Mmoore

8oz. for $150? Wow

try applying your dots with small drill bits or wooden dowels rather than trying to spray them. If I'm not mistaken someone posted a good description of the technique not too long ago....perhaps a search will help.

....and wish I had bought another brand....perhaps a delta. Don't get me wrong, it'll do the job, but you will not be satisfied with the quality......ya get what ya pay for!

Without buying anything new, you could drill out holes the diameter you need, then square them off using a small chisel or exacto knife. If you want a one shot operation, you could purchase a mortising bit (I think thats what it's called). It's a hollow squared shaped tube with a drill inside. You use it in a drill press, and it will cut a square hole.......cut a few side by side, and you get a slot. Hope that helps. Mike

a cheap one can be had on E-bay, or a lot of other places. Usually I only use it when I'm spraying over scaling mask, other wise I use hemostats. There are other ways I'm sure, but I had those items already.

I had a similiar need, but couldn't find what I wanted. But, I did have some Min-wax polycrylic around, and I did find a product called pearl EX. It's a powdered pigment that I mixed with the polycrylic, and worked pretty good. I shot it through a large size airbrush nozzel .35 I think it is. I did have to experiment a little bit with how much to add...too much and it started clogging the airgun some. I used an interference type, but they also have color shifting types too. Anyway, it does work, but the effects were pretty subtle over lightcolored areas, much better over the dark blue I was using as the back of my bait. After topcoating with that mixture, I did the devcon thing....I think it came out pretty cool looking, but not sure what the fish think!!! Here is a link to the website: http://www.jacquardproducts.com/products/pearlex/index.php

I'd say, Yup, no need to soak as long as the protective coating is there. I've stacked 4 layers using spray adhesive, and had very little problem prying them apart after shaping. I do need to clamp them together to let the adhesive cure for a bit though......did have some slip if I didn't do that.

You didn't mention adding any weight. Do a search here for "weight" or ballast. My guess is you need some lead added to the belly of your baits. GL

Does anyone have a decent source for 20 gage brass wire in moderate amounts? I don't want to buy it by the pound, or pay $5 for 20". Having trouble finding it at all locally. thanks

I have two types of holographic films. One is from Janns netcraft. It has a scale pattern on it, but the spacing between scales is quite a bit more than on the LC baits....not sure how it would look. Tap plastics also sells holograghic films in three different patterns. None of them look quite right, but might be usable. They also sell mirrored mylar that could be useful as foil. http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=251&PHPSESSID=20041109152530312928092

IslandBass, I have used that stuff for sealer prior to painting, and as a top coat for foil/mylar. It does a decent job of filling in grain marks. It would not be tough enough for a final top coat...the epoxies are far better.

First, I'd like thank all the folks who are sharing info here. As a new hard bait creator (I've made jigs, spinners, and tied flies for years), I'd be completely lost without a forum such as this. I've followed the posts about the effectiveness of flat baits for a couple years, and have heard/read some reason why that is. Aside from "being different" than round baits, it is my feeling that the flat sides act much like mirrors, creating what I'll call "directional" flash. If you watch videos of shad swimming, this flash or blinking is pretty obvious. It might also explain why rattle baits can be very effective, as they mimic this flash far better than a round bait with the same action. SO, that gets me to my question. Has anyone with experience with thier foiled baits noticed any difference in the number of bites they get between a bait with foil on a bare flat side vs. foil burnished over a scale netting? To me, the scaled foil may "look" more appealing to me, but does that translate into more bites vs the flat mirror like surface that "blinks" better?