Landry

Thank you!!!!!!!

I am in Ontario and make giant soft muskie swimbaits (rover Baits). For fun I have started making my own hard baits. I am a rookie but you could likely benefit from my testing strategy. Here is what I did. I stuck to one lure style at a time and a Jake is a great starter. I used cedar. I stuck to flat sided lures and used wood that was 19-20mm thick. make a template so u can duplicate it. cut bait and router edges cut lip slot so it is a tight fit for your lexan or aluminum. use screw eyes and put on hooks for testing too. seal bait with crazy glue for testing.

Can anyone give me a recipe for making the most buoyant resin/micro balloon possible??? I want the most buoyancy I can get - and what would it’s density be like then -maple mahogany???... thanks.

Hey guys, wanna design some light (cedar-like) Lake St ClAir muskie trolling baits. I have quite a bit of mold making experience but have never tried Alumifoam. I hear it is similar density to cedar and tough so it would be perfect as the best wandering small musky baits are all made of cedar. my two questions are: 1. does it paint and epoxy well?I heard that it is prone to paint/epoxy bubbling issues. I want to keep it light so really only want to use one thin coat of epoxy or diamond coat at the end. I have used crazy glue to seal wood but am guessing it would eat the foam??

Thanks the Crappiest product ever. Junk. Even stinks in wood. use wood glue thinned with water or mod podge thinned or epoxy

Pour a hard train into the mold. It will come out just fine and won’t damage it after one time I have done this many times.

As your mold warms the worms will come out shinier and shinier. Pam helps too.

Super glue the worm flat side down to a container. Pour POP over top. Bake mold in oven at 170° for a few hours. Coat with two layers of 50/50 wood glue and water. You now have an open pour mold that will work just fine. Once u get pouring figured out you will have great clone baits.

Looks like a great start i learned over time that using waaaay less colorant will make your baits have a more realistic sheen and pop. Translucent color is way more effective.

I use Lurecraft saltwater for my Musky baits. Not sure if it floats. Durable. Hard packs bad and is prone to having bubbles at times but overall a good choice.

If this works I will switch to it as it is likely better for you than lacquer thinner.

I use it all the time. Lacquer thinner - found at Home Depot. Works great and does not hurt brush.

I have done this a lot. I would go for a seam on back and belly of bait. The whiskers may break off when you remove it but that won’t matter as you can always clone your mold with a resin later (which I also have done). If you have not used silicon to make a mold before - send me a message if u have other questions... good luck.

Those look great Mark. How flexible are they? Is there any chance that the sides could squeeze in and push plastic over the top - that would be equally scary.