defish

A combination of tungsten beads (like used by fly tiers) placed on the hook and then cast lead, tin, etc. to fill the mold could have potential.

TJ's Tackle http://www.tjstackle.com/ has some videos demoing how to powder paint salmon spoons with powder. A lot of stuff also on youtube to see if powder will do what you want. Not sure if anyone has posted about GST on spoons that have been painted with acrylic, but I think someone was going to or did use it on spinner blades. Good luck.

Here's a pic of the finished forms.

Below are pics of a simple bender I made to make forms for a do-it "casting spoon." It cost next to nothing to make and the forms fit the mold perfectly. While the do-it wire forms don't cost that much to buy, if you make your own you'll save some money and never run out of forms as long as you have wire to make them with. I used .031 dia SS wire from Jann's, but will probably buy SS welding wire when I need more. I used .080 dia nails with the heads cut off as the pegs, and as the insert pin in the bolt head that bends the wire. The "turner" is a bolt with the threads cut off. A hole is drilled in the middle to fit over the pivot pin. An offset hole was drilled slightly further over than the wire's width with a pin inserted in it that turns the wire. A piece of eva was used on the bolt head to make it easier to turn. The black lines on the board are for cutting the wires to length and the red ones to index the wires so that the gap is in the middle after the forms are bent. The peg near the pivot pin on the board is to keep the wire from flexing as it's being formed. The pivot pin has a recess around it to allow clearance for the pin in the bolt head that turns the wire. You could use do-it wire forms for the spacing for the pegs or measure the mold with a caliper and use that for your spacing. Let me know if you want more info about this. Dan

This may not be what you are looking for, but they have a lot holo "tape" to choose from. http://www.shopwtp-inc.com/product_info.php?products_id=37

Some walleye guys that make their own keepers leave the keeper end of the wire straight on their jigs when they mold them so that they can easily change plasitics until they hit on the hot color for the day and then they use a pliers to bend the wire to lock the grub in place. If this keeper is like other Do-It keepers that I've seen, to make a simple forming tool you could just drill a hole the dia of the wire into a piece of steel to the depth of the insert's leg to fold the wire end 90 degrees and then bend (or not) the keeper end after the jig is molded.

How long are your spoons? I also wondered about powder coating my first batch of spoons (up to 1 oz.) and ended up dunking them in the 1 pound powder canister that the paint shipped in. It worked fine, just fluff the powder after every spoon or two, and I dunked mine narrow end first. Probably don't want to hang the spoons to cure with the split rings on - the powder will likely flow enough that the split rings will get stuck in it. An "S" shaped piece of wire works good as a hanger. Good luck. Dan

Looks interesting, but I didn't see any mention of how UV stable it is. Maybe a good idea to test it before using it on a bunch of baits in case it yellows in the sun. Keep us posted!

Thanks guys - I'm looking forward to using it. I mostly paint Rapala type stickbaits/jerkbaits and like the idea of a lighter top coat and not having to deal with "The Battle of the etex Fish Eyes" anymore. rhersh - Thanks for the tip about not "double dipping" while it's still wet. When you say you spray Createx clear on your baits before you dip them, is that for all baits or only those that have Sharpie highlights on them so that the Sharpie doesn't run?

Any news about GST? I'm ready to join the "I Hate ETEX" club and GST sounds much faster and easier to use.

I hold any paper media up to a strong light and look through it to see if there are thin spots or pin holes which could cause leaks or volcanos. Coffee filters, and even vacuum cleaner bags have a surprising number of small holes them. I haven't tested this to see if this is helpful or makes no difference, but it seems logical. Dan

That sounds like a good approach. If the 9/64 hole is a little looser than you like, a #30 or a 3.4mm drill may work for you.

Maybe try knocking the sharp, square edge off the weedguard by chamfering it slightly using a grinder or a file to see if they'll slip into the jig easier. If it works, it should only take a second or two per guard to do this with a grinder. Good luck.

Dremel tools with metal cutting bits are used a lot of times to modify molds, but looking at the ad for this mold I would guess that the flat bottom faces up in the mold and is where the sprue is located? Maybe post a pic of the inside of the mold so we can see how its laid out, but it would probably be much easier to modify a regular football head mold to accept Trokar hooks than to reshape the heads on this mold.

With the "W" in the number, possibly a variation of do-it's Walleye jig mold?