Flex Coat Finish

[scottkehl1282]

Has anyone ever used Flex Coat Rod wrap finish for actually clear coating their baits? Reviews?

[rjbass]

Hello,

yes, I have used Flex Coat. It works ok, is more flexible than Devcon, but if you are fishing Musky or Pike it will not stand up to sharp teeth. It is also a pain in the butt to mix compared to Devcon. Try it and see what you think.

Rod

[CrazyFish]

I have and it works okay for cranks with lips, but not tough enough for lipless cranks. And, as Rod said above, it won't hold up to the toothy critters.

[BobP]

I used it and it yellowed more than Devcon Two Ton, plus it's slower to cure. At around $2 for a double syringe of Devcon at Walmart, why not use that and save the Flexcoat for rodbuilding. JMHO

[scottkehl1282]

I used it and it yellowed more than Devcon Two Ton, plus it's slower to cure. At around $2 for a double syringe of Devcon at Walmart, why not use that and save the Flexcoat for rodbuilding. JMHO

Devcon is so heavy sometimes I think it affects the action of the bait, I figured the stuff meant to flex with a rod is probably lighter. I probably wont use it but it sounded like a good idea.

[BobP]

On a typical 2 1/4 " bass bait, a Devcon clearcoat is about .025 oz. That's not an issue since I build my baits to a "target weight" within 2-3 hundreths of an ounce. You can thin Devcon for a thinner coating with a FEW drops of lacquer thinner, acetone or denatured alcohol. I don't do it because it lengthens the cure time and I want the thick clearcoat for durability. I haven't had any problems using Devcon to clearcoat repainted plastic baits as long as I remove the old finish first (except suspending baits). That said, ANYTHING you do to a bait changes its performance. I don't repaint, reclearcoat or otherwise mess with a great crankbait unless it's on its very last legs, and I'm more likely to patch it than refinish it. A viable alternative is polyurethane. Very clear and durable polys are now available, like Dick Nite, etc. They produce a very thin clearcoat that's close to the thickness of most commercial plastic baits.

[mark poulson]

Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, but, since I make glide-type swimbaits, I coat them with Envirtex Lite, hang them from the line tie, and let the drip. The finished coat on a 9" lure weighs 3 grams. If I thin it a little with alcohol, it's a little lighter, and it spreads easier.

It does affect the lure, but, since the heavier portion of the epoxy is down at the tail, it generally helps the side to side glide action, as long as the lure is bouyant enough to begin with.

I can see that this wouldn't necessarily work for crank baits, but the epoxy on the head is still thick enough to protect the lure. I used to wrap my own rods years ago, with clear decopage stuff, and I had to keep it turning so the wraps were even. If you guys have to do that with lures, I share your pain.