Hoist-N-Hawgs

Hi guys, a ton of good info here. I've only been making plugs for one season, but have done repaints on Slammers and Rago Rats for a few years now, yet never sealed the wood prior to repainting. I've had no complaints so far and the plugs I've made for myself have held up wonderfully. If a plug gets hook rash I just repaint and reseal with a 2-3 coats of Etech light. I only do water based hand paints, then sealed w/2-3 finish coats of the Etech light. From what I've experienced over the past 2 years the results seem to work just fine. Being an amateur I'm sure I'm making mistakes, but once you seal the the final job with Etech does it really matter if I'm not sealing the wood prior to painting? I'll be using Basswood to replicate the plug in a few different patterns this time around. I have no idea what type of wood I used last year because they were just blanks I received in a trade.

GREAT INFO THANKS FOR SHARING!

Thanks abunch for the help and advice. I guess I'll just have to keep tinkering until I get it right. Thanks for the links as well.

Sorry, I tried to delete the fish pics once I realized they aren't allowed in this section, but it was to late.

Hi guys and gals, new to the forum. Last winter I hand carved and hand painted a to water plug so I wouldn't go nuts throughout the hard water season. I put a prop on the back but it sticks to the body at slow speed retrieves. I've trid leaving more space between the prop, as well as placing a small cup or bead between the body but that hasn't helped. She still catches fish, but I'd love to figure out how to get the prop to spin at low speed retrieves. Here's a few pic's of the plug and the fish she's caught. Thanks in advance for your advice.