mark poulson

That bait looks great! Since I'm no Rembrandt (I'm more like Picasso in his cubist period) I really like the photo idea. It's fun to come up with different paint schemes, but those photo finish baits look terrific, and I'm guessing they'd save a lot of time, once I figured out how to do it.

Post this on the soft plastics forum. Those guys know all about molds and casting.

He sure makes it look easy. I guess artist says it all.

Word!

Probably a dumb question, but why wouldn't photo finishes work with the decal paper?

Yes, that dress makes you look fat. I always wanted to be able to say that without taking my life in my hands. Seriously, your feathers look very good. I only make lures for freshwater bass, not muskies or pike, so take that into consideration when you read my comments. For me, the length of feather is determined by both the type of lure, and the size. I typically don't tie feathers that are more than half the length of a lure, if I'm looking for just a tail, like with a popper. I want the tail to flair on the pause. I think too long a feather can lead to fish missing the treble on the strike. For walking baits, I actually trim the feather until it no longer inhibits the action of the lure. Long feathers can keep a walker from walking. The Lunker Punker is one walking bait that works so well they are able to put long feathers on it without affecting the action negatively, but smaller walking baits and jerk baits are very sensitive to feather length. For cranks, if I use a feather at all, it is typically very short, just the length of the treble itself.

My first Pupfish knockoffs were made out of douglas fir, some really dense VGDF I had left over from a job. It was a little harder to shape than pine, but it is dense, and takes a lot of abuse. They were very durable lures. I used rattle can paints at that time, so there were never water intrusion issues. My friend broke one off on a buoy line when he and I were fishing from shore one weekend when the lake was blown out. The next week, when we were able to launch, we motored over and cut it loose from the rope. The finish was still perfect, and I still have that lure and still throw it. I realized later that all my problems with wood baits centered around using water based paints. Dieter (Diemai) told me years ago that he soaked his wood baits in linseed oil to water proof them. That's probably what makes rattle can paint schemes hold up so well, since most solvent based rattle can paint have linseed oil in them, or at least they used to.

John, If I ever, ever make a lure that is as beautiful as one of yours, it will NEVER get to go swimming!

That is a neat idea. Glad it worked out for you. You have a very creative mind, and a lot of patience, for sure. I am still at the water based sharpie, brush-on paint stage. I can't airbrush those kinds of details to save my life. The fish with the fins I try and airbrush drown.

I guess that's why the expression arose, "Easier said than done".

Now that is a clever idea. I think it's a little impractical for home builders, but it is really neat. Tylures, a SoCal swimbait builder, uses plastic sleeves that are split open down one side, glued to the belly of his baits, to hold the shank of his trebles until the lure gets bitten. Only one hook of the treble is exposed, and the other two are held more or less tight to the lure belly. Simple, but effective.

Bob, I'm no machinist, just a carpenter, but it seems to me, with the CAD design-driven milling machines out there, a shouldered mandrel and matching cavity should be do-able. Then, again, I think I can fish, too.

Bob, I forgot about the oils in redwood. That's a whole 'nother can of worms. I'm just guessing that a good sealer will do the trick. I would do some testing before putting all that work into a finished bait, only to have it ruined by oils bleeding through the sealer and softening/ruining the paint job and top coat.

Some redwood is very hard, but most is not. Typically, the harder redwood is full of pitch, so it's not very buoyant, either, and probably wouldn't make good baits. Reinforcing the screw eye holes with crazy glue, once you've run them in one time to cut the threads, is a good idea. I actually do that, and then brush some crazy glue onto the threads before I run the eye in again when I make a balsa bait, or any bait, for that matter. I might seal the whole blank with crazy glue, like I do with balsa, just to harden it's surface. I use two coats with balsa. I've read here a lot of people use propionate for their balsa baits, and that would probably work, too. But, other that dissolving the bottom of a solo cup onto a workbench top when I put some acetone in it, I haven't had any experience with propionate. I do so few balsa baits that I've never investigated it.

Beautiful.

You are very generous to give us the real dope. Thanks.

If you go onto the paint manuf.'s websites, they all say color shifting paints work best over black, or dark base coats. If you base coat your lure with a black back and shoulders, and a white belly, and then scale it with the color shift paint, you should get the kind of effect I think you're looking for.

I had the same problem with three Quantum reels that I've owned for ten years. In my case, it was that the lubricant in the anti-reverse bearing, the big roller bearing, had gotten old and stiff. I soaked the bearings in acetone for an hour, and then blew them out with an air hose. I redipped them in clean acetone, and then blew them out again. I kept up the dip and clean until the bearings moved totally freely, and only in one direction. After I was sure they were really clean, I applied a few drops of the Quantum hot sauce oil, and spun them to make sure the oil was all the way in. When I reassembled the reels, they worked great again. Since my reels are older than yours, the bearings may be different, but that's what I'd try.

Check this out: http://kramergonefishing.com/2010/09/27/bass-pro-shops-cries-infringement/

Thanks for the advice, Dave. I'll wear a raincoat.

Hahaha. Nothing in this addiction is cheap! Are you talking about a metal pot like Lurecraft sells? I think they call it a pouring pot, and it's a small metal pouring pot with a long handle. They do recommend it with their hot plate, but I was hoping to be able to set my Pyrex dish onto the hot plate between pours, to keep the plastic hot, without having to "decant" it into another pot.

Do you have a link or source for that PPG coating?

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be looking for some kind of a metal plate to put on the electric elements.

I find that, since I have to restir the plastic after reheating to get the salt and flake resuspended, there are still bubbles, since I'm always in a race to pour before the plastic cools too much. I just ordered a hot plate from Lurecraft, and that might help. Being able to have the plastic sit without cooling should give it time for the bubbles to rise and burst, and for me to restir it as needed, but more gently, without making more bubbles. Fingers crossed. A side question. Do you guys who pour, and who use a hot plate for keeping the plastic hot, use some kind of a metal plate over the electric elements that you sit your pyrex cups on, or can I just put the cup directly on the hot plate