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For lighter wire hooks. Sheet metal pan ... Light bulb 60 W + Spread the hooks out In the pan and adjust light bulb above to get proper heat..

Been Making Shrimp Tails for many long years .. day in and day out hard to beat most any ones med. Pin fish can "Nip off" any Plastisol. I catch mostly "Specks" & "Reds" with them ... but have a long list of Salt Water and Fresh Water Species that have fallen prey to the Shrimp Tail.

You got that right ... only thing about the political LOON is that yes he is a Super Con Artist or either we are super slow on catching up with them........... The Loon pop. is out of control what do that plan tg do .. more control over our use of lead? "Loony Tunes"

I have a good size program that I have made with FileMaker that I seem to be adding to all the time .. over10 years old. From purchase of raw materials to invoicing on sales. Some can do part of it w/spread sheet ,, I prefer the Data Base approach.

Hilts has some excellent molds and some not so good

Check thread "Chatterbait build"

Make a search on Swirls

There is a earlier thread on this subject that goes into detail. Check it Out ... Good information

Ben U been "Bit By The Bug" Good job

Geegeebaits --- Great Pour !

I think what ever method works the best for you .. Fortunately I have in the past worked a lot with FileMaker Pro and I have created a data base thru PO, Work Order and invoices that is pretty well automatic .. Still gotta enter the data ... I am not a spread sheet person .. If I had to build this for some one it would cost a bundle as I have worked on it and tweaked it for over 15 years. ... Depends on how much information you need ....

Just to throw a little more into this. In this photo is how I build one to keep down as much chance of break as I can. The Weakest Point is where the form wire enters the lead as this is where most of the bending takes place .. The Old "Safety Pin" type coil eye has no sharp bends. Sharp bends are one of the biggest breakage points. I think the "Coil Eye" might produce more vibration with this lighter wire. (the photo is not the best .. That is not paint on the wire)

Added 2 cents ... The heavier the lure the heavier the wire .. that's why on the smaller I concentrate more on the 1/4 oz. and less and on occasions use it on 3/8 oz. You will get far more bending of the wire on the heavier .. You do have to watch/feel for when the wire softens when re bending it. I have heard of some commercially produced ones breaking easily and I think it is the wire they are using .. have no idea as to the problem (temper & etc.)

Another 2 cents worth .. I use the smaller wire .. .029 and smaller in SS & Music wire. This is in My Finesse Spinner Bait .. mostly 1/4 oz. size but go 1/8 either way ... Catch a lot of fish on one .. with some "rough" stuff such as Mudfish and Eastern Chain Pickerel ... My Utility Spinner Baits are .031 .. Found out many years ago that a lot of the time you have to go to the lighter wire for more vibration and what ever else it does. Back as a Wholesale Jobber Salesman I noticed in one of the best Spinner Bait areas that a certain Spinner Bait was going real good ... Sure enough it was lighter wire than the standard wire most used. Good to have the "Sounding Block" to confirm what I had found out long before .. Those Boys in that area knew how to spinner bait fish .. Stream or Lake and were real savvy on what blades to use as well .. they tinkered with them a lot.

The other way out is to get Hilts spinner bait molds .. The pour hole is where the stem connects with the head on the bottom of the pour and the wire points down .. For the Do It I use the Ladle .. Have poured the Do It with bottom pour but not as good a results as with the ladle. Experiment and go what is the best for You.

What ever mold pours best for you.

Most any Jig Head will work ... sizes 1, 1/0, 2/0 .. Either a regular Aberdeen or Forged hook. Many different ones are used for this purpose .. I prefer the new Eagle claw Needle Point -Platinum Plated hooks .. Some are afraid that they may bend on a big red but have yet to have it to happen. Note on Hooks: the size should be in proper proportion to the "Dressing" Plastic Shape and design as well as Hair or Nylon. 1/8 and 1/4 with the 1/4 most popular depending on the situation and matter of presentation. Hope this helps

Mark .. I have had 2 of them .. (Small Size) and there is really a huge learning curve (and a lot of luck) to make them work ... Was never able to cook the plastic in the pot .. only used it for pouring.. Went to a couple of Presto Pots and have never looked back. The best thing I have ever used for hand pouring (Which they will not stand behind for this use & I don't know if they still make them) is a "Wax Dropper" By StaWarm (mine went out way back when and could not get it repaired) Cooked the plastic in a Deep Fryer and poured it into the "Dropper" worked like a charm (this was back in the 60 and 70's a lot of things were different back then and you had to learn for yourself).

Real Neat set up John .. David that looks good as well. Thanx Guys

Try "Carolina Mike" (Search the Forum)

Coated is the best all around (regardless of the name it may be called) don't worry about melting. With lead you do not have to put around hook, I make a slight bend end in the doubled end. With coated you do not have to worry about "unwrapping " .. With uncoated heat the ends and dip in powder paint. When placing the wire in the weed guard cavity of say a poison tail .. I slide a leader sleeve the right size to fit in the grove and the inside just large enough for the wire. Have also used insulation off of wire and Skirt bands for this job .. right size leader sleeve has been my choice. I hope that helps you a little Ted.

I think you will find that there are many "Shades" of Chartreuse. Made by basically mixing Green & Yellow . You can come out with a "Green Chartreuse" or "Yellow Chartreuse" and various "Shades" in between. What is "True Chartreuse" is in the eyes of the beholder ... I personally want it on the Green Side .. Matter of choice.. Have at it ...