Leaderboard

You should contact them directly and request one. They should be able to provide you with a Safety Data Sheet.

We used to put pennies on the railroad track when we were kids. There was no design but they flattened out pretty good...LOL!!! Anyway, those are really cool and it is a fantastic idea, well done!!!!

Can not answer your question about acid. But always wear a mask and have a vent fan running too!!

I put together a jig business. With a couple pros making marketing videos for the website it drew attention. I focused on selling wholesale and made personal calls to stores. The pandemic helped tremendously because I had ordered plenty of materials and they were manufactured here in the USA, so no supply issues. Recently sold the company to a bigger outfit. It was interesting and profitable but good luck was definitely a factor.

The #1 tip is to not under price your baits. This was the biggest mistake I made in the beginning. Stay firm on your prices especially with friends because they will always want more. Make sure you do not invest money into molds of baits that are infringing on others patents because you will get a cease and desist letter and then you will not be able to sell anything from those molds. Make sure you get the right suppliers at the best prices. American made supplies may tickle your patriotism but it will also hit your wallet (this is a very touchy subject in the current global politics because it affects your shipping times and security of suppliers). You said you are new to the hobby so I would spend a couple of years perfecting the craft before making it a business. Good luck.

Craws for me are the most enjoyable bait I've ever made which stems from my days of tournament fishing. At each event I fished I would walk the bank and turn over rocks in search of getting a craw or two to use in deciding which color trailers I would use for my jigs. As mentioned above there are so many sub species and color variations making them is never boring. I found the greatest challenge is imitating the molting version which involves semi milky opaque and translucent elements. I only hand pour so I have options as to how many colors I can integrate in the laminating process needed to create the illusion ranging from 2 to 4 with 3 being the most common. If I'm really energetic I'll pick up a few lake rocks and bring them to the shop for color matching since they molt to their surroundings. I put them in a glass bowl of water then start to match in plastic, I do dibble in making my own skirt material so this is beneficial for that as well. How I've always viewed making a craw in how I'm going to fish it first and what the fish is going to see while I fish it. 99% of the craws I make have a an opaque white/pink or peach belly/bottom. The colors I mix and match the most often are Amber, GP, Red, MF Blue Craw and Scuppernong. Flake colors most commonly used .015 black, orange, red, blue, copper, .035 gold, red, copper

yup, that would certainly work. The only advantage the the Plum dye and a drop of black would have over the Black Plum would be that you could control the amount of darkening made by black. The Black Plum advantage is it removes the guesswork.

I have never used this for lure making but figured I would post because someone may find use for it.

You can use an existing design as a prototype and change the dimensions or alter features of the bait so it is different from the original master. I made a mold years ago that started out as a zipper type worm and I added a big ribbon style tail to it for night fishing . It is around 8-9" long and there is still nothing like it . It's a big bulky worm and works great .

The other day I finished a few Kenai Peninsula Alaska themed fishing lures made from pressed pennies. My dapping skills still need work. And I'm not sure the blades will spin. But the spoons should work. I have 3 different ones. A Kenai river jumping fish and a Kenai Peninsula moose and bear. Though the words are hard to read. I used the older 1982 and before all copper pennies. These were polished with #6 Rouge using a dremel. They ended up about the same size as a #3 French blade. Going to find some other pressed penny machines to try this out with later this summer

Phthalates have very little to do with it. The issue will be the plasticizers and stabilizers smoking off when the plastic is hot. Those fumes are not what you want to inhale at all. If you pay attention to the exhaust system (unless you're outside you should 10000% have an adequate exhaust system in place) the fumes leave an oily residue. That residue is being left in your lungs when you breathe this stuff in......Regardless if the plastic is "Phthalate Free" (that's a topic for another day) or not.

It really depends on the type of bait you’re pouring and your presentation. Soft= lots of bait movement but does not last long due to teeth or structure. Medium= just that, middle of the road in bait movement and durability. Hard= less movement of the bait but it lasts for several catches or snags. With that said, some bait types like swimbaits often times call for a medium or hard plastic to maintain their action. Tubes is another I generally pour with a hard plastic for durability. With crappie baits I use medium or soft plastic. I suggest trying out a few different manufacturers’ plastic sample kits to get a feel for what you want rather than being disappointed in a gallon of money spent. If you do a sample kit, shoot your favorite mold once in clear then try some with color. Do this with all three firmnesses. Let the baits hang for several days to a week and see if the clarity and firmness suit your needs. Make detailed notes with dates in a notebook as you go.

I use CS Coatings Seal-Coat on my jigging spoons. Very little to no smell. Two to three coats depending if I do an initial coat with glitter in it. Dip and drip. Being water based it can also be thinned and applied through an airbrush. After a few days of cure time it seems rock solid.

From my experience with Solarez UV resin, I think any UV resin would add weight that would affect the side to side fall of a casting spoon.

Personal use doesn't absolve you from being sued for patent infringement.

Colors above and I would add transparent leaf green and a plum purple...

Welcome to TU........interesting first post LOL. I used to copy baits a very old fashioned way with plaster of paris, but nowadays everyone is so copyright happy that I wouldn't want to copy ANYTHING! Even if you say it's just for personal use. I've read this many times and that personal use usually widens over time. Good luck

The best thing to do is talk to your better business bureau, it is free and they will answer or direct you to the right place. Every state has different laws regarding business licenses.

There is always a chance to sell it to one person but not always likely. Biggest problem I see is shipping cost....List it and see is the only way.

Wow, that's pretty interesting. I didn't know that there were so many.

Depends on how much you want to defend your idea/patent if there is one. Also you will need deep pockets and lawyers to protect it. If you have all that then you can do what you want. I look at it this way if it was my idea then I would want to protect it as much as possible from others copying it.

I spent a few hours this morning gathering and organizing soft plastic color recipes from various websites. If you have any additional recipes from other sources or if you'd like to contribute, feel free to send them my way, and I'll incorporate them into a consolidated cookbook. I understand there may be some duplicate recipes in the current version, but I'll clean those up. As I receive more recipes, I'll add them and repost the updated cookbook here. Please note that none of these recipes are my own creations. I simply compiled them from open sources for the convenience of fellow beginners like myself. Bait Recipe.pdf

I am a bit late to the party but one piece gliders can absolutely swim like a 2 piece glider. My glides swim with a nice S-pattern and the fall perfectly horizontal with a shimmy. Because they sink perfectly horizontal with a slow fall, they will sink to the bottom and stand on their hooks without falling over. Making the belly thinner than the top and putting the weight as low as you can gives you a very strong shimmy on the fall. I won a fair amount of money with these baits in tournaments. Smallmouths in crystal clear water love them and will come up from 20 feet to get them. I also found this that might be used as a reference. Bulletproof Glide Desenho e modelos Bait | Homemade fishing lures, Custom fishing lure, Fishing bait (pinterest.com.mx)

Nope. Won't work. Automotive paint (specifically the clears) are designed to harden and create a protective layer over your base coat. Whereas the paints supplied by Lure Works (SB Coat, Co-Lure Coat and VPI) are formulated specifically to bond to PVC and remain flexible.

I think the spring needs to be moved 90* from its position. The weight needs to move front to back because of the position of pull movement.

I was disappointed with the short duration of the vibrations with the one I had years ago. Probably a bad idea but I was just thinking some mercury sloshing back and forth in a small glass vial in a well balanced lure might give longer lasting movements and a little flash too ?

I located and purchased one of the old throbbers from eBay. Perhaps the newer Acme Pulse works better. The original is to heavy and the weight of the plastic bait kills any vibration from the spring..Nathan

Do-it molds make an aluminum mold "Roundhead Jig no collar" Model : JNR-12-48 It has 6) 1/8 oz cavities and 6) 1/4 oz cavities . you could widen the hook slot with a Dremel tool to accept the keeper for a lot less money than having a mold made and much faster also .

I dabbled in making my own lures for a while, and let me tell you, the learning curve can be a doozy!

Welcome aboard new guy! After years of using laminate plates, I bought a dual injector as a Christmas gift to myself. My advice. Go with the best you can afford. Make sure your injectors have locking nozzles. I have the dual from Fat Guys Fishing. It takes a lot of pressure to inject my molds. If they weren't locking, I'm sure they'd shoot right off making a dangerous mess.

what do the quarters look like? sorry

Thank You for the explanation. With that said, what you made is pretty cool.

I'm wondering if there were a way we could have a network to help our international members get the supplies they need at a lower cost by having us order for them, and then mailing it to the members? It might help them save some money. Small orders wouldn't weigh too much, so shipping shouldn't be that bad, Nor would customs fees. Remember..This is just a thought.

I'm a little late to the dance here, but I not only remember these floating plastics I still have a couple of packs. There was a time when Power Worms came in a true floating variety. We used these to throw over lily pads and floating weed beds. Dang things were deadly in the summer. Then Berkley changed these to a suspending worm, even though they were still called floating. No bueno. The sunk in the weeds and with every cast you'd bring in about a half acre of salad back with you. Next up, Bass Pro had some sort of floating worms and lizards. Only around for a little bit. So what to do. Keep searching. We ended up buying these Air Worms The looked as though they were the spawn of Leggos. French Fry was my preferred. After a few casts, they would start to sink. Reel "em in and squeeze the water out and then good as new. Eventually the lack of finding floating anything is what led me to start pouring my own. Bought a couple of silicone molds from Barlows. Some floating plastics, some bubbles, and chartreuse coloring. And we were back in business. It has to be over 30 years since I used those Air Worms. Nowadays I still make my own floating worms and lizards. Although a much better quality. Only colors made were white. pink, and chartreuse. Weird but each color worked only on specific bodies of water. Learned by trial and error. This year I plan to add black to my selection with maybe some glow parts for night fishing Getting back to French Fry. I'd imagine they can be duplicated very easily. Just takes imagination. I like the bead chain idea. On the floating worms I made, I wanted one with a cupped head to act like a popper. Only had to put a backwards bullet sinker. Imagination.

what styles. jigs, crankbaits, topwater etc?

LureWorks Black Plum Dye 225 might be a better choice than Plum Dye 179. Plum Dye 179 has some hi-lite blue pearl powder which I don't think that bait has any of that in it.

Yep we all go through that but it never ends either so be warned.

Jose welcome aboard. DaveMc1 has you covered pretty well.

I have both Poison Tail molds, the Snootie mold and the Grass jig mold. They are all good jigs to use for swim jigs. Reason being they have a straight eye versus a flat wire which will always catch more grass. I personally like the Snootie jig because it has a 60• eyelet. This lets the jig run more parallel to the weeds if you tie a loop knot. The good thing about all three of these is that they go down to 1/8 oz which is what I use most. You can’t really go wrong with any of them. BTW welcome to Tackle Underground.

Thanks, I'm from Portugal, it is very difficult to get good quality colorants, I will try to order that one

The more angle out of the head has more flex and less hook set delivery. Also promotes bending on fish catch's/boat flips. Weakening wire.

That would make an incredible cicada if someone built it

https://acmtackle.com/products/pulsecod-jr

Your biggest problem (and the problem most are going to have working with that old cookbook) is the recipes are so old the pigments used in them are no longer available or have changed. That Berkley Camo colour was cooked up by Del @ DelMart 21 years ago using the pigments that haven't been available for a long time. Would probably be best to grab a pack and see if you can match a sample you have in hand using pigments that are readily available.

The angle that the wire is coming out of the head is low. Try bending the wire from the current 2-3 o'clock to about 1. Allen

It means that a size 4 all the way through a size 2/0 will fit in that cavity in the specific style of hook. All sizes between and including the numbers.

if you are very , very disciplined on only buying and making baits you would buy .. Just a few colors , a few molds , ( molds can be very costly ) . Buying 5 gallons of plastisol not just a gallon. ( its last a long time cost way less and you will need it ) you can save some money. But 95 % of us can not just do that , we need to get a few new molds a few new colors to experiment with . Before you get your up front cost covered you will need more stuff , It is a fun hobby and its nice to make your own stuff , Now how many $ 4.99 bags do you buy a year ? Do you use the whole bag up or toss the extra a side and try a different color or style ?

1st off , it will be tough to save any money by making your own baits. It is a great hobby, but can get expensive to buy all the neat molds and colors and such . Now to sell -- It is a very tough competitive market . Even tougher now that Facebook has brought in hundreds of new bait makers. Make sure you have a market for your stuff before you start. Be prepared to pay the 10% excise tax + your state sales tax if you are at the retail end . You will get a few more guys to chime in and give you more info on the Pros and Cons. You can make it work but it will take time and money . Good luck on what ever you do .

What do you want to bet there are members right now who just saw this video searching for bead chain to try this. LOL. Well, that was my 2nd reaction too. For some reason my 1st reaction was to see if I could afford a Yeti cooler.