drof99

Thanks for all the replies guys. I've had to stuff for awhile now and just got to pour a few with it. Man that stuff is stinky. I got the Hawg & Garlic. I might be ordering some of the coffee some listening to you guys. I can't wait to try this stuff out on the water.

One other thing I forgot to mention was that while waiting on my supplies I did a ton of reading here. I paid close attention to people that were having problems and read the responses that some of the more seasoned guys gave. I think that helped me from having problems out of the gate.

I start by finding a good place to pour. It doesn't need to be anything fancy, but just clear out a spot for you to work. I would get some gloves to use to hold molds or cups you plan on pouring out of. Do you plan on heating with a microwave or some sort of pouring pot. If your using a micro you'll need a pyrex cup to pour out of. I personally bought a kit from del that inlcuded everything I needed. You will need to decide what colors you want. If you have your molds picked out then you'll need to find what plasctic you want to use as well. I like to include salt in some of my baits. I buy salt from del and don't have to grind it anymore than what it comes as. I also add softner to my plastic. The last thing I put in is some scent. I've bought some from Del and also from upperhand scents. You might also consider buying some bags that are a little better than your standard issue zip lock bag. Buy something made for plastic baits. The only other thing that comes to mind is some worm oil. Some people squirt that on their baits as they are packaging them up. It will make the baits shine in the package and keep them from sticking. Many here just squirt more scent on them in place of the worm oil. Have fun and be careful. This can become addicting!

These guys have got it covered pretty well for you. I'm new to this as well. I've been pouring for a couple months now. The one thing that no one has mentioned is to have fun. The gloves were the thing I didn't have. That Pyrex cup is going to be hot when it comes out. I found that out afterwards. I had to look some up before taking it out of the micro. Just remember if you mess something up you can just remelt and start over. So just have a good time with it. Something else to consider. If you have ANY questions as how to do something post it here or give Del a call. I called and talked to him on the phone and he explained a few things to me. He was very helpful. Good luck and have fun!

I have on of these and it has helped me figure out that I was nuking my plastic just a little too long. Works great! Like others have said, you need to stir before or while check the temp. I had mine before I started pouring. I use it for checking the temp of a nitro powered rc monster truck. A good place to look for these are a hobby store. I did not spend even $30 on mine. Like the guy before me said they are a ton of fun. You'll be checking the temp of everything.

I bought Del's large chunk and like it alot. I've found if you pour and round up the plastic on top it gives a little better chunk in the end. Very easy to pour this one.

I'm fairly new to this as well. Although I have been pouring alot lately. I saw your looking to get molds from Del. Most of my stuff has come from him. He's great to work with. I would highly suggest getting a kit from him for starting out. I bought the 5 1/4" stick kit. Comes with everything, salt, plastic, mold, color, softner, everything you'll need. If your ordering right now be patient with Del. Its Christmas and its going to take a bit to get your stuff. Order now and start reading in the mean time. By the time the stuff shows up you have a basic understanding. I went through a ton of the old threads and learned alot. I read a lot about the problems people had, and I think that helped me alot. I'd suggest starting with a pyrex cup and pouring small amounts. That way you get the feel for it. Keep it fun. When I was heating my plastic in the microwave I was getting the plastic just a little too hot. One thing that helped me with this was an infared thermometer. I would suggest getting some kind of thermo to check the temp. Until you get a feel for it you won't know what it should be like to pour. If you do mess up, and I know I did, you can always remelt the plastic and try again. When heating your plastic there is no set time that will work for you micro. You have to just start out with about a minute and then stir and then start hitting it with 30 second blasts. Stopping each time to stir. The plastic will thicken before it is ready. Then it will start thinning out. I pour with it about like pancake sryup, around 350 or less. The thermo will help with this. 4oz of color will go a long way. I think the kits come with 1 oz. I still have plenty of color left. I ended up buying Del's large color kit as well. Other than that go read the threads and it will help a lot. You can also cal Del. He is a great guy to work with. I've also worked with Lurecraft and they can answer your questions of he phone as well. Good luck, becareful because it is addictive like said earlier.

I ended up getting a chance last night to pour after all the chores were done. I did not add any color until the end. I poured with about 1 cup. I added some softner and salt. I put it in the micro for one minute. Still pretty much white throughout. I took it out and stirred it a bunch. Then I put it back in and kept nuking it for 30 second intervals and stirring after time. I kept doing this until one time I took it out and was thick. It was thick enough that it was a lot tougher to stir. Then I put it back in and nuked for 30 seconds again. Took it out and stirred the heck out of it. It still was a little thicker than I thought I could pour. I added my color now, like 40 drops or 50 drops of some royal blue. I nuked it again for 30 seconds and stirred the heck out of it again when it was done. I shot it with my thermo and it was around 330. I wasn't smoking as much as normal. I went and poured some large chunks and some sticks. They poured good. I think the plastic might have been just a tad thicker than I usually pour. And again I noticed a little less smoke. I'm starting to get better at pouring the chunks. I've done some more reading here and I over poured these just a tad. Just rounded them up instead of flat on top. After the plastic would cool down I'd have to nuke again for 30-45 seconds to get it back to where I could pour again. Does that seem like what I should have to do? I think that I might have gotten the plastic just a little too hot before. I did add some anise to this batch as well. I could still smell the plastic a little, which worried me. It was like a plastic pool that had been sitting in the sun. Does that sound ok? Do you guys think that maybe its still too hot or do I just add more scent? I looked at the baits this morning and somehow they are still blue!! They are just a shade darker than when they came out of the molds last night. Does this also seem normal? Sorry for such the long post but I just want to make sure that I'm getting this down.

No highlights yet, although I do have some. Haven't figured out how to add those in yet either. I was going to try and pour tonight, might still have time yet. Gotta hate chorin. I'm interested to know the heat that I'm pouring at. Stirring with a butter knife the plastic rolls off it pretty fast. Not quite like water but faster than syrup I think.

Well I've got several other questions. I didn't want to clog up the other thread I started so here we go. I've heard of several of you that use these. I'm looking at getting some other scents to add to my baits. I didn't see a contact email or number. I think the guy is a member also. I've got a couple questions. Is there a certain scent that is used to add to bait? I thought I saw something that one was used for adding to completed baits. Is there a difference between the two? What are your guy's favorite scent to use from them?

I did not mix any colors, just went with a red color from Del. I don't remember the exact name. The glitter I was using on these is black. I am going to need more molds. I'm just buying the ones that I will fish with one at a time and trying to get used to pouring them. The cool thing is I still like all the baits that I'm getting out of all this. I'm bagging them up and plan on using them this Spring. I like to refer to these baits as my trickster worms. Never fails one time I walk by them they are green. The next time they are red. The first few times I looked at them at thought when did I pour green worms. I'm still wondering if anyone has used one of the thermos I was talking about.

Yes sir that help does help. Do I want to stay around the 350 mark? If I don't get the plastic hotter than that can I nuke it several times, like after pouring a mold. Right now I only have 3 molds, all Del's. A stick, 5" tube, and a large chunk mold. I don't pour the chunks except in black or blue. I should be able to pour the other two molds and then wait for them to cool, them remove the bait and maybe hit the micro for 30 secs to get back to around 350. Does that sound like a good way to pour right now. After the holidays I want to get a presto post setup so I don't have to keep reheating.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll start adding my color just before I pour. I think that I might be burning the plastic just a bit. I have one of those thermos that take the instant temp by just aiming at what ever you want to take the temp of. I'll start using that. If I've read correctly I should have the plastic around 350 degrees, correct? I think that I might be burning the plastic and that is effecting my color. By the way, I don't know if I mentioned it but I just heating and then pouring out of my pyrex cup. The cup is also pretty hot when it comes out. I have to use gloves (I know that I should be anyway) to pour with or the handle of the pyrex it too hot to hold onto. The plastic also has a pretty good amount of steam coming off of it. I pour one mold and then reheat to pour the others, while the first one is cooling. It just seems odd to me that the color is red while pouring and then changes to green later. I don't think that it is a supply thing, as I have gotten all my color and plastic from Del so far. I am also not adding any heat stabilizer to the Calhoun plastic. Has anyone used one the thermometer that I am talking and had good luck?

I did a search for this but came up with a ton of stuff. Nothing has answered my question yet. I'm sure there is something but just looking for a quick answer. My color seems to be changing on me after I pour. Last night I poured some sticks and tubes. When I poured them they were red. I let them sit overnight and today they are green.have a s If you hold them to the light they turn back to red. Seems odd to me. I have another post and some thought that the plastic might be a little too hot. It also seems like the glitter is sinking to the bottom. I'm stirring the heck out of it. There is still glitter through out the plastic though. When is the best time to add the color to the plastic? Right now I'm adding it after I heat the plastic for the first 30 seconds. Should I not add it as soon so as to watch the plastic better? The baits are coming out great but the color thing has me wondering a bit. The plastic doesn't a scorched smell to me. I can smell the anise scent I'm adding. Any ideas on this color thing.

I've been pouring a bunch of sticks, chunks, and now tubes. They are coming out great. I am having a couple of problems on color. I've noticed that I'm putting in more color than what the recipes call for. The color just doesn't look dark enough when I add the color while I'm heating the plastic. I'm usually only pouring with a cup or two at one time right now. Later the baits will darken up. So if I understand this right while I'm adding color to the plastic I'm heating it will appear lighter than the final product turns out the be? Does this seem to be the correct thinking? The other problem I seem to have is with glitter. There seems to be a lot of it settling on the bottom. I believe that I am stirring enough to keep everything mixed but it still settles. Any ideas on how to keep this from happening? I'd like to get a Presto pot but that won't happen until after the holidays.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I'm not worried on the tax side of things. We already have an accountant that does some work for us on another thing. I do have on question though. If I am buying supplies for the business, like plastic, blades, molds, color, whatever, I shouldn't have to pay taxes on that stuff should I? I thought a tax id number would get us away from that. Might be a question for the accountant. I'm looking for as many ways to promote the baits as I can get. Great info so far. I think I will pay close attention to you suggestions as far as paying as I go. I don't want to be in debt by this at all. I'm also going to stay very small and keep it fun. Keep the ideas coming, thanks for all the help.

Great point about buying molds that you fish. I never really thought of it but all the molds I have now are things that I fish with regularly. The ones that I plan on buying in the near future are also ones that I plan on using personally. I like the idea of profitable hobby. That makes a lot of sense and something that I would like to follow. I don't plan on making this my full time career but would like the pouring to support itself and make a little money in the process. I do plan on paying cash for all the molds as I go. Any ideas on how to market the baits? Is it better to build up some stock and sell that or take orders? I also don't want to HAVE to pour everyday if I don't feel like doing it at that time. Thanks for the suggestions, hopefully they keep coming!

I am looking for some insight from some of you that have your own bait business. I am wondering if you can make some decent money from the baits. Now I am not looking to know how much you make. Quite frankly its none of my business. I'm just wondering if its worth the time you put into it. I got started in this at a bad time of year for where I live. Most of the fishing has settled down now and the hunting is picking up. What have you done that gives you the most return, internet website, local sales, sponsoring someone? Most of you know I haven't poured alot but I really enjoy it. I don't think I could every use all the baits I pour, or that I want to anyway. I have gave away some samples to so close friends. I got them to send me pics of them with the bait and with fish they have caught. I told them I may someday use these to promote the baits and they were ok with that. I've had a bunch of "friends" also put in their orders for some free samples. At this point I have not filled any of those requests. I did a lot of reading here and just decided I couldn't afford to that. I have no problems giving away some to promote my baits but if I'm giving them away I sure won't be able to ever sell them. Most of you warned me about this being addictive, and I have found that it is. I'm trying to get the wife to let me buy a wooden shed for outside to turn into my workshop, I'll also have a few other uses but that's beside the point. Any suggestions you guys can give would further help me get ahead of the game. I'm not looking to start this today but wouldn't mind selling a few this Spring. I've only got several molds that I'm comfortable with right now. It hasn't taken too long but I've also followed the many suggestions here. The molds that I do have now I can regularly without defects. I've also order a large color kit and have greatly expanded the colors I pour. After Christmas I will be getting a few more molds to expand even more. Like I said, I'm not looking for you to open your wallet and so me what you've got stuffed in there. Just looking for suggestions. I've been doing a bunch of looking into the legal part and don't need much in that way. Just some ideas as to promoting the baits and things that I haven't even thought of. Sorry for such the lost post but you guys should have warned me this was so addictive.....Oh wait...you did!

I personally do heat up a mold first. After the first one the plastic should keep it warm. Like dubs said, while pouring if the funnel at the top fills up before the mold does an air pocket will form. Once that happens that one is done. I pour very slowly right down the center. Once the funnel does start to fill be sure and top it off because the plastic will shrink and that plastic will continue down into the mold. Good luck. You can do a search or read some of the old pages. There is a lot of info on this same thing.

I am fairly new as well. I've only been pouring for several weeks now. I started out by doing a lot of reading here. There is a ton to learn and you'll save yourself a lot of mistakes by reading. I chose to use the 2 piece aluminum molds because I wanted a completely round finished product. I've seen some that make resin or plaster of paris molds that will do the same. I just wanted to start pouring baits and not worry about the molds. I bought my molds from Del. He is a member here that makes aluminum molds. I'll praise his product here as I know he won't. He's just that type of guy. The finish product I get from his molds are very high quality. My friends that I showed the baits to would not believe that I made them myself. I purchased a stick kit from him. I had everything that I needed to start. There are several different kits to chose from. I'll list his website at the end. I don't know of anyone closer to you to order from. If you have questions about Del's stuff you can get ahold of him at his site. He might speak up here as well. Good luck and do tons of reading here. Post any questions and the more seasoned guys will help you out more for sure. Del's site: Del-Mart Molds By the way there are some other sites as well. Lurecraft is one that comes to mind. Forgive as I don't remember their site. I've done business with them as well. Someone else please post their site here.

What is the best way to check if a name has been copywrited? I've done a Google search for the name and it came back with nothing. Just a bunch of other garbage but nothing really even similar to what I want. Right now I'm not planning on selling. I may chose to start, how would I go about protecting the name so someone else can't nab it?

Well, I've got the bug now. I've been pouring a bunch of stics and frog chunks. Still perfecting the tubes. I got a bunch of the poly bags as per the suggestions here. Now what I'd like to find is someone that makes a custom sticky label to put on the front. As of right now I'm not selling these. I very well do that in the future, after I've had time to fish my own baits and gain confidence in them. I've got a name that I would like to have on them. I just want to be able to be proud of what I make. I'd also like credit for the ones I give away to a select few friends. If someone else happens to grab one from them I'd like them to know where it came from. Anyone have labels made at a reasonable price, that was a quick turn around and can help with the design? I tried a local guy but he's dragging his feet.

Don't take this the wrong way. I really like Del's work and his molds work great for me. I recently bought his 5" tube mold. It took a little bit for me to get the tubes to come out. I was thinking about cutting the rod that makes the tube hollow down. I was thinking about cutting it in half. This would give a little studier tube I think. Has anyone done this? Hopefully, I'm not the only that has thought about doing this and I can get some input here.

Tae any chance on getting a photo of what you made? If anyone makes something for cutting tubes I'd be interested.

Most of you know I'm new here. Some have seen my first pour and gave me some tips. Well I've done more pouring and really enjoy it. I've got 2 molds now from Del and another one in the mail somewhere. I plan on doing this for awhile. I've been doing a lot of reading here about different plastics. Been reading the best plastic thread. I saw some posts about samples. I've still got the original gallon from Del, which is Calhoun but wonder about some of the others. I don't really have any issues with Del's but would like to see some baits of the others. I'm in the market right now for 5 gallons. Do some of the suppliers still offer samples? How does one go about asking for them. I'm sure they get these requests all the time. Probably from some that never have any intention of buying from them. I'm not in that place and don't want to come across as such.