Hillbilly voodoo

Ok after pike fishing yesterday the wife is nagging I need to start making swimbaits for her lol Not big on the idea of open pours(might break down and do it though) and not looking to get into injections. Through google I seen examples of people making two piece hand pour molds similar to what is commonly used to make resin hard baits Anyone have experience with this? mostly concerned about pour hole size and possible issues of hand pouring a swimbait when there is a small gap between the body and boot tail

I used Etex for a long time and recently switched to KBS diamond coat

Match it with a solid top coat to protect it and you are golden.

Yes as long as the clear coat holds up it will work One of the most common paints used is createx and it is water based. This is what I use personally

I have been carving lures/masters for molds out of cedar for years and I find it’s not very forgiving when attempting detail. I find it has habit of chipping or you get stuck chasing grain So what materials do you guys find best for carving detailed masters for making lure molds?

My opinion would be no different then Anglinacher’s You can mix micro balloons to resin till it’s really thick to the point pouring becomes an issue and it still hardens. Personally I add together A and B then add micro balloons and stir it all together I have had issues with old resin not hardening proper but it was old. The hardner was partially crystallized. I still got it to work after mashing the crystals up and trying again. It leaves yellow spots in the blank where there was a crystal chunk though Only other times I have had issues is if I did not mix equally. A little too much hardner you are ok but not enough you get a sticky soft blank

You have built a fancy version similar to how I have built test prototypes for years. I just pressure fit my weights and lips with a layer of tape. For line ties in the lips I drill multiple holes in the lip and have a wire I sucre to the belly of the lure Being a trail and error builder this was my way of eliminating some of my dud lures. It is also something that helped me learn a lot about action your way looks way nice then mine lol

Never been to Alaska but from what I understand it will be salmon, Lakers, pike, and trout depending on where in Alaska you are thinking Pike I am pretty sure you know what you are dealing with Salmon lipless plugs like tomics and J plugs. Banana baits like kwik fish. But lipped crankbaits work just not as popular Lakers salmon plugs, kwik fish, big crankbaits and really anything that you can troll that looks like a fish trout small 1-3inch baitfish imitation Caught lots of theses species and built lures to catch them all

I had an idea a while back but never put it to the test. Bad habit of being a bit of a scatter brain too many untested theories What I wanted to test was suspending a foam core in the mold and then pouring resin around it. I actually wanted to try this with the idea of messing around with adding floatation to different sections of the bait as well to see how I could impact the action. But then my brain went elsewhere and I did not test the idea It might work for increasing buoyancy if you put a foam core on a through wire and poured it into your bait the same way you would with a normal wire harness. The other idea I was going to try was suspending the foam with light mono or thread.then pour the bait One day I will try this and a million other ideas

No pic

It works but lacks durability. I have only tried it on wooden lures years ago just a heads up this part of the forum sees less traffic and you will get more responses if you post in the hardbait section

KBS if you apply too thick

I just started using KBS and I recommend do small test batches till you get it right. My first two batches had issues with bubbles. Thin is the key and going beyond 2 coats a 24hr cure time is what I had to do to prevent it I am no expert with KBS but it does have its own learning curve. My first 2 batches had me debating on going back to Etex. works well once you get it right but do a few testers to start so it’s a min loss if it goes wrong

There is a lot of done from scratch lures Myself I have never bought and blank ever. I make my own by hand carving a master out of wood and molding it. After that I create a resin/micro balloon recipe that gets the results I wanna. After that I can create as many duplicates as I need There are others here who duplicate their baits by hand carving each one. They keep good records of their measurements and process and repeat it. Others will do a similar process with a lathe you can also resort to building a duplicating machine Homemade baits don’t have to be one offs at all I have no clue about buying blanks so I can’t help with that part of your post here are 2 two duplicates just different paint jobs. Same weight, size, and action

I would go with this idea if you want to keep it cheap and simple to try out lure building. Epoxy opinions are cheap but you also need a lure turner that increase the cost

Can’t say I have ever tested it on Musky but I have a fishermen in Toronto who will be testing a few baits of mine this year Both pike and lakers have the same style of following. Laker are actually notorious for following behind the bait for extremely long periods. The theory is the wider belly is easier to see drawing attention from fish bellow your bait. It’s all about catching there attention. It has proven highly effective on lakers so far. The only thing that draws followers to bite is a hiccup in the action not the profile. That’s why myself and likely the rest of the members on this forum make turns and bump the throttle when we troll

Here is what I am talking about this bait is under an inch tall and 1 1/2 wide across the belly

Just got to work when I get home I will take pics to explain

Wayne something I have found effective that you may want to try out is building a bait that is wider then it is tall. In my opinion a lot of the time the fish is looking up at your bait so a wide belly profile can help catch there attention. Combined with a paint job with contrast between the belly and sides alone with an action that has a wiggle combine with a good tip side to side. my goal is to try and get the contrast between the colour of the belly and sides to flicker. Just something I do with good results on a few baits

All depends on where and what I am fishing for. Between pike and lake trout I can use anything depth wise. Size the lures I make mare between 4-8inch usually

Not a bad idea and like you said it’s cheap

Thanks for the tip I will try it might be just enough to prevent further issues most of the time painters tape is enough but 1 out of 30 I seem to get some primmer leak through

Might want to add your location because there is builders from all over the world on here