mark poulson

I've tried braid for deep cranking, but the lakes I fish are clear with rock, and braid doesn't like rock. I use 10lb BPS flouro for all my cranking. I can feel everything. And I think the flouro deals with rock better than braid. For Crigs, I use 15lb braid with a swivel and 10lb flouro leader. I also use braid with a flouro leader for Ikas, Senkos, and with a mono leader for topwaters. The braid floats, which keeps it out of the rocks when I'm on the bottom. The flouro sinks, and, if I'm dead sticking on a slack line, or picking out a backlash, the flouro can drop into the rocks, and get stuck. Grrrr!!!! I love braid. I also love flouro. I guess I'm just easy. )

Lacquer based paints will go over water based fine, but will melt oil based paints like rattle can enamels. Lacquer thinner is a solvent for enamels, but not for water based paints, and Lacquer thinner is the carrier for lacquer paints.

rhahn427, What, they came Tuesday and you haven't post an photos yet???? ) Sorry, I didn't mean to sound pushy or preachy. To me, your post sounded like you were kind of hesitant about trying, and I was just trying to give you a little encouragement. I must have read it wrong. Good luck, and I look forward to seeing some of your stuff in the not too distant future. Mark

Thanks guys. I couldn't for the life of me remember the phrase "flip flop paint". That's probably why I couldn't find anything in the search. Ya think??? ) I'll try a lot of light coats and see if that works. I'm on my way out to the Garage to paint a jointed swim bait that I'll throw Saturday, so I'll get a real good test then. Vman, thanks for the link.

I bought some of the Wildlife color shift paints, but I don't think I'm using the right base for them. I typically spray them over the darker back, and fade down the sides. But I can't see the shift effect in the water. I remember there was a thread about this, but I can't find the right words to pull it up on the search feature. Help!!

That's what I use. The scale pattern is more course than with the netting, and it's a square pattern. I turn it to a 45 degree angle to get a diamond pattern. It is cheap, doesn't mess up heat set Createx, and does stick. I use clothes pins to pull it tight top and bottom, and throw it away after one use.

Bruce, That link doesn't work.

I use the Minnwax as a sealer, but never thought of heat setting it to use as an intermediate clear. I'll have to try that.

It's just like dock talk. You have to do your own thing.

rhahn, Jump into the water! What's the worst thing that can happen? You won't paint a Mona Lisa. Flash!!!! None of us painted Mona Lise either! Really, the worst thing that can happen is that you'll load up your airbrush with paint and have to clean it. No one will die. But you'll always wonder what might have been if you don't try. Go for it. Everyone started with their first bait. Give it a shot. You may be the next Fat Fingers. Don't be ascared! )

Duh!!!! I don't have a clue, but those recessed eyes should help make the call. Pretty unique.

Pete, That's brilliant! Not only outside the box, it's outside the bottle and can! How does it hold up to water if you have to wipe off some paint?

My only suggestion is to concentrate on the action first, and then the paint job. Someone said the action catches the fish, and the paint job catches the fisherman. I know that's an oversimplification, but I weight action over perfect paint job. If the action is wrong, the paint job won't matter. Your lures look fine. If they catch fish, they're perfect.

Kribman, I only make big baits that get hammered by rocks and brush, and are totally reaction lures. I stress about the paint job as I'm doing it (I'm not in the same league with some of the guys here), and on getting the epoxy just right, but then I patch them up with Sharpies and 5 minute epoxy when they get dinged up, and it works just fine. I get hung up sometimes debating what paint scheme to use, or just don't want to go out into the Garage and do anything. But then I'll crank out six swimbaits in a week, and the world is good again. It comes and goes. The up side of having it as a hobby, not a job. Not like the passion of having to fish every weekend!

Rookie, I think you inhaled!

A question. Since pine is almost as light as balsa, and much stronger, why wouldn't you use it for poppers?

That is one crazy, probably genius idea. Let us know how it works out.

Snax, I agree. The eye, and the whole paint job and lure, are beautiful.

I don't use DN, but I had a question. If plastic wrap isn't affected by DN, could you use plastic salad dressing bottles with the plastic tops with drip holes, so you could just pour out as much as you need without too much air contamination, and put a saran wrap-type seal over the cap, held tight with a rubber band? Or a baggie squeezed tight after the rubber band is on? Or put the whole bottle in a big zip lock baggie, squeeze out the air, and seal?

Gee woodieb8, I'd always heard that it was penguins that stick to polar bear fur. Man, I can only imagine what it must be like to live where there are polar bears. Too cool!

Try to keep the swing area of your hooks clear of the joints. Either mount them far enough forward so they only swing on the section they're in, or far enough back so the entire hook swings on the section behind. While having a swinging hook stick in the side of a lure occasionally is going to happen with all jointed lures, nothing kills a retrieve like a hook getting into the hinge area when it swings. Maybe T'd hooks wouldn't do that.

What they all said, in CAPITOLS!!!!! DON'T!!! EVER!!!

I'm from SoCal, and, years ago, we had the dreaded Medfly invasion. To counter that, the state released sterile Medfly males in my neighborhood. I had just finish stripping my old wooden overhead garage door down to bare wood, and repainting it. The day the final coat went on, the Medfly truck drove up our street, releasing sterile males. Well, you guessed it. They were attracted to the wet paint, and I would up with literally hundreds stuck to it, wriggling and squirming. I saw that, and steam came out of my ears, but I knew I couldn't do anything until the paint dried and cured, or it would be worse. The next moring I came out, and, low and behold, all the spiders living in my garage had decended, en masse, on the still living Medflies that were trapped in the paint. It was epic, like the La Brea tar pits, except that the paint had dried enough for the spiders to come down and feast without getting stuck. I felt like that guy in Naked Prey, who danced and cheered as the tribesmen chasing him were caught in the brush fire he'd set. I still don't like the spiders, which occasionally drop down my neck and bite my back, but I give them a little more respect now. And I never repainted the door. It stayed like it was, legs, wings, and all. Revenge is sweet!

Vman, Your posts are great. They clean out the cobwebs, and make me use my brain. No wise cracks, please! Thanks.

Pick wood to carve that has no knots.