DGagner

Sort of a related story since we're talking about what catches. When I was a kid my brother in law used to tie flies for trolling. He was an avid fisherman too. We called them streamers back then. He was very good at it and sold racks of them in area stores. I'd go over to his house asking for a couple of flies to fish with. He'd look through a shoe box of grey ghosts or red and whites and thumb through them saying 'nope, nope,....'. Then he'd stop and say "this one". Sure enough I'd catch stuff on it till the feathers were a frayed mess. They all looked exactly the same to me, but not to him.

I cut about an inch or so of plastic soda straw, put a couple of ball bearings in and taper a couple of small plugs out of a dowel then superglue them in. I drill 3-4 holes in the belly of the bait and push it in and epoxy or superglue/baking soda over it. They work good. For a lateral bait, I drill a hole from side to sid through the bait then a slightly larger one over the hole on each side down just about the thickness of a dime.. I put a ball bearing in the hole and cover each side with dimes. The dimes are flush with the bait because of the second hole drilled. The hard coins make a nice hard sound when the bearings hit it. That's how I do it anyway.. seems to work good. Here's a link to a bait I made with the straw rattle. And a link to the bait I made with the coin rattle. The rattle parts are both about mid way into the video... you can zip through if you want to see it.

You got 'em. ..

My interests evolve, carry through, wane, then I'm on to another. Sometimes they last a few months sometimes years. I was a science teacher for 30+ years. The interest developed following NASA's push for the moon. I did amateur astronomy for awhile. I am a graduate of the Maine school of Guitar making... i made a bunch and it help put myself through college with it. I also play a bit... I've painted a bit... portraits mostly. I've done a ton of woodworking, furniture and such...I've got a nice shop. I've built a couple of houses...everything except the foundation. I've made a couple of boats, and a couple of campers. Lately.. I make lures.... for awhile anyway. Oh... I fish too. To name a few.

A couple of years ago I obtained a 1984, 18 ft, solcat catamaran sailboat. I completely refurbished parts of it and retrofitted it for fishing. I have it outlined in detail at a site called instructables should you care to look. It's powered by two electric motors and two 100 amp solar power collection batteries. It stays out about 4-6 hrs depending on speed. It has electric steering using a linear actuator, among other interesting points. It's name is the Surly Mermaid Some things have changed a bit (improvements) since this picture and it's build.

Ya know... I have a small jar of cork sealer for fishing poles. Fairly pricy stuff. I've been using minwax polycrilic fo years. Sort of a fast drying, thin, milky looking subsance. It looks and works like the same stuff in the cork sealer bottle. I'd swear it's just like it. And it's much much cheaper by the quart in comparison.

I go by gauge. I use 20 for smaller baits and 18 for larger.

I cover the lips only while painting. Before that and for final coat it's uncovered. If I understand your hook hanger question... the loops right? I put a wire through the bottom one and the eyeloop is clear afterwards. I poke a wire through a side one(s) and they generally stay clear while drying. My experience is with 2 part epoxy and now UV resin though.

When I started making my own baits a few months ago I had researched the process for months. I finally felt confident to just get all the stuff I needed and started doing it. I posted a personal webpage showing all that I got and lots of info about it. Along with that is a link to a series of six youtube videos detailing the process of making my first bait. Long winded but they contain the details that are generally missing from online sources. I'm making them out of wood from scratch but the painting stuff should be of assistance. I hope it helps.

Forstner bit. Brad points will work well too.

Probably not practical for multiple baits but I moved from the alligator clip stand to some Dr. Slick hemostats (the scissor like things that clamp) and a slotted board to stand them up in. And they lock and hold some pretty heavy stuff.

With a few good products on the market made for this, UV resins, KBS, etc. Why would it be necessary? I know it's fun to experiment and try new stuff but....

I'm fortunate. I've got a 24x24 workshop that is pretty well equipped. I've made one corner of it for baits recently. I have a monitor heater that used to be in the house, then I exchanged it for a newer model. I put the original in the shop and it still works. It will heat 1200 square feet so heating my shop in about 15 minutes up to shirtsleeve temps is sooo nice. And the k1 I use costs me about $100/yr to work a few days a week there. And, it's in Maine, temperature right now is a balmy 24 degrees. I have a small tote and keep my paints and other freezables in the house.

The vids I've made on youtube show me making a half dozen cranks. All painting was done straight from the bottle. Createx, opaques, transparents, pearls, and lately fluorescents. Some are naturally thinner but they all spray well with the correct pressure adjustments. I started out thinning, because some people do but quickly found out that they worked as well and often better straight.

I make my UV eyes by placing some holographic paper on heads of screws with a glue stick that are mounted in wood. I paint them, and put the pupil in with a qtip. Then I place a drop of uv resin on the top. A big drop will make a complete half ball. A small drop will make a thinner one. After a bit under a uv light their ready to use.

When I made my first bait I made a series of 6 videos detailing all the research, purchases, processes etc. from the perspective of someone who is trying to get geared up to do this. So many videos show making a bait but leave out all the details, the minutia of things. I made a webpage to go with the videos that showed all the materials I obtained and what was needed, with explanations. Some of that info has now been modified after making baits for awhile. It would only be palatable to someone wanting this info. Probably long for any one not looking to do this. Take for what you will. The page is here.

I don't know but I can just let you know what I'm using. I've got the Iwata hp-cs. I'm using a 3 gallon compressor with external pressure gauge that I've had in the shop for a long time. I used to thin the paints when I started but don't any longer. Like I said above, except in small 'dusting' sprays, I turn the pressure up a bit to 30ish lbs and pull back on the trigger less. I get less spattering that way and a more even flow.

I use epoxy after watching an episode from the "engineered angler" on youtube. He's quite thorough, and well, he's an engineer. He makes baits and sometimes tests things. he found that epoxy has greater holding power than super glue. It was good enough for me.

When I started I purchase the 6 set createx opaque and the set of transparent. Since then I've purchased a couple of pearlized colors, silver, gold, and white, and recently a set of fluorescent. I only needed a couple of colors but cheaper by the pack for what you get. I rarely thin them any more. With the airbrush...I will set it lower if I need to do some tricky gill or fin stuff and just want to dust, but I find that keeping the pressure up a bit and pull back less on the trigger I get less splatter, especially when I first pull it. Not that experienced yet... still learning.