mark poulson

Maybe it was a seafood delivery truck.

One of my wives wrote it! I'm still trying to get that dagger out of my back. )

If you use the rubberband method in Fishthanks photos, you won't need to bend the hooks because they won't swing when you troll them anyway. Hook rash is a fact of life on cast baits, because the dangling, clanging hooks are part of the lure's attraction. An extra coat of clear is a good idea. I carry a bottle of sparkle nail polish in the boat, both to touch up hook rash, and to keep up my sharp personal appearance! )

Dumb Yank question. Isn't Montreal Detroit adjacent? I mean, can't you just drive across the border and buy what you need? Works the other way for prescription drugs.

Actually, when water goes below 32 degrees, it gets less dense, but it gets really hard!

I've never been to Clear Lake. My buddy who fishes with me on weekends has fished it, and so has our club pres. They both rave, and say it has to be fished before I die. Like Mexico. If I drive all the way up there, it will be to fish, not observe, and I'll need the $200 buy in money for gas. I'm cheap!

338muskie, When I'm routing, I stop the bit before any end that might chip, like a lip slot, so it can't grab the end and ruin the piece. Then I hand shape that remaining part with a sanding block. Quick, safe, and not tear out risk.

Phil, I don't make musky baits, so all I can talk about it LM bass and striper lures. A glider is a top water bait that is worked like a spook, but with longer pauses between strokes, so the bait can actually glide to the side after each stroke. The length of the glide is a function of how light and how long the bait is. A jerk bait is a sub surface bait. It is worked the same as a spook, also, but it is not worked on the surface. Typically, I work it with a more erratic cadence, since it is seen better by the fish than a top water lure. A spook-type bait is a top water that, more or less, turns on itself or pivots as it's jerked, rather than gliding. It is worked faster than a glider, in a constant motion that is sometimes paused when you pass over structure, or an area you think has fish. At least, that's how I categorize them, and how I fish them.

I would stick with the start on paper method if it works.

I can't find it on the gallery. Help!

Lockjaw, That thing swims and looks great. How much did that lure weigh, and how long was it?

fourbizzle, It was a great event. Genius concept. I won't go up to Clear Lake for the next one, but I'll sure do it again if it's local. Were you a VTO, or whatever they called us? I rode with Kyle Grover and had a great time. Cold or no, it was a blast. Mark

Double round over bits are very common. Just go to a woodworking store, or site online. Piloted carbide bits are the way to go. Shape your lure, sand it smooth on the edge, and set the bit so you keep a little of the smooth to ride the pilot on. I prefer 1/4 round bits, so I can use the actual lure for the pattern, instead of having to attach a pattern. But if you're into production, the pattern and 1/2 round bit could be the way to go.

For gliders, weight them so they float horizontal with the front 1/3+- out of the water. Make the bait, seal it, install the hook hangers and eye tie, put on the split rings and hooks, and then float it in a bucket of water. Add weight until it floats right. Generally speaking, add the weight toward the tail for a glider, and toward the middle just past the mid point for a walking bait. 6" gliders with less weight, so 1/2 of the front is out of the water, will also walk the dog really well. Making a 9" walk will kill you in five minutes. Good luck.

I think (dangerous, I know) that the water moving past the sides of the swimbait creates the movement, as the water hitting the joints deflects, like a sail, and makes the water swirl as it passes the bait. The pieces are pulled to one side or the other, and once the bait starts to move, the water forces each piece back the other way. A vicious cycle, kind of. I also have a BBZ1 floater, and have caught a lot of fish on it. It shines in the spawn and post spawn, when the bass are most aggressive or have their feed bag on. I can't burn it as fast as a triple trout, so I don't throw it as a reaction bait in the wind. I'll post a picture as soon as I can. I did find out that coating the faces of the joints separately from the main body is a bad idea. The epoxy peeled off the joint faces. I'm going to dig the hinge pins out, re coat the pieces completely using the coat hanger trick posted here earlier today, and then, when it's reassembled, I'll photo it and post it, if I can. Pete, I am not making these to sell, but it is a very compelling hobby. I used to make my own shakey heads, and paint them, but this is way more addicting. And fun. RM, If it's any consolation, last Friday I was a voluteer observer at the first Heavyweight Bass Classic, put on by Ron Cervanka, John Barron, and Ken Huddleston (the swimbait guy) at Lake Casitas in Ojai, CA. One angler and one observer per boat, 50 boats, $200 buy in, $10,000 winner take all for biggest fish. Almost all of the best big fish guys from California, North and South, were there. At safe light launch, it was 40+degrees, 20mph winds, and light rain. That developed during the day to 40- degrees, 35-30mph winds, driving rain and hail. I was never so happy for 2:45 second flight weighin to come! Seven+ hours standing in the back of the boat, watching someone else fish in lousy weather, and a tough bite (Floridas don't like cold fronts) was miserable. My angler caught eight fish, fished hard all day, and had a 10+ follower on a swimbait early, but his biggest was 3.71lbs. The winner was Don Osborne, from NoCal, throwing a 12" Castaic swimbait. He stuck a 10.5lb beauty. He said he caught it on his first cast, third crank of the reel. He also said he'd called the lake and found out that they were planting 12" trout. No one else threw a 12" bait. Sharp guy. Anyway, it was cold, but not snowing. My friend was an angler and was the leader in the hot seat for 45 minutes with a 7+lb jig fish, until Don weighed in. He said at one point his boat was white with hail. That's cold enough for me.

Hand held routers with piloted bits are much safer than router table, which are just small shapers. At least, with your hands on the router, you fingers are up and out of the way. I've seen shaper throw materials 50' in a shop. Router tables, while smaller, can still throw a piece of wood back into you with penetrating force. Read spear or arrow. As was stated earlier, ALWAYS feed against the rotation of the bit, so the cutter is coming toward the work, or you will have the work snatched out of your hand and hurled somewhere you don't want it to go. And always use sharp bit. Nothing is more dangerous than a dull tool.

Great idea! I'm definately going to try that.

I threw my triple fish copy yesterday at Lake Castaic in SoCal, in a rainstorm, and caught my first fish on it, a 6.77 beauty. What a thrill! I've caught bigger fish, but this is the biggest on one of my home made lures, and the first on one of my jointed baits. I am waiting for my friend to email me the photo, and then I'll try to post it (no promises, you know I'm internet illiterate). The lure is a 7" had body, 4 section, with a 2" triple trout tail, painted in pearl silver/ med green back/misted with pink fuchsia, and larger black spots. It floats almost completely submerged, and doesn't roll, even on a fast retrieve. I was using a med. fast retrieve, throwing it tight to rock walls and points. I caught the fish on a wind blown point. I was fishing yesterday because I am the weighmaster for Mike Iljin's Angler's Choice Castaic Trial, and I fish for fun after launch and before weighin. I was stoked. Bill Siemental and Troy Lindner won the tournament. Bill said he was throwing swimbaits, and Troy was "doing other stuff". They won big fish with a 6.5 lb swimbait fish, so my fish was bigger. What a kick!

I only use round split rings for my hooks. I'd be afraid that the oval rings might bind if they get sideways during the cast. I use oval split rings on the line ties of my jerkbaits. I think it increases the action. I don't know why, but I always seem to hang my line on the split when I'm tying on, so I have to go really slowly. With regular split rings, I am in the habit of just turning them before I draw down the knot, but oval rings seem to reach out and grab my line. But I still use them.

Michael's sells some spray-on glitter in rattle cans that sticks when it's sprayed, and doesn't move when you clearcoat with Etex. Silver, gold, and mixed.

Maypo, You're a clever devil! Who'da thunk it? Hemostats and magnets! It's a great setup. If you make bigger baits, you can cut a couple of plywood wheels, mount them on your shaft, and suspend the baits between the wheels to dry them.

I think KcDano is right. Clear it with epoxy. The texture just adds to the lures footprint in the water, and makes it unique.

I did a mr max search and came up empty. Am I using the wrong bait? )

Room temp, 70 degrees+-, is what hobby epoxies, and that includes Devcon, were designed to cure out in. Colder than that slows them down. Much warmer than that can lead to other problems, like BobP said.