Marks Lures

Thanks, I was looking to hold my injectors upright and did not realize there were some old posts. Regards Mark

Was looking for a better micro-wave safer glass with a straight side, so I can just stand up my injector while it warms a little Figured the science stuff would be made out of 100% borosilicate glass, does not shatter if it is hot and you happen to set it in a little water. At bit pricey at $14.95. (2 or more are $12.95 each, a case of 6 from Aldrich is about $10.00 each It is made by Aldrich. "Glass Beaker Mug with Handle 400ml (about 13 oz.) Regards Mark

Frank If you really want to make the lure for personal use, DO NOT SELL THE LURE. Just like I can make a Mickey Mouse shirt and wear it, Would have a problem if I tried to sell them. If you can't find a mold maker to build the design, just send a sketch of what you want, nothing else. Then learn how to use a die grinder and make the mold yourself. Regards Mark

1) There are basically 2 formulas for soft platic baits Berkley developed one, so it is a good bet that it is a mix of soft to hard plastics available from all the suppliers. 2) Your hard body, when used to make a mold is known as a model or pattern that can be used to make a mold. This is a good start. 3) Go to You Tube and see if you want to use a hand injector or pour (like half a mold) Been messing with POP molds but just bought some Sculpey (the plastic clay is fired in the oven at around 365 degrees F so it should be no problem to use with a hand injector). As this sounds like a simple design you could try a POP mold (two pieces and pour from the top) Regards Mark

Mid Michigan range, has the best bass lake structure. Researched the lake where the Michigan state record was caught. figured in that with the altitude of the lakes Pinckney area is a close match and not a bad drive. Matteson Lake near Coldwater it too small for tournaments, so a few 6 pounders come out of there over the years. Buck Perry said "the bass are in the shallow, in the deep or somewhere inbetween". In the Pinkney area I caught 28 bass in 2.5 hours (all 3 to 4 pounds), and they were not boiling. Everyone was shore pounding (fishing no deeper than 5 feet) and I was tube fishing with a count down of 8. Sink rate the tube as weighted sinks 1 foot per my count. Cast, count to 8 and pull for a set, was the pattern that day. From 1-8 feet color helps after 8 feet red and it must be fluorescent in black. Then taste: Salt is a meduim for a neurotransmitter. I am woking on some amino acid combination and neurotransmitter. So when big mamma bits she really thinks its dinner. Hope this helps Regards Mark UV is is also critical now as I will be fishing in the 8-15 foot range, for big mamma. Hope this helps Mark

Working on a special tube jig head as well, Have the POP molds ready looking for my old spinner wire. Like the standard internal weighted lead on the hook except where the hook I am going to use a wire on the lead. Then use a split ring to attach a 5/0 hook. both loop ends are pushed from inside to the outside for rigging. This is so I can vary the sink rates. e.g. If the pattern dictates that the bigger bass are at 12 feet I want a lure that gets to 12 feet at a count of 6. The jointed design is so when big mamma starts shaking her head it drives the hook in even deeper. It is well known that current tube to hook configurations lose at least 25% of the attempted hook ups. Regards Mark

Hello All I was unhappy with all the soft baits on the market, so I set out to design one that fit my needs. Target was bass in Michigan over 7 pounds, a grand target I know. I will stick to all the technical and post a picture on the gallery, soon as I get a chance for bragging... First design was way over budget, so working with Caney Creek (Jason) we came up with a design that was reasonable. That ended up a 6.75 inch tube jig. Jason and I went back and forth on the design and cost for some time. Finally I got a design within my budget. In order to get the mold withing my budget, I agreed that Caney Creek can sell the mold what ever. I just wanted my mold to be the first on the lake with this new 6.75" tube worm this spring. I support American companies and have enough ideas sitting on the self, not doing any one any good. Jason wondered if such a long tube would even pour (very important technical aspect here), it did. Then Jason requested to make a few lures as he did not want to sell molds where the lure does not work. I was footing the bill for what I wanted and it would be a month before I could hit the water here, besides I like to share information. The field test (another important technical aspect) I received an email with pictures of the poured tube worm and Jason was going to water them. One day passed and he sent me the link to the You Tube video (not mentioned here that would be bragging). So on one trip out the lure performed really good (this is important in technical development of prototypes) From a technical perspective, I have watched fishing shows and infomercials (for lures) and know it took days to weeks to film by looking at the sky, shore, etc. I can document this was a one-day test. The real technical perspective of this is how I took my concept to a mold maker and was able to get it within my budget. PS I have tried to respond to personal messages and add a couple of friends I thought were interesting but still working on it (computer challanged) Best Regards Good Fishing Mark

Hello All Tightline UV has a really good article about bass having one UV cone. Did not believe this until I took soft plastic lures from 30 years ago (I really stocked up) and stacked the best ones on the table and another pile of soft plastic lures I bought that looked just like them, but did not work so well The lures were UV under a black light flashlight I bought from eBay (cheap) The study does confirm that red is the last part of the sunlight spectrum of light to diminish in water. Black will block light and be just as good a shadow target for fish. I always used light color on sunny days and dark for cloudy days. My favorite is a clear with silver for 0-8 feet depth and after that red or brown that is UV. Over 30 years of fishing I have fished bass boils about 15 times and trout boils about 3 times, the bit any color I threw in the water, their stomachs were full of silver minnows, shad or the like. Well Audubon killed all the birds he drew, so he could get it right, at least I eat the fish I catch. I used a Color C-Lector (think it was called) when they came out, and every color in my tackle box, ended up with the best results using light lures on bright sunny days and darker lures for everything else. Regards Mark

I am not a "die-hard" frogger, I keep one around for fun in the weeds with a double hook. To make the nose last longer I soak it in WD40, most any solvent will dry it out and make a hard nosed plastic (only soak overnight, then wash with soap & water), think you are talking about a soft plastic here. I use a clothes pin to hold the soft plastic frog (or worm) on the side of the jar while soaking just to get the nose section hard. Regards Hope this helps Mark

Wow, way too information for me, not that high tech. Room temp to me means I put all my stuff like molds and injector in a room with a little ceramic heater and get the temp up to about 80 degrees and keep it there while I am watching TV and drinking beer. Oh that is in the winter, in the summer I set the molds and injector on the table that is not far from the cooler. So when all is good, like my mood and the molds & injector are warm --- not by heating directly --- that can warp stuff ---- my stuff is warped enough. Then all works fine. Best Regards Hope this helps... the beer & cooler are optional Mark

Well when it comes to a new lure design. Answer to "no clue" No clue = I just want a lure New design = The best design that I think will work for what I am fishing for. Been doing this for 30 years, that was a question I asked myself after the first several failures. A new design needed a reason and a passion to work. This year, it is a 7 plus pound Largemouth Bass in Michigan. On my bucket list, not a bucket mouth, just something I want to achieve before I pass the fishing rod. Answer to "how do you do it" this is combined with "How do you do it", I use soft plastic designs as that has been the best in the MIdwest for me for 30 years, have em all from the Rapala, Rattle Trap, etc..... Even Buck Perry's trolling system of lures. (That is when I started getting serious 25 years ago), read up and learn the father of structure fishing, as we know it today. Symetrical parts, Make one out of Sculpy fire the part and make a copy. Exact "Symmetry", both parts exactly the same, I personally don't think is that important, Repala notes how you can "tune" a lure to fit your needs (or at least they used to have such information) In My opinion a unique lure, is something the fish has not seen before. That is why we make our own. Easiest way to make a POP mold is to cut up soft plastics you like, super glue them back together, and make your POP mold. Then if you like the lure and are a perfectionest (like used to be) and want to get both sides the same. Put some Sculpey in the mold, squish it in good, fire the part, or a couple to use the same side for both sides of a new lure. Clean it up with little files or even a pocket knife (my favorite) glue it together and make your perfect lure Best of Luck, good fishing Hope this helps Mark

Just new to this tried to add a reply, spent a bunch of time about how I come up with a design for a lure and don't see it listed. Think I just figured out I have to check then click add reply. will try to add my info by next weekend.