BigZ

I like Senko Sams glitters a lot. I have had no problem using his stuff whatsoever. I especially like the black string glitter. I used to use LC glitter, but it turns out that Sam's stuff is a lot better! I also use craft store glitter from a local fabric place, but it is directly from Poly-Sil, everything they have is killer, I told the chick thqat works there what I was using it for and she said if it didn't "take the heat" they woud refund all of my money. I got some wierd purple holo flake I haven't seen anywhere else there, plus they have HOT chicks that work there!!!! 'Nuff Said...

Try launching from the Santa Cruz Wharf and fishing the edge of the kelp beds toward the lighthouse. You can launch from a platform right out on the wharf. You will catch a ton of fish on the edge of the beds.

I fish out of Santa Cruz, we use motor oil or rootbeer mostly, but black baits as well as white work well here. I like big zipper style grubs and U-Tail type worms. Those toothy fish tear up the baits quick. Since the regulations got all messed up here, we mostly fish halibut now. White baits seem to get the most hits. Bigger is better for these guys. I use 25lb test and a 3/0 offset hook for saltwater stuff, carolina rig with a 2oz weight.

I saw a nice high quality gourmet aluminum turkey baster at Bob's that he said sent plastic all over him and Del, resulting in injuries. I think injection should be avoided unless you have the proper equipment. My $.02....

Those are some killer swimbaits! I bet some of the "planter trout" crowd out here are crappin' their drawers right about now! LoL!!! NICE WORK!

Baby Basssmoke/blue flake green pumpkin pepper transparent brown/california blue 2 tone (kinda swirl it). Smoky Blue Shad I carolina rig or flip the reapers depending on structure. Mostly C-rig since it's all reservoirs here and barren rocky shoreline.

I use anything from 3.5" reapers to 5.5 inch reapers. as for the retrieve it depends on the depth of the water you are fishing. I like a slow fall in shallow water. I like a quicker fall in rocky deep water. the most effective patterns I have found are brown and green, green pumpkin or purple and green variants. smoke/green is awesome. I will dropshot puny 2.5 inch reapers in blue smoke. As far as rods I use a Lamiglas 6' 4power with 10lb test Vanish or my usual 7' MH Kistler LTA with a 10 bearing Pinnacle reel and 12lb fluoro and and a 10lb leader on a mojo or carolina rig.

Any reaper in watermelon seed with a 1/8 bullet pegged is my favorite for flipping tules and timber.... sometimes, if it's real weedy or shallower I like an even lighter weight to give a slow fall...

Try nova's recipe or there's the smoky blue shad recipe in the sticky, I didn't throw anything else all August/September hardly, great clear water bait.

The best salt I have found is pickling salt. you have to run it through the grinder, no big deal, but it lacks iodide, which is what turns salt white. It's just salt. Water purifier salt is similar.

I emailed the guy and he fixed it. He was very polite. It would be a real pain in the ass to TM and copyright every mold federally the old fashioned way, but electronic copyright (and internet publishing) take care of most of that when the CAD file is created (This at least covers us milled mold guys). Maybe I'll just quit designing public molds if it comes down to having everything embroiled in some stupid legal battle.

it's just a Zlizard.. That's my 2 cents.

3G just sucks in general, I have had it foam, smoke, turn strange colors and even had it burn to a crisp in less than a minute in the microwave,. Incosistent batches, maybe. Inferior product, yes. If you have an injection molder it might work good for you, but I avoid it like a turd on the sidewalk with no shoes on...LoL.

A little bird told me that Zoom uses 3G plastic with 20% salt. As for the color, that's a guessing game. 3G might work good in an injection mold but it sucks for handpouring.

I just buy the little wiggle eyes off of eBay and glue em on with pro soft plastic bait glue, to hell with glue guns.

Hopefully we can get a TU rally going somewhere between Northern and Southern California and the other western states. Maybe CLear Lake or one of the lakes nearer to So Cal, Nacimiento or something? Camping and BBQueing? Hell I'd even sport for a keg and some tri tips! Sounds like fun to me. Let's wait til the bite picks up though, only got one dink today! Maybe we can even get AL out to do some fishin;!

I use rubbermaid "tool caddies", kinda like a tray with a big handle sticking out of the top. Having to carry 30 or 40 aluminum molds is a lot easier with a handle, plus the trays are just the right size. Got about 20 something plaster molds I store in a box with newspaper between em...They work real good for dust collection...LoL.

watermelon copper flakesmoke w/ blue and or purple flake. backward green weenie (green on top) pumpkinseed w/ small red & green flake Those are the colors I catch em on in the creeks and rivers here, not much lake smallie stuff around. I try to keep the baits nearly transparent for the smallies, use very little colorant. They are SPOOKY at times.

I have a quite a few different styles of that mold. with the tail it's 3.5". I have caught a lot of fish on that bait. Great for dropshot and other finesse fishin'. Smallies dig it.

I like delmart and M-F plastic. MF costs more (a lot more) but it comes in a cool container and you don't have to mix it nearly as much, nor does it seperate. Delmart is definitely the more cost effective solution. If you are going to be making senko type baits , make sure and get softener. Avoid 3-G brand plastic at all costs, it SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS! I use MF for worms and generally smaller baits and the calhoun for big senkos and such. Just personal preference. My experience with LureCraft plastic is that it varies too much from batch to batch.

I get this crap in my email about 2x a week from somewhere or another. Anything that asks you to "verify your account" or "update your credit card" is 99% most likely a swindle. I did have to update a card for paypal, because it had expired. It's a good idea to have a seperate account just for online transactions as well. In an official email from paypal/ebay you will be addressed by your name as it appears on the statement and also they will never ask for any information that is personal, critical or confidential. If you do have to verify something you will be required to sign in to their official website and in the lower right corner of your browser there will be a padlock type icon that will display the security certificate and verification of the authenticity of the web site. It's amazing to me (I do tech support consulting), just how naive some people are about what they click on when they are on the web. I am so twitchy about emails that I will look at the full path and origin headers in my mailer before I will do anything instructed within an email.

I got your sample worm in the last batch of glitter. I made a few baits with .008 gold, the lime stuff and some black hair glitter. THey look pretty cool. now if I could find time to fish them...we'd see what the real story is. I like to try different colors of glitter in plastic, you don't use as much colorant and you can get strange color effects. As for putting it in the molds or sprinkling it or whatever, it's just a little too messy for me.

When that LC plastic burns it goes from clear to light yellow to yellow to orange to brown and nasty. Sounds like you are getting it too hot as Woodsac said earlier. do 1/4 cup at a time, it's more mixing but your colors will be more consistent and you won't scorch your stuff as often. Plus it doesn't take as long to initially cook.

Heck, if you can consistently catch fish on the baits and they help you at your game, that's royalty enough. Just have fun with 'em. Got a LOT of new and very strange stuff on the way soon...

Hey, I want some of that stuff! I wonder what would happen if I put green holo flake in green pumpkin....HMMM!