mark poulson

Try using braid as a main line with a short fluoro leader. No stretch braid really makes for good hooksets.

Adding a little raw plastisol with your stabilizer when you slowly reheat helps to make sure you heat doesn't burn.

I did my first pour yesterday with the magnets installed in the jig mold, and they are still good. I set my mold on top of my lead pot while it was heating/melting, and did three runs, just to see how they held up. Fingers crossed.

Thanks guys.

Thank you. I have installed small magnets in my jig mold to hold the hooks in place. I was wondering if the heat will affect the magnets.

Do you preheat your molds?

I use clear nail polish in the hook rash path, and it works.

Ask Rick Grover at Angler's Marine. (714) 666-2628

I think acetone was used.

I have only used it as top coat. It works, but.....don't leave the baits on a wet boat carpet for any length of time, and don't let them lie against soft plastics, or they will melt.

I do use it, but more as a filler. If I have a deep cavity to fill, I'll do it in several layers, and I use the runny super glue.. Otherwise, the baking soda only sets in the upper part of the cavity, and blocks off the baking soda below. When I use the medium super glue the accelerator sets the top part of the glue, locking the weed guard strand in position. and the lower part sets by itself in 5-10 minutes. I've never had a weed guard done this way come out, as long as the hole is at least 3/16" deep.

I use ACE Hdwe residential grade trimmer line, .065"-40' spool. I drill a slightly larger hole, in heads with no weed guard hole, and use ZAP med. super glue with a drop of accelerator. If the head has a weed guard hole, I use that, and the same glue system. I have had to remove them a couple of times, and that glue really holds. I like Cadman's idea of how to hold them in alignment until the glue sets, which is 30 seconds for the glue I use.

I use weed wacker filament.

Matt, I use the dollar store clear topcoat nail polish, and it hasn't reacted with any of my other baits. Same with Salley Hansen Hard as Nails polish, or any of the other polish they sell at CVS.

Matt, it seems to me that you are going to a lot of trouble to try and use MCU. I haven't had any trouble with most other, easier to use, topcoats, like epoxy, clear acrylic rattle can spray, or even clear fingernail polish. Maybe consider something cheaper and easier to use before you invest a ton of time and effort tryin to make your MCU work.

These are the ones I use for my crankbait belly hook hangers.

Try adding more heat stabilizer.

I would not try and pour molten lead into PVC. The fumes would be terrible, and probably toxic. Instead, I drill 1/4" holes up from the belly, and use 1/4" lead wire for ballast. By using lead wire I can quickly and easily change the amount of ballast to get the bait's action and rate of fall right.

I achieved success building glide baits thanks for the most part to the generous help of people here on TU. For me, I carve the bait to it's finished shape, cut it into two section, and add my screw eye and pin hinges. I ballast the two sections separately to get them to fall level, and at the same rate. I do this with all the hardware and hooks installed, but not painted, so I can alter stuff without ruining the finished bait. I use Azek PVC trim board to build my baits, because it is totally waterproof, which lets me test the bait as much as I need to, and the trim board is as buoyant as medium balsa. Once I've gotten the bait to that point, I take it apart again. I drop the two sections, side by side, in a bucket of water, and add ballast as needed to get them to fall at the same rate. I add additional ballast equally to both sections to get the rate of fall I want once the two sections fall correctly. I use 1/4" lead wire in 1/4" holes in the belly to add or subtract weight. Then I reassemble, and make sure the hinges are totally loose and free of friction. I adjust the gap between the sections to achieve the amount of glide. The larger the gap, the shorter the side to side glide. Typically, for baits 5" and less, I want that shorter glide, so I can work them more in place without moving them away from my target area. 6" and over are smoother gliding, so the gap is tighter. I try to make sure the bait tapers from thinner at the nose to the belly/hinge point, and then back down to narrow at the tail. I also try to make my baits thicker at the top than at the bottom, so they are more top buoyant. Once you get a bait that glides, play around with the joint gap until you get the glide you want. Lastly, I never use an O ring or snap. I tie directly to my horizontal line tie. Here's my first glide bait, and it still catches fish:

Which protec chrome are you talking about, and where do you buy it?

You can also use a drill press to extend the hook eye spot so the larger hooks fit.

Close by eye counts. I haven't had the plating fail yet, and some of my baits are 5+ years old.

I just twist the prop in the opposite direction when I want counter rotating. I get my props here: https://www.lurepartsonline.com/Lure-Making/Shop-By-Product-Category/Crankbaits-Plugs-Hardware/Plug-Hardware

Wouldn't that weaken the hook?

If you need to seal/coat it before you pour your silicone, maybe try another coating that doesn't have a solvent base, like epoxy.