cadman

Same here, I am loyal to ABU Revo MGX and MGXtreme. I have 20 of them in my arsenal. I've tried others along the way and come back to ABU. Maybe the higher end Shimanos are better, but I don't want to spend money doing trial and error.

No-one knows for sure, however you can't save them all even with the best of intent. Best case scenario, turtles have to eat too.

Is this for fluorocarbon only or does this work on co-poly as well? Who makes it and where can I buy it to try it?

Did you renew on-line or via phone. I have a current FOID and I need to renew it as well.

There are definitely differences. The top seller used to be Pro-tec. Over the years other companies jumped on the bandwagon (ie Columbia,, Dupont and Sherwin Williams) also Harbor Freight. I have heard good and bad with Harbor Freight. Some have gotten good powder and some said the powder is thin and crumbly. I can't make a comment about it, because I don't use it. Harbor freight powder is very reasonably priced. Anyway, I do know that Pro-Tec, Columbia, and the others I mentioned are top quality if that matters to you. Good Luck.

There are two school of thoughts in putting on powder paint. #1. Some guys (myself included) heat the jig, do a countdown , swish it through the powder paint and watch the jig gloss over. To me, I now know that I have enough paint on the jig head. Now, if it doesn't gloss over, I add another second or two to the time on the next one. For the one that didn't gloss over, I will quickly swish the jig again in the powder paint and then heat it up and watch it gloss over. Keep in mind that if you heat up a jig and you keep it too long in the powder paint the hot jig will grab a lot of powder paint, and it will drip when you bake it. #2. The second school of thought is to never let it gloss over. So when you take a hot jig and you swish it through the powder paint, the powder paint on the jig will look powdery. You then put it in the oven and bake it. This works for a lot of guys. However , to me if I can't see that I have enough paint on the jig with it glossing over than how do I know there is enough paint on a jig when it is powdery. With this method, you would have to wait to bake the jigs to see if you have full coverage. The choice is yours on which way you want to go. There is no right or wrong way. The only way is the way that works for you, and after you paint 1000 jigs (LOL) you will figure it out. Practice makes perfect. Good luck, it will get easier the more your paint.

Well now you got powder painting in your blood and you'll want to do more. Just a quick observation. But clean out your hook eyes before you go fishing. I used to find it very frustrating to clean out hook eyes from paint on the boat. It is nice to grab a jig with a cleared out eye and tie it on. Also it is easier to clean out the eyes before baking. Baking jigs hardens the paint it can be time consuming to clean them afterwards. BTW the jigs and paint job look really nice.

I have smaller hands as well, and I use Revo MGX and Revo MGXtreme. Very small profile with full spools. I spool half with backing and the other half with mono or Yo-Zuri Hybrid. I use these exclusively as they feel really good in my hands.

I am an Abu guy and I have (7) MGX's, (6) MGXtremes, (3) Premiers Gen 1 and (4) Revo Ikes. I personally like the centrifugal brakes over magnetic and I like all the Revo reels that I have. However you do have to dial it in but once you do you will enjoy the Revo Ike. It's definitely not worth the $250 dollar price point but if you get it for half of that or a little more it is worth it. The color is pretty cool too. JMO

I use Yo-Zuri as well and no complaints. 10-12 lb on my baitcastesr and 8 lb on spinning reels.

Don't waste your money with a spinning reel. There's nothing that free spools in a spinning reel.

Looking to buy a couple of brand new Shimano Aldebaran (ALDMG51HG). That's a 7.4:1 L.H. baitcaster. Not looking JDM, spool is too small. Anyone know where I can get a good deal. Does Tackle Warehouse ever discount these or does any other stores sell less than MSRP. Thanks for any help. If you don't want to post here please PM me.

Well that is sure colorful. I like the 2nd and 4th one down of your pics. I would like to try those on one of my jigs, to see how that bass here like it. Really cool looking. Job well done

If you are looking for fluid bed plans I have some I made 8 years ago. PM me your e-mail and I will send them to you.

It will probably have to be metal, as plastic rattles will probably deform from the heat and cause them not to rattle. I don't know of anyone selling metal rattles. However you can try Lakeland or Hagen's.

I am always willing to help (no need for thanks). There are a lot of guys that powder paint and are really good at it on this site. There is another powder painting process, which entails an air brush. I know of the process but am not really good at it. The person I know that has been doing it a long time and is very good at it is a member by the name of Smalljaw67. He may come on here and give you his version. Everyone finds their own unique way of powder painting. Practice and see what works for you. If you run into problems, post your questions and someone will always help. We've all been where you are at one time. Practice makes perfect (sometimes).

Here is my take on baking. I don't have all the answers, but that is a start. First of all whose powder paint are you using? Is it Pro-Tech or some off brand. Also definitely do some of the following things. #1 Check to make sure that your toaster oven is really 325degrees inside as it is labeled outside on the dial. They are known to be notoriously inaccurate. #2 Paint all of your jigs and then bake just one jig after you have preheated the toaster oven. After the allotted time, take it out let it cool and then see how it looks. Your jig should have a very smooth glossy look to it. So 325degrees at 20 minutes would be a good start. I would do 325 at 15 minutes. What you don't want to do is burn the paitn and or get it so hot that the paint will sag and cause teardrops. Just remember that you can always put it back in the oven a second time. Finally don't overthink the paint baking process. After all these are fishing jigs and you will bang them up or scratch them on the rocks. You will probably lose that jig before the paint wears off. Also baking the jig only hardens it for more abrasion resistance. It won't be perfect. I worked in several companies that powder painted steel panels. In those cases we had to follow strict powder paint specs, and we had to do powder paint hardness tests. But those are rigorous standards which need not be applied to painting jigs. Painting jigs is supposed to be fun. So have fun with it and go fishing. Good Luck.

It looks like two colors to me. Bottom silver paint or you could leave it raw, as the raw lead will be shinier and the top color is pink. It also looks like it is airbrushed and not powder painted. The color blend is too perfect for powder paint. But you can get close with powder painting this jig. Couple of suggestions. If you are going to do multi-color take your time and think the process thru and go slow. If you want brilliant eye popping colors, clearcoat the entire jig as Jigman said with either Devcon 2 ton or E-tex. Devcon is stronger but heavier and not as clear as E-tex. If I were to paint that jig I would do it either of these two ways. A. leave the bottom shiny and dust the top only with pink powder paint. Problem with pink is that it really could use a white base coat for the pink to look like pink. So you could also dust the top in white before you put the pink topcoat. B. Dust the entire jig in white, next do the bottom in sliver chrome, going up the sides, and then dust the top down in pink. Bake your jig and then let cool and clearcoat. It's an easy process and not too complicated. Just think things thru before you do the jigs. You can also practice on screw bolts or small pieces of clean steel or aluminum. Good Luck.

I guess if I would pick only one jig, my preference would be the Arkie jig. You can swim it, drag it, bounce it and hop it along the lake bottom. My go to colors are black/blue, green pumpkin and brown, and sometimes white. You have a PM

I have (6) CI4 2500's from the same model year and never an issue. I did clean the stock bearings when I first bought it because manufacturers have a tendency to over oil and grease everything. Other than that the reels are performing flawlessly. Shimano does have a tendency to put in really good bearings. They really only need a good cleaning and maybe Carbontex drag washers if that is what you like. JMO

Yes use the finessse skirts from fishing skirts.com. They are thinner.

I might be able to help you out. PM sent

I have fluid bed plans if you want them. PM me your e-mail address and I will get them out to you.

Brad, Mustad or Eagle Claw lazer points are the most economical cost wise and are the best selling in my opinion. If you want to recoup money for bulk spinnerbaits, don't use Gami's they are expensive. Also most spinnerbait hooks are bright nickle. These seem to sell the best for me. If you are looking for some hooks, PM me.

If you want to remove bad powder paint job quickly, put all your bad jigs in a glass bowl, and pour paint stripper over all of them. Wait 15-30 minutes then wipe off. next wash them under water let dry and repaint. Make sure you use a old bowl that you don't eat with, and wear rubber gloves as the paint stripper is acidic. That is the quickest way I found to remove painte without sanding and filing.