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I'm usually a topwater freak and threw spooks, Cavitrons and ploppers. 4.5" - 5" paddletails are the most versatile bait I've found so far. Work them like a jig, throw them on algae mattes (better than frogs), slow roll or as wake baits. Give bass the time to eat them then hook set! For jigging a 6/0 x 1/8th oz swimbait hook on 7'6" Rainshadow MH w/telescopic handle and Lew's LFS #30 braid combo, for froggin' a 6/0 unweighted swimbait hook on 7'6" Shimano Sellus MH flippin stick and Lew's Super Duty #40 thin braid, slow rollin' or topwater VMC Drop Dead 5/0 3/32oz just about any 7' MH with your favorite reel and #20 braid. . Had some paddletails in colors I didn't think I would ever use. Changed them into colors I would use in the (usually stained) lakes and ponds of Iowa. They work! Used several colors of sharpies with gloves on. Blended colors by working with my fingers. Set colors by scrubbing in Dawn and warm water then set aside to dry. The colors used to be Clear Blue, Rainbow, Arkansas Shiner and Cooter Brown. Which one do you like? I used #18 to catch my PB a little over two weeks ago at a community pond that is surrounded by 4' grass and wild parsnip. It looks as if it doesn't get fished much for bass Got my boot stuck in mud while bringing it in. Strained my hamstring trying to pull the boot out. set my rod down while struggling with boot, fish flopped around and snapped off 10" of my flippin' rod. Crap! What I go through while hunting for big bass. Best I could tell it measured about 22" to 22 1/2" and still full of eggs. Limped back to my van hurting but happy.

You can mix the powders with worm oil but you will run into the issue of the powder settling out pretty damn hard. Several suppliers do this now. The best colourants available like those from Spike It/Lureworks, the pigments are milled, basically smashed into a paste between 2 rollers before they are mixed into a useable liquid colourant, so you won't generally see much settling in them.

Funny, I'll bring in 8-12 drums at a time several times a year and have never had an issue getting plastic across the border. Might want to find out what the actual problem is.

Epoxy can crystalize and warming it does return it to usable condition. I find that with old rod building epoxies since the epoxies sit awhile between uses.

Good deal! Thanks for the reply, now we all know that warming the ETex will return it to a usable form.

Heat stabilizer looks to be about the right consistency for what you have in mind. Dave

The shine may help to the fish see it further away buy reflecting the light off it maybe, or making the colors pop a little more. Only the fish knows for sure.