Fern Posted April 13, 2021 Report Share Posted April 13, 2021 So this has never really been an issue for me but it is now bothering me after seeing other baits that do not suffer from this. I have been making tube jigs for a little under a year now so still learning. I typically make tube jigs that are clear bodied with a stripe of color along the back. My question is this, why does the clear section of the bait become sort of cloudy after a while. I have included two pictures, 1 of a bait that is freshly made with the clear section still nice and shiny/clear and the other is of a bait that has been essentially just curing on the rack for a few weeks now. none of these baits have touched water and I live in Las Vegas where humidity is not a problem, especially right now that it is warm. I have a few baits from another company that I was given that I have used and handled plenty that have clear sections that have remained clear. Yet my baits eventually start getting cloudy. I have some baits that I have made that I haven't really handled much that are still sort of clear so it has led me to believe that maybe the oils in my hands are somehow messing with the plastic and altering the clarity, but if that is the case why dont the store bought baits get cloudy when handled. I use bait plastics saltwater blend. Should I be wearing latex gloves when handling baits? is it the bait plastics brand that does this? if so, does anyone know a brand that stays shiny and clear even after use and not get dull and cloudy by just hanging in the curing rack. anyone else have this problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Young Posted April 14, 2021 Report Share Posted April 14, 2021 Give the gloves a try to see if it helps. Could it be plastic drawing moisture out of the air from humidity? When i first started using baitplastics though i thought that it was spongy feeling & put of more oils & than either the lureworks or the calhouns that baitjunkys sold which is the two brands of plastisol i had used at the time. After i let the baits cure awhile they turned out great & baitplastics is all i've used since. I leave baits hanging for months & never have a dull one. I just orderd 5 gallons the other day & 1 gallon of it is their hard so i'll see if it cures up as clear as the medium does or it gets cloudy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bass-Boys Posted April 14, 2021 Report Share Posted April 14, 2021 Mite be drawing a little color from the lead ? Giving it a smoke color ? Just a thought. Are the baits that do not have lead heads in them the same way ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McLuvin175 Posted April 14, 2021 Report Share Posted April 14, 2021 Not likely from gloves, hands, or moisture. If you soak the bait in water for a day or two you will get cloudiness but that will also go away on its own as the moisture escapes. There can be interaction of between the residual heat stabilizer and raw lead over time but it is usually isolated to where the contact between the two materials is. Do you add heat stabilizer or any other additives to the plastic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowFISH Posted April 14, 2021 Report Share Posted April 14, 2021 I had a similar issue with baits clouding up over time - most notably clear/smoke baits... but even noticed in on opaque baits as well... I THINK I figured it out... in my case there was (2-3) issues. One was the plastic - as there were alot of people which much more skill/experience than me having the same issue.... so there was something chemically going on. This was YEARS ago and that manufacture is no longer in business. My guess is the cloudiness conversations didn't help their sales... and unfortunately some of the issue could very well have been user error - as was the case with me. One was moisture.... I let my finished baits in high humidity for long periods of time (basement).... so that didn't help as it seemed like the baits would look better if I left them out in the sun. I think the plastic I mentioned above was VERY sensitive to moisture over time - causing cloudiness. My second issue was completely my fault. I heat fresh plastic from a bottle to 350 to "kick it over" and then shoot at 300-320 and all is good. But alot of times I cut up leftovers/sprues/old baits etc. to remelt... and add in a little bit of fresh plastic with it. For some stupid reason up to a few years ago - I'd bring this up to 300-320 and shoot it. Never thinking that the few ounces of fresh plastic I added had never been heated to 350 to "kick over". These baits seemed to cloud up faster than anything I made with fresh plastic I brought up to 350. So watch your process.... for me since I've been heating to 350 then bringing temp back down to shoot - even with remelts - I've had much better results. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEL Posted April 14, 2021 Report Share Posted April 14, 2021 Maybe the clue is strip along the back. If the stripe was made with a marking pen the color will slowly migrate through the plastic as marking pens are dyes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fern Posted April 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2021 54 minutes ago, MEL said: Maybe the clue is strip along the back. If the stripe was made with a marking pen the color will slowly migrate through the plastic as marking pens are dyes The strip along the back (as seen on the bait with the green strip) is made of plastisol. markers and pens are not used in my process. Everything is plastisol, dead on plastic pigments and bait plastic flake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fern Posted April 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2021 2 hours ago, McLuvin175 said: Not likely from gloves, hands, or moisture. If you soak the bait in water for a day or two you will get cloudiness but that will also go away on its own as the moisture escapes. There can be interaction of between the residual heat stabilizer and raw lead over time but it is usually isolated to where the contact between the two materials is. Do you add heat stabilizer or any other additives to the plastic? I do not soak my baits to cure, I hang them. I also do not use any heat stabilizer, I use the bait plastics saltwater blend as is (properly stirred with a hand drill and drill stir attachment). I have noticed that even the clear baits that I make a few weeks ahead of time get cloudy even before I insert the lead head into the plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fern Posted April 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2021 6 hours ago, Bass-Boys said: Mite be drawing a little color from the lead ? Giving it a smoke color ? Just a thought. Are the baits that do not have lead heads in them the same way ? I sometimes make baits ahead of time for myself and leave them out till I want to use them and even those are cloudy before the lead head gets inserted. I will have to do a more controlled test to see what the culprit is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowFISH Posted April 15, 2021 Report Share Posted April 15, 2021 21 hours ago, Fern said: I sometimes make baits ahead of time for myself and leave them out till I want to use them and even those are cloudy before the lead head gets inserted. I will have to do a more controlled test to see what the culprit is. Are you heating your plastic to 350 to "kick" it over... then lower temp to shoot? Could be you aren't fully cooking the plastic... this was an issue I had. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRum Posted June 7, 2021 Report Share Posted June 7, 2021 Who’s plastic are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fern Posted June 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2021 On 6/7/2021 at 2:36 PM, RedRum said: Who’s plastic are you using? This was bait plastics saltwater blend mixed with some extra tough blend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRum Posted June 17, 2021 Report Share Posted June 17, 2021 50 minutes ago, Fern said: This was bait plastics saltwater blend mixed with some extra tough blend. I find bait plastics sets up better and shines without getting filmy and cloudy on reheats. It definitely tends to dull/film out a lot once it cures. You definitely need to be really sure with BP that you mix everything at 350+ to optimize your chances but you may be better off experimenting with some other plastic. Adding heat stabilizer may keep it from degradation from the elements once it’s cured but I don’t know for sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
