mark poulson

Hahaha!!!

Hahaha!!!  I read it for entertainment only.  It is fun to be able read a foreign language without actually comprehending it. 

read

That is great!  You clearly have good carving and bait making skill. 

I'm glad you've had offers.  Getting your baits out there and fished successfully is the best advertisement.

Good luck.

VC,

That's a good start.  You are on the right track, and have good craving skills, but I think it needs more detailing/refinement before someone will buy it.

How does it swim?  Is a floater, slow sink, fast sink, glide-type bait?

Thanks for getting back to me.

I think it's softer, too.  As you said, it works fine for creature baits and jig trailers, both of which I have poured.  And probably for senkos and worms, which I haven't poured yet, but I think it's too soft for the swimbaits  I like to pour.  I tried some 5" skinny dippers, and they are soft.  I am going to bite off the head and use them as swimjig trailer, so it probably won't matter that much, but I am worried about trying it in my ES Ripper mold.  That bait really needs a med. plastic, not a soft.

I was going to pour some Rippers, so I tried adding a heaping tablespoon of hardener to a cup of the plastic, and it bubbled up and was useless.  Plus it yellowed.  Either it was too much hardener, or I stirred it too much,  I don't really know.  

The next batch I pour I'll try adding only a tsp. of hardener, and more heat stabilizer.  I really want it to work, but I don't want to be a plastics chemist.  It's hard enough to just pour the damn baits.  Hahaha

Muskie, 

I've used concrete sealer in the past.  It works well as long as the finished bait isn't left in contact with any soft plastic.  I think the softener in the plastic affects the sealer over time.

I solved this problem on some rats I made that had plastic worms for tails by coating the butt section around the screw lock connection with clear nail polish as a barrier.  When I finished fishing that rat, I would remove the plastic tail before I put the bait away.

I keep my rods with soft plastics on one side of my deck, and rods with hard baits on the other, just to play safe.

Good luck with the PVC.

Thanks.

Does the plastic have to be degassed if I heat it in a microwave?

Ken,

I have never injected two colors at once, so this is just from me with one injector, or hand pouring.

First of all, I don't know which bait you're trying to match, so I don't know what molds are out there.  Try posting a photo and your question on the Soft Baits Forum.  Those people know almost everything about pouring and molds.  Everything I know about pouring I learned on the forum.

If you can't find the mold you're looking for, it would be really expensive to have one made, so, if I were you, I'd make a plaster of paris mold with the baits you have left.  It won't ruin the baits, and that way you'll get an exact match.  Do search on the forum for how to make POP molds.  There are a lot of threads on the subject.

When I do a laminated senko or ika, or any injection mold,  I fill one side just below full with the  first color, clean any plastic out of the sprue opening, once the plastic has begun to firm, so the second color can go in easily, close the mold and shoot the second color at 325+-.  That way, the second color is hot enough to bond to the first, even if the first is cold.  Any hotter and I get too much shrinkage.  

Remember, there are molds for just tails that can be inserted into other molds to get a tail with a second color, and they bond because the second color plastic is hot enough to melt the contact surface of the tail piece.

I have only laminated one piece/open pour/top pour swimbait molds, and I follow the same guidelines in terms of temperature.  I used to hurry, so the first color would still be hot enough to get a really good bond, but I found that there is a fine line between hot enough and too hot, where the second color actually blends into the first a little.  I stopped worrying about having the first color hot, and I still get good laminations, as long as the second color starts at 335.  That gives me enough time to do two 6" swimbaits, or ten 5" swimbaits.  The 6" takes three times the plastic, so I only do two.

And I top off the backs of the baits after the first fill, because the larger baits do shrink.

I hope this helps.

Mark

A keeper for sure!

Good for you!

Stick one for me, but use pliers to remove the hooks! Hahaha

Good for you!

Stick one for me, but use pliers to remove the hooks! Hahaha

Dave,

Keep you head down. Remember Krakatoa. Mother Nature doesn't pull her punches when she's pissed.

I'd hate to have to face the challenge of lure making without you around to " 'splain it to me, Lucy".

Man,

Isn't it hard enough to get a bait right, without the power company conspiring against you, too???

I feel your pain.

We, in both SoCal and the United States in general, take our public utilities for granted, until mother nature steps in, so we are spoiled.

Where did the summer go? Our lakes here in SoCal never got over mid-70's, and the shad never came into the coves in the late spring.

I have a buddy who lives in Ojai who said the acorns started falling off the oaks in July, instead of September.

Weird year, actually two years in a row like this.

My youngest daughter, 15, decided to fast for Ramadan, even though we are Jewish. Several of her friends from school are observant Muslims, so she and some other friends decided to fast, too.

She gets up at 4:00am, eats, and then goes back to bed. She doesn't eat again until 8:00pm.

I think it's a good experience for her, so she will understand what other cultures are like.

Sorry to hear that. Everybody is feeling the pressure.

Work is way over rated.