Apdriver

You can do it on a piece of wood. Get a piece of oak or hickory though. What I do is take a piece of flat steel stock and drill a hole just a little larger than the eye of the hook right on the edge of that stock. You want the eye of the hook laying right on the hole. The hole is to relieve your center punch when you whack it. The hook will open easily. That blade is not bent. I forgot and made a few without bending the blade but went back and bent them. It's much easier to bend them not installed. I don't have a special set of smooth jaws for my vise but use a couple small pieces of smooth angle iron laid right on top of my vise and then clamp the blade in them. You want to bend 3/8 inch or so on the top part of the blade back about 30 degrees or so. I'll try to post a pic of one bent for you. If you don't use smooth jaws, the vise jaws will mark your blade. You may be able to just put some duct tape on them but haven't tried that. I use a piece of 1x and a hammer to hit the blade with. Others might have a different technique to bend their blades but this is what I've found works for me and gives the most uniform creases.

Blue tint makes me think blue hilite. You can get this effect with hilites but a little dab will do you. In other words, the hilite can overwhelm your color. I put just a pinch of it off the tip of my knife blade in already heated plastisol until I get the desired effect. It doesn't take much.

I use Baitjunkys as they have had the best price. If you use the microwave to heat be sure and get the degassed plastic. They sell a five gallon kit that is packed in one gallon containers. Easy to handle and have been very satisfied with their plastisol and price. No hard pack with Baitjunkys either.

Here's a pic of one. Be sure and bend the tip of your blade before you put it on your jig. I use my vise and a set of smooth jaws for this operation. Hard to do with a couple sets of pliers.

I use a Arkie jig mold and open the eye of the hook with a center punch just enough to slip the blade on it. Close with a pair of pliers. No 2 duo lock swivel on your blade. That's all you need.

There is another company doing this. Roboworm is the name of it. Nice looking worms and I have wondered how it was done. Thanks Mike for ending that mystery.

The plastic will be permeated with the scent within a few days just pouring it in the bag. Amazing how fast the plastisol soaks up scent or oil.

That would be great, Jig Man. What mold do you use with their harness? Haven't purchased a mold yet to make these arigs but want to gear up for next year.

Jig man, where do you purchase their product. Did a google search and didn't come up with much.

I don't know about dels injector but I've been using one called the Pro-Lam that is really nice. It can be used as singles or for shooting laminates. Also has other accessories available.

I took a piece of hard metal and drilled a hole in it right on the edge with my drill press just big enough to relieve the tip of my center punch as I hit the eye of Mustad hook to open it up just enough to slip your Chatterbait blade on. After the eye of the hook is open, cover eye (your favorite technique) and powder paint. Last step is add your blade and close eye back with pair of pliers. Like Smalljaw, I use the rounded small blades from Jann's. Good luck!

I've used it and like it. Makes the bait very durable. They will last much longer than salt infused. Messes with your colors though and takes a lot of colorant. I think it's powdered glass infused in worm oil or softener.

I wanted some bright colors and bought their red and yellow. After I baked it, the color washed out, it dripped really nicely in my oven and left big teardrop on my stuff. Lesson learned IMO. You get what you pay for sometimes. No more for me.

Thanks Bass 100 and Jaw for your replies. I just talked myself into fishing with these because I know they are very effective. I finally bought a rig with the blades and liked the action much more than a plain rig. Figured I might as well buy a mold and this was a timely post for me. Again, thanks for your generosity in sharing how you guys put one together.....Bill....

Couple other questions, what swivel , in your opinion, works best for the blades on these considering performance of blade versus cost of losing 5 at a time. Wouldn't want to use my Sampos on these. Also, I have been using the Gary Yamomoto swim jig head on my arigs but the hook for this jig is a specialty Gami hook and they are a bit more than I would like to pay. Is there a do it mold that works well for the heads that has a bit more cost effective hook in a 3/0 or so that is good for a 3.5 to 4.5 inch Swimbait for this application? In my mind, the perfect hook would be bendable so you can pull a hang loose with braid, yet strong enough to handle a good fish. I also like a small weighted jig, down to 1/4 ounce just to keep the total weight of this whole business down. thanks....

So what are you guys using to crimp the sleeves? Do they ever slip or do they hold tight after placement? Sorry for all the questions and thanks for the help.

Jaw, I've fished a little bit. I went to fork a few weeks ago and it was tuff down there. I ended up leaving after a day and a half and stopped by Monticello in Mount Pleasant. It's a cooling lake for a power plant and the fishing was better. Water temps close to 20 degrees warmer than Fork. Caught a 7 and two 5's . Also catching a few over at Hamilton on arig.

Those are really nice guys. What size wire do you guys like most and what size blades work the best?

Never really saw any of Bojon's stuff but I know he was well respected in our community. Sad anytime one of our members passes. May God keep Bojon and give peace to his family...

Make your own laminate plate. Here's a very good discussion on it here. http://custombaits.com/index.php?topic=4940.0

If the orientation is right, you can hand pour your bellies, close the mold, then shoot your top color. There is another solution too.

Here's a BT 631. Very similar. http://www.basstackle.com/631_Ring_Swimbait_p/631-1-1.htm

Hi Army, I'm an old Army guy myself. 35K. I heat 1:30, :30, :30 stirring in between. Have molds already screwed, clamped before you start. If I know my recipe, add colorant before I heat. After you get plastic to 350 and it cools to 320 or so add glitter. Too hot a plastic can damage glitter. Several ways to heat injector but I do it in that last 30 second plastisol heat with a propane torch. It's really nice to have the torch that lights by itself when you pull the trigger. Good luck with it all and try not to breath the plastisol fumes.... I don't use softener unless I have a small bait and I want lots of action. Softener makes your baits less durable. They tear easily thus you'll lose more.

Hey Dutch, it's still here. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/topic/24628-powder-paint-while-i-wait-for-cadman-to-answer/

Can you show a pic of a skirt made with the Lumaflex?