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Yes, if you are using a hard proto bait. You can make a "base" inside the mold box using the same clay and pour the mold in halves, much as you described. I used a similar set-up to make a 2 part mold for making wiggle warts (actually 2 molds for each half of a wart). Should be able to modify for a soft master as well...pour as if pouring an open mold, then slice thru the mold material to the side of the imbedded bait to create the area of the seam.

In the basement or garage with a dremel. Do It mostly lacks imagination with respect to spinnerbait molds. I'm sure there are a few people making them from Durhams or RTV as well.

Not sure of their int'l shipping policies (I guess Canada counts) but I buy from these links: http://www.shopmaninc.com/products.html http://www.smooth-on.com/liqrubr.htm

Best wishes & prayers to you & yours. T-Rock is more or less my home lake & I have some family & friends in the area. 2006 was kind of a rough year for weather in Clever, tough way to start 2007.

You might try a set-up like the one I use for RTV molds... Get some polycarbonate sheets from home depot and cut: 1) a base (to glue your proto bait to) with some extra width 2) 4 sides...size does not have to be exact unless ramshackle bothers you Also need some non-drying clay (like silicone friendly kleen klay or similar, usually available at Hobby Lobby / Michaels, etc). Glue your original down with superglue or 3M spray type adhesive. Roll out some clay in a cigar sized shape that is slightly longer than your bait and place it along one long side of the original, allowing space for the mold material. Jam one of the plastic "sides" down in the clay and press the clay into both sides of the plastic piece down on the base to fill any gaps. Repeat for the ends and other side. Fill any vertical gaps with additional clay. Pour your mold material. When cured, pull the sides off to free the mold. You can also use the clay alone as a mold form for RTV molds. Might be able to sub something like silicone caulk or Goop as the sealer and "mortar" if making POP molds. Hope it helps.

Sim, Do-it makes 3 different round head fiber guard molds in that series. Features an FG30 size guard, Mustad or Gammie flat eye light wire hooks, and a collar plus barb on the shank. Would have to dig thru my molds or catalogs for the exact number. I bought the 2 smaller sizes (thru 3/8 or 7/16) from Barlows a couple of years ago. It is not the smaller round head weedless mold that uses the lighter guards and crappie size hooks. With the guard molded or glued in the head is basically like the Jewel Eakins jig, or locally in the Ozarks "little brown jigs". Without the guard the head looks like the one cast from the new Shakey mold, or the Bite-Me Ball heads.

Melon / green pumpkin: Brown + Chartreuse Add small amounts of chartreuse to brown and shake / mix until the desired shade of melon appears. I like to mix the two colors in an empty small container from the pound stock containers. A clear coat with clear/black flake won't hurt this color any. Can also mix the clear / black flake into the melon mix. Won't give you quite the smae gloss finish, but you will get the flake in your color and can skip one step.

If this has been previously posted, my apologies. If you have not already noticed, the new do-it shakey mold is basically the same as the round head weedless (Eakins type) mold series. Assuming you want to use a flat eye hook and not the light wire Mustad 60 deg hooks, you can use your Eakins type mold to make shakey heads. Just seal the ends of a few weedguards (on the side of your pot) and insert them so one of the ends is more or less flush with the outside of the jig cavity (far enough in to fill the weedguard channel, but not far enough to get molded into the bait). Pour your cavity, and when you pull the head the position of the weedguard should have left a tiny lump of lead where the guard would normally be molded in. If you are fancy, hit it with a file, if not, just thread on your worm and fish it. That will let you make the common shakey head sizes if you already own the Eakins type mold series.

Try the silver (Jann's) followed by a finish coat of the clear with black flake. The silver is sort of "spinnerbait" shiny before adding the clear coat. For some reason the clear/black flake changes it to a medium smoke pepper that matches well with most smoke grubs. Started doing this last spring for my Table Rock grub heads.

Right on with cure time and ovens on the POP molds if you are going to use paint. When I made POP molds on a regular basis (late 80's to late 90's) I either gave them several days to dry or oven cured them (although some will crack). A good test of readiness for paint is placing the "cured" POP mold on some dry newspaper...if the paper stays dry overnight you are ready to paint. Make sure if you use paint you are using a gloss Engine Enamel, not the flat finish BBQ grill or fire-pit / fireplace type of paint. The engine enamel will give you a nice gloss finish on the mold and your baits. It will take several (4-5) coats and several days to completely dry /cure before you can pour. It is fine for self-use pouring, but will overheat and begin to lift from the molds if you run too many batches in a row. Hope it helps.

Has anyone tried to open up the sprue on those molds with a dremel and let it rip with a large lee pot? Seems like they should not work differently than any other 2 pc mold (resin, pop, etc). Not the ideal way to pour, but might prevent the molds from being a total waste.

A big jointed redfin with the lip heated and bent down so it makes more of a wake, without diving much. Wicked on Ozark bass once they start biting topwater.

Getting ready to go T-Rock again in a week or so, and am about to make my annual sacrifice to the gods of Wiggle Diggle. Q: Does anyone have advice on how to heat and tweak the lip on a Redfin (thus making the wiggle diggle) without either 1) burning your fingers, or 2) ruining the Redfin (I am about 50% on that point)? I usually try to do it over a candle. Have heard it is easier over an alcohol burner, but I would have to find one first.

With a bait like this one...meaning very limited availability, as was the case when pouring beavers was big last spring...I have no problem duplicating the bait. Selling...probably not, as posted above, mostly so I can have it all to myself.

Before ranting, please have the courtesy to ask if I intend to sell the bait, which I do not. I saw the copies as well...Lipress, was the name of the bait. Price was almost the same as the original. Any molds I make will be for my use only. Not even sure if it is feasible, despite a previous thread on the Soft Bait forum.

There is an active thread on this lure on the Hard Baits forum. If you have not watched the video from Imakatsu you are missing out.

It's on the site as T-ville shad. A very easy way to shoot a version of the chart shad color, and works at least as well as the Lucky Craft color.

Best advice is to not alter any of the Paypal procedures for any purchase or sale. If a buyer or seller wants to vary from Paypal protocol that is red flag #1.

If you are going to skip the thru wire and use individual inserts I would form them from brass or stainless wire vs screw eyes: Hope the pic makes sense, roughed it out on computer paint. You can add your belly weight to the belly insert with this method. When epoxied in they should not come out barring run-ins with killer toothy critters. Should not be a problem with bass or 'eyes. Vary the length of the wire for weight and balance adjustments.

Couldn't stand it. I just ordered some of the 160's and the 110's off ebay. Once they are here it will be mold time for me. Will post pics over on the soft bait forum when avaialble. That thing is beyond the pale.

The ones I have are old bagley's, re-painted (maybe repaired as well?), not the copies. They fish fine and the paint has held up well. Have a B1 in sort of a gray/chart shad...looks a little like a Lucky Craft chart shad color, only with the bagley vertical stripes over it. Has been a nice enough color that I "borrowed" it for some rogues. Only thng I had to do was swap out the hooks, as received they were a little larger than I like for a square bill.

That is absolutely insane. I can just imagine throwing that at T-Rock when the redfin bite is on, or at Truman for hybrids. Wow.

I think it is mostly personal choice. You basically have to 1) cut it as you are doing, or 2) drill a hole thru the length and insert the wire (usually a 2 part affair...belly and nose/tail), or 3) cut into the belly and epoxy in the wire (without cutting completely thru the bait). I use the drill mthod on my flat sides and balsa B types, but I think the belly cut is probably easier. Have not had any of those methods come apart, but the 2 halves method is the one that worries me the most. Balsa is soft enough you can actually drill it with a bent paper clip...maybe more a "boring out" than drilling.

Do those have the plastic inserts, and if so, how did you keep them from melting shut? I've had the same thoughts about those weights. They are just a little too shiny for clear water. I've had lead and black brass outfish them when shaking worms in clear water for deep kentuckies.