Willy

Hot clear plastic Del? Glue them with what, super glue? Epoxy? Thanks for the tips. Willy

I've seen Eyes on and in soft baits a lot. Can any of the vets here suggest techniques they have incountered for adding eyes onto and into lures they pour? Through my experience I do much better with a softbait in the water that has some sort of eye either added on it, or poured into it. I assume the preditory nature of a fish drives it to attack when a few elements of a bait are identified. As a fighter I know the eyes are a very important tipoff of intention and emotion. Preditory fish are likely no different, If they see big eyes when they do their initial split second assesment of a passing bait fish, or in our case lure, that, combined with a few other quickly identifiable things, triggers the primal "hit it kill it" instinct. For that reason, I would like to EYE some of my baits. Tips? Thanks all, Willy

Nova, Anyone ever mention you are the man? Cuz it's true. Nice replication. Nice work. Did you carve the master for that pour, or did you have a mold on hand for that shape? Willy

When I was a kid in high school we poured aluminum. Maybe he really means that. But can RTV take the heat of molten metal? It would be sweet to make masters from aluminum if you could pour it into RTV or somthing like that. We used a special sand to make the mold for the aluminum pour. That was a million years ago so its hard to remember the process. Willy

Bojon, when I read the thread where everyone and their mother (including me) was asking you for your advice, I thought to myself...This man needs to start charging for this info, its gold! Does that answer your question. I;d be quite inclined to but the Ebook. You could include the vids in that too. Maybe start there and see if its sucessful? Thanks for your insight, Willy

Pete, There is another side to that coin... If your pouring your own baits, losing them to a toothy fish may not be then end of the world. As you may find, Once you start pouring a lot, you'll be using the baits you have laying around to throw at noisy cats in the street. Toughness is good but it is a delicate balance between wiggly wiggly and durability. I look forward to seeing some of your work. Willy

Great posts Guys! I've been on vacation for a week and was really impressed with the responses here when I got back! Nova...or SenkoSam I'm really interested in how to coreshot. Nova...nice looking pours You'd kill it here in the littoral zones with that swim. Sagacious....Great knowledge on the colorations of the baitfish at diffferent depths. It was a random pic from the net I grabbed to show the silvery belly, but I get your point about the different color tops in different zones. Good stuff all, keep it coming! Willy

Hey ray, Your plastic was probibly not hot enough. Once it gets to the liquid state (usually around 1.5mins), keep heating in short bursts, like 10-20 seconds, stirring slowly each time. It will usually take around five of those short bursts to get it really hot. Too long of a burst and you will burn it. Dont stir it and you will burn it. Your first pour isn't bad for a first try. It'll take you a few pours to get the hang of it. I'm new too, and it took me a couple of weeks to get it down well. Hang in there and don't be afariad to ask questions, as the folks on this board are a great bunch and really helpful. But use that search option as most of the answers to a rookies questions are already in posts on here. Plaster is usually refered to as POP on the site. Use that as a search keyword for mold questions. Good luck, Willy

Hey guys, I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a color/pearl or color/hilite mix to make the silvery look of an anchovy or sardine body? (ignore the attachment it's the same as this pic...) Thanks all Willy

OneSock, Is that gobie a one stage pour, or did you do two colors of green? Btw thanks for the tips, you helped me move over the wall I had hit. Willy

Great video JigMaster. That was quite helpful. It's always nice to see whats going on rather than read it. Good work. You too Stumpjumper. Thanks again, Willy

Hi all, I'm doin what I can to make and fish soft baits. I love swimbaits, but I see so much mentioned about the WACKY RIG. I understand how to rig it...but how do you fish it? I fish salt water, but it seems many of the same techniques apply. Any tips? Thanks all, Willy

Nice graphic! I understand what you were saying about the salt, I guess I was a bit confused. Hang in there man. LOL the 'cuda are always there to make you still feel like a fisherman. So as not to get this thread too off topic; You might try to melt those really stiff baits I gave you with a small amount of your super super soft, or just melt the stiff stuff. The color will be gross, but it may be stiff enough to make a few stiff masters. I will leave the future posts to those in the know. hang in there, Willy

Are those stick on eyes? Or put into the mold before the pour? How do you think they are applied? Willy

I've found you can wait a while between colors if the second color is really hot. Of course, they will bond better if both are still soft and hot, but they don't need to be. Just personal experience from another rookie. Good luck, Willy

Pete, Is it softer than the softest swims I sent you? The reason I ask is those I sent worked well to attract the fish, but one hard bite, and one toothy Halibut and the bait was toast. Some guys here use salt to harden their baits... I'm not quite to that point yet, but it may be worth a little research and a try... Keep it up man, Willy keep us posted on your progress

I have a bottle of irridescent pearl liquid colorant and I am thinking of switching to hi-lite powder...A few questions on the subject to those in the know... 1. It takes a lot of my pearl to make a nice pealry look. like 40 drops for 2oz plastic. 2. Does hi-lite have the same effect? the pearly/shiny look? 3. Why does hi-lite come in colors? 4. Why does hi-lite come only 5 colors, and can they be used with other color plastic without dramatically changing the plastic color? 5. I'm looking for a shimmery silver color on my bait, anyone know what color/highlite combo one would use for that look? Thanks all, Willy

Pete, did you consider casting your master in some plaster? I have had great luck getting detail with pop casts. I made a fluke master, cast it in plaster, poured a few from that mold and then used them to make a production mold. It may work...? BTW I went out to the La Jolla kelp this morning and landed a nice 5lb calico and a great big halibut. But the halibut flopped out of my kayak and swam away. Meh! Good luck brother, Willy

Randy by the 'glider weight' do you mean like a texas rig? I think I used a jighead like Bojon is talking about, molded with a hook in the weight head. But I'd love to know what you are talking about. Bojon, I saw you and others make tubes of many sizes, some with a diameter very wide, do you ude a jighead that is the same diameter? I think I even have seen tubes that are almost an inch wide. I've never seen a jighead that big, and assume it would be very heavy. Do you use a standard size jighead inside the big tube and let the tube squeeze around the weight underwater? I fish salt water and would love to make a very big tube, or at least a very long one. Thanks guys, Willy

Yes, you will find that many of us here use plaster molds. Some guys make great looking pours with plaster. Once you pour the plaster and it dries you will need to seal it with somthing, I use some epoxy thinned with alcohol, or sometimes enamel fingernail polish, but you will find a lot of posts on here that discuss this topic. It's really east to make a one piece plaster mold, but the bait you make will have a little flat top, where there is no plaster, but they are easy to pour and a great place to start. And the fish don't care. Two piece molds area little more difficult, but will produce more complex bait with a little practice. As mentioned before, oil the cavities of the mold before you pour, even if you seal the mold, this will allow an easy release and a shinier bait. Try the search function most people use the term "pop" when talking about plaster molds. That is short for plaster of paris. So you may need to use that as a keyword. Good luck, Willy

one question...how are you fellas fishing these tubes? I used a gitsit a few years ago with a jig head weight you slip inside the tube up to the nose, and the hook poking up through the tail. Is it the same technique? Thanks fellas Willy

Wow. That's a soft bait? Really cool paint. It uses a tube style jig head? Willy