mark poulson Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 Brent I've got some baits up in WI that seem to be working well. I actually painted the scheme for a guy that fishes for walleye down here on Lake Burton and he told his family up there. They get upset because the Muskie keep tearing up their walleye baits. Heh! Other than grinnel, a few walleye and chain pickerel I don't have a lot of experience with toothy critters in freshwater. Guess I'll have to break out the shaving tools from back in the day and carve out some tooth proof hardwoods. Uh, no! I know they destroy plastic blanks and no amount of epoxy can stop that. Those are some seriously big motor scooters! What is the norm for blanks for Muskie and pike? Something like a cedar? How do you keep paint on a bait? I triple clear some baits I use in saltwater and can get a good dozen strikes before the bait suffers too much but they are pretty much done after that. Plus I use a solvent based thicker paint and even that doesn't hold up. Guess I need to run a search and see if there are any threads on toothy critters and saltwater. I think you should look at AZEK PVC decking for a building material, if you're thinking of carving Musky lures. It is as buoyant as poplar, hard, strong, waterproof, and holds hardware well. Plus you can carve/shape it with the same tools you use for wood. Being able to test a prototype without any sealing is priceless. Tooth penetration isn't a death knell for a lure or a paint job. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsm7296 Posted February 25, 2016 Report Share Posted February 25, 2016 sounds like you guys are fishing for MIT students, i saw a video (i'm sure most have seen it as well) of a bird on the bank using a piece of bread to lure in minnows. They're just fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bois d'Arc Posted March 1, 2016 Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 As long as the Federal government continues to over regulate and over tax small business and manufacturing in America we can look forward to being exploited by the Chinese and other opportunistic foreign countries. Its up to us to change the way government deals with our businesses by voting for folks who will support US businesses. Don't want to get too political so let's just agree that our government is failing to create a friendly business environment in the US. I buy all my blanks from American resellers....but its difficult to get a clear fix on where the blanks originate from. I've bought from offshore sources in the past and was disappointed with the overall quality of the blanks in at least half the orders I placed. Decided to focus on a few US based vendors....all of which have been mentioned in previous posts. No regrets. America 1st! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centigrade Posted March 28, 2016 Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 I received my replacement baits from shelts tackle last week and also painted a few samples he was nice enough to send. Short summary: Little John- foil job has improved and glue isn't as messy. Hangers are still the same you will need to bend a few into place and add crazy glue to some that are lose. Non-foil LJ are clean and smoothed compared to my last batch. Pop max - similar to Preds bait pop max but lighter and larger gill slots. Plastic is very clear. Lure is lighter so it sits higher. Hangers have some sort of glue keeping them tight. Had a very nice pop. Unsure of the durability yet Gravedigger- painted up nice, swam well ripped and constantly retrieved. No issues noted during testing. Has a medium rate of fall and a supple rattle. Sample 110 jerkbait- hangers needed some adjusting but did not need glue. Seems were clean. Tested with 2 coats of etex and # 4 hooks. Very slow sink and a decent retrieve. Tracked well but needed tuning. Overall shelts baits have improved since last purchasing in 2015. If anyone is interested in seeing different videos of shelts baits in the water feel free to msg me as I have them posted on my site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 28, 2016 Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 I have never had to reglue or repair any unpainted cranks I've gotten from Predator Baits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centigrade Posted March 28, 2016 Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 I have never had to reglue or repair any unpainted cranks I've gotten from Predator Baits. No mark the glue is for loose hangers. Epoxy will form them up but I prefer to glue them first. This is information on shelts lures. Hands down I prefer dinger baits and predator baits. But the topic for this chat regards shelts baits and I'm giving reviews for those baits specifically. If you go back add read the previous comments you will see much more information refferring to both dinger and pred offerring superior baits. Is it safe to assume some lure painters would prefer 5 baits at 0.60 cents opposed to 1 for 3.00. I see a lot of cheap blanks being sold on auctions and that's the reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted March 28, 2016 Report Share Posted March 28, 2016 Sorry Centigrade, I guess I was answering an unasked question. As for your question about painting 5 baits at $.60 vs 1 at $3, I don't pay $3 for unpainted blanks, but, as strictly a hobby builder and painter, I wouldn't want to go through the time and effort to paint a blank that could fail. To my mind, my time is too valuable to waste, and painting a bait that failed would be a waste. But that's just my point of view. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northrivergeek Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 i just bought 50 dollars worth of shelts .. the ran true out of the box,, and quality is as good as any brand name.. tried them before paint.. caught 4 bass on deep divers in 30 mins lol .. so I will be buying more of the deep divers.. sometimes bass like plastic better than wood .. I don't sell my baits plastic or wood.. but do trade for others and give as gifts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Young Posted October 2, 2016 Report Share Posted October 2, 2016 (edited) Just for my knowledge, I was under the assumption that most if not all blanks were coming from another country, mainly China. I have only been painting for almost 2 months now and have tried to research this as best as I could. I have asked some ebay sellers, custom lure painters, painters selling on social media sites that are advertising custom painted baits for sale if they were ko and if so were they imports. Most if not all ( cant be sure anymore) have replied with a yes, that they were imported. Im not trying to create any hard feelings or point fingers or anything like that. Im only trying to gain knowledge of where to buy the best blanks. If most (if not all) lure blanks are imported then can someone please explain the difference in a quality blank? Im guessing that all the ones sold in the USA that are imports have been checked thoroughly for decects, that they run straight,, etc. therefore are of better "quality" ? For someone new to the hobby as myself this can be a bit confusing. I was also told that if there are blanks made in the USA that are not ko's then you would have to buy in bulk (meaning a few thousand dollars or more) just to be able to purchase them. But then again I have also been told that even the name brand lures are all made in another country and are in fact "imports" themselves. Again, you can see how this can be a bit confusing to someone new at this. Im just trying to gain some knowledge here and trust this site tremendously. Thanks and hope this is making sense. For one thing, the lucky craft 2.5 knockoffs from Shelt's and W lure do not have the weight transfer channel. They cast with the grace, accuracy, and elegance of a 450 lb linebacker in a unitard and ballet slippers. This is a real difference that you can see in an unpainted blank. However your customers will not be able to see it once you paint the baits. There are other sources that sell a much higher quality blank with the wt channel. Some suppliers offer these blanks with several different rattle systems.Their weights are spot on. I venture to say that their knockoffs are as good or in some cases better than the origionals. I take that as a sign of quality in the rest of their blanks as well - good or bad. The higher quality suppliers are the places that get my business. That being said, not all blanks are available from these suppliers. W lure (and others) sells / sold some excellent blanks. If you do business with a supplier who perhaps cuts corners, you have a responsibility to test each and every one you sell to make sure it passes muster. Edited October 2, 2016 by Chuck Young 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northrivergeek Posted October 9, 2016 Report Share Posted October 9, 2016 I have bought from shelts.. been happy with the blanks Ive received ..all good quality, bought 100 blanks so far, but you can get most of his from http://cedarrunoutdoors.com/unpainted-blanks/ for same or close to same cost ..they import from china and ship from store in VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougarftd Posted October 12, 2016 Report Share Posted October 12, 2016 I am not going to lie, this forum is like beating a dead horse. People will order from only who or what they know. I would rather choose quality over cost. All I know is that Predator, Unpainted, Dakota, Get Bit, and Dinger have great quality. I don't mean to leave any suppliers out, I just haven't ordered from any others or if they weren't mentioned, i have ordered from them and don't think quality is in their vocabulary. I agree, I thought if you could get a variety of quality baits (key on quality) that people would be willing to pay a little extra...ultimately cheap wins out. Makes it difficult to compete with. I ordered some baits from the individual...wanted to see how they could sell so cheap. I received them and found out. I would use them for personal use but would not sell them. I pay more at my cost than he charges retail. He sells a lot so more power to him. Mine are not perfect but we try as does Dinger and others mentioned. Thanks 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW Lures Posted October 12, 2016 Report Share Posted October 12, 2016 (edited) I will state this opinion that I have stated many times, + one more. These baits that sell cheaper then the above mentioned, if you buy these you have a outstanding chance of getting just that.....cheap!! The above mentioned suppliers fish what they sell. That to me makes up the difference plus some in price. I have bought from some of them. I have never had a issue. I have bought from other suppliers and got frustrated. Frustrated...no issues...you know where I go. JMO Yep you may get lucky, but the odds will catch up with you. It got me. Dale Edited October 12, 2016 by DaleSW 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
