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Top inject straight down into the cavity is always problematic. That being said I have an old Bears Baits mold that is top inject and does ok most of the time. I would note that Dave changed it to a side inject in later versions of the mold. I get guys all the time who think its clever to have a multiple cavity mold that has individual top sprues. The main reason is they think they can laminate baits that might be not easily molded to laminate with multiple cavity side inject or bottom inject. Some guys will swear they have a thousand molds that work that way perfectly 100% of the time and imply I must be stupid when I say that very often that doesn't work out well because the natural direction of the air is up against the flow of the plastic. Not out to the edges where you can place vents. It depends on cavity shape, but most of the time side inject or bottom inject seems to work best. The following is a dangerous test. If you are careless you can harm yourself. Molten plastic will easily burn you severely. If you have a bench vise try clamping the mold (not so hard as to damage the mold or crush the vents shut) in the vise and then try injecting from the side. After the mold is full hold gentle pressure for atleast 25-30 seconds. Make 100% certain the mold is completely frozen off before pulling the injector away. Tilt the inector up as you do, and make sure your feet are not under any part of the mold or injector. The last thing you want is to have molten plastic pour out on your feet. If you get a better quality bait that way then you know it should have been laid out differently. If you are just making this bait for your own use, don't bother with all that. Just go fishing. I guarantee you the fish don't care.

+1, 'specially with chartreuse and fluorescent colors.

Those are air getting trapped in the details of the mold. Is it a side inject molds and is that the top of the mold? I would try different plastics and see if that helps. Some plastic fill that type of mold better.

Please say hello from all of us and please tell him we are all praying for him. He has been a friend and inspiration to everyone. We can't imagine a world without his help. GO BEAR ........ We're all pulling for him !!!!!!!

Yes the air system works well and is real consistent. There's still room for error but if you pay attention it can be avoided. I don't have any of the shooting star stuff or have never used it. I use a Twinjector in presto pots or Pyrex cups. I have one of the first Jacobs injection presses and it is still in good working order. Not without a little maintenance but it's minimal. With the air pressure at about 15lbs it is like a steady stream of plastic. It does not flow fast just consistent. That would be the only machine I would let someone without much experience use and not worry to much.

Yep me too. I couldn't make an order so I wouldn't have been able to spend yet more of my money on an expensive hobby like that without it. Lol

He stuck with it dave and had many more crashes ! Then decided to learn to drive and in his own words- passed test after 8 attempts purely by luck, went with him to get third used car, 5 minutes later it was wrote off , came over brow of hill and blinded by low sun and proceeded to drive straight into a wall and hedgerow !

In the predrilled hole, I insert cylindrical lead, same diameter as the hole. Sometimes the lead would not fit, because the ends of it are a little bit larger due to the fact that the lead was cut out from a longer cylinder. This is easy to corect, you just roll the cylinder between 2 hard surfaces (2 pieces of hard wood, 2 pieces of thick metal sheet, etc). When fit, I push the lead cylinder into the hole, then cover with epoxy putty, which can be sanded easily after cure. I use this system because I check every lure as to the ballast it needs. I hang trebble hooks and split rings to the sealed crankbait, press a cylinder lead into the hole (not all the way in, so that I can take it out) then sit the crankbait on water (in a pot of water) to see if the amount of lead is the one I want it to be. If the lead is too much, I cut out a slice of it, and repeat the operation. Now I cannot imagine how you coud check the right amount of lead you need if you just pour the lead into the hole. This might work far larger crankbaits, where you coud make the same depth of the hole, every time. But for smaller crankbaits this would not work. Anyway, if the lead is loose after you have poured it in, you might try to take out some of the lead with a drill bit, then cover it with epoxy or epoxy putty. This would keep the lead in place.