Nutty_gnome

Mustad makes a WONDERFUL weighted plastics hook. WIth a sliding weight system and IMO the best method of retaining the bait on on the hook. They are about 5 to 7 bucks for 3 but they last and last. They are the Mustad ultra powerlock weighted hooks - seen at Cabela's Cabela's -- Mustad Power Lock Plus Hooks I love them. I'm not fond of twist lock method used by Owenr and others. My fingers are just too fat to make it work cleanly. I fooled around with crimping split shot egg sinkers to a hoook and it just didn't work out for a lot of reasons. The movable weights on these hooks really do work very well for the money. Just my 2 cents.

Just to clarify, I like the mustad Powerlock Plus ultrapoint hooks. You can see them in the mustad Catalog online. N_G

Huh. I didn't know that the Mustads were made in China. I've been loving the new(? - well new to me anyway) impact soft plastic keeper hooks with and without the sliding weights. The points on the 3/0 to 4/0 varieties seem to be working great for me. It truly is an awesome hook for fishing plastics. They aren't cheap though. 7 bucks for 3 of the weighted hooks I think and 5 bucks for 5 unweighted. If gamakatsu would make something similar, i would probably switch, but I haven't found it yet.

I think that every bass in the lake I fish has seen at least one powerbait this season. That said, they still work so I dont think its overrated. I have no expereince with Gulp. I would surmise that it too would work but would be less durable than the powerbait at even more expense. Next time I see some gulp I'll give it a try. What you should really be interested is in the new Gulp! Alive! product. That looks like the bees knees if you like Gulp and should lower the expense as well (over time). http://www.tackletour.com/reviewpurefishingpreview08.html (Half way down the page). I'd buy the small canister if I saw it and the colors looked useful. - N_G

I just bought my first bag of 7.5 inch powerworms yesterday. Went through half the bag and cought about 8 fish in 3 hours, which is good for me. I'd say they work pretty well. They don't hold up over time as well as the Zoom u-tale or c-tale worms though. But they do have scent in them, Zoom does not. They are more expensive, but if they work, I don't see a problem. N_G

And the molds. These are now coated in elmers. I haven't poured into them yet so I don't know iof the elmers stuck over the baby oil. time will tell. But I'm pleased with these as a first try and am amazed at the level of detail cheap POP can achieve. Ugh, these reduced, resized photos do not show the ring-detail in the senko mold. You can see it in the finishedd worm though. How does one post decent pics when you have less then 100kb to do it with? N_G

These came from the mold before I coated with elmers. They are not super shiny, but they do have a kind of matte finish. The salt-looking stuff is salt. I am storing them in a Yum Lizard bag so that they pick up a little salt flavor and scent from the Yum lures. Yes the tail of the zoom u-tale is too thick. I need to figure that out for next time.

Thanks for the advice about the water and the wife. I think that next time, I'll use a small propane camp stove outside in a far corner of the yard. I'll have some pics of the mold and product later today. N_G

Can do pics by tomorrow perhaps. If I can't get Elmers glue to stick to the mold, no biggie, I'll just toss it and start again. I'm sure I can improve the technique the second time around. When you heat new plastic in the microwave, does it smoke and sizzle something fierce? I was using a metal cup over a gas stove burner, so it was tough to keep the temps low enough throughout without allowing some of the plastic to burn a bit. Anyone else using a gas burner? N_G

So last week I found an old, used, dirty junebug Senko on the boat ramp at my local lake. I've never used a Senko but I know that they are potentially the easiest hand-pour bait to make. So I take it home. I happen to have lots of Plaster of Paris (POP) from a recent plaster wall repair, so I grabbed the nearest small cardboard box, a Zoom u-tale worm and the used senko. In under an hour, I had a hard POP mold of each lure! By the way, I used baby oil to keep the lure from sticking to the POP and that worked great! The senko was pushed down so that that I could mold something that was at least 3/4 round in a one part mold. Then I used an old Turkish cofee maker (basically a metal cup with a long plastic handle used to make super dark coffee) to melt some old black zoom horny toads, worms, and a used beaver. Is this stuff supposed to smoke and stink so bad? My wife got very very upset with me. But, I chased her out and poured 3 great lures (black with some slight red flecks): 2 senkos and 1 zoom worm. I didn't seal the POP, which I need to do, but I used baby oil to lube the mold and that seemed to work great. The detail was much better than I would have guessed but hte worm tail is a bit thick. I can't wait to fish these this weekend and I think I'll have to order the small DIY kit to see what else I can create. It was all great fun! N_G

I appreciate the endorsement. Tim's site looks great. I love the superhuge sinko bait! Got any color recommendations? -N_G PS- One Sock, I sent you a PM last week.

It wouldn't be work if it were amusing. I searched for sharpie and didn't find much. Just a creative way to make a tube mold using the sharpie shape. Maybe that discussion has been lost to the depths of time. N_G

Actually, I"m looking at a standard Sanford Sharpie and it looks remarkably like a senko. Blunt on one end, taped on the other. A little work with a dremel would smooth out the area where the cap meets the pen. -N_G

Has anyone tried to roll-their-own-mold using office-type pens/pencils? Some of the new comfort grip gell pens look like they might make excellent Senko imitations. Bic and Pilot both have beefy thick pens with a subtle hourglass-style curve in them. I imagine a pencil might make a suitable french fry style bait. Anyone done this? I see none of the hand pour vendors are selling such a thing.

Hi all. I love the idea of crafting your own plastic worms! I used to make all of my own fly-fishing flies, so this seems like a natural extension of the sport. I'm looking for someone who sells hand-poured baits optimized for use in NJ and Eastern PA lakes (for largemouth and pickerel). I'd like to buy some and find out what these lures can do. Anyone know of any shops/pourers with a website in the area? Thanks in advance, - N_G