BLT

Also if you have a lot to ship, use the priority mail boxes from the post office. I think there are several sizes, and "can" reduce shipping cost if sending a lot, and can keep weight under 30#'s I think it is. Depending on order size, I split shipping cost.

Never cleaned my pot yet. I use an a turkey fryer outside with a large cast iron pot tied down to it with heavy gauge wire. (Limits possibilities of tip over) I use this pot OUTDOORS to do the melting of the rough lead and fluxing, then pouring into an ingot/block mold. Looks just like a brick of gold, only it's lead....what a shame! I get lead from many different people. I ask everyone at work if they know anyone that has any, any plumber friends that may have old lead pipe sitting around from a remodeling job, and a few pounds a year from Dentist also. None of the tire places will give it away anymore, most want $.25/lb. I was trying to get as much as I could, but now with the threat of lead free sinkers/jig laws being passed in several States, I have around 600 pounds, and don't want an inventory any higher than that.

Yea, the drip doesn't bother me to much. It's kind of like they said about older Harley Davidsons dripping oil, they are just marking their spot lol. I don't know if the RCBS is worth the price difference. I did not buy it, so I can't really say. Seems like both brands get the job done, that's what counts.

I have the RCBS bottom pour, and I leave lead in it when done. Mine drips while pouring also. I was given a lees bottom pour, but have never used it yet, but I'll bet that one drips also lol.

Found it..thanks!

I did at least 500 tails last year, most for me but some for tackle shops to sell use also. if you are just doing a few for your purpose, the rit is OK to use. I have used Jacquard acid dye also. My Dad used that all the time when he did it with good results. He passed away and I took over the business, and now I am using a what I think is a better dye. I use a company called Pylam products. They make what I think is the brightest colors on the market, and the color last longer in the water. It is a little on the salty side for price, but when selling and trying to keep a reputation, I went for the better dye. If just doing for yourself and only a few tails, the rit is the way to go IMO. I buy my tails already dried, but with the price jump I have seen this year, I may be doing some myself. Here are to links to check out from another forum, skip some of the post to get to the one with the good info. One even has the way to use Rit dye. I suggest not taking your water to boiling, you can end up with hair soup really fast. I keep the water between 180 and 190, use an outdoor turkey fryer set up and do 10-30 tails at a time. Hope this helps. Bucktail Preperation? - SurfTalk Dyeing Bucktail Hair - SurfTalk Winter Project - Processing Bucktails - SurfTalk

Looked under sporting and several other titles, can't find them. Yep, was in the poconos area.

I don't know of any feathers, or parts of feathers you can't use. Give it a try, or you can send them to me lol.

Check out youtube for videos on jigs/flies. Even knot making has great videos there if you want a few more to know how to tie. Try these also http://http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/showthread.php?t=450125 Ontario Fishing Network Newsletter - Page 1

Never had that issue, but neither method is for everyone, whatever works best for you is the right method. Heat gun just takes to long for me. Now the gun did work well for spinners I was playing around with.

After using a torch, I bought a heat gun, used it a few times, went right back to the torch.

I have 20 some molds, and only 2 are Hilts, and like Basseducer, the 2 that I do use are the 1/8 and 1/4oz. bullet heads, and for the same reason. I don't like the handles on the Hilts. May sound lame, but when pouring for hours and hours, I think it makes a difference, and most of my other (Do-it) molds are production molds. Heck, I'm not even counting some of the old molds I have that are cast iron I believe, and I have to use vice grips to close them to pour because there are no handles, they are in halves.

I'm lucky, 95% of the tackle I sell is for saltwater. Not to much demand for spinner/buzz baits for my market sector.

I love my whip tool! It did take a few tries and watching the videos, but I won't even bother trying to do it by hand. I use up to a 3 oz. jig.

Forgot about a review for this product. I would not buy them again, and have stopped using them. Followed instructions, shook well and used on close to 100 jigs for a test. Was using 1/8 and 1/4 oz. bullet nose jigs to rig up for tandem rigs. After baking powder paint, I painted on the eyes, and left them go for a day. Tried to rig them up the next day and the paint smeared on the jig. Waited another day, same results. Put some in the toaster oven to bake them again hoping to harden the paint a little better, same results. I am not going to clear coat over them, so that test is out for me. I'll stick to using my other paints with cut off round toothpicks, q-tips and pencil erasers for the eyes. It's a shame to, because you could really crank them out with that pen.

I'll try heating up the hooks first, thanks for the replies.

Some of my molds call for a #1 or a 1/0 hook. I like to use the larger hooks and they have a hard time filling around the hook shank, and the barb does not come out right at times. would/could this help with that? The smaller hooks pour great. I have the same issue with 2 of my Hilts bullet head molds not making a good barb on them.

I am considered a manufacturer by the Feds, not a retail business, already checked.

I make tackle in Pa., but do not sell it in this state, I sell in De. at the beach. Now I am faced with HAVING to get a state retail number because some wholesalers/distributers will not deal with you if you don't. An excise tax number and federal tax number are not good enough with some places. Pa. is even cracking down hard on craft shows and such. If you sell at any show in Pa., (tackle or not) better have the retail #!! Being a small time tackle maker, (around 10,000 rigs a year) I don't think it's that big of a deal keeping records for the 10% tax.

I picked mine up a Cabela's. I haven't used them yet. Come with like 6 tips for it. Say's they are good for 75 cast before wear, or clear coat them to make them last longer. Cabela's -- Quick-Coat Markers

I just bought a few Component sys. paint markers last week, but haven't used them yet. We'll see how well they work.

I had some jigs that were just white, and wanted to add some life to them with extra color. They were baked already, so I put them in the toaster oven for 1/2 hour, (1/2 oz. up to 2 oz.) and went to work with 2nd colors. Maybe I should have left them in longer, but it was not as nice of a "blend" between the 2 colors compared to if I do both colors together the first time. Where the 2 colors meet, it's more "speckled" than "blended". Had a more "lumpy" look to them. That's about the best I can describe it. Prefer to do multi colors during the first heat up. Now I'm talking about looks for selling jigs also, if I was just doing it for myself, results would be good enough, but I'm going by what customer opinions and my label reputation would be.

make a stand and put the oven on end so the heating element is on the side. I have done larger jigs this way. I always use the oven upside down now, and just hang on the rack. Put a sheet or 2 of foil over the heating element. I have a smaller oven, and was doing 1/8 and 1/4 oz jigs this w/e, 60 at a time, but probably could have put more in at a time. Need a bigger oven!

I take one, maybe 2 rods to the river. I don't fish the river often, most of my fishing is at the beach. Even then, I only put 2 rods in the jeep for inlet/bay fishing, 3 rods for surf (dead stick one, hold another). It only takes a minute to re-rig to a different setup, and more of a pain to carry a bunch of rods IMO. I only carry the extra rod in case something happens to the one I'm using.

Nice to see Tj on there with his videos.