mark poulson

You came to the right place. These folks know everything about pouring, and will gladly share their knowledge with you if you ask.

See if your local lumber yard or home center can order just one length for you.

That's a really neat idea!

I use ammonia-free Windex, and water with just a little dishwashing liquid soap for my everyday cleaning when I'm painting, and Createx Airbrush Restorer for my bi-monthly deep soak and clean (I do it when I think the airbrush isn't shooting well). I find that back flushing in warm, clean water between colors, and wiping down my needle after each painting session, are key to keeping my airbrush clean and spraying well.

I thought about what Smalljaw said, and I figured there had to be a way to add scent without killing the zonker's action. Then I looked at at Felder's video with the craw body made of paper, and got an idea. I added a second rubber skirt band closer to the hook bend, to make room for a scent pocket. Then I tied on the zonkers backwards right behind the head band. I flipped the zonkers back over and tied them just behind the hook bend band, so they would still flare. I wound up with a patch of zonker fire between the skirt and the zonker claws that I can add scent to, without disturbing the claw fur. Here are pictures of the steps I used, and the finished jig. I used the skirt bands because my heads don't have the same collar and bait keepers that Felder's have.

If I were going to cure the paint next to a BBQ grill, I would keep my digital thermometer handy to check the temps as I go, and have a hot glove handy, too. Aluminum heats up fast, and holds heat, so be careful.

It depends on your airbrushes needle size, and the paint you're shooting. I use a .3mm nozzle, and I thin my paint to the consistency of skim milk. I am able to shoot with 15psi up to 40psi without problems. Lower than that, and my paint can be spotty, requiring constant triggering. Higher than that, and I blow the paint off the lure blank. I would make sure my paint is thinned, and then do some test spraying on a piece of white paper, to see what works for your particular airbrush.

I haven't had a chance to fish one yet, but they look good in my 5 gallon test bucket. So far, I have only used it on claws. I hope to find out tomorrow.

Could the way I blew the zonker dry with compressed air after I dipped it in the Spike-It be the reason that mine seemed to still have good action? I'll go back out and do more testing once the garage cools down. It's 95 degrees out there right now.

After I watched your first video I got some Texas cut Zonkers, and tried your method, using 3" strips as the craw claws. It is really neat how the craws stand up. I also like how it slows the fall of the jig, which should help with pressured fish. Thanks again for sharing the idea. I'm playing around now with ways to add scent, like dipping the Zonkers into Spike-It garlic flavored dyes. So far, it seems to hold the scent, and the hairs still trap air on the fall, and spread out once they hit bottom.

Thank you.

I'm glad it worked out. I don't think you can make a mistake that most of us haven't already made. Everything I know about bait making I learned here on TU from generous members willing to share their knowledge.

Is that the vinyl glue used for plastic pipe?

If you build some matching mold boxes, with 1/4" plywood bottoms and 3/4" x 3/4" borders, spray the box insides with some kind of a clear acrylic sealer, and mix some yellow carpenter's glue into you POP just before you pour it into the mold box, the molds will be strong enough to clamp, and will last for years. I have some that are more than 10 years old and they still injection pour just fine. I line the bottoms of the boxes with fiberglass drywall tape, for additional reinforcing, and put some 1" finish nails around the inside of the borders to help anchor the POP, but I've found that, on the two occasions I had to remove the POP to remake a mold half, the carpenter's glue sticks to the mold boxes very well by itself. Be sure to mark the cavity locations before you install the 1" nails so you don't drill into them when you drill your 5/8" sprue holes. I use cut off 8D nails to align the two box halves, and clamp the halved together after they're poured and cured to drill the 5/8" holes with my drill press. Try and keep the baits 1/2" away from the borders, so you can carve tapered holes from the 5/8" sprues to the cavities.

I spray my silicone molds with PAM cooking spray every couple of pours. The baits come out a little more shiny, but they don't look like baits from an aluminum mold.

The front half is two screw eyes, and the rear half is a hinge pin that runs through the bait from top to bottom.

Is that 140 celcius?

You, sir, are either very brave, or very foolish. ;o)

That is a nice mold. Before I scrap it I would try enlarging the gateway from the runner to the cavity. Even if it looks ugly, it won't affect how the bait looks. I would begin with enlarging the runner/sprue connection to the same size as the runner, and then taper it down to just before it meets the bait cavity.

I do the same thing, and it works. But I take it a step farther. Once I cut out the profile on my bandsaw, including my lip slot, I smooth it with belt sander, and then draw a centerline all the way around the bait. That lets me get the line tie, the hook hangers, and the ballast centered. Once I've marked those locations with a pencil, and deepened them with an awl, I begin the tapering and shaping process. The awl marks make sure I don't lose the locations, even if I happen to sand off the pencil line. If I'm adding a rattle, I'll mark it's location, and drill a small through hole, so I have a way to line things up later, before I begin tapering and shaping. Once you have begun shaping a few lures, you'll get a feel for keeping it symmetrical just by eye as you shape it. Give yourself some time and don't be too hard on yourself if something doesn't work. We all make mistakes. The key thing is to learn from them, so you don't repeat the same mistakes. Of course, there will still be plenty of room to make new ones! Hahaha

I didn't know that was called Wisconsin style. Live and learn. I actually do something like that to add accent colors to my already tied jigs, chatterbaits, or spinnerbaits, when I want a bluegill (blue/orange) or crawdad (red) effect. I add just a bit of a half tab to the belly, and it works great.

No, because the thread would spread out enough when I tied it to keep the flare from being as pronounced. That was my first thought when I began playing with the rubber skirt collars.

I'm just happy to have something to contribute. Lord knows I've taken so much from you and the other makers here. I tried, and failed, to make a bulge with thread, like you do. You make it look so damn easy! I like that now I can control where the bulge goes, and then lock it in place with the super glue. I have to laugh when I think of how often Andy kicked my butt throwing his own jigs, while I was throwing mine right next to him. But I kept trying, retying with different materials, and pushing the trailer farther up the hook to get more flare. He had given me a dozen of his jigs over the years, but it never occured to me to look under the skirts. Doh!!! Now his and mine look exactly the same in the test bucket. That's a relief, because I was getting desperate enough to tie one of his on and risk losing it.

Those look good!

I hope this is clear. The Arkie jig is from a Do-It mold.