mark poulson

I'm considering it.

I brush my transparent base/fine glitter mix onto my painted baits, so I can control where it goes.

I began building my own lures by copying a successful commercial bait that I liked, but building mine out of PVC. There were challenges in using different material, but I learned the basic relationships between lip angle and size, line tie location, and how a bait floats at rest in relation to its intended swimming depth (angle of attack). I would suggest you not be afraid to try that, too.

Better late than never!

You're probably right, but it looks like it would be fun to build/

Yeah, and doable.

I am just a hobby builder/painter, so I can be more picky than people who are buying to repaint and sell. Problems with knock off plastic blanks, for me, have included leaks at hook hangers, cracked bills, and blanks that were supposed to float that sank. I think the quality control for commercial baits is better, so there is a much better chance their baits will work, right of the package. Some plastic blank suppliers have better quality control, some worse. So it's more of a crap shot if you buy from a supplier who doesn't have good quality control, and some have a higher percentage of blanks with problems. You won't get that with commercial baits. Their blanks are pretty close to 100% good.

Check this out: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Chasebaits_PropDuster_Glider_Swimbait/descpage-CBPD.html

I hope they work out as well for you as they have for me.

I also build my own baits, but I also paint and fish baits from Predator and Dinger. I always have a few of their baits tied on. I am primarily interested in catching fish, and their baits do that better and more consistently than others.

I felt the same way, back in the 60's, when I'd roll my own. Hahaha

For my eyes I also put some runny super glue on a piece of blue painter's tape on my bench, and then use a piece of spinnerbait wire to add a drop to the center of the eye cavity.

Who won the Super Bowl yesterday?

Me, too.

Just remember that the AC1315 will melt if left in contact with a soft plastic lure for more than 30 minutes. I think the softener in the plastic is also a solvent for the AC1315. I keep them separate on my boat's deck. If I want to use a soft plastic worm as a tail on a rat bait I've made and coated with AC1315, I put a layer of clear nail polish around the point of attachment, and it prevents any problems.

I mix my fine glitter into some Createx transparent base, and then brush it on where I want it. Dry with the hair dryer and dip.

I was wondering if leaving the bait whole and not trimming the extra plate material, so you can lay the stencil over the bait you're painting while it's lying on a flat work surface, might make holding the stencil in place easier. Maybe use a soft cloth on the flat work surface to protect the paint.

I think so, too. It's worth investigating. Plastic dinner plates are cheap.

That kind of double ended rasp was used a lot by carpenters I worked with for rough shaping, when we used a lot of hand tools. I can see how it might be easier to use while holding a lure blank in your hand. If memory serves, they weren't too coarse. My dad's old rasps are too coarse to for me to hold the bait and use them.

This guy made his own 10" vacuum chamber out of a piece of pipe, and plywood ends. He drilled holes in the top lid, and put a vacuum attachment on one side. Then he put a bait on top of the chamber, covered some of the holes farther from the bait with some kind of tape, placed a plastic dish plate that he'd heated with a heat gun over the bait, and turned on his shop vac. It sucked the plastic plate right down around the bait. He use a full bodied bait, not a half, so he faced some trimming. Or maybe not, I don't know. But I thought it was a really clever idea.

That will work really well on Azek PVC trimboard. I use some old wood rasps that were my father's, and they do work. I just have to hold whatever I'm shaping in a vise.

This is genius, because it is so simple and easy to do: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1281784588575840/2855694247851525/?comment_id=2874018259352457&notif_id=1580389777177601&notif_t=group_comment_follow

Royal blade update. I fished a new lake near my house Tuesday. It's basically a deep hole with steep sides, and a shallow apron all the way around. Grass out to 20', and then a bare+- bottom down to 100'. I threw three different tandem spinnerbaits with Royal blades. Two 3/8 oz, bluegill and chart/white, with #4 blades on the back, and a 5/8oz bluegill, with a #5 on the back for slow rolling the bottom of the weed edge. I could definitely feel the Royal blade thumping. I should have tied on one of my Indiana blade spinnerbaits, too, so I could compare the two side by side, but, alas, I wasn't that smart. No bites on them all day. I did fish other baits, too. They had stocked trout on Saturday, so I threw an 8" Huddleston, ROF 12, in a trout color, for an hour. Nada. I threw two different A rigs, a finesse one with 3" and 3 1/2" swimbaits, and a bigger one with 4" and 5" swimbaits. I got one bump on the larger rig, but no hookups. I threw shallow, med, and deep jerkbaits which got ignored, although I did have a follower flash on the shallow one as I got it almost back to the boat. I'd like to think the fish were just full of trout, instead of me just sucking.

Mr. Poulson! I am flattered. Obviously, you haven't spoken to my children. They have a different name for me. Hahaha KennyP, it's Mark.

That doesn't sound too difficult. Any machine shop should be able to do that.