Spike-A-Pike

One of the new guys, chugbug5, had a thread recently on making domed eyes that seemed pretty straight forward...

One of the few places I found that you can get musky length skirts is Skirts Unlimited. I make my own in-lines and Charles was easy to work with and get exactly what I needed/wanted. A source for your wire is Hagens' (.060 dia. in 25 ft and 100 ft bulk lengths) which allows you to cut the shafts to your required length. Hope this gets you on track... Remember to post some of your creations in the gallery!

I would call it a site under construction... There were several areas without photos or text; but the format looks pretty good. As for the pricing, tackle suppliers are in the same boat as the rest of us with prices changing without notice... Those increases are passed on. That's true of any tackle being sold, whether its Bill's Bait Shop, Wal-mart, or Bass Pro Shop, it's all a part of paying for the addiction of being a custom tackle maker.

It is far easier to remove the paint before you cure it, but even then, it's a bit of a pain. I would use a small wire brush, like a tire detailing brush to remove as mush of the unwanted powder as possible before curing them. The perfect solution would be to have eyes covered or protected while the jigs are being dipped. The guys that are painting in quantities are using racks to handle 10 to 20 at a time. Several members use these as part of their regular process - there are some great photos in the TU-mo-08 gallery on some of these racks. If you go to the TU MO 09 meet, you will be able to talk with others about these racks.

Any one actually thinking of starting a business should go through the drill of drafting a business plan. You can find countless examples on-line. If are looking for investors or bank loans, you're going to need to complete one. It will force you to answer a few questions realistically and see if there is potential long term opportunity.

Flexcoat is a 2 part rod building epoxy. I haven't heard of anyone having problems with it hardening unless it's mixed and applied... Anyone?

I'm not sure I know what your looking for??? There are rubber skirt bands used to hole the skirt to the collars -AND- There are skirt bodies that are used with skirt bands and skirts to add a skirt to just about any kind of lure -AND- There are actual rubber cone-shaped collars Can you describe or show a picture of what you're looking for?

Dude - Those have a different look to them. How do they fish??? I put a link to your lures in one of your earlier posts... that kind of link in the future is fine. Thanks again for re-posting your photos.

Jeep, I'd use it for an experiment. Does the blister flex or move when pressed upon? If you put a needle sized hole in the blister and then a glue or epoxy in the blister, does it stay in place? Can the blister be removed and covered with a body filler? I can understand your initial disappointment, but when life serves you lemons, make lemonade. Good luck and tight lines.

I have used both coffee filters and brown paper bags and agree with Kelly. In the future, I plan to use just the brown paper bags.

Buzz baits are popular with more fish than just bass, they are scaled down to catch crappie and bluegill; and scaled up for pike and muskie. I think you need to design your lure to size fish you are targeting; I tend to use the .051 and .062 size wire for my in-line pike and muskie lures. While I guess a fish can go after any lure in the water, I think the 5/0 trebles would be a little large of pan fish; but bass will try for just about anything.

Look for it were you would expect to find painting supplies.

Dalton - I just viewed it and it loaded and started in about 20 seconds. You may have it that site when the server was under a heavy use cycle, you may have maxed out your memory, your internet connection or ISP could have been having problems... Or it could be something totally different. All I can say is try it again later.

If your wanting to use an isolated space to control the humidity, you may want to experiment with some of the various desiccants... It would be far safer than putting an electric heat element in an explosive environment.

I would be concerned about them spending any time in the pouring area be because of cats and dogs grooming their feet and pads; and the likelihood that they'll ingest lead dust. Just like you need to be careful about getting contaminated by finger foods or smoking when you pour; you need to be mindful of it for Kitty too. Kitty might be better off as a house cat; give your Vet a call and see what they recommend.

Andrew, With Lures 2 & 3, can you explain what they are doing versus what you would like them to do? I think the feedback to this thread is OUTSTANDING!!! Thanks to all the contributors.

Pete, I thought I added pictures to go along with the explanation... Just for the Record... This is the type of situation that pictures in the lure building forum are supposed to address, a pure "How do I.." or "What's wrong with..." Photos that ask or answer these types of questions belong here. Photos that are just show a "First attempt..." or "I just finished this..." belong in the Gallery only and are subject to being deleted and/or given an infraction. The Site Rules were updated recently, please make sure your aware of them.

Gene, Happy belated Birthday wishes from my Mrs. and I ~ Hoping we can make it in May, but my Grandmother will be turning 90 yrs young that weekend...

I think a large part of this discussion depends on the intended fish you're trying to hook up. I personally like VMC (treble and single) hooks for the Northern Pike and Muskies. As long as I get a good hook set and the fish in the boat, it was sharp enough... Hook failure in not an option.

Most powder paints are applied at 250*F and then cured in the oven for 20 minutes @ 250*F. If you are going to be doing a large number pieces, you might want to look at getting a fluid bed (to put a thinner, better covered lure coat), a heat gun to help get the lure up to dipping temperature without an open flame, and a used oven or toaster oven to cure the powder coated lure. Good luck & tight lines

I think the use of red hooks is a little over rated IMHO. That's not to say red isn't a good lure color; I add it by powder coating various in-line spinner parts (bodies, beads, & blades) or with a bucktail or skirt or plastic trailer... I have red hooks on any number of lures; that's just the way I got them.

At the '08 TU Meet, we had three wives at the event. My wife told me they had a great time chatting, beading jewelry, shopping, sharing in the food prep... One of the things discussed for this year is a shopping trip to an outlet mall. If you want, send me a PM and we can arrange for the wives to chat via email.

Polyurethane isn't as durable as other finishes like D2T, Dick Nites, and others commonly used. The debate on the subject continues to this day... You may want to search subjects like D2T, epoxy finishes, clear coating to mention a few. There is plenty of subject matter to look at ~ good luck.

HellRAISER, Thanks for re-sizing the photos, since you use PhotoBucket to host your images, it's okay to post them as long as they conform to the 600 x 400 size limit. Everyone may want to review the Site Rules, there are a few changes that went into effect the first of the year.

Some time back, I bought a rubber mat from Sears that you just put on the work bench and put piece to routered out on the mat. It holds the wood in place and keeps the fingers away from the router bit completely. It's low tech, but it works.