canuck

knipex has several sizes of round nose pliers which handle small jewellery taper upwards to .050. Check out there web site. Good german made steel.. strong box joint which keeps the pliers straight under pressure of bending wire. Note each model will allow a minimun round diameter bend . Match that to the tackle you are wanting to make. Hope this helps.

Since I have had no feed back on this by members I contacted do-it directly and had my questions / curiosity quenched. The 2190 will not work for me. A pic from do-it showing the hook in mold really put that question to rest. Thanks to all and a shout out to the staff at do-it. Great customer service. Yours in fishing and lure building. Canuck

Hi guys. Was wondering if I could use the eagle claw 2190 hooks with my Gary Yamamoto swim jig mold as a cheaper alternative to the Gamakatsu 474 v eye hook? Any wire gauge difference between the two? Would there be enough shank to accommodate the bait keeper lead before the bend? Any one tried this yet . pros and cons Any ideas about hook set ratio change from the bent shank hook section. In pics they look relatively close other than the bend? Thanks to all for any info and feed back. Canuck

Thanks for sharing guys. I like both of your mods/ ideas. The trimmed tail idea is nice and should allow for larger bodied baits to snug up to the head without to much compression making a better fit. Keep thinking outside the box. Cheers

August bait fish should be fairly full grown. Ask your buddy what kind of natural forage is in the area you intend to fish. How big are your target species.. Water depth and clarity? Going for trophies or eating fish? Match the bait weight and Finnish accordingly. If you spinner bait for bass down south you know that variations of blade combos make a difference under different water and weather conditions. I like using double blade combos in 1/2- 5/8-3/4oz head size on .031 to .040 wire frames. I like hook sizes from 4/0 to 6/0 and blades up to #7s. Silver,nickel, gold or polished brass anything with a big flash for pike. Pickeral can be more picky and may require smaller presentations using coloured blades if flash dosen't produce. Colors to start with black, white,chartreuse,red, yellow, orange. I like to dress my spinner baits with a trailer grub usually a 5" single tail color matching head and skirt or contrasting or give a three color total presentation. You can also try to match color to baitfish in area eg blue gill, shad, shinner etc. Stinger hooks are optional for late biters. But can be more trouble than there worth at times. Don't forget to take some jigs and grubs for bottom fishing walleyes. Trolling bottom bouncer rigs with thin fin / rapala type minnow baits are deadly in some areas around rocky shoals etc. To get more specific local info I would try an internet search on local game and fish sites and see if anyone can put you on to what is working in that area. As Canada is as huge an area as is USA a lot changes as you go north , east and west. Hope this helps you out. Cheers

Points to consider if planning on using bathroom exhaust fan. They are designed to move moisture ladden or stale air using a plastic fan blade and a cheap open or synchronous motor. Not sure how long either will last if you are using a fuel source burner to melt your lead. It will see much higher air over motor temps than designed for. Also motors used in them are not very strong to push heated air through a duct system nor do they generate a lot of pull or suction to draw air into your cabinet or hood and force it out of your area. I would suggest using a range hood system with metal squirrel cage fans and variable or multi speed motor. It would also give you some lighting depending on the style of range hood used. Another bonus with using a range hood is they come equipped with a flapper or back flow louver to stop outside air pushing back into your hood on windy days. If you are just using electrics to melt with you may be ok. Just some things to think about before you design your go if you have not already thought about them already. People upgrade and throw out perfectly good kitchen exhausters when doing renos. I picked mine up at the side of the road and built my hood around it. Added variable lighting up to 200 watts using ceramic bulb fixtures for higher heat application. Hope this helps

Sorry guys I missed the original intent of the question on a quick read. I didnt see any raw blades on site at MTO but they have showing blade attachments in sizes #7 to #11 for$11:99 to $12:99. Nothing smaller than that. I search it as I had not ever heard of them before and was curious. They seam simple enough in design. Sorry again for the mix up

I did a google search for them. Muskie Tackle Online sells them. - don't know what inventory they have but it may be a place to start.

Here in Canada the use of lead weights and jigs are banned from use in national parks and designated wildlife areas. All other water ways subject to provincial guidelines. So far no restrictions for the fishing tackle industry. Bird shot has been lead free for years now. All motivated to protect water foul( ducks geese and loons) from ingesting lead pellets and lost jigs.

The first picture looks more air brushed to me not laminated.

In winter here in ontario the inside air relative humidity drops off causing static, If you don't add moisture to your heated furnace air. Have you tried a portable humidifier in your work area? May eliminate the hassle of wetting materials before tie in. Relative humidity should be between 35% and 55% depending on outdoor temp. Condensate on the inside window glass is a good indicator if you are adding too much moisture for the outdoor low temps. Adjust accordingly. Just a thought. Cheers

Have you concidered using some sort of shallow screw rig for soft plastic which could incorporate your 10/0 hook and add any size weight clip on to the line tie point. Check out you tube videos on the subject. Lots of applications used for rigging big swim baits for big pike etc. just thinking outside the box a little.

You might consider modifying the poison swing tail jig for an underspin .It goes smallest at 1/8 and 1/4 oz Maybe use the larger stw 155wire form to carry your 10/0 hook rated for up to 8/0. May be customize a drop wire for the swivel or use the swivel part of a heavey wire leader to carry the blade. Just some ideas to consider . Ive been thinking about using the bullet nose jig for a conversion underspin but have not had the time to play with it yet. Good luck in your search.

Do it has a herring head underspin mold model HHU-4LA up to 1-1/2 oz and using up to 7/0 hook. The title said big underspins? 1/4oz is hardly big- the 10/0 is definitely big. I would wonder if 1/4oz of lead would even cover the eye of a hook that size never mind give it any stability to drag a blade behind it as an underspin?

Landry...Impressive set of high quality baits. Your finishes look very realistic and intriguing. Love the perch detail- looks like solid cheeks and internal vertical striping through op ache body scales. Would love to see them in the water so will send you an email. I hope that you have success in catching the big ones with your awesome collection. Hats off for sharing your journey and to your dedication to the craft. Cheers