uncross

Will using a lure turner work with this finish on balsa cranks? I was planning on sealing them with devcon thinned, or is dipping and hanging the best method. Do you always hang from the bill, even if you do more than one coat, or do you hang from the tail on the second dip. Are you guys taping the bills or dipping uncovered?

Thanks for the information, I have read the dunk test posts now, and will try that as a starting point for the gliders. I think I just test the big cranks and twitch baits from no weight floaters to near suspending... to see which ones I like the best... Thanks again, great info...

I have made several topwater plugs in the past on the lathe. My lathe is down right now, so I thought I would make some muskie cranks and gliders this winter. I am going to try different woods for the cranks. I also have some plans from a guy in Europe I think that he sent me 10-15 years ago back when there was a tacklemaking .com forums. I have several plans for gliders, weighting and everything. I figured I would start with these as a baseline. and go from there. the problem is that they all call for beech wood. I do no have any beech wood or access to any at this time. Is there a wood that is similiar to beech that I could use and the plans would still work as a good starting point. I also do not have any way of melting lead right now. Is there a formula that would tell how much lead is in a Xcm hole X cm deep. and I can use lead weights and a scale? Thanks Jeff

Have you checked out this site? http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=25

hello, I use to pour some baits 7-8 years ago, and got out of it for a couple of reasons, one was that I got hooked on musky fishing and did not bass fish much anymore. I am now back to small mouth fishing as well, and have went through too many packs of 3 in senko's this year, so I thought I would get back into pouring this winter. It also looks like these hand injectors will make things much easier... Here are a few of the questions that I have. 1) What mold out there is the closest to the actual 3 inch senko 2) What all do I need for injecting. (I am aware of plastic, salt, glitter, softner, sent.) 3) If I buy molds from different companies, do I have to buy seperate injectors, or will one work with different brands. ' 4) I have a 5.25" stick mold from del or bobs, I don't remember. I probably won't use this one since I now usually use 3 and 4 inch senkos. Would I be able to sell this for any amount of money. 5)Seems like there is a lot more plastic choices than there use to be, I will probably be using the microwave, Is there a brand that is easier to work with than any of the others? I think I used ozark in the past. That is all I can think of right now Thanks Jeff

Thanks, the diving lips on these were anchored with pins. Do you twist the wire or anything, or does the epoxy just keep it from pulling out? I also found these videos from the other site... http://www.youtube.com/user/gthem1#p/a/u/2/LsRDGgXnWbU and http://www.youtube.com/user/gthem1#p/a/u/1/hJSdUvPqeTA This process looks pretty easy also, if I could figure out how to make one of those boring rods.

Thanks, I could not find any of the Newman baits online. Here is the closest thing I could find. http://s2.postimage.org/r7htwl35v/IMG_3327.jpg. I did some searches on here but could not find exactly what I was talking about. The bait appears to have screw eyes in the tail and belly for hooks, not thru wire, harness style. The lip has the wire going through it and into a hole drilled under the lip. My question is how are they securing it in, if it is not wired all the way through. I would think this would be a lot easier to do for me if I can figure it out, than doing the whole thru wire process of cutting the blank in half and putting the wire in, glue it back together ect... Thanks <BR><BR>I am also reading through hundreds of post on this site <A href="http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=25">http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=25</A> to try to find out

I stopped by a local outfitter store today while traveling to a work location and noticed some musky crank baits that I had never seen before. They had what appeared to be Newman written down the back of them. I asked the guy if they were made local and he said no, they come from Penn. I do some woodworking have tinkered with some lures in the past, so I examined the lure over and could could see where the lure had been weighted. The diving bill had the wire coming up through it, but the hooks appeared to be on screw eyes and not through wire. I asked the guy what the bait was made of and he said balsa. I tried finding some info on these online but not much out there. They appear to be similar to a tuff shad. they look similar to these, These are Baker Baits. They are made from cedar, which makes me wonder if the newman ones are also. How do you do the line ties like this? Are they twisted and epoxied in? If not thur wire then how does this hold up to muskies. I would like to learn to make my own cranks for my use, I am not trying to steal or expsose any lure making secrets, If this is one, I would be asking the same questions if I was purchasing one of these. Any suggestions? Thanks