Anglinarcher

I am going to bump you back to the top. I want to know as well.

What is going on with our suppliers?????? Bear down with serious medical problems and now Forrest.

I agree with Hughesy, one thing at a time and start with the ballast. You cannot directly upload a video to this site. You need to save it in something like Google Drive or microsoft cloud, then set the video link setting on THAT video to share. You can then get a link to post and we can all see it. This is what I have started to do on other sites. The tried and true method is to post it on YouTube, but that creates other issues I don't like to deal with. Posting pics of the lip and line time might also help, but do the ballast first.

I agree with this completely, but I have sold and do on occasion. My son and his brother-in-law want me to do more of this. His brother-in-law works at a store that wants all they can get, but........ at a price I cannot do and a quantity I cannot handle as a hobbyist. Web Sites of the past may not have worked, but, like you said, social media, combined with a current web site just might. I see a lot of fisherman activity on Facebook, and advertising targeting them would not be too expensive. Additionally, word of mouth for the Facebook generation IS FACEBOOK. I remember the first business Email account I set up. The owner almost fired me for it because "Email" would never ever take off. Almost all business is now done via Email. I was just ahead of my time. Perhaps the web sites that failed were ahead of their time. At my age now, I find that I am no longer "ahead of my time", but "out of time". Ugggg LOL

To be honest, I have wondered about a group of niche builders getting together and starting a web site to sell their baits. The cost of the web site is minimal, and if responses and reviews were not allowed a moderator would not be needed, so ........ Just brain storming. Just thinking with my fingers.

That is one lure I wish you had taken a picture of and posted on this site. Better yet, with the kid and you and the lure. Some rules are meant to be broken, and this is one of those times. This is a 5 Star act.

I don't think they call yours a "hand inject mold". LOL Looks like you must have a shooting star or something like it????

Ya, not just the cavity, but the sprue or runner volume to the cavity(s). Many of us have though that the 4 oz is plenty, and it may be, because our bait is 1/8 oz. But, if you have 6 baits in the mold, that is 1.5 oz and if the runner takes 4 oz you don't have enough. Better too big then too small.

For some reason, that one seems high. I see that the Kingsley Howard was 250 *F. Still, I did see that some of the China ones are that high. Worth trying it. it looks like the thin foils range from the Heat Stamp, Clay foils and Art Deco. I know the Art Deco will work, and expect the Clay foils must work. I think that is what we are all doing, and I agree. Still wondering about this, but, for the slab jigs, I think your method is awesome.

Lots of good ones, just depends on what you want. I think I would prefer the locking style of head, but all most of them work if you are careful and use protective gloves and full length shirts, and I suggest safety glasses. http://www.basstackle.com/category_s/78.htm http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Do-it_Soft_Plastic_Injector/descpage-DOITSPINJEC.html The above two are NOT the only ones. But, this will get you looking for now.

I will admit, this seems to be a trend in a lot of areas. Years ago I use to travel to Salt Lake City for the shows, just to pay the parking and entrance fees and enjoy the shows. Now that I live here, they are no longer worth going to. Seems we are loosing a lot of the things we use to really enjoy. I guess if you can't do it on a computer or a game controller, or on social media, it just is not going to happen.

LOL - Maybe so Nathan. Have not done it recently, but some good ones in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. Still, as I contended before, The show is the first, and often the most expensive, baby step. Actually, now that we have Ebay, that is a possible way to get exposure, but ......... while I think you could sell off excess baits, I doubt it gives the type of exposure you want/need.

I actually prefer thinner blades. They are lighter and therefore spin a little faster.

Lived in Louisiana for some time and I and my wife loved to fish the Reds and Specks in salt and brackish water. I will promise you that inshore overhead spinnerbait style lures will catch them, and yes, the Bluefish and Flounder as well. I also fished the fresh water, normally Toledo Bend, so I often used the same lures for both waters. Wow, brings back some great memories. The smaller sized, 1/4 and 3/8 oz, in light and bright colors were best for the Speckled sea trout. 3/8 oz and bigger, sometimes much bigger, were better for the reds, especially the bull reds. I found that Reds like all color ranges. I never bothered to wash my spinnerbaits off. I did rinse them off with fresh water, but the Reds and big Bass would normally tear them up soon enough that a complete wash was never worth the time. Hehehe

I have looked into that idea, and I just don't have the space for another tool, or "toy" as my wife puts it. I think that the heat press shown would be awesome for somewhat flat things like the metal jigs shown. My problem is that I am a hobbyist, and a multi-lure guy. I want a material and process that will work on slab jigs or crank baits. The method that jcool3 is telling us about will do either. The 3M adhesive will do either as well. I am not so sure about heat setting. How hot does the heat press get? How flexible is the method? Will it confirm to a fat crank bait, a jointed glide bait, or a shaped jig head? If the heat press did not melt Etex or epoxy, or super glue, often used to seal wood lures, then perhaps. If it was less then 250 degrees so I could use it on Resin baits, then perhaps. If it would work on a Big O style bait as well as a slab jig, then perhaps.

OK, I just re-read the topic. The last thing is to tie a fishing line to the line eye, cast it to a good fishy area, then start fishing.

You might get interesting results with a dual injector, but I suspect it will mix the colors, perhaps some swirll. I have never used the duals on a multi-cavity mold, so perhaps someone else can chime in on that.

IMHO, for a lure that is not known, it is to many, but for a lure that is hot, it is far too few. But, I don't believe that shows are intended for YOU to make money. It is for you to get your name and product out there. I think Salty is a bit of an OLD SALT on this one. LOL; even flea markets make money at times, in the right venue, in the right area. But, the Hall and Show Promoter do make the early money. Once your name is out there, once people start to order, once you get the bait into stores, then the show's value starts to show. The big thing is to have fun. A friend of mine tried to make hunting shows his basis for starting a business for selling camouflage. It failed. But, he did not try to push on line or into the stores.

I think they are supposed to ask first. LOL But, once you are on the internet, you are there forever.

First, welcome to the site Ryan. It is good to have another lure crafter join in. I think that first thing is to actually tell you how to get to the search feature, and that is as follows: Hover over ACTIVITY at the top right of this screen. On the pop of screen, follow down to Search and click on it. Then enter search words to find your answers. And, as Matt suggested, And, as RUI suggested, the following dunk test link will help. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/22200-archimedes-dunk-test/?tab=comments#entry33351 Now, to answer your question, I need to tell you that not everything you read is accurate. We all come from different backgrounds and those backgrounds filter our understanding. Your first issue is to come up with the shape and size you want. Then you need to determine what hardware you will need to use. Once you have that, you can go to the dunk test link to determine what weight you need to add. As Woodieb8 suggested, simply adding more ballast works, if you have room enough to add the ballast in your bait. Sometimes you don't. Then, as others have suggested, denser woods will then help. IT IS NOT true that denser woods adversely impact action, denser lures impact action. Using Balsa to enhance action, then adding tons of weight to the lure, is NO BETTER than using a heavier wood to begin with. But, the point is well taken that you use as little weight as necessary. Now, more popular woods that are denser include Popular, Western Red Cedar, Maple. The Popular and Maple are common Muskie woods but Maple is quite dense. The Western Red Cedar is more commonly used for a wider range of woods. The options are limitless, just remember that some woods have lots of pitch or resin or grain or cracking and those woods should be avoided. https://www.easycalculation.com/other/wood-density-chart.php Good luck on your search. I think you will learn a lot and enjoy doing it.

I emailed www.wtp-inc.com and asked them about thickness, flexibility, and weight. I indicated I would be reporting on this site, so we will see what we get back. I gave them the Art Deco foil that I use as a comparison. The color options this company has is vastly greater then any Art Deco foil I have seen. I use the AlumiUV so we are on the same page here. I suspect KBS might have a strong solvent that could react to the edges as well, but only testing will tell.

It dries, per instructions on the can, to a very tacky point. I need a new can, but I believe it is 10 or 15 minutes. That is when I apply. Don't apply thick, a thin mist is more then enough.

I think the transfer issue is because the sticky etex is not uniform when it cures. I have not used the material you are using, having used mostly Art Deco type foil, but I use 3M adhesive spray glue. I don't need to wait like the etex and I normally get 100% transfer. If I don't, I press some new material on the exposed stick spot and fill it in. Love your detail, your write-up, and especially the lures. Those will surely work.

Every time I try a stick on tape they add substantial weight to the lure. For those jigs I guess that would be acceptable, but for other lures, it is a disaster. How much weight do the stick on tapes apply that you suggest?

Take your mouse to the top right of this screen, hover over Activity, on the drop down screen go to search, click on it, and enter clear coats. There are years of debates on this. 5 minute epoxy will yellow, but long cure epoxies will not. Etex is a common and excellent option as well. Epoxies require lure turners or constant lure turning until cured. Moisture cures are good, but they cure in the can once opened. Ways to slow it down and deal with it, but it is a problem. Smell and fumes are potentially bad. Some Mark uses Sally Hansen Hard as nails fingernail nail polish, but if you are doing a lot of them, probably not reasonable. I use Alumilite UV cure. Having used all of the above, I think it is the best, but it requires a proper UV light cure set-up. Lots of options, and I am convinced that we will never all agree on the "best" to use.