mark poulson

Check out the cheap nail polish at your local CVS.

Good for you. It's a neat concept. I hope it works out for you. What kind of foam are you using?

I'm serious. It is an idea worth protecting. Patent it before it gets knocked off.

Try and develop a cleaning routine that's quick and simple, so it becomes second nature to you between colors. There's not substitute for cleaning your brush often and well.

Genius. Patent it quick.

What brand epoxy are you using, and what type of paint are you coating? When I've had problems with epoxy, it has been that I didn't get the volumes of the two parts correct, or I didn't mix them enough. I cured that by using Flexcoat measuring syringes, and mixing really well. I would always have air bubbles to deal with, but heating the epoxy with a hair dryer got the bubbles to break.

If you still see paint in the cup after you're done cleaning your brush, put a little acetone in the cup, let it soak for a couple of minutes, and then use an artists bristle brush to clean out the paint. Pulling the needle out, or back far enough to expose the entire cup, will help. Just cover the tip with your finger so the acetone doesn't drip out until you're done. I also loosen up both pieces of the nozzle assembly, and back flush a cup full of acetone, to get at the paint that dries in the tiny air holes in the nozzle assembly. Be sure to run some clean water, or airbrush cleaning solution, through the brush once you've finished with the acetone. Back flushing with that will get all the acetone out, and help keep the brush ready for painting next time.

I had one, a Humminbird 997, on my Tracker 175, and it worked great. The transom mount was done by the same people I bought the boat from. The transducer shoots a narrow beam out both sides and the bottom, so make sure it has an unobstructed view to both sides, and down. It won't work on plane. For that you'll need a 2D tranducer, and a Y cable from Humminbird.

I don't pour resins or lead, so I just shaped a head out of PVC, split it, hollowed it out enough for the wires, and glued it over them. It holds fine.

Exactly. If the lure truly suspends, or sinks, you need to remove ballast. If it floats, but dives too deep, shorten the bill.

For me, the best way to see if it will work is to install the hook hangers and line tie, seal it all well, add the hooks, and take it for a test drive. Like littleriver said, the placement of the line tie is important. The longer the bill, the more it needs to be out on the bill, to give it enough leverage to control the lure's wiggle and not have the bill overpower the lure. But I don't have any kind of a formula for where to put the line tie. Mostly, I look at other lures of similar size and bill, and use them as a guide.

I'm pretty sure it will work fine. I've used single barb jigs and spinnerbaits for years, and they held just fine. I just got spoiled by Lure Logic jigs, with their double collar football heads. The plastic grubs stay up on them really well. Proline still makes the same jig, but I'm too cheap to pay over $1 a jig head for something I'm going to lose.

When I remove ballast from a lure because it's too heavy, or it's in the wrong place, I pack the hole with a piece of paper towel, push it in just past flush, add a drop of two of thin CA, and then bondo over that, to have something to shape and paint.

Dieter, I am a carpenter, but my father, among other things, was a machinist. I loved reading his copy of "The Machinist's Handbook". I was constantly surprised and amazed at all the different aspects of metal working. I still pick it up from time to time to answer a question. Sometimes I just reread the part about thermite welding, where they repair huge engine parts in ships or on locomotives, when the broken part can't be removed. A truly elegant solution, and one that has been adapted to epoxy repair of cracked concrete. Those are/were some very creative people, like you.

bassthumbs, Contacting Createx, or any other paint manuf., for help with compatibility issues is a great idea.

JerryG, You're right, I had no idea how the marine preserves had been corrupted by big money. Why am I surprised?

I would go to the manuf. of your resin, and ask them.

I've seen lead heads with that type of bait holder. I'll keep it in mind if I need to do something else to hold the plastics.

I'm guessing the sst table is just covered with sheet metal, so it heats quickly without cooling the pyrex too much. The cast iron drill press table is thick, and a huge heat sink, so it probably cooled the bottom of the pyrex cup fast enough to cause uneven stress. Tempered glass doesn't like uneven stress.

Thanks Jerry.

If you want it to dive less, the bill alterations listed above are the way to go. If you want it to not sink as it sits, I don't think you can alter the ballast in a Pointer without ruining it. If I wanted a shallower running jerkbait, I'd buy a couple of Pred. Bass' X80 knockoffs, and play with their ballasting and bills. They start out as floaters. Here's his link: http://www.predatorbassbaits.com/id69.html I put a few ball bearings in the head section, so they hang a little head down but still float. If I add more, they suspend or sink. The ball bearings are loose, and act as a weight shifting element to help me cast these little baits, too.