thesheriff1

I ended up going the route of twisting wire. I made a loop in one end of a wire shaft, threaded through the tail section. Then bent the wire in a closed loop around the back screw eye. Pulled tight and bent another loop for the last hook hanger. This was the most bullet proof option I could think of. Thanks for the replies guys!

Guys - I am looking to start making some jointed muskie cranks. I've been making some unjointed ones for the past few winters with screw eyes. My question is, how do you go about connecting the joints? I know they sell the magnum screw eyes that are open and then you can squeeze closed around the other screw eye at the joint. But I was thinking of making the tail section thru-wire for added piece of mind. Any tips/tricks or things I should know going in? Thanks in advance!

I've been sprinkling the glitter onto a half cured coat of epoxy and smoothing with my finger, if that helps clarify

Guys - I have been making some lures with Glitter layered into the epoxy for some time now, and keep running into a problem with "pinholes". I'd best explain it as small parts of glitter that I can't get fully covered in epoxy, and then when I paint over them they show as a small bump. I've tried to smooth them out, and even shave them off with little luck. I have just kept layering epoxy over until smooth, but then run into a bait that has 7+ coats of epoxy and I think that's a little excessive. I'll try and get a picture after work... What is the best way to get rid of/avoid these??

Hey guys - I recently talked with a well respected guy in the lure making community, and he mentioned how etex was extremely toxic. Can anyone else back this up? I make a good number of lures each year, and each one has 5-7 coats of etex...makes me wonder...

Thanks for the guidance - I'm guessing it's a combination of old Etex (bought a year ago) and the ratio/curing temp.

I always just add 1 more gram of hardener when on the scale. So like 9g epoxy and 10g hardener. On average I mix it for 4-5 minutes (I'm careful to wipe the stir stick and remix). I only do 2 baits at a time so there's not a ton of epoxy to begin with, it fills a little condiment cup about 1/2 full. When it is close to the 5 minute mark there are lots of small air bubbles and it almost becomes frothy. It's always looked like this for me, can this be right? I'd say average cure temp would be 65 degrees...

Hey guys - Finishing up some baits and am having trouble with Etex still being tacky after a couple days. I know this has been discussed before, but I wanted to share my process to see if you guys and see any flaws in my system. I always put the two containers in warm water before mixing, and then mix thoroughly. When I measure out I always use a touch more hardener, so it's not quite an exact 1:1 ratio. Brush the epoxy on and breathe on the lure to get rid of the air bubbles and then put on the rotisserie. After 10-15 minutes I take a torch to them and try and remove any other air bubbles that may have popped up. Then the lures rotate for a day or so....will letting the lures sit untouched for a few days help the hardening process? Sometimes they turn out hard, other times it's tacky...pretty hit or miss. I never cover the rotisserie to protect from dust or anything, I do run a dehumidifier in the basement. I was thinking of trying out some True Coat in place of Etex, anyone have experience with it? Any tips are appreciated!

They are made from Mahogany, I was able to find a bunch of 1 1/4" scraps for free from a local business. I have the ballast's added, so hopefully I can try them out tonight or tomorrow and let you guys know how they worked!

The baits are about 12"OAL, with the body being about 9.5" and they weight 6-7oz The grey one did run a bit better that the gold/blue. I purposely put different hooks on them to see how it affected action, the hooks on the grey lure are a bit heavier too. So I'm optimistic about the ballast being the issue Thanks for the replies guys - this site is awesome!

Here are the baits in question. The lip and line tie all look to be right on the center line, along with the hook hangers. They didn't run as well as expected, but I am still a newbie in this hobby. Hillbilly - It sits in the water nicely, the front 1/3 of the bait is just below the water and the other 2/3 the back is just out of the water. It also appears to be sitting upright as it should.

Hey guys - Hoping I can get some help here... Tried a couple of new muskie lures I made and they run a bit off. They seem to want to "tip" on their side when I increase speed on the retrieve, and end up almost blowing out of the water. I didn't put any ballast weight in these, and the line tie is in the middle of the lip. If I added some ballast weight and put the line tie closer to the body of the lure would this help out? Maybe a slightly longer lip? I know this isn't a great amount of info to go off of, but I'm going to start some more and experiment. The above is what I thought would help the problem, am I on the right track?? Thanks **I have some slow motion videos, but they are on my phone. Is it possible to upload a video to this post??

Hey guys - I'm somewhat new to making crankbaits. I've made a few with success from cedar, and mahogany, but recently came across some douglas fir. My question is, is this type of wood suitable for making lures with? Any pros/cons? These will have screw eyes epoxied in them. Thanks