mark poulson

You can buy the original Triple Trout tails from Performance Tackle over the phone, and they'll mail them to you. (714) 826-1400

Me, too, me, too! AZEK is what I'm using.

Mostly, the difference is in the accent. I guess it depends on whether it's Castilian Spanish. That type would speak with a lisp. Sorry, couldn't resist.

I don't add acetone when I mix my top coat epoxy, so I use plastic salsa cups. I asked the manager at my local Mexican fast food joint, and he said to take all I want. I only take a dozen at a time, and they last me for quite a while. I use D2T for seating hardware, and coating the insides of joints. For this, I put down a couple of strips of tape (thanks to whoeverfirst posted that tip on this site), overlapped slightly, right onto my work bench top where I work, and mix the D2T, and bondo if needed, right on the tape with toothpicks. Makes it easy to mix, easy to access, not worries about spilling, and easy to clean up. And I don't have to worry about melting plastic cups if I add some acetone.

Dieter, There is a new computer threat, called a Trojan Horse, going around the internet now. This latest version piggy backs on emails, so, when you go to a site included in an email, it accesses your computer. Like if I emailed you and said "Go to www.funfishing.com" If the Trojan Horse had infected funfishing, it would load onto your computer if you clicked on the site address. If you get an email saying "You have a response to your post" delete it, and go to the site directly, not by the email contact. It's a bear to remove, so it's better to be cautious.

Electric heating is safer, but very expensive.

Sorry for the delays. I can't access my photo program to download the photos and post them. My IT person, my brother-in-law, came over last week and "cleaned up" my computer. Now I can't get into my computer at all!!! And he's home with the flu, so I can't get a service call from him. I'm waiting for him to recover. I'm on another computer now, answering my emails, but I won't be able to post photos until he's "cured".

Snax, From my "expert" observations (), the main thing is loose, easy moving joints, and especially a tail with a lot of movement. Shake that booty!

Thanks.

Jim, Those look great. What kind of clear coat did you use?

Same for me. Dampen on side, and apply the glue to the other. Acetone cleans it off, but wearing throw away latex gloves works better.

How did you prep the lure before painting? I have a 4" shad I want to repaint.

That's the main reason I went to PVC. No water penetration problems. And it doesn't chip or splinter. But I am in the process of repainting two of my older poplar baits, and I still like working with wood better. I found one drawback to wood hardener comes up if I soak it too long. The material penetrates so far, it takes forever to offgas. When I hit it with a hair dryer, the unset material bubbles out, and I have to let that cure out again. So a minute or so is all I soak it now. But I do like how waterproof it makes the wood. And I can paint it with the same process as before. I've not tried urethane coatings as a sealer. The penetrating feature of the wood hardener is what attracted me to it.

21xdc, I didn't realize thinned Etex was absorbed. Thanks for the tip. How much do you thin it?

I use Createx, Auto Aire, Wildlife, and Apple Barrel water based paints. The colors I mainly use are white, black, pearl white, pearl silver, sparkle white, irridescent violet, moss green. I also use brite yellow, flamingo pink, dark and med. brown, med grey in transparentcolors, plus a little this or that as the winds of inspiration break. I mix some colors, spray some in layers, whatever comes into my head. The nice thing about water based colors is they don't have any "bad" solvents, and, once I've gotten the base colors and scale on the lure and heat dried the colors to set the paint, I spray the lure with pastel fixative, which is clear and waterproof and quick drying. Then I can experiment with other color schemes, highlight, and detail, and remove them if I don't like them with water and not mess up the base and scales. Play around with colors. And get a color wheel from a paint store that tells you how to mix colors yourself.

Did you carve the master, or use a real fish? It looks great, and the paint scheme is outstanding. Is it a photo finish?

The wood hardener Snax uses is absorbed by the wood, and actually penetrates the wood fibers, and fills and reinforces them, so water can't be absorbed, as opposed to a surface coating, like Etex, which only protects as long as it's film isn't broken. I use a similar product and don't worry about water intrusion any more. I shape, finish sand, and drill my lures, and then soak them in wood hardener. The hardener actually drives the air out of the wood, and I can see little bubbles of air escaping from the end grain. When no more bubbles come out, I know it's reached it's saturation point. I hang the parts overnight, and then add the hardware, ballast, hinges, and prime and go. With wood hardener as a sealer, I never worry about water penetration.

That would get eaten on any lake in the world. Nice lure.