Musky Glenn

I learned to turn my rods by hand and don't use any type of holder except when I get ,weight heavy on the end, then I will lay the end of the rod on the back of a chair or what ever is handy. I use to pull the thread through a book to adjust the tension as desired. I found it easier to keep the eyes lined up if I look at the rod and eyes from the back side of the rod. The rod tends to split the eyes in the middle and it is easier to tell if all eyes are centered with the rod. Mud Hole has a chart showing spacing for different rod lengths. I use a small artist brush handle to move the wraps closer together to keep the rod from showing through. It is easy to over do the wrapping, sometimes less is better.

Spike-It makes some paints that will stick to soft plastic. Createx won't work.

Some Rapala lures come in a clear plastic lid box. The angle of clear lid corners are close to the angle of the plastic fin on the lure. Cut to size and glue to lure. Why doesn't someone make a mold similar to that body style?

If you pour plastic wrong, just remelt and pour again. What VodkaMan said. I suggest that you choose the field of lure building that is going to be the most use to you. If you like cranking, whittling wood and not afraid to dab a bit of paint around, then crank baits is a good place to start. If you mostly fish with rubbery plastic, then choose your favorite pattern and start there. It is not just the plastics, the lead heads can be made too. Same goes for feathers and spoons.

I use twist bend frames instead of R bend and when mine break they nearly always break at the twist on the blade side of the twist. I fish them until they do break.

I have been using 1/4 oz. spinner baits with .029 wire for over twenty years and find it to be my favorite wire. I have caught 14 muskies on this little spinner bait and find they perform fine. A short life span of a spinner bait is a small price to pay for something that catches fish like that. I tie all mine with Lumiflex skirts. Just my two cents worth. Musky Glenn

Solarez or d2t---that's a little like saying Ford or Chevy or Cowboys or any other team. Sometimes we just have to bite the bullet and try both.

Ebay has 14 listings for unpainted wood lures. They also have a bunch of painted wood lures that need repainting.

I recommend Bob Smith Slow-Cure 30 min epoxy 9 oz. for $14.75. I can't tell it works any different than d2t except Bob Smith is cheaper than what I have found d2t for. Here is one place to find it. http://www.amain.com/rc-cars/bob-smith-industries/b365

It always seemed a little thin for the amount of finish I wanted on my lures. I guess they had to do that for it to spray.

Page 109 of the Muskyshop.com catalogue list Kalin's 10 Big'n Grubs at $3.49 each in 11 colors.

Epoxy is fine, but way to much mixing time. I like to apply to cable before I start, about half way through the wrap and finally at the end.

Sally Hanson hard as nails, nail polish, clear. All you need!

I bass and musky fish and can tell you that I am tireder at the end of the day throwing 3/8 oz. bass lures than I am lobbing 3 oz. musky lures. It seems trying to get distance with the light lures I try so hard it takes more effort than just getting the musky lure going. I don't throw anything over 8 oz. There is a huge difference between a heavy bass rod and a heavy musky rod.

Most any should open enough for that size hook.

Musky0503, I make a few bucktails and Slippery Sam's. One of the best items to tie body material to is flex cable like used for the linkage on lawn mower carbs. This allows the body to move a little on the wire shaft which goes through the flex cable. If you are needing a keel weight just take the size sinker you need, drill a hole through the side of it so the weight hangs down off the flex cable instead of running the wire through the original hole in the sinker. Crimp with pliers if needed. With the Slippery Sam type lure, the problem is to keep the blades and metal parts from compressing into the rubber body. I drill a hole in the rubber body and insert a section of flex cable longer than the rubber body so I have something to tie my skirt to also. This way the lure body and skirt are just riding on the flex shaft, and the flex shaft, by being longer than the body and skirt, support all the weight of the blades and metal parts. It takes more weight to keep big blades down in the water column than you first suspect so I recommend you buy solid metal beads to add extra weight to the front end. Good luck and let us know how it works out for you.

The ball bearing determines how deep it cuts. If it runs past center it will cut deeper. You have to leave a flat spot in the center for the bearing to run on for each side to cut the same. Musky Glenn

If you brush the finish on thin enough you can hang and forget them.

I have the material to build my turner but because of laziness and the fact that I can get a good finish by hanging I just keep putting off building the turner. I paint musky lures and I can only paint epoxy on one lure before it gets to thick to spread with a brush. I use Bob Smith's AeroMicro 30 min. slow-cure epoxy. I can't tell it from d2t. I use a cheap disposable brush, brush it on thin but make sure it is completely covered by holding it to a light to get a gloss reflection. I don't get any sagging unless I don't brush it out thin. It never runs down and drips at all.

I only wish you the best of luck with the finish. If the paint lays on the lure dry for a period of time and doesn't wrinkle, that is good. When you apply the finish the wrinkling starts, the finish is the problem. The finish should never get to the lure for the lure to react with the finish. The finish doesn't know what type of lure it is sprayed on until it eats through the paint, which shouldn't happen. The wrinkling starts on the out side and goes in. If it did it the other way it would do it without the finish on it. Just my $.02 worth. Good luck.

The chemical reaction that took place is similar to the way paint stripper works. When it starts to desolve the paint it looses its adhesion. It actually made the paint swell, thus the wrinkles.

That looks like a chemical reaction between the paint and the clear coat. Some times if the clear is to thick and takes just a few minutes to long to dry it will desolve the paint. The same finish if applied thinner so it will dry quicker won't cause the same problem.

In Musky fishing we use a lot of bucktails that we tie on flexible cable and it is hard to hold cable while tying. I mostly use 1/4" cable so I drilled a 1/4" hole in my flea market vise to help in holding the flex cable.

A wooden 3' dowel rod makes a good practice rod because it is short enough to not get in the way while you are learning.