EironBreaker

fishingskirts.com materials come from overseas also

Do-It has a stand-up jig mold that is close and works great with a hula grub. I think that was what your heads were originally designed for. I modified my mold to take a flat eye hook and a wire guard. http://do-itmolds.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=1_7_228

I've used flex coat on spinnerbaits and buzzbaits for three years. Easy to apply and brush cleans up with hot water. And I can do a few or a bunch of heads if I want to . I use it as I want to make sure the eyes stay put on my Ultra Spinnerbait mold heads. And it puts a nice finish. The cloudiness seems to go away as it dries. I've also put my heads in the over at a low temp to cure them quicker. Or I just leave them hang over night on a rack. It's good stuff and self leveling. It doesn't take much, just a thin brushing. Too thick and it will run.

Here in Missouri, I needed a State business license so I could get set up to submit sales tax. You also need an EIN (employee identification number) from the IRS. There are some hoops to jump through, forms to fill out and I even had a local IRS rep come to see my setup. I think there was another IRS form to submit when getting started but I forget what that is called. Then you have to submit form 720 to the IRS on a quarterly basis and pay your 10% excise tax. That is the short version of how to get started legally. Or you can just fly under the radar and take a chance of someone turning you in or whatever.

I've modified most of my molds to have two of the upper picture. Just grind out the bottom half to match to stock keeper. Two keepers on opposing sides. It works pretty good but a wire keeper is the best by far to hold plastics without tearing them up too bad. Fish can mangle a jig trailer in a heartbeat no matter what holder you have though. Just depends on how they are hooked.

You can buy smaller quanties of weed guards from Kayser through http://www.lurecomponents.com/. Charles with fishingskirts gets his overseas and they are a different material. I can bake jigs with a poured-in guard if the guard is from Kayser at a lower temp and using a cover over the guard but no baking the fishingskirt guards in place. They will deform greatly.

square rubber is not made anymore. Not for a long time. Sometimes comes up on ebay but pricey. Living Rubber has three sizes of round rubber in 1 pound spools. Give them a try.

No Jig Man, not exactly. I have an older version of that mold though. What I'm talking about is putting the wire you want as the weed guard inside of the plastic sleeve so the sleeve stops the lead from flowing out the weed guard slot when you pour. The wire guard is extended into the mold so the lead holds the base of it in place after you pour it. The sleeve stops right at the edge of the cavity. It looks like you are making a hole to place the guard into after your pour, correct? The way I do it, you don't have to mess with glueing the cable in place. One less step. If I understand what you are showing correctly.

I use a 65 lb braided cable. If it isn't perfectly straight after the pour, I just bend it a little to where it needs to be. After catching some fish, it sometimes gets bent out of shape also but can be bent back in place no problem. What type of wire guard are you using?

It is either 12 or 14 gage wire. Just go to your local parts store or even Wal Mart. A spool of it costs a few dollars. Or look in your local dollar store, might find it cheaper. Or go to your auto repair place and ask the mechanic if he has any short pieces of wire, he'd likely give it to you if you told him what you were trying to do. Take your mold with you and test fit it. What size you need depends on the mold you are using, some use a smaller weed guard than the 1/8". I'd rather spend a few dollars on wire than mess with a mold that I'll need to clean out later.

Smalljaw, You asked a question about filling the weed guard slot in an aluminum mold temporarly with silicon. All you need to do is take the plastic coating from electrical wire to fill the slot. I can't remember what guage of wire is the right size but just cut a short section and pull out the copper wire. Insert your wire cable into the plastic sleeve and set this into your mold, close it up and pour. Works perfect everytime. Just have to line the edge of the plastic sleeve with the base of the guard slot and not into the cavity itself. Matt

I'm not a board sponsor but if nobody is able to help you out, I might be able to. You can email me at eisenbacher@sbcglobal.net with details of what you need but I'd wait a day or two to see if there are any board sponsors who are interested. This is a great site and I don't want to step on any toes.

I use three tabs. Any less is too sparse. I'm assuming you are talking about the frog hair silicone skirts from fishingskirts.com.

I have a bunch of red Mustad hooks and yes, from beating around in the box the red will chip off and they are all gold hooks underneith. I just use these hook during practice days to use them up. I can't tell if the fish really care, LOL. I fish freshwater so I don't know if they corrode or not in saltwater.

The only other hook that I know of that is EWG and cross-eyed is the one in the Omega football jigs. I think it is a Gammie. Try to look through their catalog and see if that is the one.

Maybe they didn't want the hook to protrude from the top of the mold so pouring would be easier and not have something in the way. Hard to say. Do you have a website Cadman? If so I'd be interested to see your work. LOL, yup back to work. Darn job gets in the way of all our lure making fun! Guess you have to be able to pay ALL the bills right? Not just the "fishing" bills!

Thanks for the info. There is absolutely no place on the web that guys are so willing to share meaningful information like this site. Other sites 1) either it is the biggest secret in the world or 2) they act like you are stupid for asking. No attitude on this site. Thanks guys! Back to the mold. I tried to use my bottom pour but it was 2/3 full and I don't think it was really pouring as fast as it should have. I hadn't used it for a long time and had loaned it to a buddy. I gave up on it and plugged my hot pot in. And then opened the gate, that fixed the problem. I then cleaned out the bottom pour and it was full of garbage but I had already moved on. I was getting a "bubble" in the center of the cavity if that makes sense. Open spot. It was pouring to the bottom fine which makes me think the lead wasn't flowing properly into the cavity. That's why I opened the angle of the gate so the lead could go downward instead of into the middle and then down. If the sprue hole wasn't so long in this mold, it wouldn't likely be a problem. I think the lead has to go too far and can cool off too fast before filling properly. I have a drill press and the right type of bits to make clean adjustments. I couldn't do it freehand with a dremel, that's for sure. My friend who does spin casting uses a heating pad to warm his hooks. He said he got a cheap-O at Wal Mart and pulled the cloth cover off. I'll go grab one to warm my hooks with. I'm pleased with what I have as far as how the mold pours now. I should warm the hooks though for all my pours. Thanks again.

I'm sorry, it is the weighted hook mold: SMB-4-MTD. http://do-itmolds.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=1_7_329

Hey Ted, I'm sure you have this mold, I have the 1/16 - 1/4 oz version that takes the 91768 Mustad EWG. I had to modify it to take the eagle claw 111BPs but that wasn't too hard. Had to grind out where the eye goes but that doesn't effect the pour any. I had a hard time getting it to pour correctly. I finally had to open the gate on each size so the lower part of the gate slopes downward instead of having so much of a turn just before it enters the cavity. Did you have to do anything to yours to get complete pours? I tried a bottom pour pot first before grinding on the mold but that was even worse. Have to use my small hot pot. It is such a long way down to the cavity but I've got it solved I think. Poured 120 with only having to correct a handful which isn't any worse than other molds. So, did you have to work over the mold to get it to work or did you have success right out of the box? If so, what did you do differently?

I've used the Cajon Craw trailer from Bass Pro Shops on them. Lots of action and holds up well.

No you can not have too many molds!

Thanks Reeves but wanted the large size. I'm surprised that these aren't on the market for sale. Most companies would sell their Grandmother's socks if it would make an extra buck!

I'll ask John next time I'm in there but I asked in the past and he didn't have a source. I've never seen them for sale anywhere like barlows, janns or the other mail order places. Does Strike King have a special secret ninja supplier for these?

Seal-coat dries fairly quickly. I have a rack that I hang the baits on after I brush it on to the entire head. I guess it even adds to the durability of the paint. A few hours and they are good to go. I've even put them in a warm oven to speed up the process but normally I just let them sit and cure while I go do something else.

just bought two from them - at Cadman's referal. Best price and cheap shipping. Geeze Cadman, 10 more molds????!!! Don't you already have all of them? LOL.