mark poulson

Thanks. I'm always ready to think it's just me. The back arrow on my computer no longer works for the site, either. I have to use the site's back feature at the end of the posts. It's just a little inconvenient, because I always forget and hit the back arrow. I'm sure it's that way to remind me how lousy my memory is every time I do it again. I'm glad computers don't have that annoying GPS navigation voice, or I'd have broken mine by now for laughing at me. Hahaha

bassnbrad, I actually bend the two hooks that rub against the belly out until they are flat+-, so they form a "T" with the front hook when you look down at the treble from the top, and that cuts down hook rash 90%. Bend them slowly, with the hook eye in one pair of pliers, and bend the other two hooks out one at a time. Overbending will cause them to break, but I've never had a "T"ed hook break on a fish. Just be sure to hold the hook you're bending out near the hook bend, so there is plenty of hook to absorb the bend. I got that tip from a TU member who trolls a lot for walleye. He said, before he learned that trick, a crank would be worn out after one day of trolling. The wood ones would be worn into the wood, and the plastic ones would be worn through the plastic on the sides. But, once he started "T"ing his hooks, no more worn out cranks. I've heard nothing but good things about DN. I just don't want the hastle of having to keep it from setting up every time it's been opened, or not letting drips back into the dipping jar.

blazt, I don't have a formula for making a crank that hunts. After playing around for a while, I gave up. I'm sure there are other ways to achieve the same thing, but I haven't found them. I would look long and hard at the brush baby you altered that hunts. I'm guessing that the side "cams" on the brush baby helps to stabilize the lure on the retrieve. Maybe the ratio of the size of the lure, width of the lure, and the size and width of the bill will give you a starting point. I've made cranks that overpowered their bills, and swam in big, slow circles. I corrected that with suspend dots between the bill and the belly hook. I was too lazy to try and play with the wieghts to get it to hunt, but that told me that the ratio of bill size to lure is important, and altering that may lead to a hunting action, too. I've achieved a hunting action by burning a long, thin shallow crankbait, too. Long body, small bill, hmm.....

I carry a small plastic bottle of brush-on crazy glue, and another of Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails clear, for on the water repairs. Just don't get the glue brush wet with water, or the whole bottle will set up hard.

PLease give my condolences to his wife. Where ever he is now, I hope there are crank fish.

Ben/Sonny, How about cutting off the front part of the treble, and "T" ing out the rest, so you have a flat double hook? And on a similar subject, have you guys embedded a small magnet in the belly of a crank, behind the front hook holder, to hold the hook tight to the bait and cut down on hook rash? I've thought about doing it, but keep telling myself that the hook will come loose on the cast. Hmmm...... One of the better SoCal builders, Tylures, uses a piece of small drinking straw-like plastic tubing, slit down the side and glued to the belly, on there swimbaits, to hold the hook shank tight to the bait until it gets eaten. That might work, too.

Jerry, When I click on my avatar and go to my profile, my photo gallery shows no albums. But when I go to one of my photos in the gallery, and click on my avatar there, it brings up my photos. Is there a way to have my profile link to them directly, too? Mark

I just got the new Hagen's catalog in the mail, and it has full size pictures of several major hook makers' products for comparison. Very helpful.

Nedyarb, Try drilling a hole in the top of each bottle cap that is a snug fit for the tapered ends of these syringes, and leave them in the bottle when not it use. When you want to mix up some epoxy, hold the syringe, turn the bottle upside down, and fill it with as much as you need. It is virtually drip free, and you will be able to get exact proportions by volume, which is how most epoxies are supposed to be measured. Here's a link: http://www.flexcoat.com/products/supplies-accessories/color-coded-syringes/

Both Lowe's and Home Depot carry it down here in SoCal. AZEK has a website with a dealer locator, and it is distributed by Boise Cascade.

Here's where I found some info: http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2005522/17818/Mixol-10-Piece-Woodworkers-Tones-Set.aspx

That is certainly something I never considered. I always assumed that epoxy was heavier than water, and never considered overall size. I'll check that out. Thanks.

Use water base sharpies.

That's why I was so happy when I found PVC as a building material, and water borne urethane as a top coat. Once again, thank you JR Hopkins and Husky.

Me, too.

I install everything except the eyes before I paint. I know some here leave the bills out until after paint. I'm not that neat, and screw up the paint if I try to do it after I paint. I'd rather be able to play around and get the bill installed straight and true, while I can still use my centerline on the bait for a guide, and then mask off the bill before I paint.

I'm not familiar with smartboard products, but AZEK is totally maintenance free and waterproof.

Their website says their dyes are compatible with epoxies, and most other top coats. Nice find!

Just to be clear from the start, I'm a hobbiest, and make baits for myself and my friends, not for commercial sale. Having said that, here's what I use. http://www.targetcoatings.com/shop/catalog/EMTECH_EM9300_Urethane_Top_Coat-8-1.html It's waterborne, water based, and doesn't yellow. The exterior water proof urethane is their EM9300. It is not quite as clear as their SC (super clear) 9000 urethane, but it is a tougher film. If I use it directly over Createx, it will cause slight crackling, so I dip once in the SC9000, to protect the paint, and then twice more in the EM9300 for salt water lures. I use their SC9000 urethane alone for my freshwater baits. It's listed as an interior urethane, but it holds up just fine to fishing the same crank all day long. A tech. at their site recommended it for use on lures. It will soften if left for several days soaking in water or lying on a wet carpet, but hanging it and letting it dry out will harden it again. I've had baits on my deck all day in the rain with no problems. Once it's cured, it's really tough. Also,this is the only top coat I've found that will not dull metallic finishes, like silvers and golds. I dip each lure three times, hitting them with the hair dryer between dips after they've tack dried, and can redip after an hour. So I can get three coats on in two hours, let it cure for a day, and take it fishing. I hope this helps.

I used my drill press, and the edge of a file, to enlarge the hook eye and wire slots, so the mold now accepts the 32746BLN jig hook in 3/0 and 4/0. The wire is a little heavier, and the hook eye neck is a little longer. My mold is a seven cavity, and I reworked four of the cavities, so I can pour three with the 2/0, and four with either the 3/0 or 4/0. Thanks for all the help.

Blazt, I have used Plano dividers for bill, but mostly on shallow divers. I switched to Lexan because it is thinner and more rigid, and I've found that it deflects better off rock and doesn't wear like the Plano bills. Now I use Plano dividers just for prototyping, and not for my finished lures. For deep diving cranks, I move the line tie down onto the bill about half way, like Ben's deep diver in his gallery. I lucked out, and his bill design works perfectly for my deep divers. But making a prototype with multiple line tie connections in different locations on the bill, like Vodkaman does, will help you achieve the best location for your lure. I float test my cranks to ballast them, and want them to hang nose down, so they begin diving immediately on the start of the retrieve. I find the best way to find that angle is to put a deep diving DT16 Rapala, or any lure that similar in design to what I've made, in the float tank, and duplicate that angle with my test ballast. I think you'll find that adding your ballast between the front hook hanger and the bill, and as close to the belly of the lure as possible, will help keep your lure stable on the retrieve. Adding ballast behind the front hanger seems to dampen a lure's action for me, and to make it hang more horizontal. I find that more horizontal makes it dive more slowly and more shallow. If I need a lot of ballast, I'll add it in two smaller portions to keep the weight down low. On the other side, raising the position of the ballast toward the middle of the bait and away from the belly can make the bait more unstable, and help it "hunt", but achieving that action with ballast position is a real pain in the neck, at least for me. You've got a lot of work, and fun, ahead of you. Enjoy, and good luck.

I think Ben's exactly right. You seem to have it figured out, at least as much as it can be figured out in the shop. I only worry about a bait suspending with jerkbaits. I want all of my other cranks to be buoyant, so they float up and out of snags and hangups. I've found that suspending baits almost never truly suspend, due to the differences in water density at different temps. I typically use a bucket of water that's on my driveway for my test floats, and it's between 65 and 70 degrees most of the time. I try to make my suspending baits so they slowly sink in warmer water, like in my test bucket, and suspend in colder water. But I find it almost impossible to outguess what the actual buoyancy is going to be once I get to the lake. So I go fishing expecting to have to play with a suspending jerkbait every time I fish it to get it to suspend, or sink or rise slowly. I change out the hooks and split rings to get them to be more or less buoyant on the water. And I use suspend dots. They are cheap and easy. I've also found that, for cranks and jerkbaits, the amount of wood that's removed for ballast compensates for the added weight of the paint and topcoat, more or less, so I don't stress the last fraction of a gram. I get it close, and tune it with either hardware changes or suspend dots when I'm fishing.

PM me and I'll try to help you find some of the AZEK trimboard I use. It is as buoyant as pine, and harder, and holds hardware just fine. Plus it is easy to work, with no grain to worry about.

I see you live in Florida. I live in SoCal, and most of the fish that live in the salt here have more teeth than the freshwater bass I fish for, but I've made some PVC swimbaits for the salt, for guys who fish for Calico bass. I found the PVC holds up really will, since it's both hard and waterproof. I use an exterior polyurethane top coat over Createx paint, and, so far, they have held up fine. I go into making saltwater baits knowing the top coat and paint will be damaged. There is no topcoat that will hold up to a Barricuda's teeth. They even scratch steel lures, and I'm sure you have the equivilent type of fish there in Florida. So making the baits out of a material that's totally waterproof to begin with is a big advantage in terms of durability. Good luck.