Big Ray

I think you are the only guy doing that Bassinfool and you seem to be the only one that doesn't have a scratched up injector.

Ok Jig Man I will. I just need to get some hard plastisol. I do have Baitjunkys soft and some hardener. I am thinking I will just pour 5 Oz in a pyrex cup and then add two tablespoons hardener. I read somewhere on there forum that 10% hardener takes you to the next level of hardness so I am just guessing 20% will take soft to hard.

Hey does anybody use crochet hooks to make crappie tubes? I am thinking about trying a 3MM crochet hook so I can dip a 1 1/2" tube. I measured the diameter of a 1/32 lead head with a micrometer and it came out to .1245 inches so I just say that it is 1/8" diameter. Do you guys think that it will work? I never made any tubes but I do know from reading around I need some hard plastisol.

Hey Gator Baits I was having trouble with salt for a while myself and I finally just gave up on it. It is like bryanmc said your baits will come out more transparent so it will be so much easier for you to get the color you want. And if you put the amount that he mentioned you will get a perfect sink rate similar to a real Senko. So I say even if you get the salt and you do get the sink you want down I would not just forget about the bead blasting media if I was you because one day you might just want to make a certain color and the blasting media will be another option.

Wow that is cool! I just got some softener from Baitjunkys in the mail last week and I wanted to try out some worm oil. But I guess now I can use my softener for both.

Hey from reading the directions of that bottle you can use softener like worm oil. Has anyone tried using it like that?

Welcome timberline! I have improved so much from the help of people on this forum and I know you will too.

Hey thanks Basscandy. Its good that you have a hand pour mold. You won't have to worry about scratching a injector. One thing I noticed is that your Pyrex cups are going to get scratched pretty bad but who cares about that. And like you said about not adding salt you will be able to make the colors you want way easier. One more thing I checked out your website and I like the look of your swimbaits for the saltwater bass. I might want to buy some from you one day.

Wow Alsworms I didn't know that if you melt some plastic baits they can explode. But if he does want to make that bait he defiantly needs to either make a mold of it with plaster of paris or buy a mold that is similar. Then he might as well just buy some plastisol and colorant and do it the right way. The only thing that I am not sure of is how the heck do you get pork fat in your plastic?

Wow that is a good idea I never thought of that. I never melted store bought lures to use with my molds so I am not sure. If I was you I would get a used microwave off of craigslist. Then get some Pyrex cups to melt your lures. Then you can order some flake from lurecraft, baitjunkys or do it molds. Melt your lures in the Pyrex cup. Then add whatever flake you like. Shoot or pour your bait and that is about it.

There you go Basscandy you got three guys with experience with bead blasting media and salt and they all say the same thing. Stick with the with the blasting media for your stick baits and use the salt for your boiled eggs.

Oh wait a sec I just realized you asked how it worked not how to use it. Dang I hope someone else answers that question because I would like to know the same thing. If you guys catch rate stayed the same as when you used salted stick baits or did it go down because the fish didn't hang on to the bait as long without the salt. But then again I guess you can just add some kind of attractant.

Hi Basscandy I would use the same recipe Bassinfool gave me. It is 2.25 Tablespoons blasting media to 4 ounces of super soft plastisol. Add the blasting media before you heat the plastisol. Don't add softener to your stick baits until you know you need it or not. I use lurecraft supersoft and mine came out a little stiff. The only problem is I haven't got around to figuring out how much softener to use because I haven't been able to shoot any baits in a few weeks. But if they are a little stiff I would try the amount of softener Bassinfool told me to start out with and that was to start off with half a teaspoon to 4 ounces and then add more if you need to.

Wow they are going to start making it again. Sarah from Basstackle replied to my email and said that the original version of that mold was breaking there tooling and causing them to lose money so they discontinued it. The good thing is that she said that she is going to get the guy who designs the molds to come up with a new version of it. Hopefully it will be similar and not break there tooling this time around.

Yeah Frank my friend told me that guys are using them at Laguna Niguel lake. I know that I can just buy some and I am going try them out before I get the mold but ever since I started making my own plastics I just can't help but want to make them myself.

For sure Yo Al I will ask them about this smaller mold and if they say that they still make it I will let everyone know.

Thanks Frank I e-mailed Basstackle and asked them if they had it. They didn't respond to me yet. It sounds like you have that mold and you know for sure that it is a Basstackle mold. I did some typing on goggle and found this swimbait from Basstackle and it just like you said. Each cavity has it own sprue the only thing is its a little smaller and I don't know if I can order it because it is not on there main site like I found some page that was in internet limbo. http://www.basstackle.com/655_Tiny_Ring_Swimbait_p/655-1-5.htm It is a little smaller but I bet it would work really good for trout. They seem to like lures that size. I guess if they do have the mold I want I will have to get a twin injector.

Hey thanks Yo Al I appreciate that you tried to figure it out after I just asked you about it. I was thinking about doing the same thing. I guess if I end up getting the mold I will do like you say and either make a single color or a different color tail. I never done that before and I wonder how that compares to a top and bottom laminate. And if anybody has anymore suggestions on swimbaits I would like to hear them that way I can compare all of my options before I buy one.

Yeah Bob if you look at the rest of the swim baits on that website you'll notice that they are the same size as the ones sold by Bass Tackle. And thanks Yo Al I was thinking about getting the 2.5 Thump grub mold. I think I might just cut a little off to make it 2 inches. I have a question for you since you have that mold. From looking at it I am not sure how you would get a Top and belly laminate. It looks like you can only get laminate colors side by side with the Thump grub mold. I only have a few molds right now and I never bought one that is set up like that .

My friend has been telling me this swimbait is becoming popular with the trout fisherman in my area. And that it is catching really big trout. It looked like a Basstackle swimbait mold but it is a little smaller then the ones that they sell on there website. Something tells me that they used to make it but they discontinued it. I am wondering if any of you guys know about a swimbait that looks like this and is 2" long. http://www.sierraslammers.com/miniswimbaits.html

I like that Jig Man. I just use a really long flat head screwdriver to mix my plastisol.

Yeah you guys are right I do really like that mold. I bought it when Bass tackle was having that sale. I am going to get the 4 inch one of these days.

Thanks Bob.

I figured it out. I ordered some BaitJunkys soft plastic and hardener because I wanted to make my trout worms a little harder and I noticed that both my soft and medium worms both float but the harder plastic in the runner sinks. So that tells me if the worms are small like my trout worms harder plastic may still float but bigger worms that are medium and up will slowly sink. So now I know for sure that there is no salt in the plastic of my swimbaits.

Cool