mark poulson

I read somewhere that a short piece of the fiber optic cable is glued into a through hole, from one side of the bait to the other, to allow passage of light through it, creating a shifting eye flash. I read it, but I haven't done it.

I know this isn't a hardbait issue, exactly, but Lake Casitas in Ojai, CA., is probably the premier big bass lake in SoCal, and that's where I, and a lot of my fellow nutcases, throw big hardbaits for big bass. The Ventura County water department, in their infinite wisdom, are proposing to close Casitas to public boating to prevent the introduction of the invasive Quagga mussel. The mussel has turned up in some other SoCal lakes, and the Ventura people think this is the way to stop it from coming to Casitas. Here's an article from a local paper about it: http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jan/20/quagga-mussel-threat-puts-focus-on-lake-casitas/ As the article points out, all of the other SoCal lakes are watching what happens at Casitas before they make their decisions concerning whether or not to close their lakes to stop the mussel's spread. There are only a handful of bass lakes available to fishermen in SoCal as it is, so the danger of having nowhere to fish is real. The guy mentioned in the article, Ron Cervanka, who has spearheaded the keep the lake open movement, such as it is, has been fishing for bass competitively for ever. He, Dick Trask, and Don Iovino (the godfathers of finesse fishing and sonar use) used to fish together. He's no alarmist. He's a cop. And if he says there's a real danger of the lakes all being closed, then the threat is real. He's started a "Clean and Dry" campaign with all the bass circuits in SoCal, to spread the word about our responsibility as anglers and boaters to help prevent the mussels' spread. But it may not be enough. The next public meeting of the water district, during which they may vote to close the lake, is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb.13th, at 4:30 pm. The site is not confirmed yet, due to the huge amount of attendance of local opposition people to the last meeting. They say they're trying to get a larger hall to accommodate everyone. But there's a chance that the water board members are going to have a private meeting before that, or at least one that's open to the public but announced with so little lead time that no organized opposition has time to present their case. They could well decide the lake's fate, and, with it, the fate of the local economies as well as boaters and anglers, without any meaningful input from the stakeholders, other than their own side. I don't think this is fair, or the right way to go about this. If you want to participate, you can email me at mpoulson47@sbcglobal.net and I will give you some contact info so you can make your feelings known.

Clemmy, I must have been confused with the 10" triple trout. Yeah, that's the ticket! ) I see some of the swim baits my friends and other guys out here in SoCal are throwing, and mine look small by comparison. )

Borderbass, I stand corrected. I just went out to the boat and measured it, and you're right, it's not 10", it's only 8 1/2". I guess I just don't know what 10" looks like. )

Great action. How deep does it run?

Geez, you're a tough crowd. All praise to John, too. I am not worthy. Alright, that's it. Now it's back to being the usual jerk!

All dust collectors are noisy. Try to put one outside the work area, and run a duct back in that you can branch off to different work areas, with manual gates to isolate the machine you're working with. I know there are some pretty sophisticated automatic gates out there, and automatic switching that comes on when the machine comes on, but, for a garage shop, manual is much easier to install and use. I made a dust collector out of two wall mount kitchen ventilators that I got off the job, VR1000 units, that I mounted high on my outside garage wall. They each move 1000 cubic feet of air per minute, and are much quieter than the commercial dust collectors. I boxed in the corner with plywood and caulking, and cut out the bottom of the box to fit a plastic trash barrel for the dust collection. I used solid metal duct piping, 6" main line, branching to 4" at the table saw, radial arm saw, oscillating sander, and one over the main work table to vacuum up dust as needed. I used to do a lot of cabinet work in the garage, and this really took the saw dust out of the air. Not hard to do. Don't over think it. If the ventilator fan moves air, it will suck up dust. Just make sure the duct terminates vertically with the outlet over the plastic trash can, and a screen and dust filter to keep any stuff from migrating back up to the exhaust fans. And don't forget disposable dust masks. You don't need a respirator, just something to stop dust. Unless you're spraying solvent based paint.

I was putting a small piece of plastic worm on the hook before I rigged the back, and then pushing it tight to the underside of the frog after rigging to give the frog a sway back rigging. That kept it from flipping 100 percent of the time. My partner gave me a plastic bobber stopper to try, and it works even better. Just thread it onto the hook before you rig the rear portion, and push it back against the frog until it has a slight sway back. It also helps increase the leg action. I'd rather not use a weighted hook if I can help it. The Ribbit Bull Frog is heavy enough by itself, even in the wind. I will use a weight if I'm fishing the smaller Ribbit, and it's windy, or the water is super clear and I need longer casts. But, generally, I can throw both weightless with 50lb braid.

Super!

Your idea and lure are great. I use that furnace tape at work, and can't imagine the patience you have! Great job.

Thanks, Vodkaman. Captsully18, all praise unto you, oh hallowed tip giver. Your partial cut through method of making jointed baits is THE BOMB! )

If I were you, I would take a look at some of the successful jointed swimbaits on the market for ideas. Can't hurt, and it may help you with general ideas about shape, segment lenghts, and hook placements.

Ah, Magoo, you've done it again! ) Another great lure, Nathan.

I caught 1 1/2 lb bass on a 10" BBZ 1 swim bait in the spring. Big bass, and bass that want to get big, eat big baits. If you waters don't have trout, it doesn't matter. Bass eat anything they can get their mouths around. The general rule of thumb is 1/3 their body length, but, in the spawn, they will attack anything that gets near their beds. And out here in SoCal, where rainbow trout are planted during the colder months, big baits work. Guys out here throw 12" swim baits and get BIG fish. And those swim baits are perfect for big strippers.

One tip I'll give you is make your baits a little longer than you want the finished lure. Then you can reshape the cut surfaces as you need. Someone on this site (sorry, I can't remember who, or I'd bow to them in praise) suggested not cutting all the way through the joints when you initially cut them, so you can make the cuts before shaping, and still have a single pieced bait to shape. I found, with pine, fir, and poplar, that this method is great. And I can reshape the "male" section, the pointy end with the hinge hole, after I separate the parts wit a dovetail saw. I make the hinge hole a little farther from the "female" section than I want in the finish, and then sand the male section to a more pointy shape, with the hinge hole a little closer to the final surface, to give my lures more room to wiggle. I make larger baits where all this cutting, drilling, and sanding is easier. I wouldn't have a clue about small, jointed cranks. I think for them I'd use back to back screw eyes, and just call it a day.

Deepsessions, I make jointed baits, and am curious about Restor-it. I've seen it used by painters on jobs, but never used it myself. How far into the wood does it penetrate? Right now, I put a drop of crazy glue into each of the hinge holes in the bait sections, and the redrill with a piece of hinge wire to restore the hole. Is the Restor-it expensive? We use a lot of Bondo for repairing old jambs, window frames, and woodwork in general, but it's relatively cheap.

I only know how by copying other people's stuff, or making one myself and trying it. I don't think anyone can tell you more than making it and trying it will tell you. Looks good. Good luck.

Seven strand hinges. Interesting.

I would suggest you use the search option at the top of the page to look for this info. Type in paint types, colors, painting, any combination of what you want to know. If you read all the stuff that's been posted here relating to paint, you won't have time to paint! ) Seriously, look at the threads about painting and pick out the ones for you. If it is related to air brush painting, it's been talked about here. It's just a matter of searching for the right topic. Good luck.

Beautiful bait. Great job. Did you extend the hook hanger on the back to keep it away from the claws?

And the reason I haven't use cotter pins so far is I don't have a source for long enough shanked, corrosion proof cotter pins. I've got 1", but that's not long enough to make me comfortable for hinges, and the ones I have aren't corrosion proof. I'd love to find some 1 1/2" cotter pins of stainless steel, but haven't so far.

Actually, I have used twist wires so far. I only glue/seal the hinge pin with the epoxy clear coat. If that doesn't seal the hinge holes at the top and bottom, I've done something wrong. And I think that when I seal the hinge faces with the 5 minute epoxy, the epoxy seals the inside holes. Then, when I "redrill" with a piece of hinge wire to open them again, it's a tight enough fit that not much water can get in there. I'm not making lures for sale, just for myself and friends, and, so far, there have been no problems. In the past, I've used crazy glue to seal the hinge holes before I do the 5 minute epoxy, because it penetrates into the small hinge holes, but doesn't close them. That gives me an added layer of protection. If I were making these for sale, I'd probably have to come up to a way to coat the entire hinge pin hole with waterproofing, like a penetrating sealer, before I assembled. As it is, I haven't had any problems. So far, so good.

Hey Connie, How are you guys doing? How's the Lake Fork fishing? Good to hear from you. Mark P.S. I came over to the dark side, and bought a Shimano MG50. Best casting reel I've ever owned, bar none. You were right.

When I top coat or paint in my garage and it's cold, I leave the lights on for heat, and even run a small electric heater on low when I am putting on the top coat and while it's curing overnight. I don't use 2TDevcon, I use Envirotex, but I imagine all chemical reactions are slowed by cold, except making ice!

Brrrrr!!!!! I guess we should be glad you still have lakes freezing over, what with the polar ice caps and all the glaciers melting. Who knows, you may be in the tropics before you know it? )