carolinamike

The main reason that I brought the subject up is because I noticed that the gentleman's location was Texas(a very big fishing state and a very competitive market). When you start manufactoring in a state such as texas you better have all of your points covered, after all, this is the fishing industry( a very competitive and cutthroat industry). If someone feels like their toes are being stepped on, then rest asure if they can turn you in they will. Saltfisher, if you are making the baits and selling them and not filing federal excise taxes, then you are playing with fire and the IRS is made of gasoline. I'm not trying to be a smart ass, but I got turned in when I first started and I know several people that decided that they would keep a low profile and it shut their businesses down. I just dont want to see anyone in trouble. These folks do not play, they mean it. Be it 1 dollar or 10,000 dollars.

Peque, I've read over this thread and I think its great that you guys are getting started, but I have also noticed that no one has mentioned an important subject. Before you sell any baits contact your nearest IRS agency. As a manufactorer of fishing products you are responsible for filing and paying quarterly federal excise taxes, you have to pay 10% on all your sales if you manufactor the product. These folks are more than happy to tell you how to get started. I know a couple of people that started manufactoring and selling fishing products that did not do this and it turned out to be a very costly mistake, so be sure and keep this in mind when you start your actual sales. Good luck to you both, Mike

Yeah I personaly hate using salt, its highly corrosive and truthfuly its like running sandpaper through my pumps, but my customers are the ones who pay the bills. Even if I try to talk them out of using salt if they absolutley insist I have to do it or they will go somewhere else.

We make baits to catch fish and there are some fishermen that truley believe that salt makes fish bite better and hold onto the bait longer. Using a very fine salt will stop the brittleness of the plastic and will give you a great sink rate too, but because of salt's moisture absorbing properties eventually your baits will still swell. Another sinking additive is great from a manufactorer's point of view but you also have to keep in mind the view of the fishermen, and for some there just is no salt substitute.

412, you are absolutley right. One of the people on this thread has actually heard from a plastic manufactorer by PM and of course they didn't bother to post whats already been said. The salt is what causes plastic to swell, it has nothing to do with the plastisol, and to make sure that the obvious things you see in the pictures i've posted was correct I went ahead and contacted 3 manufactorers last week and they said that definatly salt was the culprit(this is the facts not hearsay). One of the manufactorers that monitor TU regularly said that he would PM someone that posted on this thread with the facts. TU is slowly turning into an argumentative forum, I had a long time TU member PM me the other day and tell me he would no longer share any information on the forum, he was tired of being ridiculed for trying to give information from his personal experiences. Its kind of hard to help anyone or give any information after years and years of experience to have someone post and ridicule you and call you a liar or insinuate that you would post something untrue to purposley mislead someone, and every once in a while you will have someone that starts a thread that has no point to it what so ever and mainly put up just to start an argument or either you have someone that posts on a thread that has nothing to do with the origanal starting post, its a shame what TU is turning into.

DINP is actually a type of plastisizer, so yes it is a softner when added to the plastisol before cooking. It makes a great medium for delivering scent to plastic baits, the baits will actually absorb DINP.

Peque, glad you got your bubble problem solved. The only time that anyone has any trouble with bubbles is using a microwave and I think you've figured out low and slow is the way to go. Also, so you're not misled, all plastisol has heat stabilizer. Some people just choose to add more to help keep the plastic more transparent and to help prevent yellowing. When it comes to plastisol, more expensive is not necessarily better. Some plastisols are more microwave friendly than others, but all plastisols do well in Presto pots and other heating pots. I suggest when choosing plastisol that you try samples from several companies and choose the one that's best for you, but don't be misled that you have to buy more expensive plastisol to get a quality bait. You don't. Also you'll find several mold makers listed on TU, they are all great folks. Bear's Baits and BassTackle are two that come to mind right off and both have been in business for 5 years or longer. When wanting to know about a mold or plastisol, TU is the best place to ask. Some people have only used one person's molds and plastisol, you'll find it helpful to get advice from someone who has used product from several companies and TU is the place for that information.

Painter, looks like florida grape and brown 350. you can get both from lure works.

A good heavy duty floor wax makes a great permanent sealer for POP molds. The kind you use with a high speed buffer is the best. It might take as many as 8-10 thin coats, but the baits demold great and have a real good shiny finish.

What type of mold were you using? POP, silicone or aluminum or something else? I've seen bubbles like that from a POP mold when it wasn't sealed well. The only other time I've seen bubbles like that is maybe if there was a drop of water in the mold.

Your only other choice is a Lee pot.

Slims, if the oil that is on your baits is something that naturally came from the worms(in other words you didnt add any oil to them) that is not oil, it is plastisizer. Plastisizer is a softener so if you wash it off you may not have to add hardener. Any time you re-melt soft plastic it will naturally be a little harder when the re-melts cool, when you re-melt over and over, every time you re-melt you lose a little of the softness. Just thought I would metion this for you to keep in mind, I would hate for you to melt down a bunch of baits and your plastic be too hard, every time you re-melt the plastic loses some of its properties. If you re-melt soft plastic over and over you will eventually end up with junk.

Good job, do you know how she swims yet?

Yeah Frank I think Gary Yamamoto has profited as much from being knocked off as he has marketing the Senko. The last classic I went to when the GY Pro got up and demonstrated the Senko at the tank, they actually promoted it as the most reproduced bait ever to have been put on the market. He kept a positive outlook and look where it took him. A lot of people get hung up on their ways of doing things and when something new comes out, it usually has to take a lot of criticism. I don't know if you were on the forum when the injectors came out, but the first company to market them and sell them literally went through hell over it. There were so many comments made on this forum and others about how it was a bad idea, it wouldn't work, it was too slow, not as good as hand pouring, you can't do consistent work with it and on and on. But within two years, all the companies that supply the hand pour folks have their own version of injector and injection molds now. Although some ideas may not be perfect, at least there are those that are trying to improve on the old ways (whether some people think it's improvements or not, it's up to them), instead of just talking about it. I give them credit when credit is due. And even though the Shooting Star may not be the perfect thing for laminates in some peoples opinions, it's nice to see someone actually put their money where their mouth is. Some people are so hung up on their ways of doing things, that they immediately turn their nose up at something new rather than give it a fair chance. Me personally, I'm glad I'm not that kind of fellow or I'd still be doing hand pours and working for someone else.

John, Ispikeit.com carries paint made just for plastic baits, its good stuff it will not rub off. I think there are some shipping restrictions. Just give them a call at 912-225-4533 (extension 106). You'll probably have to leave Bruce a message, if he cant ship you the material then i'm sure he be glad to help you out with something that is availible to you, he's forgotten more about plastic than we will ever learn.

I make baits strictly for the love of it, yes there is some profit involved sometimes but the thrill of it overides the profit. Keep in mind that I primarily produce for other companies so when a product appears in one of the big fishing magazines or if someone wins a tournament using a product I produce I never get the credit, its always the companies I produce for that gets the recognition. With that being said, just the thought that I can go out in my shop and make something that any bass fisherman with minimum skills can catch a fish on still blows me away and i've been doing this for 15 years. I had a friend recently to win the co-angler's division of an flw tournament in NY, he is sponsered by a company that I produce baits for and he caught it on a color that I produce special for this company. The fisherman won the boat and my customer's bait won the recognition but in my mind, I won the tournament.