Anglinarcher

no

As soon as the epoxy is cured, normally overnight, you can sand with fine sandpaper or steel wool. (Epoxy cures, not dries, so it will continue to "cure" after it is painted). A wash can be done, but don't use a solvent that cuts the epoxy or you undo the benefits of sanding.

LOL, this almost reads like an article I read in a fishing magazine in the 70's. I don't think anything has changed, except the color patterns and the names. Soooo, I will toss my 2 cents into the pot. I am a fishing manager at one store for a fairly well known company. I have walls and walls of various lures. Some times the colors are so close to each other that you can't tell them apart without reading the package. It would be one thing if it was one brand trying to copy someone else's color, but often it is the same brand with super minor changes. If you are even slightly color blind, like my past store manager was, you can't tell them apart at all. So, why do we need so many different colors? Well, I don't know, but my life would be easier if it were not like this. I expect that it is to catch the fisherman, and sometimes it works, and sometimes I just have pegs and pegs of lures that don't sell. I have been known to buy the unpopular colors on clearance for myself and I do as well with them as other more popular colors. Does color matter? Of course it does. An internet check can provide information on how far colors penetrate into the water, and I don't care how fish see color because I know they cannot see a color if the light energy cannot penetrate to a specific depth. It just drives me nuts when I see a red color on a lure designed to be fished deep. Red is the first color to be absorbed by the water and it penetrates even less to almost none at all in dirty water. It is popular because it stands out and looks good to Humans. On the other hand, while blue penetrates the deepest, not a lot of natural food is heavy on the color blue (I guess they want to remain hidden - LOL). If you were to see one of my baits, they would be photo transfers for the most part, not because I think they are better but because I stink at painting. Nevertheless, I too have found many of my simplest non-photo baits work better, if I match the colors to the depth and water clarity and time of day. I don't sell baits, I make baits for myself and friends. I can't make enough to make production worth while and that is not why I do it. But, a friend is a noted "Bass Pro" who shall remain un-named do to sponsors. He has used one of my baits and won a couple of tournaments, and I promise that the lure is removed and hidden before anyone can determine that he was not using a sponsor's bait. I don't have a problem with that at all. So, back to the original question, Catching-Fisherman or Fish? Some color combinations have proven track records over history that just work, and often the combinations are not specific patterns but combinations. As previously mentioned, light underbelly, flashy sides, dark back is a winner. The firetiger color has been a proven color. The Coachdog patterns, olive with black spotted frog, orange back with gold sides are all proven colors but have lost favor with a lot of fisherman. It will be interesting to see if the Sexy Shad will join the ranks or will fall off over time. I will vote on this old thread as having mixed feelings. I know that at times color is very important, but paying attention to other details is often far more important. I know that sales are driven by catching Fisherman, not catching fish. Most of the buyers of the mass produced lures buy on looks, not function (even when function is explained). The dedicated fishermen that buy your custom lures are probably more interested in function with color being secondary. Given an option, I sell function with color explained and secondary. I seldom get that option.

"If I did" of course you can.

Gliders will glide better if tapered, better as in farther. The more torpedo shaped the better in that respect. A lipped crank bait can be either, but as Hillbilly said, shape can and will change action (some better and some worse).

Old pattern, works great. Some versions use hair for the wing.

I predict it will walk very well, but will not glide much. Most of my gliders are best if they are more torpedo shaped and thinner for less drag on the glide. Still, I like it and would fish it as a walker any time I could justify it.

Ya, Hillbilly is dead on. If you are using pre-molded ones, you will need to measure. Personally, I lean toward larger eyes for my dirty to stained water baits, and somewhat smaller on my clear water baits. Not sure it makes any difference, but ............

RPM said: "I cannot remember who told me this it might have been Travis? but he said many years ago a famous ( great angler ) known for 3 initials, used to buy hundreds of custom balsa / wood crankbaits in hopes of getting a few great ones? Don't quote me on that but that's what I remember. Now I'm not suggesting plug builders today are any better than the older plug makers a few years ago I'm just saying if that was the case a few years ago, it's probably the same still today?" I don't know if KVD did that, but I seem to recall that Hank Parker said that he did that on one of his fishing TV shows. I think that home brew baits have always been that way, and natural materials like wood are prone to that. I recall when pros would fish dozens of baits looking for that "one" that would "Hunt". With the improvement of commercial baits and plastic molding I think most commercial baits are almost exact from one to another. That made for more predictable baits, but that "one special" bait was lost. I don't do much with wood, but I still tweak a lot of my baits. I kind of miss the old balsa and other wooden baits from the 70's and before, but.......I don't miss them that much when I look at my old collection and see all of my broken baits, cracked baits, peeled baits from those days.

The question you ask is pretty much impossible to answer. There are so many variables from volume of lure (which is much more than just length), type of material it is made from, how fast you want it to sink, etc., etc. I will provide you an old link that has lure making details for specific lures in case you find a lure close to one you want to make. Maybe this will get you close enough to start. http://www.lurebuilding.nl/indexeng.html

Frank's product will work. It is similar to Alumilite Microbeads. But, if all you are using is an Owner mosquito hook, or a dry fly hook, you don't need to add anything. Plastisol is near neutral buoyancy, but not quite. It will float on it's own if the hook is small enough relative to the plastic.

Ya, I agree. I am NOT an artist. My painting proves it. But, the fish don't care one bit. LOL

That is true. UV lights have a life, just like the light bulb in your living room. Except, they don't always burn out, but change frequency.

What do you want it to do, or not do? Several years ago I added Alumilite Microballons to Plastisol. It clouds is, turning it white if enough is added. It stiffens it, so you need to add a lot of softener. BUT.... it works to some extent. Plastic floats, or sinks, due to the density. Adding an additive must change the density so that means adding a lighter weight material that does not change the overall chemical and physical proterties. Some commercial floating worms I got in the 80's were full of air bubbles, weak worms but awesome baits. Keep in mind that any additive must be inert, make the plastic less dense, and not create results you can not live with.

Wow, what a can of worms that is. OK, I have one for you. "A" bait of fond memories, and sad memories, is one I made as a 10 year old. My dad had some spinner making components and let me use them. We grew some "Indian corn" and I collected several kernels that had the most divers and brilliant colors. I drilled a hole in the center, than soaked them in varnish. When completed, it was a light but very colorful little spinner for trout. When I pulled it out to troll for the fist time my dad laughed and put me down big time. Within an hour I had caught so many fish that the whole family was using MY spinners. Of course varnish and indeed varnish from the 1970's did not protect the corn for long so two or three trips and they fell apart, but what great trips. Fond because I "stuck it to" my dad who never did think I was worth much. Sad because in my later years he would brag about how fantastic the lure was that my "young brother" made. My young brother never made a lure in his life. I think a lot of our best memories are also our worst. As for best lure, well I have dozens of others over the years that still fill my mental tackle box.

My guess is that the UV is separating. Try mixing the containers well, very well. I have some Alumilite Mike sent me when he first started to sell it and it is still good. So...... I also have some older Loon for fly tying and it is also great. But, I suspect the Alumilite and Loon use higher quality emulsifiers.

It pealed after a couple of trips so the paint was exposed. I left some lures at home in a box for about a year and they yellowed.

Sealing? NO Base coating? normally yes to get a good paint job.

Tried, did not hold up. Looked OK to begin with.

At the very least we would need more information on your bait. I tested some baits and did a YouTube video (my wife deleted my channel a few years ago) showing a jointed lure I did with just light pins molded into Alumilite White, with a foam core, lures. The pull weight was well over a hundred pounds for the two pins and the torque was well over 50. So, for that construction, a simple small pin molded in was more than enough. If I was making that bait out of Balsa, I sure would not expect that kind of result. So, depends, but through-wire is not always necessary.

LOL, that hurts I'm laughing so hard. But, I bet you are not the first. Several years ago I purchased an antique lure off of EBAY, for more than I should. I had to try fishing with it once, just once. On the first cast, the bait caster had a backlash I did not know I had, and the lure hit a hard stop. As you experienced, the lure kept on going, my hard started sinking all the way to the bottom. I never did admit to my wife that I lost that Antique lure.

Alumilite does not suggest warming it in a microwave, ...... but I seldom follow rules. LOL It did work for me, but don't overwarm it.

I have used the Alumilite silicone and their dust and it worked just fine.

I think the question was on combining multiple density woods, but lets expand that a little. I use multiple density foams and synthetics on my lures often, and it works. Like Mark suggest, it is often not worth the effort and increases the time (cost) of the lure in many cases. For the most part, the laws of physics do not care how centers of balance or moments of inertia are created, they can be done in multiple ways. I personally do not see an advantage in what you are doing for my work, but then again, new methods may create new ideas, and that in itself is worth the effort.