mark poulson

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.

I shoot some PAM cooking spray into my injector after each shot, as I'm cleaning out the old plastic.

Man, this is like when I'm catching them good, everyone else is, too! Hahaha I should have known someone here would come up with an even easier way to do the same thing. Thanks for the idea.

I had a friend who made TNT jigs, Andy Cuccia. His jigs were really fish catchers. He died suddenly, two weeks after I'd last seen him, and I never got the chance to discuss making jigs with him. I was out in the garage, doing my Covid chores/tying some jigs. I was trying to match his jigs, but, even though I could match the skirts, I couldn't get mine to flare like his did on the fall. Thinking back to one of Smalljaw's videos, I was inspired to peek under Cooch's jig's skirt (kinky, I know). Low and behold, he had tied a thread bulge behind where the actual skirt was tied, to get the skirt's back half to flare just like the front. I tried it and it worked, but I quickly realized I am no Smalljaw when it comes to wrapping thread around a jig. It took me longer to get the thread bulge right than it did to tie on the actual skirt material. So, being lazy, I began to think of how to duplicate that bulge without thread. Looking down into my jig tying drawer, I saw some of the rubber jig skirt collars that I still had, left over from before I began thread tying my skirts. I took one of the skirt collars and slid it up the jig's hook and up onto the knob at the beginning of the lead on my Arkie jig. I add a drop of super glue to hold it in position. Then I tied on my skirt. Lo and behold, when I tied the skirt and drew the tying thread tight, it seemed to flare. I dropped it into my 5 gallon water bucket, alongside of one of Andy's jigs, and it flared just like his did. I don't think this will be useful for someone like Smalljaw, who can tie a jig faster than I can assemble the components, but, for someone who is a home tier like me, it is a quick and easy way to get your jigs to flare when they hit the bottom. That really seems to make a difference here on the CA Delta, especially when the water is clear.

I use Lurepartsonline weighted hook holders for my belly weight. You can figure out how much by just using a screw eye to test, adding weight to the hook tines until you get what you want. Then weigh the screw eye, subtract that from the added ballast weight, and use a weighted hook hanger that matches that weight. Once you figure it out for the first bait, the rest will be easy. Just be sure to take notes, so you can duplicate it next time. https://www.lurepartsonline.com/Plug-Belly-Weight-Inserts

If it always rolls to the same side down, try bending the line tie a little at a time toward that side, to see if that help. An off center line tie makes the lure have more lip surface on one side, and that is the side that it will turn away from.

Thanks. I'll give it a try tomorrow. It's too hot right now to boil water in the house. It's been too hot to work in the garage, too, so I still haven't done my moving ballast testing. I went out into it this morning, but could only manage one project before it became uncomfortable for me. It sucks getting older, but, it beats the alternative, so far.

Thanks Dave. That is a great video, and a big help. My frogs are still relatively soft, so I'll just do the boiling water deal for now, and see how that goes.

I have some older hollow belly frogs that have become harder over the years. I've heard that I can boil them to make the rubber softer. How long should I boil them, and do I need to remove the hooks first?

If you told me before, I forgot. Sorry.

Is the bait that tears from the same cavity each time?

Just a question from someone who has never had to try it. Can you use JB Weld to repair over-ground areas, so you can just lay your hook, covered with some kind of release agent, into the wet weld, let it cure, and then file/sand the excess weld flat, and then do the same thing with the other mold half.

Baitjunky used to sell high temp polyester glitter.

I use the wire size to judge which clevis to use.

That would seem to make adding some kind of a scent a good idea.

Rustoleum X2 Gloss Clear Acrylic, two quick coats, will work, and it's only $5+- a can.