NateFollmer

About a half hour south of State College. Beth. is about 2 to 2 1/2 hours away. We can meet up sometime, we will probably have another Pa meet up soon too.

The way I see it done with foam is by pouring it into molds and letting it set up. I always thought it was a block and you carved it. They say the 16 lb foam is similar to balsa in both buoyancy and durability. Some say the action isn't as good though. I'm not sure though so maybe others can answer better.

The masters will be cut in two halves. I was going to cut the lip slot into the master after it was done. It's kind of hard to model something organic like that, then give it a hard cut off edge like that. I could do it, but for all the work I'd have in getting the lip edge modeled in, it would be easier to cut the master later Has do to with the flow of the polygon edges and stuff... boring, so I'll stop my rant here haha

What part of Eastern Pa are you in? I'm in Central, so it may be a hike for either of us

Way ahead of you If I pour, it's going to be foam. If not, it's all going to be wood and PVC. Looking into getting PVC scraps now! All my designs are done. I need to split these in half and get them sent to the machinist and I should have 'masters' soon!

I thought about using foam, but I'm going to try some woods first and see how well they do. I cut back on the detailing because of this. When I absolutely know I am going to mold the baits, then I'll go nuts with details. The way I sculpt and work, it's easier to add details later on than it is to remove them. The wake bait design (first one posted) is probably going to lose it's lines and I'll just have to paint them. I don't think something that small is going to hold through wood

Good stuff Dave! Big M - Thanks for that info. The lipless crank is really the main one I wanted to make. I love them, they always seem to work Don't fear the computer models! I know I won't be able to carve both pieces symmetrical, so I gotta make these the only way I know how. Nothing will ever beat a hand carve though! Whenever I get these babies made, I'll make sure you all get to try some

Well man it says no fishing so as much as it sucks, they have a point. I would contact the park owners and express your concern about not being able to fish. Get other anglers in your area to start a petition. Ask to maybe at least allow C&R in the lake. Nice fish though, even if they weren't supposed to be caught

Jerkbait! I used a different shader for each shot... I have more fun messing with shaders than anything:

Cool. I'll have to take a trip to lowes and see what's up there. AZEK looks like the main PVC of choice over on TU. I was going to go to a lumber yard that sells it around here and see if they had any scrap. Doubt it, but worth a shot

I heard some of that stuff has some pretty large cells and isn't good for lures. Any brand you suggest or doesn't it really have a brand? I know AZEK is big, but I haven't really heard of any others.

I like Tru-Tungsten's frog. I have never used the SPRO one, I just started using the TT because it was given to me and I'm set in my ways I also like to throw the Rage Shad and the rage craw for when I want a 'finesse' frog.

Looks awesome! I may have asked you this before, but where are you getting your PVC from?

I use my trout net when I fish for smallies in the winter I keep them in there the whole time and keep them in the water. I only take out the BIG fish to take pictures of. The average and 'decent' smallies just get released as soon as the hook comes out. I don't really think they get a shock, the only fish I really worry about keeping them out of the water due to temperature shocks are trout, especially the dinks

I don't have much to add here (already been said). Hair jigs would a lot better in cold water because of the action they can provide over a cold rubber/plastic jig. Hair jigs are awesome for smallies, walleye, muskie, pike and perch. I don't understand why more people don't use them. They seem like one of those old lures that people have no confidence with!

Thanks but the wife gets credit for that. She has a photography business on the side. My girl is only 5 months and my wife has already taken thousands of pics, her camera is always on the table ready to go. Nice! I'd love to take photos and make money, but I'm not good enough for that yet (need to work on my composition and shooting). Our camera is also filled with kid shots 8 gigs worth almost!

^ He also spies on the neighbors... There's a tree right beside the bathroom window....

Nice looking bait. I'll be watching this one. Dave, vid worked for me too, but it won't play in the thread (like GTrombly said). You have to go to photobucket to watch.

I would just get a cheap tripod for only that reason (don't use it if it's windy). I have a tripod I got at Target for like $20 and I use it for crappy conditions (river, mud, stuff like that). Gets the job done. If I'm fishing myself though, I usually just lay the fish in about an inch of water, put the rod beside it, and shoot the pic. I don't like laying them on the dry ground.

Nice shots everyone! GTrombly - that's a really good expression you got there. "Ya'll can't take my pumpkins!"

Spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, crankbaits (suspending), jigs, flukes, tubes.... All these work in the fall... Heck, anything works in the fall. Pre-spawn and fall (late fall, right before it gets REALLY cold) are my favorite times to fish because they usually hit anything. If you aren't catching, slow down, keep the colors dark, unless it's a really clear water, then go lighter and more natural.

I love playing golf. Well, I like going to the driving range... I suck at ACTUALLY playing golf

. you J and your crafty . moderation skills. Kiss my B*.

Nice guns J - do you have that photo in a larger format? That would make me a sweet background (if you don't mind). I will probably be hitting a trib with bassnleo (Eric) this November for some steelies. I hope we can hook up because I have been wanting to fish for steelheads since the beginning of time Took my son to the Rockhill Trolley Museum this weekend. It's a pretty neat place. They let all the kids under 12 take a free pumpkin home: Griff's Pumpkin Patch by nate.follmer, on Flickr

Crazy... wonder if everyone here is really swearing in every post, but the forum changes it to fishing words and we all look smart?