mark poulson

Keep all you weight in the head section, or you'll kill the action, and the bait will have a tail down retrieve.

Here's how I dip with the Target products: I dip my lures in the SC9000. I use a wide mouth glass pickle jar with a metal top, and there is no problem with contamination by exposure to the air, or from dripping back into the jar. I accidentally left my dip jar open in the garage overnight, and there was no skinning or problem the next morning. If I'm coating one lure, I let it drip back into the jar for a while. For more than one, or for several lure sections, I put a piece of newspaper under them. If it's a crank, I just let it drip dry, and then cut the hardened drip off the rear hook hanger. If it's a section of a jointed lure, I try to hang it so it drips off one corner, and keep blotting that drop off with a paper towel until no more drip forms. The piece still has plenty of finish on that spot, and I'm dipping those more than once anyway, so I'm not worried about coverage. And I use PVC AZEK decking for my lure building, so they are totally water proof from the start, and the top coat is only to protect the paint scheme from damage. I've found the SC9000, which is an interior urethane finish, is totally clear and doesn't dull paint schemes. It's the only topcoat I've found that doesn't take the metalic sheen off silver paint. It also doesn't affect the paint when I dip with it, even solvent based sharpies. I just make sure I've heat set each coat of all my paints thoroughly with a hair dryer on high first. I do find that a lure coated with SC9000 will cloud up if left on wet carpet overnight, but it will dry right out again and be fine to fish. It is classified as an interior finish, so it is not water proof, just water resistant. I have experimented with the EM9300, their exterior urethane, and it works very well, too. It does seem to take a little lustre away from my paint schemes. It is also a very strong film, which pulls so hard on the paint schemes that I get a fine crackle effect. I kind of like that for some schemes, but now I dip first in the SC9000 to protect the paint from crackling, and then with the EM9000. For repaints of plastic cranks, one dip is enough. And I have no problem using the SC9000 for them. For the sectional swim baits I make and sell, I dip each section three times, once with the SC9000, and twice with the EM9300. If I want glitter, I mix some fine glitter into some of the SC9000, and brush it on after the first coat is dry. I hope this helps.

I use Target Coatings urethane, either the SC9000 or the EM9300. No air contamination or storeage issues, easy to use, dries ready to redip in two hours, fish the next day. PM me if you want more info.

Rofish is right. I've been using Plano dividers for lips for a little while now. I only use them on wake baits, and shallow running cranks, which won't be digging into gravel or against rock. The material is plenty rigid for that, and deflects off brush and wood fine. They are also good for tails on smaller jointed baits, either glued into the last section, or swinging from two snap rings from the last section. The material is rigid enough to interfere with a good hookset if the tail is glued in and is too big, so that's why I lean toward the double split ring connection. Plus, it swims really well.

I make mostly jointed baits, but I've made a few cranks. I think the most important thing sealing a wood bait before you paint does is prevent water from getting to the wood when the topcoat fails. Water in the wood under the paint scheme is a sure recipe for cracking and peeling. A wood sealer, hopefully, will penetrate far enough into the wood to give you some protection from rocks and teeth. Nothing will make a jointed wood bait bulletproof, but a good sealer helps a lot. The only wood lures I've done with no problems are one piece cranks. Anything with joints is just a collection of possible water intrusion points. For me, seeing a paint scheme I worked hard on crack and peel is heart breaking. That's the main reason I switched to PVC.

I used Isoproply once, and it was a disaster. The epoxy never set up. Turns out it's a totally different animal than denatured. Denatured is the only alcohol to use as an epoxy thinner/solvent.

After my baits are finish sanded, I drill for the eyes and rattles, cut out the sections and finish sand them, add the hinge mortises, drill for the pins, add the screw eyes and hook hangers, adjust them for proper swim action, and add split rings and trebles. I float them to determine how much ballast they need, remove the hooks, add the ballast, bondo over the ballast holes and sand it smooth. Next, I prime the lures with rattle can primer, two coats at least, hit them with a hair dryer to insure that all the solvent is gone, and wet sand that. Then I do my finish paint scheme. If I want glitter, I add it now. I pull the hinge pins, so the lures are in individual sections. I add the eyes, and dip the sections in Target Coatings EM 9300 three times, drying with a hair dryer between coats. They are ready to fish the next day. Cranks only need one coat, and they're good to go. Sorry no pictures. I'm photo challenged.

That's a beautiful lure! Very nice work.

I think your best bet to find out about that product is to go to their website, and talk to one of their techs.

I agree, it's looking great. Can't wait to see the finished product, and the pike that eats it.

Those look really good. You're really cranking them out now. Amazing how many steps PVC eliminates, at least for me. I know, for me, I can make a lure in one day, if I'm inspired, and fish it the next. It works great for poppers, too. I even made one with holes through the gill areas that makes bubbles as it pops. Nice not to ever have to worry about water intrusion. I'm thinking about making a lipless crank with holes to generate bubbles as it's retrieved. I would never dream of that with wood. Can't wait to see the finished product.

A work of art. You are a truly gifted builder.

Congratulations! Those look great! I think you'll find they swim with a great S pattern, like a real fish. The pike should be very happy, up until they realize they've been fooled!

Maybe the jumping carp aren't really silver carp from China. Maybe they're just downstream from a meth lab.

You look like you're doing just fine on the carving side. People who buy handmade lures have no concept of how much more difficult smaller jointed baits are than larger ones. They think we should charge by the inch. At that rate, I'd go broke! I hope the weather warms and the water softens soon for you, and you can get out and fish.

You are truly genius! I have found that making smaller jointe swimbaits is actually more of a challenge, because there is a lot less room for hinges, hardware, and ballast. Did you use this hinging method because of the size of the lures? Just curious, and in no way meant as a criticism. Since you're a master metal worker, things that are easy for you seem like a huge challenge to me. I was thinking that, if you use the other hinging method, with the "mortise and tenon" type hinge, you'll only have to put the rivet bearings in the moving part, and won't have to worry about waterproofing at all. And you might have more room for ballast. But, then again, until the lure is actually in front of the builder, the actual difficulties in construction are totally a mystery. I can't wait to hear and see how they turn out!

Very interesting and clever lure, and construction method. You might try making the "ballast" holes in the top half bigger, and then fillng them with spray foam, the kind that expands 3X as it sets, and is totally waterproof. You could also drill holes in the lower half, to remove metal and lighten the overall weight, but don't fill them with foam, so the top half is still more buoyant. In particular, lighten the tail section as much as possible, so the lure will swim horizontal at all speeds. Since the material you're using is aluminum, loss of strength shouldn't be an issue, so you could almost cut out a lure profile with 1/4" of metal left, and a 1/4" strip down the middle, and fill the top half with foam, and the entire tail section. I don't know how a skeletal lure like that would swim, since the water coming off the lure sides is what creates the swimming action, but it's an interesting idea to play around with, none the less. Congratulations on a very original idea.

It might also have to do with the rigid mold. Plastic shrinks as it cools, and an aluminum mold is rigid, so the two ends of the molded worm, as they cool and shrink, probably pull the middle toward each end, and make dents in the middle as it is stretched. A flexible mold, from silicone, would probably expand with the heated plastic, and shrink a little with it as it cools. Or it might release the plastic as it shrinks, so it's not pulling itself from both ends.

It must also help the flavor, because bass hold onto a Yamamoto senko or Ika a lot longer than plain plastics. I think the salt probably tastes like blood to them.

When I used to use Etex, I was able to clear coat the same day I painted. I just made sure that I had heat set the paint thoroughly.

I use tule cloth for scaling, and I heat set both before I remove the scale cloth, so the paint doesn't peel, and after, to make sure it's really set.

That sounds like a great material! I checked with Michael's, and all they have is plaster gauze. What store did you find it at, or can you dig up the name of the material?

Sounds like you're doing the right things for repainting, but you do need to heat set your paint. Ideally, you do it with each coat, so it's set all the way through. The Createx and Polytranspar paints need to be heat set, which causes a molecular change in the paint and makes it waterproof. They are, first and foremost, T shirt paints, which are meant to be heat set with a clothes iron, so they can be washed. Take your time, since you've got a few layers of paint on the bait, and use a hair dryer, first on low, and then on high, to try and get all of the layers heated enough to cause the change. Kingfisher posted the exact temps needed here a while ago, but I don't remember what they were. You could use the search feature, or contact Createx, to find out what temps are needed. As far as clear coating goes, what type of clear are you planning to use?