mark poulson

That's a nice looking master! As for the action you can expect from a swimbait's tail, I use the crankbait shape analogy when I'm picking a tail shape. Narrower, flatter tails have a tighter, more subtle wiggle. Rounder tails have a wider side to side action. And the closer to 90 degrees the angle of the tail to the bait's backbone, the more water resistance and wiggle.

Great idea!

Thanks Nathan.

I can't. I guess it's just my perception of things.

I think that many lure innovators here are hesitant to post their own ideas, because there are big lure companies have trolls who are constantly monitoring sites like this for new ideas they can steal.

I'm reading this as don't let the KBS drip back into the dipping jar. I haven't used Rustoleum liquid. How does it work for baits? Is it the same stuff that's in the X2 Gloss Acrylic?

I like rattle can primers because they have more solids than water based white, so two coats, 30 minutes apart, give me a much smoother surface to paint.

I do it with .54 wire for my Whopper Ploppers. I make the eye with a pair of round nose pliers, put the eye in a vice, and twist the tag end around the shaft using some needle nose vice grip pliers to hold the tag end. It's a pain.

I had the same experience when I first started pouring. Someone here on TU suggested I hadn't gotten the plastisol to the 350 degree turn over point. I bought a digital thermometer from Harbor Freight, and, once I had gotten the plastisol to the right temp to begin with, no more sticky baits. Once it's gotten to 350 degrees, it can be reheated to 335+- and hand poured, or to 320+- to inject. The hotter the plastisol, the more it shrinks as it cools, so it takes some experimenting to find the right temps. for what you want to pour. Good luck.

Dale, Do you dip, and, if you do, do you let the KBS drip back into the dipping jar?

Thanks Nathan. It's too cold and wet to open the big doors and dip right now, but I did buy some of their thinner (no more Xylene in CA). I plan to dip outside, so when the weather warms, I'm going to give it a go. I am going to use a pickle jar with a gasketed screw top for dipping, and will put a piece of plastic over the jar's mouth after I shoot the Bloxygen in before I put the top on. Can I let the bait drip back into the dipping jar, or will that cause problems?

I found the weed wacker line to be like a light to medium weed guard. Plus it's way cheaper than heavy mono, and you can find it at just about any hardware store or home center. The first stuff I bought had a light blue tint, and it worked, but I found some other that was clear, and that's what I use now.

Thanks. I just ordered some of their thinner.

I bought some KBS, but I haven't tried it yet because I'm nervous about storage without it going bad. How do you store it between dips? Did you tap the can with the KBS, or just shoot bloxygen into the can before you close it?

Update: As a hobbyist and retired guy just looking to be able to fish my lures through the grass here on the CA Delta, I put weed guards on anything I can. I tried using a short piece of weed wacker replacement line super glued into the weed guard hole, and it works. The line has a curve from being coiled in the package, so I just fill the weed guard hole with gap filling super glue, set the piece of wacker line into the hole, hold the line just above the hook point (aligning that curve with the hook point), put on a drop of accelerant to set the glue, and it holds fine. The wacker line is stiff enough to hold it's position up above the hook point without any rubber band attachment, but it's flexible enough for the fish to bite down onto the hook with no problems. I did this with some Do-It Arkie heads, for chatter jigs, and also with some swimbait jig heads, drilling my own hole, and it works great! No weeds, and great hookups. And they don't throw the hook, at least on the 3/8 and 1/2 oz heads I use. I get all the advantages of an exposed hook with no weeds!

I think Hughsey is right. It's douglas fir.

Thanks. Nice looking baits!

To me, a craw crankbait is moving fast enough that a more or less stationary bass hits it out of reaction as it zooms into view. So, while coloring and body segments are important, the direction the craw seems to be traveling is less critical. The bass sees it as a fleeing prey item, and strikes. I have painted wiggle warts in a claws-first pattern, with red/orange claws on the bills, and used them to root along the shallow rock parallel to shore, but I think any craw colored crank would work. I think really accurate coloration is more important in baits that are moved slowly along the bottom, like jigs and creatures, and even those seem to only need to be close, not perfect. The only time I think accuracy is really important in hard baits is in slow moving baits like S wavers, where a suspended bass has time to look at it more closely, and, even then, they will hit a less-than-perfect bait because they "think" it's prey anyway.

That looks like a slick setup! Do you have to top coat over the ink once you've shot it onto a hard bait?

I haven't found an orange nail polish that would put on a mist coat. I guess you could add some orange to a bottle of clear polish, drop by drop, until you get it thin enough to work. Maybe adding some fine orange flake to clear polish will also work. But if the bait was for my own use, I would wipe the bait down with clean denatured alcohol, mist on orange Createx transparent, and then, once I'd heat dried it, I would spray two coats of Rustoleum X2 Gloss Clear Acrylic. Just don't let the X2 lay against a soft plastic for any length of time, or the clear will soften.

If you want that smooth finish to paint over, then you should keep spraying your molds, like you're doing. If not, try one without the Krylon, and see how it goes.

I tried, but I kept falling over. Sorry, couldn't resist!

In the summer, when the water is warmer and the fish are more active, softer tails get bit more. But in the spring and fall, the harder tails seem to work better, as well as when they are used as chatterbait trailers.

I have two 5+" silicone swimbait molds from Lurecraft http://www.lurecraft.com/Plastic-Mold-894/productinfo/5X894/ that have recesses for the eyes. It makes installing them, and having them stay on, much easier.

For my ringed Keitech-like swimbaits, I use a hard plastic, because otherwise the tail moves too much side to side, almost losing some of the thump.