Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself

[FishinMortician]

I enjoy surf fishing, and as you might already know, almost everything has to be made custom. Very few things are ready to go. I visted here a few days ago to learn something about masking off areas for powder painting. I appreciated the open sharing of information, and after experimentation, decided to come back and share a little about what I have been doing.

 

In surf fishing, there are few things more important than the sinker. I have accumulated some moulds from England that allow me to form up some really fabulous sinkers. These sinkers are aerodynamic and will carry very far on a cast. My longest officially recorded cast was 705 feet. Anyways, these babies will fly for distance, then the grip wires jutting out from the side dig into the sandy sea floor and secure the rig in place. When a fish strikes the baits, he encounters resistance from the grips, which sets the circle hook for me, then the grip wires release and the sinker becomes mobile. From there the fish simply drags it around behind him.

 

I spike four and five rods, and apply a slight flex to the tip section. The sinker grips so well that I can do this. Then when a fish hits, the rod straightens out when the grip of the sinker is gone, and I realize there is a fish waiting for me to reel them in. I know that for many of you that is a disgusting way to fish, but hey I like it better than pitching lures.

 

Here is a shot of the sinkers, with the pair on the left appearing as they do coming straight out of the mould. The pair on the right have been masked. According to what I found here, tape is the best way to mask off for powder painting.

 

 

You can see the green tape that I have applied. This needed to be cut down in width and then for length. I carefully laid it over the hole and over the slot, and then using a round object, rubbed it onto the surface of the sinker with force.

 

Then I heated the sinker with a heat gun and dipped it into my homemade powder paint wells. These use the aquarium air pump and are just like the ones you guys make out of pvc. First a bright reflective white, two coats. Then into a custom mix of clear and glow-in-the-dark powder, two dips. Then I warm it up and make sure the paint is all gooey, and using a sharp pointed object, slide it under the tape and  towards the hole. This lifts the tape, and then I quickly snatch it away and that clears the holes wonderfully well. It has to be a snatch and not a pull, otherwise it removes too much paint. Then I dip the tip in orange powder paint from the jar. Just a tad for color enhancement.

 

Then bake of course. Here they are before curing.

 

 

 

 

....and here they are after curing and with the grip wires attached....the one on the right showing the look when released and the one on the left is set in ready to cast fashion.

 

 

 

As you can see, there are four channels that must remain paint free or else the rollers on the grip wires will not pop into the recesses and stick. You can see that my technique, while crude, is effective for keeping them clear.

 

The grip wires are able to be tensioned to require more effort to release or just a slight pull to pop free and release.

 

The reason for painting is because at the end of the day, having fingered these sinkers all day long setting them back in position, my fingers are covered in a grey coating. That is right- lead oxide. Hard to clean one's hands properly prior to eating that sanwich isn't it ? I figured if it keeps me from eating lead, then that's a good thing.....and if painting them anyways why not try to make then attractive to the fish.

 

The glow-in-the-dark powder is a specialty item I obtained and it is top notch stuff. The forum where I purchased it had never used it for powder painting, so no one could advise. It works great and sunlight charges it up nicely. The glow is long lasting- 15 minutes or so. The depth of the water varies, but below five feet the glow will be noticable.

 

I also just purchased some additional colors- orange and blue for a University of Florida sinker, and neon green and chartreuse yellow for an eye catching color combo.

 

I wanted to come here and payback a little. If you can see a better way to do things, please share with me. Later I might wish to learn how to build rods and carve lures. Might as well, have to make everything else cutom- spikes, cart, rigs, etc.

 

Thanks for the assitance with the masking effort. Thought you might enjoy some of my other creations......Paul