jamie

Mark I let you all know but how do I tell which is the best, I guess thats for the fish to decide. I was sitting down today trying to figure a test for these baits to see which or if any would work the best. If you have any ideas let me know.

Thanks guys, I know 37doesnt seem that old but the last 17 years has flew by. It seems like yesterday I started working at pepsi and now its about 18 years later. It seems like yesterday my oldest was in 1st grade and now he is in high school. Damn I sure feel old....

Here is option # 3 it has a larger intake hole with two vent holes along each gill plate along the bottom.All these baits still need a little sanding to remove the seam lines.Option #4 is this design but with smaller intake and vent holes. What do you guys think so far?

Thanks Mark, the years are slipping by faster and faster.Here is option #2, This bait has several vents along the jaw line.

Ive been useing etex for years and havent seen any yellowing yet. I also do what vman said I keep my tackle out of the sun covered up and away from uv rays as much as I can.Every little bit helps. Biggest mistake is leaving your tackle in a clear stow away box out on the deck of the boat all day.

The glitter that I use is fine and my local hobby shop , lucky for me, carries a large selection. I like to mix mine in the first coat of clear it goes on pretty even. Stir it in before you coat your bait for a sparkle effect.

Poured some baits today, and started on one of the four designs of the venting bait idea.On this bait you can see the top intake hole through the bait and then the vent hole out on the bottom. On the side profile you can see the notch ,and to me it resembles a whistle, i dont know if this matters but we will see. Dont mind the little nick in eye sock(this a test bait anyway)I was cleaning up a litle around the eye with a dremel and chipped it a bit.In the morning I will make the other designs into the bait and take them for a dip and see how they swim. Time is hard to find right now with my sons baseball practices started up and between that and work, But Im off tomorrow for my birthday and I should be able to work all morning on these and some other baits that needs finishing.Hope to post some pics tomorrow of the other designs.

I also make musky baits and listen to what fatfingers said about cutting the lip slot before you carve. While the stock of wood is still in a boxed shape you can cut a slot for the lip. What this does is it gives you a flat even surface to make a straight even cut. If you try to cut it after you carved you might get it right or you might be a degree or two off to the side , caused from the bait rolling,and the bait will not run right. As for ballest weight what I would do is start off with no weight, seal the bait, take some sinkers and some tape and go to the water. Try without weight and reel with different speed to see if it blows out , then tape some weight to the bottom of the lure and try again until you get the desired action you want. You will learn more in 10 minutes about weight distibution in a bait doing it that way and also be sure to tape weight in odd places in the bait just to see the positive and negetive effects on lures. Someone mentioned the tail above, try and see if that works for you , but if I wanted to keep the tail try making a joint there so the tail is free to move and it will add action to your bait.

Lapala with me molding this bait with no holes I will be able to drill different options out and the one you said is on my list. Ive also thought about one larger hole entering and two on the side slightly smaller exiting like a T. Also thought about making the T shaped slightly different and make Y shaped with the vents angled at a 45 degree instead of a 90. I will try all differnt things and see what will work the best and then mold the bait again with the adjustments made into the bait. I dont realy know if this idea will work but its fun trying.

Lapala if you look at the pic in the earlier post, its in the flat portion of the head between the nose of the bait and the line tie on top. If you count three pins ,on the bottom of the bait back, then goto the top of the head here is the starting point. The hole then angled back torwards the front hook hanger at the bottom of the bait. this would give about the same angle of the bait swimming in the water. All the exit holes intersect the main entrance hole at different spots through out the chamber. I would show you a pic but ive already filled in the holes. Sorry if this sounds confusing.

Trying to fill all the holes in today. hopefully tommorow I will sand down d2 for a smooth finish. Then I will mold and start experimenting with this not so new concept:lol:

I agree with bobP. What kind of wood is very important. The band saw is more versitale and you can cut oak with no problem.

Lapala I will look into this and thanks for the three part idea, it may be the thing I need to do. I just need to see if this idea works before I take the time and mold them in place. I will also try and find those baits your talking about. man I dont think there is an new idea left

I think what Im going to do is make a mold of the bait with no holes and drill first. Then drill different types of holes and different angles in the bait. Then find out what works and then try to mold this concept with the desired holes. I think this will save me time and money in the long run because if one option dosnt work I can pour a new bait and start over. I will try mold the bait this weekend. Thanks guys for the intrest and if anyone can give any ideas let me know, thanks again.

Let me ask another question , do you think this concept will work?

Well got working on this again and think that im going to have to drill the holes after I pour the bait instead of molding them in. I drilled some holes for the exit and inserted some ss wire and they all intersect along a predrilled hole that runs from the head of the bait and angled down torwards the tail a bit about half way through the head. The problem that im seeing is the angle of the pins. They are in all the directions and I dont think that I would be able to release the bait from the mold due to the angles of the pins. I wanted to see what the mold experts opinions are , can I or drill after the fact. I placed these pins so you can see the angles Im talking about. In theory the water should pass through the entrance hole in the head of the bait and exit out through the holes along the jaw of the bait and hopfully make a squeal. Please excuse the roughness of the bait it needs filler sanded and a coat of d2 before molding. I need some opinions before I fill the holes Ive drilled and coat with clear.

Still working on this ,I have been working my off at work and what time I do get Ive been working on some gliders. I have the proto type made just need to mold them to get started. The larger hole that I was talking about is not as big as one would think, but big enough for water to pass through. I hope to make some progress on this this weekend if the good lord is willing.Thanks for the interest and I will post some responses when finished.

There are several cranks in the musky class that have a grub tail like drifters superstalker,mania squirrley jakes, big forks reef digger, and drifter super believers are just a few. All these hybrid style baits are the in thing the last few years for musky baits. Seems like the phrase dont forget your rubbers takes on a whole new meaning

diemai , why do they want every legal fish taken home? sounds like to me they want to remove the predator chain from water system. I hope the legal fish is a narrow window, like a slot limit and not everything over a certain lenght. I understand that some fish needs to be harvested but that seems a little extreme. I hope thing work out for the fishery where you live and maybe you can lobby and try to make a change.

I forgot to add in my statement above that the barometer is going crazy this time of year when the trap bite is on and this is another reason to go small. There is very little stability with all the front movements, you just fish and wait for your window.

Rookie I will agree that over time big baits will produce more big fish but I wouldnt say that it will any day on the water or in fact any week on the water. Lake conditions and food source is a big factor in let say in what I fish for muskies.Musky love shad thats a fact they will swim past a hundred bass for a shot at pod of shad or cisco type of fish and if the shad are 4 inches long you need to be in that same class. The rattle bait bite that I was talking about earlier has came around a few years ago around here and there are more 50 inch class fish on caverun this time of year on these small baits than any other bait this time of year that they are throwing. How do I know this on the lake, all the fisherman are piled up in the same coves you are fishing within casting distance with the next boat and you can see what everyone is throwing and all the guides post there reports on line and so does the average joe as well. Everyone kind of comunicates with each other on what goes on. Believe me Im usally the first guy to pick up the bait that makes everone say damn you gonna throw that but this time of year I go small.

I do a lot of musky fishing around here and you would think you fish big all the time , but thats not always true. In late winter like right now, they have what they call the rattle trap bite. We fish 3/4 ounce to maybe an ounce rattle baits up on the flats in the back of large coves. The shad are running up on the flats and the musky are feeding. You wouldnt think these little baits, compared to a standard musky bait wouldbe what you use but the record will show many upper 40s and 50 inchers that time of year on these baits.Also when fishing pressure is hard and the fish are getting pounded you will down size to bass baits and you will come out on top over the conventional tackle used. Fall is big bait time for musky, not saying small wont catch fish but the fish are putting the winter feed bag on and fishing big is better for me. in a nutshell no on big baits all the time.

Mark thanks for the info

I like this profile as well, very interesting.