Leaderboard

I am not talking lures here, but bait fishing. I have caught many fish in excess of 9Lb right through to 12.36Lb. Because of the deep body shape of the bawal fish, it offers great resistance to the strike action. Also, because of the nature of the man made ponds, I have to apply a lot of pressure to stop the fish passing through the aeration pipes that pass down the middle of the pond. My conclusion from my experiences from line breaks, and always using the latest in knot technology, is that the fish is capable of exerting a pull of 4x its weight. In my early days of fishing, it was all about using as light a line as possible. I almost landed a 10Lb carp on 2Lb line, almost, but that was what was necessary to get the fish to bite in the over-fished waters. In the ponds that I fish now, I have to use 30Lb line, with the drag set low, and a rod with way too much action, and still I get snapped. Fish can apply a force of 4x their weight is a good rule of thumb. Good technique, drag control and a quality rod action can minimize this effect. I have caught these fish on my lures, see my videos, with no damage to my screw eyes. I have done static 24 hour tests way in excess of these numbers, and a few dynamic tests with weight drops. Providing your body materials are up to the job, home made screw eyes are fine. If you insist on using aircraft standard 5Lb balsa then yes, through wire is necessary, but dense balsa, 0.3SG plus woods, screw eyes are fine. Figure out what you expect from your lure and perform tests. It is not difficult to do and will give you confidence. Dave

With some slight modification can easily make this into a POP mold and results will be really no different than a RTV for something as featureless as a tail. I would also highly recommend making the tail in POP first with tails. You may find out your current design doesn't perform the way you think. It can be a two piece mold.

My skimpy mold was made because I started with a hard bait kit lol I did a little messing around with the idea of hybrid baits recently but have decided to step away from it for now. Made a couple POP after reading about it and they work. I am taking on too many different lures and need to focus so it many be a long time before I revisit it good luck

Ok first tip smooth on silicone is about half the price compared to Alumilite silicone in Canada. If I remember right the last 11lbs bucket was $160 I don’t recommend it but yes you can reinforce your silicone mold with a wooden box. I made the mistake of making a mold too thin when I first started making silicone hard bait molds. Bracing it with wood and clamps made it still functional. Thin molds suck and I no longer skimp on my molds Make a test mold out of POP to prototype and if you like it buy some more silicone and make a good mold is my advice

There are solutions to this problem. 1 - don't throw earlier prototype molds away. Cut them up, shred, and add to the mix. 2 - Buy acetic acid cure silicone. Mix with water. Cure and shred. Add to mix. Dave

All good I see advantages to both but had to pick on you a little is all

This is turning into a good old Canadian debate. We just need to apologize before stating our points. Haha. Sorry I think thru wire is better. But I have also had a fish break right through a thinner wire thru wire. So I see your point. Sorry.

Yes:-) I brush it on and put on a turner which initially was the reason I went with kbs. One less thing to have to have/make. now that I got off my lazy bones and made one;-) I haven’t look back. I won’t bash Kbs as it’s a good choice. I used it on my restored pickup truck frame and it’s awesome stuff. In my experience the epoxy holds up against hook rash and bass teeth better. One coat of epoxy vs three coats of kbs dipped. Here’s one I made last month and I’ve used it heavily last couple of weeks. Not much if any hook rash. I’m an OCD kind of person I want the finish to be perfect and stay that way as long as it can. Stupid?!? Yes!!! It’s the way I am.

You can thin an epoxy slightly, without affecting its characteristics, other than it's film thickness, if you make sure to thoroughly mix the two separate parts before you add the denatured alcohol to thin it. The alcohol will bond with any unmixed components and prevent the epoxy from setting. If you add more alcohol, it will become a penetrating sealer, but it won't work as a strong top coat. I got this advice from a tech at Etex.