markw

I'm making up a batch of musky sized spinnerbaits for a few freinds. I'm using #8 painted blades. I'm trying to find a way to put the split rings on the blades without scratching the paint off but I'm failing miserably. Does anyone hav any tricks or tips? I typically don't have a problem with the lighter basss-sized split rings, but the larger ones I'm using (4's or 5's) are pretty tough and scratch while I'm sliding them on. mark

Thanks for the ideas. I'm going to try both of them!!

I thought about that, but I didn't think that I could get the wraps and glue to hold the silicone since it's so slick. It's worth a shot. Maybe some epoxy on the wraps will hold it.

In the muskie and pike world, it's pretty common to tie bucktail to a 3/0 or 4/0 treble hook. But I'm a big fan of starflash and my wife hates the mess of deer hair in the living room I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for how you could attach silicone skirts to a treble hook, and make it stay in place?

Thanks Vodkaman! That idea worked great! I purchased a giant roll of bubble wrap, rolled the bucktails up into small bundles, and stacked the bundles into a big Rubbermaid tub. Note: Per my wifes safety concerns, I decided to slip pieces of clear tubing over each barb on my treble hooks for shopper safety. In additon to not having to worry about snagging a potential customer, I'm not going to have to deal with the hooks snagging on the bubble wrap and causing a mess.

My wife who makes custom jewelry wants me to keep her company and sell some of my muskie/pike bucktails at a craft show she is doing next weekend. She has grid pannel with hooks that I'm going to hang the baits on, so I don't need any packaging. For those of you that go to shows, I'm just curious if you have any ideas for trasporting your baits so they don't get "beat up" on the way there. I was going to hang them in cardboard wine boxes with dividers, but thought the painted blades might still bang around on each other. Any thoughts?

I'm looking for a source of .025 and .040 Fluted Indiana blades - sizes 6,7,8. I've checked with both Lakeland and Worth, and they carry only .018. I know Lurepartsonline has some , but I'm needing 100- 150 of each so that isn't too practical. Any suggestions?

Cadman, When you coat your blades with etex, do you just coat one side and lay them flat to dry? Or do you coat both sides and put them on a rotating dryer of some kind?

Once again, I should have just searched through Cadmans posts before I ask a question!! I just found his Sports Spinnerbait posting that happens to solve my exact problem.

I have a family friend that is retiring, and someone asked me to build him a custom Double 10 Spinnerbait for his muskie fishing. I'd like to put a company logo on the spinner blades, and I was wondering if anyone has a trick that they would be willing to share as to how that can be done? One thought would be to print on a photo paper and epoxy it to the blade. Will that work? Any thoughts or tips? Thanks!

Thanks for the link to McMaster Carr. That place has everything! I don't really know much about foam, does anyone know what density of foam would be comparable to "flip-flop" or fly fishing popper material?

I'm not sure which forum to post this in, but I'll try here first. I'm looking for a source of bulk foam for a line of muskie/pike accessories I'm building. What I need are foam cylinders that are the density of the good ol' flip-flop foam. I need the cylinders to be at leat 3/8 inch to 1/2" in diameter and at least 12" long. I only need about 50' to start with, but will hopefully need quite a bit more. In the short term I could possibly use a sheet of foam 2" thick and punch/glue them, but a cylinder would make things much easier. My kids have some building blocks that are almost exactly what I need, but I'm forbidden to use them Any suggestions for the cylinders? If not for cylinders, do you know where I can get sheet of foam 2" thick? Thank you, Mark

I'm looking for a source of WR3/ 150# welded rings in bulk, and can't find a source other than retailers selling in packs of 5 or so. These are the black, welded rings that are ~1/4" in size. I'm looking for the ability to buy in packs of 100 or more for our Muskie and pike leaders. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to look around for a giant bolt or large piece of rod that might work better. The challenge will be getting the end shaped into a nice round head - thats what caught my eye wiht the broom handle.