mark poulson

I'll be checking them out, thanks to your endorsement. I am looking for a brush for finer details. That .21 tip gravity feed looks like a good option at a good price. I know, you can do it with stencils, but I still would like to be able to free hand it, even if I have to use one hand to steady the other. )

You know, when they converted construction lumber from 1 5/8"X 3 5/8" to 1 1/2"X 3 1/2" for s4s (surface four sides) 2X4s, I had to relearn how to do layout. It wasn't that hard, except when we got mixed loads of lumber with both dimensions during the transition. But it made things simpler. Not better, simpler. Of course, metric is simpler. So what? Think of using our "antiquated" English system as a mental challenge. Enjoy the challenge. Thinking is a dying art, with computers, calculators, and tivo. Your mind is like any other muscle. Use it or lose it. We revel in our ability to come up with original designs, baits, and solutions to lure design problems, yet we whine about how complicated our system is. Rejoice in it. There's plenty of time to have it "simpler" when you're dead. In the mean time, look for the challenge. When I die, I don't want to be in pristine condition, because everything was easier. I want to slide into that last base like I was "rode hard, and put away wet"! Unfortunately, I've already lost my mind, but there's hope for the rest of you. )

I use some spray glitter in rattle cans from Michael's. Doesn't affect either the Createx, or the Envirotex.

BobP, I think it is important to know how much one wood weighs compared to another for lure building, at least for me. I know from my experience with larger lures that having a lighter wood lets me have a lure that's lighter overall, with the same action as a heavier lure, but that is easier for me to cast and work. For my gliders, the choice of pine over douglas fir can mean the difference of an ounce. Poplar is somewhere in the middle, leaning to the heavier side. Lighter woods, again in my experience, allow for a taller lure without too much more weight. On the other hand, for my triple trout imitations and other jointed baits, fir and poplar are great, because I don't have to add too much extra weight to get them to just barely float, while I get the added strength of those woods over pine. I haven't had the courage to tackle smaller balsa cranks yet. I'm having enough fun trying to make the bigger baits correctly, and learning to paint so it doesn't look like I used a roller.

Vman, Just shows how deeply fishermen are embedded in every facet of our history. Looks like an Oliver Stone movie in the making.

You might make a paper template, with the eye position marked by a through hole, so you can reverse it for both sides.

I just went on the new, improved gallery. It looks great. Funny how much you miss something that you take for granted once it's gone.

Looks great! I'm painting some tilapia lures for my friend who's going to Mexico's Lake Baccarac later this month. I'm going out and strip what I've done, and try to do what you did. I've never seen a photo of a tilapia, just tilapia lures, and your pictures really show the subtle purple overcast and tail tip. Thanks.

I use crazy glue, but just a drop.

PB, Since a board foot is 12"X12"X1", all you have to do is figure out what a 1"X1"X1" piece weighs, and multiply that by 144, the number of cubic inches in a board foot. If you have scrap, or enough wood, that's the simplest way. In real life, a board foot of lumber sold is based on 12"X12"X3/4", but it's easier to deal with whole numbers. Volume is length times width times height. If you have a calculator, you can get the volume of your sample, divide it by 144 to determine the percent of a board foot your sample is, and then divide the weight of the sample by the percent to find out what the weight of a board foot would be. Just make a table of the woods you use for reference. Actual specific gravity isn't as important as comparative density from one type of wood to another.

You'll need a pressure regulator, water trap, and a good, flexible air hose. You can probably find those things at a good hobby store that carries Iwata airbrushes. Google it. Spend your money on a good setup to start with, since you already have a compressor. Air brushes don't take a lot of air, and operate at relatively low pressures, so getting the right setup to start with is important, so you can concentrate on learning to paint, not wrestling with your equipment.

John, Chugger/spitter type lures usually have a cupped, concave face that traps the water when you pull it forward. I haven't made any of them but I've thrown some striper lures, like the pencil popper, that have a variation of that feature. You might try Googling striper lures and see what they look like. It might be a good place to start. As far as hooks go, with a 100 lb tuna, you need some 4X strong hooks, in no less than a 4/0 treble. At least that's what I would put on them. Again, go to some salt water sites and see what the people who have already invented the wheel are doing. For me, hook size has to do with line strength and rod action. Typically, the lighter the line, the lighter the hook, or you run the risk of breaking the line on the hookset. For tuna, you will probably be using at least 20lb, and probably 30 or 40, so heavy hooks are a must, since you will be able to put enough pressure on the fish to straighten out a light gauge hook. Tuna are a visual predator, and have great eyesight. Remember, flourocarbon leaders were first used in salt water. I'd use some big eyes. Chartruese and black. Lots of flash. And a green anchovie scheme, with lots of silver.

Unless you're in a well vented area, or using a respirator, or both, melting and pouring lead can be dangerous.

Depends on the action you want. For gliders, a sloped belly down from the eye tie for about a third of the length, and tail weighted so only the front third of the top of the bait is out of the water, but it still sits basically horizontal. Make the belly cross section more round, and don't make the overall bait too tall. For a walk the dog action, more tail weight, so it hangs a little more vertical. Just be careful not to make it too vertical, or it is really hard to work the bait. A taller profile again makes it harder to work. Too much water resistance, and it will foul more easily. If you want a minnow swimming action, use the same shape as above with either a bill that's almost vertical, or multi-joints. I would stick with a bill. I'd think it would be hard to come up with jointed bait hardware that would stand up to a 100 lb tuna. It would work for the first fish, but you probably never get it to the boat before the hinges failed.

I use split shot also. I drill a tight hole, put in a little 5 min epoxy, and then shove in a split shot or two. Then top it off with the rest of the 5 min. I like spit shots because I can pinch them onto my lures' trebles to test weight them beforehand. And they're pretty consistent in weight. For me, it's much easier than melting lead, and safer, too.

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Before you ruin a mould, make a two part simple test mould, and experiment with release agents and demould time until you get it right, then use your real mould. Too much work to ruin experimenting. Unrelated question. Why does my spellcheck list demold as the proper spelling, but remould as an alternative?

There is a water-based silicone available that comes out white, but cures clear. It might be an alternative. Much clearer than the original GE Clearseal. Also, a little harder, but still flexible. I think I have a tube in one of my trucks. If I do, I'll post the brand name.

I use that hook with the large hitchhiker for toads, and it works great. Better than the black plastic spike that comes on the ready made version. It also makes changing colors or lures much easier, since I've found I need to use fishing glue to keep the toad on the black spike after a fish, or a few hangups.

I just ordered some Wildlife colors from Bearair. I'll let you know if they come out okay.

PB, Are you able to mix Createx colors in quantity, and store them? I always have left overs when I'm mixing colors, and sure would like to be able to save them to use later. And.....do regular paint tinting colors, like you get in the tubes at the paint store, work for airbrush water based paints, or are the pigments too coarse to spray?

Robert, You know what they say, "First liar doesn't stand a chance". Of course, I don't know who "they" are, but I do know that taking a picture of a bridge, no matter how beautiful, doesn't compare with actually working on one. Especially a draw/lift bridge. Raise the drawbridge! To the walls! Man, I'd be like a kid again, playing pirates. Thanks for both the pictures, and the explanation. Enjoy you job. Take what you can, give nothing back! Haaarrr!!!!!

This should be in the tutorials under, "The dangers of painting and clear coating without adequate ventilation".

Bruce, Thanks for the kind words. I made the wheels 14" in diameter, figuring the added size would help make up for the slower 1 rpm motor, and that I would have room for a lot of lures if I wanted. I did think that I could put another wheel on, too, if needed, because the whole rotating spit is almost three feet long. I put two concentric rings of eyebolts to attach my lures to, so I could, in theory, do sixteen lures at a time, but....... I've found that I am clear coating the lures on the wheel, so it's not really practical to do more than four at a time. Plus, the Envirotex Lite does drip, so the fewer lures I have, the less chance of accidental dripping from one to another. At first I worried about such big wheels, but then I realized that this motor is able to turn beef roasts, so a balanced 14" wheel should be no problem. I did put an intermediate support next to the wheel farthest from the motor, to take the sag out of the two part shaft. The wheel works great, and I am now trying to coat a couple of jointed lures on it. I'll post photos, now that I know how (thanks everybody), as soon as I have them done.

I haven't had any success yet with any of them. Actually, I've only had a chance to throw two of them so far, other than to test their weighting and action before painting and clear coat. I'll keep you posted. Late winter/early spring is when the bass eat stocked trout down here in SoCal, and that's when the trout glider bite kicks off. I made the bass lure for spawn/post spawn, but it should work soon, too. The ideas for the gliders came from the Lunker Punker lures. Jeremy came up with the idea to make a super spook-type lure that glides, and it is a huge success. I just started making lures because I broke my buddy's 9" pupfish at Casitas one day, when a cast wound up on a mud bank and hit the only hard thing on it, a beer bottle. Poetic justice. I bought him a Lunker Punker to replace the lure I broke. I made my first glider to try to replace his Pupfish, not too successfully, and then I saw how well the Lunker Punker worked, and decided to try to make one for myself. It's a blast, and beats sitting in front of the T.V., drinking beer. Barely.