islandbass

Congrats. It's always better to be worn out like that with great success than to be worn out and skunked. ;D Well done.

I also think action is an important factor and for testing, the ability to duplicate/replicate baits is beyond my skills and perhaps very difficult to do with wood. That said, I have caught bass on an unpainted, naked balsa bait I made when I was checking and observing the action. Incidentally, it hasn't caught another fish since it's now been painted (baby bass). ;D :-[

This is one subject that comes up quite often. A quick search on this site will provide you a wealth of information. The difference. One comes in two piece and one does not. ;D Sorry, I couldn't help it. If you need the convenience of a two piece for portability, then go 2 piece. If not, go one piece. Any loss in sensitivity is negligible for most in modern rods.

Alright. Looks like I'm headed to Home Depot. Any ratio preferences or do you just eyeball it? Thanks.

Right on! Balsa is a nice wood to work with. If ever you think to try other wood types, consider bass wood in dowel form. They're very cheap and a 3' or so dowel at walmart is probably less than $3 and can make about 10 lures. Keep it up!

I devised a leash a few years ago when my daughter was 6 and learned to use a baitcaster. Fearing that she would drop my curado, uh, I mean her curado into the lake, I made a simple construction to put my mind at ease. When put on the casting hand, neither fishing nor casting are affected. You can also keep the band on and detach the caribeaner if need be. Here she is fishing with the leash on. Incidentally the two times I forgot to bring the leash, my son dropped his superman and spiderman rods into the lake, gone forever. I hope Batman doesn't let him down. ;D My son didn't like it on the wrist so I attach it to a loop on his pants.

That is an incredible job!! Thanks, BM. I have a couple of questions though. 1st epoxy coating - I have been hearing more and more that crankbait makers seal their baits with epoxy before priming. I made my first few baits before knowing about this and wondered what you use for this first coat. I was planning to use DC 2T as the top coat, but to use it for the first coat, I believe might make my bait "thick" and maybe too heavy. May I ask what you use for both the 1st and 2nd coats? I hope it's a one coat treatment for both. 2) Is foil tape the right material to use and how did you pock mark it for the scales. It really looks good. If I can't figure that out, I might have to forego the foil, but it looks too good to pass up. Thanks!

That is awesome. However, balsa is one of the woods that you really don't want to use screw eyes. It is so soft that a strong enough fish combined with an unusually tight drag can spell disaster for you. If it isn't too late and you didn't do this the first time around, add some of the epoxy to the threads of the screw eyes and the holes and refasten back onto the bait. This will give you a fighting chance for the big uns. I commend you for your ingenuity and creativity. You probably woke up the bait making monkey inside you. Congrats! I think you popper is going to entice some bass.

With the purple color and angle of your shot, I thought it was a fin. Still looks good.

I don't think about it. Sometimes it's with one hand and others it's with two. One handed casts will lead to fatigue much quicker. Any time I feel like I might throw my rig into the lake, I go to 2-handed mode.

July 20, 2010 If it floats your boat This is always the, I sure hope it lists upright and straight in the water, part for me. It would definitely be a major let down if this minnow didn't float upright. I plopped the body into my low-tech testing tank (A CD case lid. Hey, it does the job!). I think that I am getting the hang of getting the right amount of lead for the bait. It seems to be getting easier. After filling the holes with wood putty, adding the wire for the belly hook, doing a final sanding and priming the bait comes the hardest part for me Painting! Oh the irony; I work hard to get this far, and I only have the skills of a first grade art student when it comes to painting.

Very nice. But I don't see any mistakes. 8-)

That sounds awesome! Do you have a sample picture of this? I haven't done any foiling type baits, but I think I do have some foil tape. Thanks!

July 19, 2010 Got through the thru-wire and lip. I finally got around to shaping the lip into its basic form and forming the through wire body. Although I was initially apprehensive and reluctant to use 5-minute epoxy (I use 30- minute as a clear coat but didn't want to waste any of it for securing the lip and thru-wire. It's getting harder to find in my area), I am relieved to now know it is great for use in holding the thru wire in place and gluing on the lip. 5 minutes is plenty of time to secure the thru-wire and the lip. The next step is to secure the lead ballast and belly hook to the minnow bait, after which I will fill in the belly and hole on top with wood putty. I am open to any suggestions or ideas for a simple color scheme. Let me know.

All Rapala DTs (6ft) Cotton Cordell Wiggle Os

Do you define a reaction strike to be the immediate taking of you lure as soon as it hits the water? If so, I would have to say not as often as I would like. In a sense, depending on how it's defined every strike is a reaction strike, because the fish is reacting in a way to accept your offer. Putting silliness aside, I don't really know how others define it, but I picture it to be when they take your lure out of reflex, instinct, or territoriality vs. taking a lure because they are hungry. And that is hard to know for me since most of my strikes/takes are received sight unseen.

You are right. Under certain conditions almost any material, even insulators can conduct electricity and monofilament would be exempt. Thank goodness nothing happened. 8-)

It's their answer to the ugly stick. So I would consider the convergence of the voltaeous any day over the week for your intended techniques.

Thanks, guys. I did fiddle with suspending last night and said screw it. ;D

Going for a Minnow First Attempt To Make A Minnow-Type Bait After what I humbly call a successful venture in the making of a crankbait from balsa block to finish, I decided to give making a minnow style bait a try. This is my ugly but inexplicable fish catching crankbait. Just as I did with the crankbait, I started with a small, rectangular block of balsa. I outlined the shape of the minnow type body. After whittling, carving, and sanding away the unneeded material, I eventually arrived at the desired shape. The slot for the lip and the hole for the lead have been made. If you're wondering, I accidentally drilled completely through the minnow's body. Fortunately, it is repairable and should not negatively affect the lure. I took a sheet of lexan and carved out a lip. Since taking this picture, I have sawed off the two vertical angled sides with a coping saw rounded the top with sand paper. It didn't dawn on me to use my Dremel tool make the cuts. Doh! Also like the first successful crankbait, I am doing this on the fly. In other words, learning as I go. I am relieved that with the weight and lip in place, the bait lists upright in the water. I plan to use the through wire method. A couple things still undecided is whether to make it a floater or suspender and its color scheme. So far, so good; I hope this works.

Maybe, but I think anything you use, even electrolysis will "thicken" the sharp point. Bobp is right. They won't be as sharp as before the paint job. Better to buy them already colored and even then, it is MHO that as sharp as colored hooks can be, they are not as sharp (I have noticed a difference, but not to the point it would be a show stopper) as their non colored cousins. If you really want to have them painted, I would paint all of the parts except the point.

I do. They're fun to make.

Appreciate you assessment. How would you rate XPS' stiffness on a scale of 1-10? For example, Invizx is limp relative to some fc lines out there. That shouldn't happen with FC line, or at least it's never happened to me and I use 6#. The only line type I have ever exeperience line dig is braid.

To compare gear ratio to gear ratio between the two (granted it isn't an apples to apples comparison) the comparable spinning reel (say a 2500) compared to a 200 sized casting reeling, the spinning reel is most likely going to recover more line than a casting reel. A "burner" 7.0:1 casting reel takes in about 30" of line about, but a "lowly" 6.0:1 spinning reel is going to recover more than that. Makes you wonder which is the real burner. What spinning reel did you use? To the subject, there aren't many applications that both reel types don't do quite well. It is at the extremes where one might shine more than the other.

Wow, they must be hurting. I also let my membership lapse, and about 4 weeks ago and just yesterday, I just received another solicitation to renew for a new bag and 10 issues or so. I could use another bag. ;D