Vandy

I was wondering how GST has been holding up for everyone, especially on wood. Has it proven to be very durable? Any yellowing? How does it hold up to pike or other toothy fish?

I seal my lures with 2 coats of etex. The first coat always soaks into the wood slightly and raises the grain a little. After the first coat cures, I give it a quick sand and then apply the second coat which leaves a nice, smooth surface. So my question is this: why spend so much time sanding a lure before sealing when the grain always get raised by the sealant and the second coat leaves a smooth surface? Is there a benefit to sanding a lure with a fine grit that I am not seeing?

I have been getting a lot of bubbles in my etex lately and could not figure out why. So I went to their website and reread the instructions. This is what I found: "Mixing EnviroTex Lite® when cold can result in cloudy pours with microscopic bubbles." They recommend warming the bottles in a hot water bath if the temperature is below 70 degrees, which it definitley is in my basement. Hopefully this will help someone else.

There is a great write up on applying epoxy top coats in the tutorial forum by Fatfingers. It is titled "Trying to achieve a flawless finish." It covers everything you need to know.

Does anyone sell their baits at their local fishing shows and if so how do you do? I'm just wondering if the amount of sales makes up for the cost of the show.

Look up a Berkley Flicker Shad. Most walleye lures seem to be just longer and leaner crankbaits.

Thanks for the replies. I would just try them out myself but it looks like its gonna be a long winter.

Has anyone ever had a problem with short shank trebles and hook up percentages? I have never used them am just wondering if the shorter shank would decrease the amount of hook available to the fish.

I found this on Target Coatings website (regarding EM9300): Warnings: This coating is not intended for use as a waterproofing membrane or for long term exposure to standing/pooling (horizontal) water.

I spray with a siphon too. I just bought some folk art pearl and metallic paints and they sprayed very well at about 45 psi. I would try turning up the pressure a bit.

Has anyone tried this on a wood lure yet?

This probably isn't what you're looking for, but I just use split shot sinkers. They are readily available and provide a consistent weight.

nedyarb, Do you do anything to ensure that the ink from the pen does not run after clearing the bait?

Thanks for the reply skeeter. I just started building lures over the winter and have been learning alot as I go and of course this site has been invaluable. Having never used wooden cranks before I was not sure if a bait getting all chewed up over a weekend was normal (even so they have still proven worth the time). I expect the more time I put in the better my baits will get and the longer they will last.