Matt Moreau

I get mine at locally ACE Hardware. The kit can be had online at a bunch of spots too just google it. Forget where i got my kit at but all i did was google it and find the cheapest spot.. was $15 i think

Thanks guys for the replies... @ Vandalizer.... I have tried this in a coffin shapped bill but not a totally square bill. After researching this AM I saw another post that gave me a few ideas but I am skeptical as I have tried short fat coffin bills that extend beyond the sides of the bait. @ Musky Glenn.... I have had similar results on non billed swimbaits but I have 0 "kick" on my wake baits. the "yaw" I think its called is what it out of wack. The bait roll thus no kicking action. This last one I made I took a 3:16 wake JR and outlined it... general shape and bill but something I do screws em up! I appreciate the replies and please keep em coming!

I used the foil tape and put the netting from a shower scrubber underneath it. gives a cool 3d effect in real life

Hi Guys, I have a problem that I have been trying to figure out and for the life of me I dont know why my wakebaits do this. Lets see if I can explain... On all my wake baits I have made I cannot get them to swim with a "kick" from the tail section. By this I meant that I want the second section to have that pronounced kicking action that you see on most mainline baits. Instead they want to "roll" much like an AC minnow. When they do this it seems almost like they dont even have a joint as the second section just rolls with the first. its almost like the pivot point is from the nose to the tail and my bait is a pendulum rocking in that same motion. And when they "roll" they are not blowing out. I can crank them to dive they just violently rock from side to side. I dont really know how to explain it. Does that make sense? All of my wakers thus far have been 2 piece baits. I have played with everything I can think of from the actual bait size (length, width, shape etc) to lip shape, angle, total weight of the bait and weight placement. I have changed the tow eye locations and hook placement but I just cannot figure out what the deal is. I can make crankbaits that work great and swimbaits without a lip or ones that have a deeper dive angle and they work. I just seem to have a problem with wakers... Any help is aprreciated! Matt

Just wanted to share my first attemp at a foil job with you guys... It took 2 coats of devcon and some wood filler but final product is pretty cool. Not as nice as some of the TU masters but i was happy with it. Next is a photo finish of an SF giants lure! http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn266/vvakiravv/?action=view&current=a24382de-1.jpg

No Doubt! I cant tell you how many times I have had a giant follow/stalk a fish on the end of my line... but to my avail never will they take the bait so to speak. I guess I am asking if they prefer goldfish to lets say a shad as that has been my experience.

Hey guys just wondering your thoughts. I know that bass will eat just about anything but in my experience i have found that they love goldfish. My buddy had a tank with a few yearlings in there and we would feed them minnows and goldfish... they always seemed to eat the goldfish first. I have no idea why or if its true but just thought I would get your thoughts... Just painted up this little guy to for that reason...

its all up to personal taste imho... while some people like a thick coat the current trend in todays society is for the thinner more costly coat... but I still love good ole beer batter for my top coat!!!! u have some good lookin fillets you have done blades. kudos!

I have used Prop, D2T, Crazyglue, and a bunch of other stuff... Currently I use Minwax sanding sealer and it has been working great. I then top coat with DN and no issues with wrinkling or anything and the createx goes on smooth. The only reason I havent used DN as a sealer is because i do not want to expose it to anymore air than I have to and it is much more costly than other mediums availible. JMHO

yup... size 5 prop and a cup washer on both sides... works like a charm!

A site sponsor has them...Predator Bass Baits.... I havent tried them yet but I will soon as I only hear good things... http://www.predatorbassbaits.com/id69.html Matt

I agree that they look good. Its all about the action and look you are trying to achieve. A lot of great opions hae been posted already... Can i just add that I think you are using a saddle hackle which is typically longer and more expensive. Think about using neck hackle which is cheaper and shorter but usually wider. I use both but to learn with i used neck hackle. Go ask around in the fly trying section as those guys are golden on this stuff.

I dont know I think Larry Dahlberg had somthing out, but you may try youtube first. I kow they have a lot of vids on there about painting and a few on building n such. Good luck, Matt

Ya it was a good read. The study tested them all outside and pelucid did the best just darkened a bit wich could be a little troublesome to us. Have you noticed any darkening on your baits DUCBOS? If I cant test DN's new formula and if it wont be out for awhile then im gonna have to get a replacement soon. I would much rather give Dick my money tho as he always takes care of us here.

Pretty interesting read on some wood finishes...go here for the full article http://www.mar-k.com/wood_finish_testing_i.html This is on Pelucid... ""Pelucid This coating seemed to be the most durable of the coatings tested. It is a one part “moisture cure” urethane made by POR 15. It developed a very small area of separation of the coatings, and also a small hairline crack in the finish which allowed moisture to penetrate to the wood substrate. Both failures occurred near the end of the test period. Another concern with the Pelucid is that the boards coated with Pelucid darkened noticeably during the test period. Pelucid goes on practically water clear so the boards were initially very light colored. During the course of the test, the boards coated with Pelucid darkened more than the other coatings. This may have been caused by the sunlight and the coating lacking sufficient UV protection to prevent discoloring. We will include Pelucid in the next test series. "" Matt

Dave... thanks for all the insight you always provide and that macine is awesome! I have a quick question tho. Going back to the answer for Ben's question... if the weight is at the folcrum then theoretically the bait would have more wobble due to inertia and the vortices carrying arround that point. Ok I got that, but lets say you put all the weight at one end of the stick....it would take more inertia to get it moving but the other end of the stick would have a move violent thump? Im just thinking that if I were to place my weight in between the tow eye and front hook eye then maybe I would get a harder tail thump with maybe a bit larger bill? Its ealy tho and I could be way off here. Probably gonna be a quick edit after I read this. LOL!!! Ok just thinking out loud here. If I were to weight the bait like that then maybe it would throw off the balance point soo much that it would have a dulling effect on it?!?!? This would be due to the fact that it would just take too much inertia to get the bait moving. I think I am understanding all this but trying to wrap my head around it at 6 am isnt working out too swell. COFFEE need some more coffee!

Good idea for a topic Rook. I havent named any of mine really. Most of them usually get called the same thing though..... What a "POS" this is! Cheers, Matt

I clear my baits in sections so I do not have that problem. when my clear dries i just take my dremmel with a pointed carbite bit and in seconds my eye screws are nice and clean. then assemble the bait with a drop of CA glue to hold in the hinge pin and your done.

I bought a talon as it had a little bigger nozzle than my iwata and i was hopeful it would spray the pearls better... Wish I never bought it... for the $$$ its such an inferior gun than iwata's. I used to use windex to clean my guns and on my iwata for months i never had an issue with the chroming... after a week with the talon the amonia had already eaten the plating down to where i can see the bronze or copper. Plus the gun feels cheap in your hands. Its very light and the action isnt very smooth at all. The mechanism to stop the pin for fine detail is a nice touch but they need to work it over a bit better co it stays adjusted and doesnt move. All in all though if this gun was $40-50 it would be ok and it does shoot paint OK... Now I use it for my base coats and stuff like that. For the Talon Capt. my PSI are always between 30-40 psi and I do not thin my createx. I have no bubbling and no splatter. I do use beeswax on the threads to seal them... Do what everyone told you here and you should be fine. If you need help let me know as i have taken the talon apart a bunch now that i have had it a couple months.

HAHA Rayburn Guy.... I do the same thing. Use spraypaint as a base and then go from there with createx. I had the wrinkling issue too but I use a brushing laquer as my topcoat... It would wrinkle it bad... So I just bought some polyacrylic(waterbased) and I dip my lure in there let dry 24 hrs and then dip it in the laquer. Seems to work fine and no wrinkling. should work with DN too I would imagine.

Here is a pic of the glider in question...

Use a food serving glove or plastic baggie around your hand to spread the CA and a little goes a long way... I like to use CA when I am in a hurry but is does cost a bit more than other methods... I use the knock off CA from any hobby store that goes for about $5 per bottle (think its an oz)... I could probably get about 10 cranks outta that with 1 coat each.

I should have also mentioned that I have heard good things about Minwax Sanding Sealer. I just bought some and have not used it yet but expect good results. Also, with as soft as Balsa is I heard some people using Minwax Wood Hardner as a sealant... It seals the wood but also hardens it. The stuff is used to restore rotting wood and can be had at most home improvement stores.