jamie

Greg this the topic that could start a war...:lol I also make musky lure and never had a problem with etex. I was wondering did you have any problems with etex and if so what was your problem.

Rayburn you will eventually start looking at anything that has holes in it as a stencil to shoot through. Then you will start dumpster diving( thats the fist sign of the sickness). finding anything that has an unusual pattern to it. I remember years and years ago I was on a first date with this girl and we went to the steak house for dinner and the place was packed and we had to park on the back lot. While walking to the front door we walked past the dumpster and there was some sacks , cant remember if it was on onion sack or a garlic sack, but anyway it had a pattern to it that was unusual. She was shocked that I was dumpster diving on a first date but you know what that was a hell of a find and I painted some really nice baits with it. A few weeks later she was gone but the stencil was still there.

Bob does your foil come in a gold or any different colors besides the chrome color? Im not familiar with that brand and Im always looking at different options , but what im really wanting is a tape foil with a gold look to it. Dont mean to get off topic but the thought just hit me, sorry. . Thanks for any info .......Jamie

Ive only seen screw eyes fail fail once with a friend of mines bait. He was lazy when it came to building baits and always took short cuts. First he would only use bass wood then he would never seal his baits. Then he wouldnt predrill for the screw eyes and would have stess fractures down the grain from the screw eyes. Then he dipped his bait for his clear ( one time)and then water would eventually soak in the bait.Bass wood and water really dont mix well ( wood tends to crack) and ole yea he didnt glue his screw eyes either. He was really the worst baitmaker that I know and I tried to help him but he was a know it all type of guy and I was over killing things he said.The screw eyes he used was from the hardware store and the were huge( even for musky baits) This bait that I seen fail wasnt a new bait it was one he used for a while and he broke throwing it up on some rocks( he couldnt cast worth a damn either).Then he had the nerve to say he must of had a bad batch of wood.......Man this guy was an idiot but he was funnier than hell, It always non stop laughing on the water with this guy and made a good time on long days on the water.I miss my ole buddy when he moved to ohio, but he sure redefined the word baitmaker..

I screw eye my musky jerks also, just remeber to predrill first. Some woods will crack or split when you dont predrill.

Diemai, Thanks for the spelling check. Ive used dowels on musky cranks to plug rattles and you can hear the bait ticking as its swimming at you with no problem. These are large baits though with several rattles ( I tend to over kill things sometimes) but I would say your right about the putty though.

Rayburm I think you found it I will have to email him the address. Thank you for the leg work. Jamie:yay:

If I was going to add glass rattles to a round bait I think I would round over the bait take off the lathe go to the drill press drill out, then add the rattle, plug the hole with a dowel, then cut flush, then put back on the lathe and sand paper smooth.I dont think you have to worry about the bb rolling around and breaking the glass in the rattle you would think centrificle force( sorry for the spelling to lazy to look it up) would hold the bb to one side of the rattle when spinning on the lathe.

A friend of mine came to me asking if I heard of a frog tongue sinker.He used them fishing from the surf and bought them in the outer banks area around Buckston.He wanting a mold to pour his own and wanted to know if he could buy one. I told him never heard of such a sinker but if there was one to buy I knowed a group of guys who would probably know. He described the sinker to me and it sounds like a custom made sinker. He said it looks like a torpedo with a eyelet at the top but it has a cuped top like a popper mouth. The question is has anyone heard of this sinker and can you buy the mold for it? Frog Tongue may be a slang trem for this sinker. Thanks for the help, Jamie:yay:

Im with ya Tater, All these fancy paint jobs and photo finish are for the fisherman not the fish. I fish what I have confidence in as far as color. To me size of the bait is more important than the fancy paint job.I also like bright baits and I also like throwing flashy foil baits as well.Most of these baits (in the musky world ) are going a hundred miles on hour(figure of speech )through the water and I dont think it makes a difference if the gill plates are painted on or the kill spot isnt perfect.So Tater Im with ya on match the hatch

anytime Mark:yay:

Mark, Hagens have them. They have them from 1/2 inch to1 1/8 inch. Mark its on page 127 of this years catalog

Go to members tutorials under hardbaits and look at the slip mold tut. You can also use the forum search on the right of your screen and find different topics

Phil I like the copper tube and dowel idea, nice one.

Nice designs on this site, thanks for the post.

Happy b-day Dave

Gary I like musky fishing and really dont think it matters to them.But I like the looks of a clear lip though, maybe it because it what im used to seeing but look at the bait with metal lips.Those baits have been catching fish from the beginnings of musky fishing. I like petes method of bending lexan and one day when I have time to try something new I will spend time working on this.The draw back to alumilite clear is the cure time. I think you will spend more time trying to making one lip with the alumilite, I think it would be faster to bend lexan. This is my:twocents:

If the baits not sealed well or you tape on an unsealed wood bait the etex will soak in the grain and get under the tape and cause the tape to lift. Even if you seal the bait and the the grain is thick the etex will soak under the tape by following the grooves of the grain.I like to foil baits and for my musky jerks I always etex first,let dry, foil, etex again to smooth the seams out , paint , then etex again. Some might disagree but I dont ever have any problems at all.

I have a buddy that uses a a wet rag that his tip rest in when he sets the brush down for a minute.

I have a couple of questions. What is the bait made of and if its wood did you stick the tape to the wood itself or was the bait cleared first? Or does the bait itself have severe curves or is it a flat sided bait?Is the tape thick like witchcraft tape or is it foil? All these will play a part in tape rolling up. I never had luck with wood baits that I didnt etex first. Im not saying it wont work but for me I get a better adhesion when im not dealing with the grain.If the bait is a round bait, the tape is thick and does bend and curve natural to the bait,you have to force the bend and if there is any contaminants on the bait like oil from your skin adhesion is compromised.These are a couple other things that may be the culprit.

I just get one from my buddies tackle box.