mark poulson

I think Ghostbaits Jim nailed it. It's not about stopping others from copying it, it's about being paid a licensing fee, or royalty, or whatever they call it. Ask Gary Yamamoto. He said he's paid a fortune over the years to Gene Larew because Larew had a patent for adding salt to his baits, and sued him and won.

Frank, Do you have a store-bought 7" mold that is close? I made one out of POP, a two piece that I inject with my Cajun injector, and the worms have the same shape as the originals. I only pour for me, so I'm not too worried about copying the original exactly. I need to enlarge the sprue hole to provide a reservoir for more plastic. As it is, some of my worms windup with bubbles. I think it's because the plastic in the sprue cools and hardens before the worm plastic, and the worm has no plastic to draw down as it cools and shrinks. The Cajun injector has a 1/4" OD needle tip, so I made my sprue hole 5/16" to accomodate it, but I think I'll enlarge them most of the way down to let me fill the top with hot plastic when I pour. I'll be in the garage today, and that's one of my project, if I get to it.

Never mind. I just read the site update about the new look. Doh!!! I guess I should read the instructions BEFORE I start.

Am I the only one who is having this trouble? The site takes a long time to load, and to change forums. The new format looks like of washed out, and it lags when I type. If it's my antispyware, McAvee, I'll live with it, but I don't have the problem on any other site.

I fished them both today, and they both work! Just show that even a blind pig finds an acorn every once in a while. Or, as my father used to say, the sun shines on every dogs behind once in a while. I worked the smaller shad bait with a twitch retrieve, small pulls. It looks just like a struggling bait fish, roling from its side to its belly, and back. I threw it with 8lb fluoro today, because that's what was on the rod/reel setup that would cast it best. It only weighs 12 grams, so I'm using a med. lite 7' baitcaster. I'll spool some 8lb fluoro onto a reel and see if that makes it work even better, but I'm really happy with the way it work. I can't wait to throw it to boilers, or just to twitch it along the shoreline when the water warms and the fish move up more shallow. The bigger bait, the bluegill also does the side/belly/side twister roll really well, too. Plus, it will walk just like a Sammie, but it has the added roll, and some splash from the bill, so it raises a ruckus without moving too far. I think it will also shine in warmer weather, and also worked over bedding bass. The bluegill weighs 27 grams, if I remember right, so it casts like a bullet. I threw it with a med. heavy rod, and 14lb mono. I'm stoked! Tomorrow, I'm going to make a couple more of the larger bait, one finished as a baby bass, and the other as a beige-based bluegill for clear water. I'm even thinking about laminating up a thicker PVC blank so I can make a 7" trout version! Sick puppy! P.S. I think I included enough info with the photos to let you guys make your own, if you want. Please feel free to "knock it off", and let me know if I can help.

Jerry, I just wanted to say thank you publically for this forum. In the 4 year+- I've been coming here, I've learned (and spent ) so much, and had a ton of fun. So thank you, officially. Mark

I like short shank triple grip hooks for my cranks and swimbaits. The short shank lets me use larger hooks without tangling, and the triple grip's in-pointing tips don't seem to make as much hook rash. Mustad is the only manuf. I've found who makes them, so far.

Billy, That's good advice, both on the paint acquisition, and the painting prep. Don't spend a fortune on paints until you've figured out what you really like to use. And just follow the KISS method. We all learn the most from our mistakes, so make some, and learn. I look forward to seeing some work from both of you here in the future.

I keep anything I'm fishing tied on and on the deck, in the sun. If I cut it off to try something else, I generally just lay in next to the rods on my deck, so I can tie it back on without searching for it. Stuff I'm not currently fishing are in Plano boxes or tupperware, in tackle compartments, or back in my garage resting up for the next trip. I've left some cranks and swimbaits on the deck, and in the sun, for several trips in a row, and I haven't noticed any fading.

Riverman, I understand what you're saying. I haven't had a bad experience fishing lures with SC 9000 as a top coat, only with soaking them. Seriously, I do heat set the urethane with a hair dryer as it's drying, and that may help it to be harder. I'm wondering if heat setting it actually helps with it bonding better to the Createx. I also use PVC, which is very hard, and totally waterproof, and never have an issue with it being too soft. Admittedly, I generally build for myself, or friends, and don't have to worry about failures. When I build to sell, I let people know about the SC 9000, and offer them the choice of the EM9300, instead, if they're worried, and willing to give up the super clear. The last two twister baits I made, I didn't even prime them with the rattle can primer I've been using. I wet sanded the PVC, hit them with the hair dryer to make sure all the water was gone, and to heat the PVC a little and make it tacky. Then I hit them with a coat of Createx opaque white as a base coat while they were still warm, and painted. That let me make, paint, and top coat a lure with three dip coats in one day, and fish it the next. I'm fishing them for the first time Saturday, so I'll post how that method works, along with how the lures swim, after that. I'm impatient, and I'd rather fish than build, so that cut a full day of drying time off my building.

Good job! You have the paitience of Job, or is that job??

Dieter, Only a true friend would make such a sacrifice. We call it taking one for the team.

Another advantage of using wood is that it will be buoyant, and make the tail more lively. If you pick the grain right, you can use alcohol dyes to color it, and still have the grain pattern show through.

I suck with an air brush, so I use a solvent-based yellow sharpie. I heat set the sharpie so it doesn't run when I top coat it.

I'm awaiting the arrival of my DN sample, so I don't anything know about it yet. I do know about SC 9000. The company who makes it, Target Coatings, also makes an exterior urethane, EM9300. EM 9300 is not as clear as the SC 9000. SC stands for Super Clear. The SC 9000 is sold as an interior urethane, but it works fine for me for swimbaits and cranks. I'm just careful not to let it soak in water overnight, or lie on a wet carpet overnight, which will soften and cloud the finish. If that does happen, letting it hang and dry overnight will restore the finish to clear and hard. For salt water baits, I use the EM 9300. It is truly waterproof, and even harder than the SC 9000. But the film is so strong that I have to put a coat of SC 9000 over my Createx paint first, or the EM 9300 will cause the underlying paint to crackle. As for Sherwin Williams, all I can say is buy a small amount and test it. You may have found a winner.

Correction. I meant to say Lexan, not Lucite, but my brain got in the way.

I was just happy to find a use for the tons of plano dividers I have left over. I've used them for tails, and for lips in shallow running cranks that I'm not bumping into rocks.

Try spraying the lure with a coat of your gunmetal base color, and then put your scale cloth over it and add a white scale color, and then spots of irridescent accent colors from Wildlife Colors. Their irridescents are transparent, but still show up on lighter backgrounds.

Dave, I seem doomed to be publically exposed and humiliated. I am totally internet/photo hosting illiterate. Please just hit my gallery link, the little green square below my name on this post, and it should take you directly there. Ben, I don't know how to make a video, let alone post it here. Sorry. If I can get a friend to do it for me, and my kid to help me post it, I will. Dieter, That's a great video, and lure. That lure swims like a regular surface jerk bait, but has it's back facing down. I hope the one I made rolls from it's side onto it's back, and then back onto it's side during the retrieve. Like a wounded or stunned baitfish trying to right itself. It did it in the bath tub, but I have to take it to the lake to see how it really works. I made two, one bluegill and one shad, that I hope to test Saturday, if the Santa Ana winds let up.