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Hello TU clan. Thanks for all the groundwork and experiments you guys have done. Soo much great information. So here she is, my first posted bait. Not my first bait. I used to make a ton of triple trout clones by pouring epoxy. Here is how she was made. PVC board blank hand carved, Foil finish technique posted by Husky- i based my blanks off of a picture and used that same photo to make the three separate graphics. one for the belly and each side. sealed with two coats solarez tail is temporary laminated plastic sheeting- any input on a permanent replaceable tail would be huge hook hangers are hand twisted wire where i live they just banned lead weights so i had to buy a mold and hand pour those too It is a suspending (almost perfect) wide S swimmer. pulls almost 1.5 ft turns with a slight roll like a sick bluegill.

Guys have different criteria regarding topcoats. For me, durability and ease of application are the most important things. Solarez is quick, durable, and yields a satin gloss topcoat unless you buff it out mechanically to a high gloss - which I don't go to the trouble of doing. Satin is OK by me. After curing, Solarez is not quite as glossy as epoxy and it's considerably less glossy than a urethane like Dick Nite. The speed with which you can get a ready-to-fish topcoat with Solarez, plus its moderate cost are its big advantages. We're all learning the little tips and techniques of Solarez as we go along and gain experience. I just wanted to get some tips out on Solarez for those who are trying it for the first time. Other guys may have different techniques, but this works for me. 1. The name of the game with Solarez is to control the amount and movement of the wax flakes that the finish contains. The wax is necessary for the finish to cure hard. It rises to the surface after application on the lure and it "suffocates" the UV chemical reaction to form a hard slick surface. Without it, the finish would remain sticky. 2. STIR the finish in the jug just before you apply it. This disperses the little wax flakes floating on top of the finish and will result in a higher gloss on the finished product. 3. Brush on the finish with an artist's brush and immediately clamp the lure onto a lure rotator for about 10 minutes. This allows the Solarez to level out and the wax flakes to rise to the surface of the finish. The rotation prevents the wax flakes from migrating to one spot on the lure. If you simply hang the lures up, you are likely to get a white blush on the lowest part of the lure as wax flakes migrate to that area. The blush will be more apparent on dark painted areas. 4. To cure the finish, you can either put the lure under a UV light for 3 minutes or alternatively, just sit the lure outside in sunlight for awhile (I use 30 minutes). It's easiest for me just to set the still-running lure rotator out in the sun. Solarez may take anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on how you apply it and how you cure it. But even 45 minutes is the Land Speed Record for topcoats. Personally, I've had some sheeting and drip problems in cool weather when I tried dipping lures, so I brush it on.