Pit Bass Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Hi Guys. A lot of discussions on this forum are devoted to making soft-plastic's sink. What about floating plastic's, such as a carolina rig? Is there a perferred brand of plastic for floating rigs ? What about hardner, softner, or heat-stabilizer ? How do these products effect lure flotation ? Thanks for any ideas! Pit-Bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebler_custom_baits Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Try floating bubbles they effect the color so you will need to add more than normal but it makes the plastic float. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 I have found that MF, Lure Craft, and Calhoun all are naturally floating plastics, and all the additives you mentioned will not effect that. Other than salt or sand-type materials, the only thing that will make the plastic sink is hard objects injected into the bait (like nails or pins). If you avoid any of those, your baits should float with no problem. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish_N_Fool Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 It is true that all plastic float that I've tried so far , but that is WITHOUT a hook in it. With a hook they all sink slowly. If you want it to really float you need to use the floater bubbles( that I don't like at all it makes the bait very, very opaque) or one thing that works good is to take a syringe and needle and inject a little air into the bait. It remains trasparent if you are using that type of color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 Didn't wanna mentioned this before because I thought you guys might think I'm crazy, but bare with me 'cuz it works......... powdered glass (yes glass ) will make your worms float like crazy without the problems of discoloration that you get with the bubbles. The glass is ground into a super fine powder, so it's not harmful to the touch at all. You can get the stuff at any auto glass repair shop. I haven't used the glass in a couple years, but there are 2 shops here that used to give me the stuff for free. I think most companies would since that's the junk that gets tossed out at the end of the day. You mix the powder at the same rate as the pearl powders; very little is needed to do the trick. I actually tested plastics in a swimming pool and the results were amazing. Couldn't get a worm to sink with 3 hooks in it! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delw Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 Pit bass Calhoun makes a plastic that is just like 3'x siper floating, however its very expensive and its hard to work with. You have to have powdered colors(and not all work) You have to heat it very hot(sometimes it burns) You cant add any additives(unless they are made for it) You cant use the microwave to heat it. You cant remelt it and use it again. I have a gal here I been playing with and it will float as many hooks as you can put into it. If I ever get the process down for the people who hand pour we will offer it for sale. But until then its more of a pain to use than its worth for the average guy. Delw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siebler_custom_baits Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 Yea it is weird stuff, it looks like shreeded coconut almost. There are not very many colors availible nd it is really stringy when being poured. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pit Bass Posted February 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Hey alsworms, do you think that a guy could crush regular glass for the floating effect ? Why do you suppose it works ? Thanks for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsworms Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 I don't think I'd try it unless I could come up with a way to mix it that fine. The stuff is like flour; exactly like the pearl and hi-lite powders. I really have no clue how or why it works, but it sure does. I was turned onto the idea by a guy who got out of the business when I was getting in. I bought out his inventory and he gave me a half pound of the glass to try. It sounded ridiculous to me, but I'll be darned if it didn't make the baits float like a boat! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southeasttexas Posted February 9, 2004 Report Share Posted February 9, 2004 I don't if what i'm describing is exactly what glass product was mentioned above. But in college I competed in an engineering competition were we designed, built, and raced "Concrete Canoes." Well to make the concrete float(w/o added floation) we used "Glass Microspheres" as our aggregate. The Microspheres are small glass spheres and as long as you didn't mix the concrete too long(didn't want to crush the sphere) the Microspheres made a concrete mix that would actually float. Do a search on the net for "Glass Microspheres" and you can read more about the product. Be careful, don't want to handle too much, will take off skin and don't breath the dust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2marshall8 Posted October 19, 2020 Report Share Posted October 19, 2020 On 2/3/2004 at 12:28 AM, alsworms said: Didn't wanna mentioned this before because I thought you guys might think I'm crazy, but bare with me 'cuz it works......... powdered glass (yes glass ) will make your worms float like crazy without the problems of discoloration that you get with the bubbles. The glass is ground into a super fine powder, so it's not harmful to the touch at all. You can get the stuff at any auto glass repair shop. I haven't used the glass in a couple years, but there are 2 shops here that used to give me the stuff for free. I think most companies would since that's the junk that gets tossed out at the end of the day. You mix the powder at the same rate as the pearl powders; very little is needed to do the trick. I actually tested plastics in a swimming pool and the results were amazing. Couldn't get a worm to sink with 3 hooks in it! Chris Is this the best method for this? https://www.systemthree.com/products/glass-microspheres?variant=13268254276¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=Cj0KCQjw8rT8BRCbARIsALWiOvT9o8eyQ-_0lsi9g06GV-zPZ6Ugjcq6-ileIjUYIG707BAQg-9JGigaApb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apdriver Posted October 19, 2020 Report Share Posted October 19, 2020 MF sells a floating additive. Never used the stuff but some have said it is light and fluffy and is dangerous to inhale. Will suspend easily in air when disturbed. The system three you linked looks interesting. May even be the same type product. The shipping is expensive from your link but Amazon has it with prime shipping. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2marshall8 Posted October 19, 2020 Report Share Posted October 19, 2020 I got some of the lurecraft micro bubbles which are actually small hollow glass kinda like what is being talked about here. I'll work with it and post my results. I'll head all the warnings around respirators, fans turned down, add more dye due to glass causing lighter colors, etc.. stay tuned. my goal is to make baits similar to the z-man elaztec w/o all their negative properties and lack of fluid action u get from plastisol. we will see. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2marshall8 Posted October 29, 2020 Report Share Posted October 29, 2020 I said I would post my results. Here they are for anyone else wanting to know about floating plastics. I bought the 1 pint of micro floating bubbles from lurecraft. It's a very white powdery substance which I would treat just like white powder used for pearl colors. I used a respirator and facemask when handling it the first time due to all the safety concerns posted on here but after using it with all fans off I realized it can be handled like any powder substance. It doesn't just fly all over the room the second the can is opened. Regarding the results. I found I had to use 1 tablespoon and 2 1/2 teaspoons to 1 cup dead on white feather floating finesse worm plastic on a 6.5" trick worm mold, using a size 6 dropshot hook to allow the trick worm to float mid water column behind the carolina rig. I also attached it o a drop shot rig on a size 4 hook and saw similar results, with the bubbles allowing the worm to suspend mid water column w/o tension on the line. Pretty awesome, considering this allows ya to literally fish the worm in place on long casts w/o the worry of thee worm sinking to the bottom and getting caught up in weeds or muk, ruining the cast. I've posted a pic of a trick worm with the bubbles and w/o the bubbles so everyone can see the clarity difference. The bubbles definitely put off a white tone, so solid colors are required but when put in the water I've found the white tone is harder to see than out in open light, so I doubt the bass will care (I'll be testing). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
