Peterjay

IMHO, snagging fish of any kind is no more sport fishing than is using hand grenades or a seine. In a lot of areas, including my part of the world, it isn't legal. As far as carp being non-native, rainbow trout and largemouth and smallmouth bass also aren't native to most of the waters in the U.S. where they're presently found. Brown trout aren't native to North America, period. Northern pike are another species that have been widely transplanted, and a lot of fishermen hate them worse than they do carp. When I lived in upstate N.Y., trout fishermen in the upper Delaware were squawking about the striped bass (native fish) that were eating the trout. (non-native fish) Guess it's all in the eye of the beholder. In some parts of the U.S., carp have a fairly wide following among flyrodders who sight-fish for them - it's very similar to bonefishing, and just as difficult. When I lived in Idaho, a friend of mine used to chum for carp with popcorn and catch them on white fly rod poppers. He claims it was very effective. As was mentioned above, chumming or bait fishing with corn is also illegal in a lot of areas. (including Rhode Island trout waters, which is where I fish) I don't know if popcorn would fall under that category or not, (LOL) but as long as we have tuna and striped bass around here, I'm never gonna have to worry about it.

There's a right way to do it and a wrong way. Just put the line spool on the floor and run the line through the first guide and attach to the reel spool. Hold the rod with your non-reeling hand under the guide and keep some tension on the line with your fingers as you reel it on. (the tension is very important) You either want the line coming off the spool in the same direction as the bail turns or the opposite - to tell you the truth, I can never remember which is correct, but I always manage to figure it out once I get started, as the line will twist almost immediately if it's the wrong way. If all else fails, go down to the nearest river, (preferably on a bridge) remove any terminal tackle and let all of your line drift downstream with the current. After it's hung there for a while, reel it in slowly and the twist will be gone. Not a bad idea to do that once in a while anyway. Pre-loaded spools shouldn't have any twist at all when they come from the factory or tackle shop. The equipment they use to load the spools is designed to prevent twist.

Thanks for the reminder. I've caught myself absentmindedly working without gloves a few times lately. Gotta put up a sign over the workbench. Skin is no match for molten metal, that's for sure.

Just curious: has anybody has done any research as to whether sanding or grinding PVC produces enough heat to release dioxin? I know burning PVC will release it. It might be wise to find out how much heat it takes to produce the stuff; the only substance more toxic than dioxin is radioactive waste. It's nothing to fool around with.

Check Husky's thread below. That's all you'll need.

Anybody planning to do business with Shawn Collins would be well advised to do some serious research. Most of the lure making sites on the web have a Shawn Collins thread, or at least the ones I've visited. Mr. Collins is developing quite a reputation, in more ways than one.

Patrick, I don't know beans about bass and musky lures, but the SS spring-tempered wire that Netcraft sells is extremely difficult to work with. I bought some .041 a while back with the intention of bending some through-wire forms and maybe making some eyelets for small saltwater jigs, and it didn't take long to figure out that I'd wasted the money. I ended up using it to hang some bird feeders. You could check out the McMaster-Carr website. They sell wire in just about every alloy and diameter you could imagine. Some of the other guys here could give you some advice on the specific SS alloy. If you do a search, there are some threads here that cover it.

You won't find RTV products in places like Walmart or Home Depot. You have to check art supply houses like Dick Blick or Jerry's Artarama. Either that or buy it online. You should check out the RTV mold putty as well as the pourable stuff.

Come on Salty - I saw you getting out of that Bentley at the Providence show. I'll bet when you go down to the bank, they treat you like Jed Clampett.

I've been using the Hot Pot 2; I pour large (1-4 ounces) saltwater jigs 2 at a time and I like it fine. Pouring from the pot has never been a problem once I got used to it. You'd need a pretty small ladle if you want to do it that way, but it probably isn't necessary.

Just to add my $.02 worth: I used to use nail polish on shad darts, but it had a tendency to chip when bounced along the bottom. The darts had a very short life expectancy anyway, due to rocks, snags, etc., so it didn't matter much. For anything that you expect to last more than 15 minutes, just about all the alternatives are better. Sally Hansen products are as good as it gets when it comes to covering thread wraps on flies and jigs, but that's about it.

Considering the low sale price, unless the manufacturer has discontinued the product, you can save yourself a lot of trouble by going online and looking for another source. By the time you get set up to make your own, those $2 lures are going to end up costing you ten times what you paid at Walmart. Even if they've been discontinued, I'll guarantee that somebody, somewhere, is peddling knock-offs if the lures were any good to start with.

Watch out for the gecko - you might want to check to see if he has an Australian accent. If he does, he's undoubtedly planning to sell you some car insurance and he's waiting for the right moment to pounce. (if you're planning to name him, I'd suggest "Gordon") The minute he hauls out a sales agreement, toss him in the lead pot. Millions of reptile-fatigued television viewers across the nation will thank you. Who knows, you might even get a better pour.

Never used urethane, but there are quite a number of sources for silicone mold materials. Smooth-on, Easy Cast, Alumilite, e.g., You can use silicone putty or the pourable stuff. Silicone doesn't require a mold release, as it doesn't stick to much of anything other than another piece of silicone. (at least in my experience) I've been told urethane requires a mold release, though like I said, I've never used it. The putty can be tricky to use; you've only got a couple of minutes before it sets up once you mix it and there's no margin for error. There are some threads here with discussions about the pourable stuff. I'm going to give that a try the next time I run out of putty. It's not that easy to get the putty into all the nooks and crannies that your master might have. Still, I've made some very usable molds for saltwater tins with the putty.

Plaster will work for pouring metal, but it usually isn't used for anything that requires a lot of detail or anything that you'd want to mass produce. There are durability issues, and you have to make absolutely sure that your mold is completely dry or you'll have a mess on your hands when the metal hits the mold. A lot of guys around here use RTV silicone molds for pouring sinkers, jigs, etc., and it works very well once you get the hang of making molds. The downside is that it isn't cheap. I've been using silicone mold putty, and after I wrecked a few molds getting started, it's done a pretty good job. Still, plaster may do the job for you, and you certainly can't beat the price. You just have to be aware of its limitations.

I'll bet it was pretty while it lasted though. Don't feel bad. I've been tying flies for over 45 years, and I still make incredibly stupid mistakes just about every time I sit down at the bench. If my wife knew the half of it, she'd have put me in a home a long time ago.

Fly fishing and surfcasting for striped bass and bluefish April - November. Fly fish for false albacore and bonito August - October. Shore fishing only. (around here, it's a matter of pride) Trout when it's too rough to hit the beach, which isn't often. Haven't done much pike fishing recently, but I hope to get out a few times this season. So many fish, so little time.

This is an interesting topic - In the 50+ years that I've been fishing, one of the observations that I've made is that we tend to give fish too much credit for intelligence/adaptability, etc. These critters are driven almost entirely by instinct/impulse and probably not by any kind of reasoning at all. Being the smartest fish is kinda like being the best-dressed man in Afghanistan. You might be at the top of the heap, but it's not much of a heap. Different species may possess different survival skills and some can be "trained" to respond to certain stimuli in captivity or a controlled situation, but by and large, fish in the wild just follow their genetic survival program. Reliance on limited or non-existent problem-solving skills would ensure extinction of the species in pretty short order. If fish in high-pressure areas seem less likely to strike a lure, I suspect it's a case of there being fewer predators present and less competition for forage. Individuals that are wary and less likely to strike a lure have a decided reproductive advantage over fish that will grab anything in sight, and reproductive advantage is what evolution is all about. Fish that wind up on the grill aren't likely to produce offspring. Species that are easily caught can hang in there by producing huge numbers of young, but other species that lack that survival mechanism are easily wiped out. (brook trout and cutthroat trout are two examples) Given their relatively short lifespans and their lack of what we perceive as intelligence, I doubt that there's much "conditioning" going on, even in areas that are heavily fished. People have been throwing lures at fish for a long time, and we've managed to figure out that there are lures that flat-out don't work, lures that rarely work, and lures that work some of the time. If we had lures that worked all of the time, there wouldn't be any fish left to pursue. Trying to guess which lure works in a given situation is what makes all this interesting, at least for me. Just my $.02 worth.

There's a story in the papers today about some children of Indian immigrants in the Boston area who are being treated for severe lead poisoning as a result of being in regular contact with lead-contaminated ceremonial spices and other powders. They didn't eat the stuff, it was absorbed through the skin. Lead is dangerous material to work with and lead poisoning is a brutal illness. Lead is particularly dangerous to children, since it inhibits the normal development of the nervous system, resulting in all kinds of learning and behavioral disorders. Don't believe anybody who tries to soft-pedal it. It's always cumulative in the body and it's always doing its damage, though some people may show recognizable symptoms sooner than others. The symptoms aren't always obvious, and are often attributed to other causes. If you have any doubts, ask your doctor about it. If you want to pour occasionally, doing it outside like Toadfrog said is the best way to avoid problems, as is keeping skin contact to an absolute minimum. I recently read on one of the striper forums about a couple of guys who sell hand-poured jigs and have gotten seriously ill - one of them was so sick he had to retire. Considering how cheap the raw heads are, I don't know why anybody would bother messing with the stuff at home. It's on its way out of the fishing tackle business anyway, and good riddance. There are less dangerous alternatives. Just my $.02 worth.

I've known Graham for a number of years through another forum. He lives in Southern California, and has become the go-to guy for the movie studios when they need some realistic creepy-crawlers for a film. Graham started out in photography just to do some pictures of his bugs, but he's turned himself into a first-rate photographer as well. He's a very talented individual and a nice guy to boot. I've seen some of his tutorials, and it's amazing to see how he puts those critters together. If I can dig any of them up, I'll post a link.

Thanks for the heads-up Cadman. And thanks for the tip on polishing mold cavities. I'm gonna give that a shot.

A "copyright" protects the written word or other property like music or images. A "patent" likewise protects an invention. If I were going to venture into that territory, I wouldn't do it without consulting a competent attorney. If there's one thing I've learned from my own experience as an artist, it's that if people can and/or want to make trouble, they probably will. Always better to seek professional advice before starting any project that could blow up on you. Some of the "legal advice" I've seen on forums that relate to my own field (photography) has been so far off base as to be ridiculous, even when it's come from professionals who should know better. There's a lot of gray area when you're dealing with patents, trademarks, copyrights, etc. All it takes is a judge who doesn't like the color of your tie and you're back to flipping burgers.

They can tell by handling it. It's easy to tell the difference by weight alone.

At $888 apiece, it's just a matter of time before the counterfeits start popping up. I don't have the skills to do it, but for that kind of dough, I'm willing to learn. I've got plenty of old hooks kicking around if somebody wants to go partners.