Musky Glenn

These are available from Brad Wiegmanns outdoors.

Mark Poulson times two. Storage tank is the answer.

I use a pocket knife for eye removal and find that the graphite blanks are a lot tougher than the old fiberglass rods and are not easy to nick. To remove old rod finish I scrape the blank from end to end with my trusty pocket knife. It is always time to resharpen the knife after doing this scraping. I'm sure there is a better tool for doing this, but my pocket is closer than any other tool. lol I have recoated the rods with spray can Lacquer or Polyurethane. Can't tell much difference except the lacquer dries much quicker. I usually put the eyes on, finish over the wraps then spray the rod with lacquer right over the eyes. I tried spraying a cork handle one time and that didn't turn out like I planned. I didn't realize how much slippage takes place when using a rod. With the finish on the cork it wore a blister on my hand from not being able to slip in my hand.

I've used a lot of .035" stainless wire with good results. It won't last as long as heavier wire because of kinking, but the fish won't bite in to it. I make my own so having a few extra is no big deal. It is not very hard to bend with good pliers. You need to know what size hole the clevises and beads have. A lot won't go on .061" wire. Musky Glenn

If it is taking that long to turn pink, you may never know for sure what caused it. It may in fact, already be cured. You may have done something way back then that caused the problem that you can't remember. I would eliminate everything that isn't absolutely necessary like lacquer thinner and alcohol. Don't reuse anything. I only clear a couple of lures at a time and mix that small amount on a clean piece of paper. I wonder if sunlight is causing the change in color, could it be the amber of clear coats starting to show. I have left lures in clear plastic boxes and had them change color. ONE batch turned black. Real hard to figure out the past. Good luck. Musky Glenn

Sometimes it's easier to find good used lures and repaint them. Musky Glenn

jrav, I sure was wrong about the use of shoulder bolts. I don't like the design they are using where tension is used like that. I never liked a part rotating on screw threads, I know they shouldn't touch the center but it just doesn't seem the correct way to do it. Musky Glenn

In my experience working on these reels, the screws should be tight. I haven't seen a screw used in the bail that doesn't have a shoulder to bottom out against. The screw that holds the roller in place goes through a nylon piece that acts like a shoulder and reduces friction on the roller. I sure could be wrong. The binding usually is caused by the bail wire being bent from its original shape. This closing system has worked well, MOST OF THE TIME, for many years.

They have a watered down version that works nicely in a spray bomb can or you can get the good stuff in quarts at auto paint stores. I understand that it is different than the lacquer used on furniture. Musky Glenn

I can't add any thing technical to this discussion, but I can give an example of a lure that does have this shimmy action. The "Hell Hound" is approx 8inches long, has flat sides and rounded top and bottom. It sinks at rest (with shimmy) By it sinking top side up, I would guess that the weighting is below center line or I would think it would turn up side down. There is a very good chance that I am wrong. Musky Glenn

I use Bob Smith's epoxy and don't have a problem with air bubbles. I puddle two nickle size spots of each part of the epoxy next to each other and compare them for size. I only use a small 1/4 inch brush to stir the two parts of the epoxy. When I brush it on I start at the top of the lure and work toward the bottom end making sure that I don't miss spots. I brush it out as thin as I can so it won't run when I hang it to dry. By brushing it thin I just don't get air bubbles introduced into the finish. I don't turn the lure, just hang to dry. I don't use alcohol.

Vodkaman times three.

Those are called "creeper wing sets" and are found on page 126 of the 2014(couldn't find the 2015) Lure Parts on Line cat. They have two sizes at $4.49 and $4.99 per set.

Suicks, which are great musky lures, runs the cotter pins all the way through from the bottom out the top and bends them over on the back of the lure. You can see half an inch of the ends of the on top of the lure. Paint right over them. They have sold a bunch of them like that. Musky Glenn

The hard part in buying what you want is the fact that blanks don't feel the same after you add eyes. I would suggest you find a finished rod that meets your requirements and write down all the information concerning recommended line, lure weight. Notice the power rating and anything else that might influence the action of the rod, then buy a blank with those ratings. Good luck, it's really not that hard to do.

I bored an appropriate size hole through the side of my vice jaws so it would still clamp down tight on the coil. It will still clamp a hook tight because I bored the hold at the back in the thick part of the jaws. I also bought one of the flex snakes for cleaning out drains, threw away all but the flex cable and tie to that.

My first thought was, if you have tried 40 spinner baits, it probably isn't a spinner bait bite. Good luck.

I had an old age moment and really got my players mixed up in the above post. Jerry Richardson was a wide receiver who caught passes from Johnny Unitus (sp) way back in one of the earlier Super Bowls The line backer for the bears in 85 was Ron Rivera who is now the coach of the Carolina Panthers. Sorry for the earlier brain freeze.

I fell in love with the NFL in "85" when the bears had Perry and Sweetness. They also had Jerry Richardson as a line backer who brought the NFL to the Carolina's where I live and I have been a Panthers fan ever since. Please don't hold this southern thing against me. Earnheardt wasn't bad either. Neither is Jr. lol

You use to be able to buy "fish eye eliminator" at auto paint shops to protect against pin holes and fish eye. But any coats of finish that goes on after it is used must also contain the eliminator. Although temp and moisture may have effected the wrinkling of the mcu I believe it was another problem. That problem was the length of time before the mcu dried. Test your paint for reaction by submerging it in mcu and making it stay wet for an extended length of time. If it wrinkles then you will know that you need to dry the mcu faster. Air conditioning probably caused the mcu to take longer to dry which gave it more time to react with the paint. Just my $.02.

lilpdriverrat times 2

Spike-It dyes work well. Musky Glenn

I only build inline spinners for myself, so this wouldn't apply to mass production. I bend .051" stainless with round nose pliers and it doesn't take as long as it does to bend in a bender. Just make sure you leave the tag end long enough to have plenty of leverage when bending. I use round nose pliers to hold the wire and do the bending with my thumb. I then cut the tag end off with side cutters, as I have never mastered the bend and twist method of breaking it off even. To get the hang of using round nose pliers, practice with smaller wire to get the method worked out. They will make a perfect circle with experience. Musky Glenn

Check out the rod blanks at www.mudhole.com . There is a learning curve, but it is all fun. Musky Glenn

You can probably go to this web site and find the info you need. Musky Glenn http://www.wright-mcgill.com/skeet-reese-2/skeet-reese-victory-reels