squirrel3495

Was thinking about this post this morning and one other thing came to mind. Make sure your ballast is only in the lower half of your bait. For instance, If I'm looking at a side profile, I would never drill a ballast hole up further than a line drawn from nose to tail. Ballast higher than that will cause the bait to lean. Just another thought.

The bait it self looks very good. My first bet would be the eye to eye joint. Change that to a eye/pin and i'll bet the problem goes away. Only other thing I would check it the ballast. My baits are more to my liking when I ballast the sections separate.

I've been using Alumilite Flex 30. I really like it so far. Just as soft as worm plastic but won't tear under normal fishing conditions like the slammer tails. Downside is that it is a honey color. I've use smooth on so strong to color it red and black they worked great. They don't make silver. Going to try the alumilite metallic powder. I put in in a toaster over at 150 deg and it cures in about 3 hours.

I bought it off amazon. Don't really know how I got along without it! 10 bucks well spent.

OK Mark, You have got me to revisit PVC. Last year I was fishing till dark, jamming home, carving, painting, rigging then pretty much right back to the lake! There was not much time for sleep. A fast build is going to be a must for this spring. I searched and read a lot of your posts on the subject. But some were from 2012-2013 and was wondering if maybe some things have change. Are you still sealing with the super glue to keep it from bubbling the paint? Looking at the vintage woodworking site, there seems to be a few different choices, plus traditional finish vs. wood grain. Is there one exact one you prefer? The s-waver you recently made had a screw eye to hinge pin connection I believe? How do you think this will hold up on a large swimbait, say 10" 5-6 oz.

I faced this exact problem. I solved it just like Mark said. Making sure that each section falls horizontal by themselves. If more ballast is in the head to compensate for the tail, I ran into all kinds of problems.

I cut mine on a table saw. I draw or trace the shape of the lure onto the wood. Then mark where I want the joint. Then cut almost half way through, flip it over, run it on the other side. The bait stays whole, then I finish the cuts after I finish shaping. That way, there always even and exactly the same.

Mark, I have tried clear plasti dip with poor results keeping the coat even over the whole bait even with rotating. Could you elaborate on the liquid tape you used and how it holds up. Skinning my baits has been an unsuccessful adventure so far.

Restricting the joint is probably a bad choice of words. Any little irregularity in the joint will make it stick, even if it only sticks every 20 or 30 glides it will happen when a nice fish is eyeballing it. I've had it happen more than once. Cleaning the joint up and making sure it is free and clean, even after paint is one of those other little things I mentioned. One of the very last things I do is epoxy in the hinge pin, this way after I paint the bait, I can pull it apart and clean the screw eyes and slots. IMO, Length of glide (from side to side) is directly effected by the amount of degrees the hinge allows the head to turn. A large degree of turn from the tail will make the bait spin in a tight circle. A smaller degree of turn causes the bait to turn in a much wider circle which is what we see as a wide glide. The bait just does not have enough momentum to finish the circle. Then you pull again and it tries to make a large circle in the other direction.

I've only used urethane and fiber tails and have not notice any real difference in action. I will say I stop using lexan because of the extra "clacking" sound it makes, but that was long before I made my first glide.

There are a lot of little things that can affect glide action. But I have found, restricting the joint to less than 30 deg of movement, making the front section longer than the tail section, keeping the bait ballasted as low as possible and making them a very, very slow sink usually produces a bait with a very nice glide that gets a lot of attention. There are a lot of other factors, but those three have had the most effect for me. ok. 4.

Just took the San Francisco Mud Hole class for beginning rod builders. I would recommend it anyone who is about to start out. I probably could have learned everything in the class from youtube, but it would have taken weeks if not months and a lot of trial and error. Not sure if I would have had the patience to stick with it on my own. The instructors were right there when you screwed up, to help you out. The class really was enjoyable.

How long and wide is the slalom bait. 2.2 oz seems light compared to the bait I make. I use poplar. at 9 in long, I get a good action at around 100 grams. If I get much under 100 grams, the baits will sit right in the water but will bust the surface with any type of forward pull. My bait pre ballast is right around 50g. Hope it helps

Thank you Vodkaman. I never thought about it being weaker. I guess I should add all the baits I've poured with this have been larger than 6 inches. I never thought of it being weaker at the bond, but this could be a problem with smaller baits. If I can find a reject, I'll smash it and see were the fractures are. Anglinarcher, good call with the body types. My mind only processes swimbaits I guess. Thanks for the info on the foam, would have never thought of it. I going to try it, because I freakin hate mixing microballons. This will be a great shortcut.