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While looking up 'Barramundi' for 'Diemai' in another thread, I came across this, with some excellent pictures. Experience Aquaculture It's interesting (for me anyway) how scales, amongst other things, work under different light conditions etc, should apply to lures too.pete

Thank's Jerry, same for me, so few people, so much talent. Speaking of which, has anyone heard from Gene lately?????????? I was so looking forward to finally seeing "The Copy Machine" there too.pete

Diemai - I made some lures about 16 years back for Barramundi fishing in Western Australia (Victoria River), same thing happened, they pulled the 90 lb wire harness out (38lb fish). Barra are very similar to Nile Perch, in fact I think they are the same fish, just different sides of the Indian Ocean, they also get bigger there..?? I may be hijacking the thread here, but here's a description, and weights etc.pete "On offshore reefs at a depth of 100 metres. Mangrove Jacks can reach more than 1.2 metres and a weight of 15 kilograms but fish in inshore waters are a real handful at 1 -3 kilograms. The Mangrove Jack is often confused with the red bass, a much more notorious ciguatera species. The Mangrove Jack has a taller dorsal fin, a lack of lengthwise stripes on its side and the absence of black on fins. Mangrove Jacks lack the distinctive pit before the eye of the red bass which is predominantly a coral reef species. Fishing: Mangrove Jacks are the toughest and dirtiest fighters in Australian waters. They will dash out and engulf a lure or bait and break off an unwary angler on the nearest snag before they realise the strike has been made. As a result, mangrove jacks require quality, well maintained gear and tight drags. They can destroy cheap equipment as they dive into snags. Mangrove Jacks like tough dirty cover although they can be found in deeper holes in tidal waters where they are a bit easier to handle. Diving lures, spinner baits, jigs and flies work well for jacks. They will take cut or whole fish baits, prawns, crabs and especially live baits. The strike is savage and a prelude to the action to come. Mangrove Jacks should be handled carefully as their dorsal spines can create a nasty wound, especially on water softened hands. Jacks can also take a nip at fingers while being unhooked, but they are a hardy fish which survives handling well. The mangrove jack is good eating but in offshore waters should be carefully identified as red bass are a dangerous ciguatera species. Minimum size: 35 cm Bag limit: 10"

Nathan - Regrettably, I will not be able to make it (money) this year. Can you say hi to the girls at the Hampton Inn for me, they really looked after Phil and I, although I still don't think some knew where we were from (laugh). Hope this does not sound like an add, but they were really nice people, as were all those at the 08 meet, I'm really going to miss all that hospitality, sleeping on the couch, fishing in the rain, 'grits', factory tours, break and enter 101, the ribbing, oh yeah, and Dano's Brew.pete

Mangrove Jack, great to catch, they look aggressive, and they are!! Only ever caught 2, but very nice to eat. Nice eyes too.pete [/img]

Jaywags - Like I tried to indicate I don't know how these 'humidifiers' work, I have never seen one, so you are right. As for the coal stove, you should be right with that too, but have a look at this first - ACETONE See "Fire Fighting Measures" - - lower explosive limit is 2.5%, and it is twice the weight of air, so have a sniff around the floor, if your air intake to your coal furnace is low, hang on.pete

If the humidifier is electric, I would not try this, the solvent in the Prop (acetone or lacquer thinners) is highly volatile. I don't have this problem here, but I know it has been covered somewhere. Someone will chime in here pretty soon, and give you a lead, but DON'T use anything with a fan in it.pete

John- I will also second Diemai's comments, looks like we were working on it at the same time. pete

John, I have never made a lure with the staple in the lip, which is very popular here (Australia), but many guys on here have, and would be able to add some to this

Very, very, very nice. A good painting is knowing when to stop, maybe leave well enough alone.pete

John You would be tempting fate throwing a wooden lure at a 'jack', it would be like throwing it into a pencil sharpener - but I think that is part of the fun, just go and make another one!! Like Dave and Diemai say, grab a digital camera, and show us a picture, and they will soon analyse what is going wrong - don't worry, no one will laugh, we all started here. If you are not sure how to load a picture, go to the home page, there is a 'tutorial' on how to load up pictures "Site Usage Instruction" -> "Adding Photos to Your Post", even I got to do it, with a bit of tuition from 'VodkaMan' (Dave).pete

You can see how that 'Zalt' would be balanced on the rise, with the front and rear lip, very cunning design, and from what Diemai says, sounds like it has the same characteristics as a 'flatfish'. I have also seen pictures of that Rapala with the tunnel through the head, but never seen in the flesh, very radical, and would be interesting to see in the water.pete

Yeah Gene you poor old "B", but not as old as me yet. Hope you had a good day.pete

I ran into an old friend yesterday afternoon, he farms a few cattle just outside town here. I asked him how he spent New Years Eve, and his reply, "pretty hectic, I discovered three of my cows in the one paddock, one dead and two pretty crook, and spent the evening trying to get a Vet". He thought someone may have been shooting, and decided to use them for targets, but was told the next day by the vet it was snake bite, they all had been bitten on face, nose etc, probably by the same snake. How much/strong would the venom have to be to kill a full grown cow, let alone three - He said it could have been either a Tiger a Brown snake, but there is lots of Brown's around this time of year We have had a lot of rain lately, so lots of frogs and mice in the grass. Cattle are curious creatures, and were probably standing around sniffing the snake, high price to pay for a bit of curiousity!! If "Curiousity Killed the Cat", it's hard to believe, I am still alive.pete

Thanks 'gldnbear93', I knew I had seen that somewhere, but was not sure it was on this forum. They use it a lot in salt water plugs I think.Pete

Sorry Greg, I forgot to add the link: This one is for drilling through a blank etc (a few different ways) http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/hard-baits/15017-drilling-thru-wire.html This is the wire formers. http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/hard-baits/14907-question-wire-former.html There is a bit of reading, but maybe you will get some ideas from these.pete

Greg- here is a few machines for turning wire, from the poverty pack model to the Rolls Royce, and in between - make sure you read the whole thread, there are links all through it. pete

If you do a search there is heaps on this here, or there is also an excellent tutorial in that section.pete

Lili, I'm impressed- very, very nice natural action, even slow, which is the real test- keep up the good work .pete

Good one Dude, that's more like a good price.pete

Mouldy Just read your post again, sorry did not see 'large 3 jaw chucks'. I googled "three jaw chucks wood" and there are heaps - if you have heaps of money. https://www.hardware2u.com.au/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=651&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=6951&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26&vmcchk=1 Or you can buy one of these for $700 and get the chuck thrown in. http://users.tpg.com.au/users/p8king/tl4000.htm pete

'Mouldy' Not sure how big you want them, but cordless drill chucks work well, I have 3 or 4 in the shed. I saw a YouTube movie recently where a guy was using one to tie flies (used as a swivel chuck). I was thinking these would be good for holding /turning lures when painting etc. If you remove the chuck and shaft from the drill, the shaft can be placed in a larger chuck, I have done this many times to hold tiny drills (1mm) in the drill press. The chuck can also be removed from the shaft too, from memory it is a L/hand thread (tight).pete