Manny

Have a small lake here where ther is no access for trailorable boats. The crappie are thick there and this boat build was a must. 7' 6" long and 4" wide. Fits in the back of my Ford Explorer sport. Wheights in at about 65 lbs. Everything hand built. ( Except for Oar hardware)

Beautiful boat ! And for the best reason.

Cant seem to find a spinning rod handle kit with a split grip that offers another grip just forward of the real seat. I purchased a Berkly lighting Split Grip spinning rod but the all seem to lack a grip in this area. Just seem odd to me... that where I hold the rod. ( Maybe its just me ) Any thoughts ?

Your right ! The building process is what I love, I am a finish carpentar and taxidermist by trade. So working with my hands is what I love. Dont mind spending $ on what I know will be worth it. I have dabbeled in about everything from RC airplanes ( Build from plans and flying ) boat building, Taxidermy etc. Its not that I dont believe I can do it....It's what kit will suite the first time buyer. I have read about the St. Croix and G-loomis blanks are no longer offered. I have also read the muddhole poles themselves are pretty decent for the money. Looking for a Bass rod with high qualities, in the 6-6 to 6-8 range Med heavy..and for eyes I would only want the best. Both a spinning and casting matching set. What do you recomend ?

I really want to build my own fishing rod, But dont know where to start. I usually purchase fishing rods in the 35 to 40 dollar range. I have always picked up the higher priced rods and felt them.... They are nice But I cant drop $200.00 on a rod. Im getting tired of the cheap guides getting grooves in them. Who offers the best most complete kit , for the first time builder.? I have no way of turning the cork so will need that premaid unless there is another way of shaping it. Thanks, for any info.

I know the surface has to be super smooth , I use devcon/DA for my seal... I used steel wool to get it real smooth and now the shinyness of the seal is gone.... will it hurt ? ( im pretty sure it penetrated ) How are you guys prepping for foil ?

I recently built a small row boat and used Marine epoxy everywhere on it. What wasnt painted to protect it from the UV was given a coat of Hellmans Spar Urethane. Real hard finish but did say on the can ... dries a yellow tint. Its great UV protection, but as for a clear.... Theres not.

Just put a finish coat on my lure with Devcon 2-ton, and was wondering just how many coats is sufficient ? It has a nice shiny coat now with one coat ( Thinned a little with DA )

I have read in some posts of devcon yellowing. I just ordered the devcon 2ton 30 min clear. Does it yellow or not? If so what does not yellow? I'm not trying to continue beating the same horse just don't want my lures to yellow. Thanks

What ever you use... install an inline water trap, its a must.

Sweet bait and catch... I recently incountered a little roll with the swimming action with my swim bait. If you get it figured out let us know. Are your plans to mold and cast it after figuring it out ?

I have read as much as I can, and dont get a clear picture as to why most hard baits line ties are in the lip. What advantage does it give ? Any disadvantages ? Is it neccessary to get a crankbait over 10 feet. ?

When you come up with a design that you want more than one of , how are you producing more. What molding and casting material is being used mostly ? As a Taxidermist, I mold fish a lot and cast them as custom replicas... Not only do I get the exact match but get numerous copies. For molding I use High Fiber for my bedding. and Bondo thinned with fiberglass resin for the mold. After waxing the mold and applying PVA ( Release Agent ) I then cast with Bondo thinned with fiberglass resin ( More resin than Bondo for a harder cast ). I can make it lighter by adding Micro Ballons or heaver with Cabosil. I figure I can add a chunk of wood to the inside of the blank for some boyency if needed or led. My plan is to mold it in to halves in order to access everything, than epoxy together. Is there another casting material that would be better ? What are your thoughts on this ?

I use a pea size amount of Acrylic paint to the silicone to cure it in minutes..... You can use any color and you can see how good its mixed.

New to the Devcon final coat thing and had a newbie question. I have been using West Marine two part Marine epoxy for final coat.( Left over from a boat building project) But it wil yellow somewhat the white colors. I picked up some Devcon clear epoxy but all I found was 5 min. ( Home Depot ) Is this the right stuff. Also when brushing it on do I use DA to thin it in order to make it brushable ? Thanks

I have always used Winshield washing fluid from the gas station to thin and retard my Createx. I gal 2 bucks. I use a Pasche VL for base coats , and the new Badger renegade Spirit detail brush.. and dont ever have issues. I have even thinned regular latex paint with the fluid with no problems. The retarder in it helps the paint almost level out. The blue in the fluid disapears... I shoot white paint with it all the time.. When it dries its white as white.

Thanks, very much for the input. The head size makes a lot of sense, as I checked a bunch of them out I do notice the head section bigger. Also the sides could be a little flatter.

I got to test it this afternoon.. sank slowly without the hardware ( Hooks and splitrings ) Drilled out some led untill it floated barley, added hardware and it now sinks very slowly. exactly what I wanted. But when pulled thru the water I get a little more wobbel than an actual swimming motion... Is the shape wrong ? Once I add the microfiber anal, dorsal and tail will this correct the action ? The bait is 8" long... is that to short for an actual swimming bait ?

I have been lurking here for about a week... I have read a lot and I have a couple hard baits under my belt now. The first I made of pine and added only obout 1 oz. weight with a rattle it was about 9 " long with the bill. Tested it in my koi pond and it had good action but when not cranked it jumped out of the water. Lesson learned and noted. The second was a broken crankbait about 8" long and had 3 oz. weight in it.. I moved fine but sank slowly. I was going for a suspending. Now I have built What I believe to be a dragon fish swimbait that I had seen on U-tube. But down sized it from 10" to 8". It has roughly 2 oz. in it now not counting all the hinging wire. All my baits are wire thru style. sealed it tonight in epoxy thinned with DA. Hopefully I will test it tommorow sometime. The first section has 1/4 oz. the second has 3/4 oz , the third has 3/4 also, and the last has 1/4 oz. I tried to buil it light in order that I can add weight if needed. By the way Im using Aspen wood from Lowes ( The small precut hobby pieces in the trim section ) To the questions.. #1 Is there a rule of thumb on swimbaits as to where you should place the weight ? #2 Is there a rule of thumb on the throw of each section ? #3 What the best way to work the lure to get the best action ? Slow , fast, twitch , etc. If there is anything you might add to help me out please let me know. Thanks