MTfishingrods

:whistle:I dont think anything more needs to be said.

I think you are going to get a lot of different opinions on this one. I use the same brushes that I use for applying rod finish. They are expensive and get cleaned every time. Im going to say thats the best way to go. I have also seen pictures in the gallery of what I would call flawless finishes done with throwaway brushes. So I am also not about to try and argue the point with anyone. Good luck.

Hell I dont even care if i make a living. I just want it to support my own fishing expenses. Oh yeah CA Delta, I hope you have better luck in yer tackle buisiness than you have in picking football teams.

Those look great! If you dont mind me asking, what type of wood did you use?

I couldnt guess the weight JSC but if you dont move your hand quick it looks like your going to lose it!

Does tackle undergroung insure laptops because Bruces post just caused me to spit my Diet Coke all over my key board. Its a miracle I get anything done around this place in any given day.

Sold! lol. Thats what I wanted to hear. If that has worked for your friend after 5 years it will work for me. I will definately use aluminum. See, you can teach an old dog new tricks. No it is not a welded hull. I guess this means its time to get to work on it now. Clamboni and JSC thanks a bunch for sending me in the right direction on this. I really really hate doing things twice.

I agree completely. Mixing metals is a problem. thats why the ideas been tossed around and not finished yet. But you see I have this other issue besides the weight of the boat. its the weight of the angler in the boat. I am really worried that the aluminum would not support my weight. And I was afraid of using wood for fear of making the boat to heavy. The steal studs was a good compromise and then you have the electrolosis which will occur with out a doubt and rather quickly I might add. So I was thinking of maybe steel stud free standing framework with plywood decking on a thick rubber mat to keep the galvanized steel from contacting the aluminum floor. connecting to the aluminum sides or seats vit wooden blocks or spacers as a separater to keep the 2 metals from touching but still allowing a firm attachment. Is everyone confused? lol . Anyways thats my thinking and my reason for the overkill on the supports.

19lowe96, I have been considering this myself. I have been tossing around the idea of using the steel 2x4 studs they use in commercial construction and some residetial construction. they are light weight and once the floor is attached they would be pretty strong. I am just not sure how they would react since they are galvanized steel and the boats are aluminum I believe.

If it is just tacky another coat should fix the problem. Keep in mind if you left finger prints anywhere they will be there forever though.

I am currious if any of you talented people have any great new ways of adding scents to baits. I have tried drilling and adding sponges. Adding scent dispensing bucktails. but havnt found anythinthing I really like yet. Hoping to hear something new.

Heres the best thing for you. Go to YouTube.com If you dont have an account sign up, it is free. then do a search for fly tying. There is a guy on there that is demonstrating various techniques. if you dont see exactly what you want then narrow the search to fly tying dubbing and it will be there. I just watched it. Different birds will vary based on which fly you want to tie and what type and color you are looking for. Different feathers serve different purposses. A good book is money well spent. Also there are numerous online resourses. Do a search for FAOL.com they have a great amount of begginer and all types of info. I dont care for the bulitin board to much but the site and info on it is great. (I have issues with the typical flyfisherman egos that seem to prevail in some circles The fun goes away when I get criticized for laying my flyrod down and throwing out a worm.)

Dubbing is a material spun onto thread and wrpped onto the hook to form bodies of a particular fly. The material will usually absorb fly floatant to keep the flies on top of the water. I have some break down pictures of some flies on my computer that I dont believe are copyrighted I will try to post on this thread tonight for you but it may take till tommorow if I cant figure out the picture thing or have issues finding them. But I will get it as soon as possible. Shane

Bruce, If you read the in fisherman article above, I have done all of my rigs exactly like the very first one they demonstrate for you. I started using the heat shrink, then went to just ruber tubing, then changed to the little metal crimpable sleaves for making leaders and thats what I settled on. I am still using the nylon coated wire and dont feel that it is scaring the fish too bad and it is cheap. However I am going to try some of the new tyable wire this year also. I have rigs made up with red trebles, plain trebles, trebles with one tine cut off one red one plain, o ne treble one single. And I have settled on two types. All plain treble, and all red treble. Sometimes it seems like they like the red, sometimes not. Well ya got my .02 cents worth. that and another 5 bucks might buy ya a fresh bag of smelt. LOL I would like to know if you find something better.

LBI, If you are not experimenting with your own feathers fur dubbing etc, you are missing out on the funnest part of tying. Old stuffed animals insides and dryer lint make for some awesome dubbing and fur. Feathers are everywhear and free. Experiment and make it fun. The best part about tying your own flies is nothing is wrong. Go down the craft isle at wall mart look at the beads and the ribbing mateerial you can get for pennies that you would pay a premium price for at a fly shop. Use your imagination. If like me and you dont have much of one then get a kid involved and let them help. Kids are amazing at what they can find. My dog ripped the head off of his chew toy while I was out of town and my son would not let my wife throw it away because the stuffing was a perfect olive collor and is the best dubbing material I have ever found. I went and bought 4 more of the toys only to find out they had changed the stuffing to a different type on me. But like I said have fun with it.

ummm Birds. Sorry I could not resist. Mud hole Is a good spot. I like to get mine localy so I can see what I am getting. You wont ever go wrong with Cochrans Hackles though and if there is ever a buisiness that provides a role model for customer service it is them.

That was absolutely AWESOME!!!!!!! Scary as all hell :eek:but damn cool! I want one and I want it today. Safe or not. I have some well not so good friends I could invite over and let them try it first. Just kidding. It is a neat little machine though and what a time saver. I am seeing dollar signs. Now to just speed up my painting abilities.

Phil, There was once a time when I would have agreed with you. Perfection could not be achieved without wire forming tools. But after seeing the baits made on this site and finding out most are evidently being bent by hand. I am soooooooooo wrong. They dont get much better than the examples here. Unfortunately due to severe arthritis in my hands and wrists I cant keep up without my wireformers. And once you can part with that initial expense they are so wonderful to work with and so fast. I can bend up enough wire in an hour to keep me busy for a month and not be sore at all which is a major acomplishment for myself. Shane

You could probably fill cracks with epoxy. That might fix the existing cracks but would not prevent any new ones from forming.

I use Hagens tools exclusively for all my wireforming. I am sure there are many others out there but these are just outstanding. Look in there online cataloge or have them send you one. There is a link to the form on this site I believe. Best tools out there in my opinion. Check this out!! Heres a link to Hagens. Watch the Arrows for a few seconds------------------------------------------------------>>>>

Ooops I left out working on my web site and customers rods. Lets not tell anyone. Please.

Have you tried the Flex coat Lite Build yet? You might like it.

Just popped in to introduce myself. My name is Shane. I just stumbled onto this site a couple days ago and the talent here is just amazing. Yake baits plugs are absolute works of art. I spent several hours last night looking through pictures and posts. I have a small rod and tackle building buisiness in Seeley Lake Montana. We have just started building our web site last month so it is a work in progress. The link should appear as my signature if I did it right. :)I will post some of our pictures as I get to them, but it may take a bit as I need to post them on my site first.Have to kep the prioritys right you know. #1 Fishing #2 build Tackle for Fishing #3 more Fishing #4 Build myself a new Rod #5 more fishing. and so on..... You all know how it is. Anyways you all have a great site here. See you around.