heat gun over the back of the second color, to get it to even out and bond better. It works well enough for me, but I'm just a hobby pourer.

If I were trying to repaint those lures, the first thing I would do is remove the screw eyes, and use some runny super glue to reinforce/reseal the screw eye holes. Then I'd redrill the pilot holes, and reinstall the screw eyes, coating them with some medium super glue so they will be locked in place once reinstalled. Finally, I'd do just a scuff sanding to give my new primer/sealer something to bite, reprime, and repaint. I wouldn't try and strip the bait down to bare wood.

If you want to use hardener, add it to the plastic before it's heated, and stir it well. If you add it to hot plastic, it won't mix and you'll get lumps. When I want to add hardener to some already cooked, but cold, plastic, I mix the hardener with new plastic in a separate bowl, until it's completely mixed, and then add it to the cold plastic and heat them both together, stirring as soon as the old stuff is soft.

Be sure to add some heat stabilizer when you cook your plastic, so it doesn't yellow when you reheat it. I add 1 tsp for a cup of plastic.

Neither am I, but I still catch fish! Hahaha Thanks for the reply, and the photo.

Forgive what might be a dumb question, but can't you use something like high temp silicone to repair an over-ground mold to make it usable again. Or that welding epoxy?

I've found that the Lurepartsonline spinnerbaits with a 5/0 hook are great, and don't roll, even with a Colorado/Indiana blade combination. https://www.lurepartsonline.com/King-Spin-Heads Barlow's also has a good spinnerbait with a 5/0 hook. https://barlowstackle.com/Fish-Shaped-Spinner-Bait-Head--P1506/ I fish 50# braid with a 20# fluoro leader, so setting the hook with a 5/0 isn't a problem.

Since Baitjunkys stopped selling plastic, I've been using Bait Plastics PM262-000 Medium/Hard, and have not had any problems with either bubbles or durability.

It sounds like you have to weight a sinking one piece glide bait just like a top water glide bait. The more level it falls, but with the tail slightly lower, the wider the S glide. For my bigger surface gliders, I want the back 2/3s of the bait to be just underwater. Smaller baits, like a Sammy, can hand down more, because they are typically walked instead of gliding.