A-Mac

i'm curious if the actually alabama rig is using stainless wire. Of course, the gauge looks stout enough that it shouldn't matter, especially since you have 5 times the chance of loosing it!

this depends on the state. For instance, having 5 hooks may be illegal in most states, but 2 or 3 hooks is not. So you could still use the rig with 5 lures, you just can't have all 5 with hooks. From my understanding, this is what striper guys do.

hudleson patented basically any swimbait tail that displaces water... so i'm sure you can patent just about anything if you have the $. To the best of my understanding, it takes 10% change to a product to go around a patent. 10% isn't that much, but again it depends on how strong their patent is and even more importantly, how strong their patent lawyer is.

Yup, I hear they are illegal in TX... so don't you worry bassnbrad, lake fork should never have to see them! dang I wish there was still such a thing as Harry and Charlie comics in the back of bassmaster... I'm sure this rig would make a humorous story.

Well its kinda a hard bait, sorta a wire bait, and then mostly whatever the 5 lures are you strap to it! In my opinion, one of the most awesome and unique ways to fish for bass I've seen... well in my lifetime! If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out flwoutdoors.com and see the absolute thumpin' that Paul Elias is laying down on the field. Just figured I'd throw this out there.

no joke! i can't think of something I would really need it for, but dang thats cool toy!

I started crimping "round shot" split shots on twisted SS wire... its a tough rig and easy to make. I also got some egg sinkers to try and crimp on too.

just to add to the curing part, if 1 section cures faster, that prevents another section from pushing out resin as it cures; thus increasing the density in the slower curing section. Or the faster curing section is pushing its excess into another section that is not vented, also increasing density. Hmmm, sounds legit for why the sections are inconsistent. dang-it, that means I have to make a silicon mess again... not my favorite part of lure making. oh well, thanks for the info nitro98! my confidence has been boosted!

yup, that makes sense. I also have a 4 section trout lure that was having issues as well. By having just 1 vent/pour hole, I can see where different section are curing differently... ESPECIALLY, in larger cavities. I remember mixing up way too much on the first pour with both featherlite and the aero marine and the left over resin cured hard as rock in about 5 min after pouring. So I think you have the right idea. Such a shame, the molds looked awesome! I guess they will just be chopped up and used as fillers in the next ones.

oh... and this isn't like I've done 10 lures to see this. I've poured hundreds trying to get it right, which led to me recording absolutely everything and making new mold designs and such. At first, I just looked at it as, resin is resin. If I find a less expensive resin than I just have to figure its "formula" out for making the right density. How fast is the alumilite stuff? I know the stuff I was using set very quickly and could be de-molded in about 20 minutes. I ran into a few times that I could barely get it all poured before it started to thicken.

i'm not even able to keep the segments within the same pour consistent. My "heaviest" lure still doesn't have the 3 heaviest sections. It may have mid section that is the heaviest in comparison to all other mid sections, but the tail or the head may fall into an average. Like I said, if no one else is having this extreme of results, than perhaps I should change to alumilite. I haven't used this yet, but everyone else seems too. I've tried featherlite and was not impressed, very messy too.

my badger 360 did something similar once. I was using it routinely, but went about 2 weeks without when it stopped shooting air. I took everything I could apart, but couldn't figure out how to get the 360 swivel deal apart without a hammer. I didn't want to really screw it up. i sent it to badger and they fixed it up... I wouldn't soak it in acetone unless you talk to badger first. I think that might have been why mine went FUBAR. I think it was a mixture between there being paint in a spot it shouldn't have been and there being a swelled seal. ooo.... actually, you might want to try this. Put you airbrush in the freezer for around an hour. If it is just a swelled seal, it may contract back to its normal size. I've done this with water filter O-rings before.

I've had crap luck with resin too. I was using resin from Aero Marine mixed with micros. I recorded everything possible including 5 different points in which the lure was weighed after pouring and had lures weighing almost 3 grams different than one another (from a lure with average of 21 grams). I poured 3-piece swimbaits using one mold having each section channeled for the resin. Each lure wasn't even proportionally consistent among the sections. For example, my heaviest lure overall may have had a tail section that was average. Maybe my resin is just crap, but something is terribly wrong. I even used pvc pipe around the mold to prevent swelling. Perhaps I shouldn't pour 3 sections with 1 mold? How close are people getting to their average weights? I was having major differences in swim action within the 3 grams difference with some of the heavier lures not even functioning. However, the closest to average weight lures ran the best. I started loosing it and had to switch back to wood for a few just to make sure I can still make a lure wobble.

anybody know where I can find the color used on the Lucky Craft "chartreuse shad". I thought someone had mentioned that it was called paliochrome blue at some time. Anyone know if Auto-Air has a similar color?

you can always drill the hole slightly larger than necessary, clear coat through it, and re-drill with a smaller hole leaving a layer of clear still. of course, I'm sure that was easier for me to type than it will be for you to actually do.

dang... phantom craw is one of my favorite colors! Not sure where you could find some, perhaps e-mail storm. I've always just purchased and repainted to my liking.

i completely agree. For cranks, I've done much better throwing a lure that generally mimics the prey rather than looks exactly like it. My exception to this rule is swimbaits. You would think a lure that actually has a picture on it (like a sunfish) would be dynamite, but there always seems to be a better lure in a similar "hue" as you were saying. Like all baits and all colors there is a perfect combination for every lake out there, and I'm sure photo finished lures are the go-to lures on some water bodies (perhaps clearer waters?). For me, action and certain color schemes seem to work better than something that is dead perfect. But you're right, that photo finish lure of yours looks great! cha-ching!

interesting vid. It's always neat to see how baits are mass produced. Crazy thing is, there wasn't a single guy among all those workers! Maybe they just wanted people to pay attention

i've used a casting resin from aero marine products. It was ok for the price, but for some reason it does not produce consistent density from lure to lure. So overall, I'm looking for better too. I will say that I do like their silicon for molds though.

actually I meant sunrise yellow... instead of brite yellow

I had a musky bite a rapala shad rap right in half. The front and back hooks were connected by wire, but there was no connection from the line tie to the first hook. Fish slammed the lure, did a run and the I got the front half of the lure back. Thats also balsa, and I've also never heard of anyone having the same issue...BUT, I am not a musky fisherman either. I would make it through wire personally, unless you are using some wickedly long hook screws.

clear water: blue back foil sides, killspot, pink under back tail with a very light chart lateral line stained-muddy: chart back foil sides, killspot, & red gill (killer for spots!)

crap load of white then add a drops of "brite yellow" and a drops transparent "brown" until you get the desired color. I will add that you should heat dry samples and look at them in the sunlight and compare them to a lure in bone... otherwise, it's real easy to overdose and get a darker bone color, which doesn't seem to work quite as well (from my fishing experience anyway). I say mix it in sunlight because fluorescent and incandescent lighting can throw you off when mixing the color. It's a booger, and one of the hardest colors for me to match. I normally end up with a ton when its all said and done because I end up making it too dark on the first trial.

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