[Rip]

the finish I like to use is called Ultra Glo.... I get it from tap plastics..... it has a longer drying process and requires a drying wheel..... stronger than anything else I have ever used.

[Sonny.Barile]

Wow.....thanks for all the feedback guys...........That is why I love this site...........I spent alot of time reading the old posts before I built anything but there is plenty of new info doled out here every day........

I think I can find cedar and some teak here but the others would have to be ordered.........what about the Hickory? I cant really find any good info for its properties on-line.....just mostly food/grilling.....which is still usefull....cause I like to eat almost as much as I like to fish.......

[Palmetto Balsa]

If you are making the lures just for your own use, then stick with what you are doing. I mean, use the wood that is working and seal it as best you can. Then paint it and the Dick Nites that Capt. is talking about it great stuff for a topcoat. The heavier you go with the wood the less the action with your baits.
If I had a Bluefish factory near by, I would love to see how many baits I could destroy in a season. I would have a trophy wall to hang them on. I might have a few photos to go with them. Might even try to see how messed up a bait could get before it just gives out. Learn to make through wire baits and fish the hell out of them. Bluefish and Bowfin (Mud Fish) are the ultimate destroyers when it comes to any kind of lures. Every time you look at those lures you will remember the times and exact days and locations where you used them. I don't know how old you are but there will come a day when most fishermen give up the hunt but those lures will bring it all back to you and either urge you to get out there one more time, or just bring back the memories that made your heart race. (if you are a true fisherman you know what I am talking about. It's that feeling you get, when it feels like your heart is pounding and about to jump out of you chest.)

Send me a PM with you mailing address and I will send you 3oz. of propionate to seal them with. It won't make the baits indestructible but you will get more fish out of each bait.

[hazmail]

Just Goggled 'Bluefish', now I understand, they are called Tailor here, normally about 2-4lb on this coast and get to about 5' long (not sure of weight) on the N.West coast. Dirtiest, line cuttingest, toothy bastards in the sea -I had one hanging off a finger once, and cut like a razor blade. A pest, that when you are trolling for anything, they are bound to finish up, hanging off your line. Good sport in the surf though and good eating, if cooked straight out of the water.
Those teeth are something, I can only imagine what a 10 -20lb thing can do to a lure, must be like shoving your lure into a pencil sharpner. pete

[mark poulson]

If they're anything like Barracuda, they are mean. I remember reaching down to get the lure that I'd removed from a 'cuda that had stopped flopping on the deck next to the lure. When my hand came down, I swear it lunged and tried to bite me!
And they're the slimiest fish in the sea. I know that slime coat helps them cut down on water friction when they're swimming, and most of the torpedo shaped predators have that coat, but it's still nasty. But they're aggressive and fun to catch, and fight like the dickens.

[Sonny.Barile]

Hazmail................my biggest blue was last year and 19 pounds...caught off the bottom with a live Bunker (Menhadden?) I pulled him up with 10 lb. PowerPro braid on a 7 foot bass rod. My heart still pounds when I think about it. When I got him up on the boatdeck he was thrashing and lunging like a rabid dog. I unhooked him with a very long pliers and rolled him back in the water with the butt end of my net.........
I havent come back to update this post in a while.....My latest experiment is with lipped 7" stick baits. I want to have a few in my tackle box for the Fall Striper run.......As far as top-coating is concearned, I am still using up my poly supply as i have plenty. Considering that these are only in experimental stages I dont mind them getting chewed up............I did do a few with D2T and it isnt easy without a lure turning device. It seems to hold up better than the poly.....

[hazmail]

Al these coatings seem to have their down sides, and these Blue fish would only magnify the problem. D2T is hard, maybe too hard- if you mix some up, and have some over, leave a 1" pool on a strip of silver tape, and in about 1 week peel it off the tape, it will shatter like glass, so imagine what those razor sharp teeth are going to do. pete

[clamboni]

Sonny...........just make sure your lures are sealed very well with something that will penetrate the wood well. If you're fishing the NJ coast, you're gonna come across bluefish, and I don't care what you're using as a topcoat, it's not going to hold up. 2ton will be better than the polyacrylic, but trust me, they're gonna chew through anything. Not even factory paintjobs last against them, and though some can be pretty tough, none of the custom paintjobs are as tough as a factory one. The only way you're gonna get a little more time out of a topcoat is to really put it on way too thick, it'll deaden the lure's action.