Will Wetline

The Gamakatsu #584 EWG hooks have worked well for me for years. I Texpose a 1/0 in a Z-Man Hula StickZ (a 4" bait) on 6 lb. fluorocarbon and the sharp point and thin wire penetrate smallie's jaws with no problem. http://www.barlowstackle.com/Gamakatsu-584-P202.aspx Welcome to BassResource!

The first step is to drag the cardboard carton of packaged plastics out from under the bench and dump the contents on the floor. Next, sort them according to category. You've gone to a dollar store and/or big box store and have purchased a number of plastic containers which some people use for shoes. These are the right size for your plastics. To identify contents of parts drawers and containers, I've used Avery labels, strips of adhesive tape and taped-on pieces of thin card stock in the past. For this project I bought a roll of adhesive backed shelf paper and it not only worked fine but I've got a lot left over for say, labeling what's in the Plano 3700s I've collected. Put the baits in the labeled containers and then onto the shelves. We'll see how long that space under the bench stays open . . .

Too funny!

1) vibrating blade baits 2) bucktail jigs without trailers 3) rubber skirted jigs with double tail grub trailers 4) suspending jerkbaits I expect the water temps in the clear water reservoir I fish to be in the low to mid 40ºs when it opens mid April.

The past three seasons I've been dragging small hair jigs over rocks with 6 lb. Tatsu and it has worked just fine. I'm well satisfied with it in all other aspects as well. Before going to Tatsu I had been fishing Sunline Sniper and that performed almost as well. But I'm willing to pay the extra price for the Tatsu. Make a note to stock up on it for next year when a major online retailer discounts it deeply for their holiday season sale.

The outing on May 12, 2016 only showed me 6 smallmouth, but the 5 best made up a 20+ lb. limit. The morning fish came on a Spin Bait 80 which they didn't want in the afternoon so I changed up to a 2" chunk trailer on an 1/8 oz. bucktail jig and they liked that fine for the rest of the day. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/174776-light-gear-for-heavy-smallies-51216/#comment-1976609

I've got a few years' experience pouring bismuth/tin and powder painting as well as vinyl painting and have put together text and photos in response to hamma's recent post that may be helpful. Hamma is wise to consider gearing up for safety before plugging in the melting pot. Let's look at some gear: Goggles or a full face shield should be worn. A 3M respirator with organic vapor cartridges is a must if you've got time and patience for vinyl painting and is worth the slight discomfort to wear while molding. Dress in shoes or boots, jeans and a heavy, long sleeve shirt with the cuffs over your gloves. You don't want a casual attitude about safety. Pay attention! Here are the tools of the trade. I used a Palmer Hot Pot 2 for years and never really felt comfortable with it. Even half full, it's a fair amount of weight in the hand. It's also possible to carelessly catch the cord and dump the contents of the pot or - carelessly again, to be inattentive while setting it back on the small trivet and tip it . . . Spend the extra $15.00 and get a Lee Pro Pot IV. I'll tell you a story now about my first pour with Rotometals' 281 alloy (58% bismuth/42% tin). I opened the mold as soon as the shine went off the sprue and admired the perfect casting for several seconds. Then I put pliers to the shank of the hook and pulled. And pulled, pulled and yanked! I swiveled around in my chair half expecting to see Rod Serling grinning at me. See, what I didn't know was that bismuth is one of a very few metals found on our planet that expands as it cools. Not long after this experience I learned that a liberal coating of Frankford Arsenal's Drop Out silicone spray makes removal of your just-poured jig easy. You still want to work quickly, however. And removal from some molds is easier than others. See the instruction pamphlets for the melter and the molds? When you read them you'll know what the screwdriver does, what the oil is for and all sorts of other stuff that will make this hobby safe and simple. Dull as it may be - and I'm going to raise my voice here - READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! You've plugged in the pot and turned on the fan, your basic box fan surrounded by insulation foam. You can see the smoke from a snuffed out match or candle go out the window. This is adequate ventilation. Adding an ingot to any amount of molten metal is nothing to be in a hurry about. Same goes for when you're dropping nipped-off sprues back into the pot. Use a spoon to do this. See the slot in the top of the valve rod? Turn the rod a few degrees left and right to "resettle" it to stop any dripping. Oh, you already knew that because you've read the instructions. Okay. You see the mold fully loaded but I actually prefer to cast one or two at a time. I put a number of jigs into the pan on my left. The nippers work great on the bismuth/tin (which is brittle, unlike lead). The other cutters are used for soft lead. It's up to you if you want to file. It won't make a difference to the fish. I do, and the filings of alloys that cost $15.00 - $20.00/lb. fall into the cookie sheet below the vise then go back into the pot. Since I read how well teflon pins work, I never bothered to try the pins supplied with the mold. Remove them with pliers rather than risking impaling a finger tip. Ah, I'm boring you now because you saw this in the instructions which you have studied. See the little bit of flashing on the barbs? After you've pulled the jig from the mold, check to see that these specks are not sitting on a flat area. Flick all off so you can close the mold properly for the next pour. Satisfactory results are not hard to obtain with a reasonable amount of practice, patience and focus. I can't stress strongly enough the importance of working in a quiet environment, taking your time, and understanding the characteristics of the materials you're using and the tools at hand. Work safely and enjoy the hobby. Let's go now to powder painting and curing. I'm reposting the article about my first experiment with powder on 58% bismuth/42% tin alloy. I was better tooled up for my second trial in I stated at the end of this article that "the larger 88% bismuth/12% tin jigs are very difficult to remove from a hot mold." Let me clarify that by saying jigs poured in a 1/4 oz. Poison Tail mold can be removed until the mold heats up - and this hardly makes for an efficient production run. Do-it's Herring Head Jig, on the other hand, is not a problem. A few weeks from now I'll be molding and powder painting pewter, an alloy of 92% tin/7.75% antimony/.25% copper, which weighs only 2/3 as much as lead but can take the heat required to fully cure powder. I'll report the results.

Yup.

Ha! That may be your first hair jig but tell us, how many thousands of trout flies have you tied to become that skillful at the vise? That little bait is going to be deadly. Re the vise: Is that the full-rotating Regal?

What an idea! I have a better, however: You don't have to quit fishing because you enjoy it as much as I do. Therefore you should keep your gear. Understand though, that I would like more gear - expensive, top-of-the-line gear so I could enjoy fishing even more . . . so why don't you send me gift certificates to online retailers and I will choose my own fancy fishing tackle. Thank you in advance for your generosity. In return, I will give you a real deal on a bridge I have for sale. Thanks again and I hope you don't get too bored during the winter and start posting and replying to foolish threads on BR during this time.

When the wind is gusting to 30 mph and you're in a 14' aluminum boat it's very difficult to stay steady enough to get an accurate weight - which is why you see this smallie, which I estimated at 5+ lbs., resting in the net in the bottom of the boat. She ate a 5/8 oz. vibrating blade bait which I had assembled from Barlow's components.

Mike, last year I fished St. Croix Avid, both 6 1/2' and 7' rods matched with Shimano Stradic 2500s filled with 6 lb. fluoro to present 3/32 oz. and 1/8 oz. jigs as well as 1/8 oz. T-rigged plastics and the Duo Realis Spin Bait 80 which weighs in at 3/8 oz. These outfits whupped a number of smallies between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2lbs. You want a medium light rod because they load better for distance with the small baits and they also provide a little more shock absorption when a big smallie makes a fast move. And there's no problem with hook setting because you're using baits with comparatively small, light wire hooks. Of course, there's still room for angler error if you don't have your drag set properly or if you're in too much of a hurry to get a still-hot fish into the net. The set ups I've described above are fine tuned to my style and will be back to work in April.

My vote goes to a Super Fluke Jr. for pre spawn smallies in clear water. Love to see them agitated by this bait and then smash it!

I'm thinking the shine is less important than the vibration.

St. Croix Avid, 6 1/2' or 7'. The 7' is great for the Duo Realis Spin Bait 80 as well.

The GYCB Double Tail Hula Grub, T-rigged, has been one of my most productive presentations for years. When the water is hard in western Massachusetts I enjoy molding, painting and dressing jigs (with a rubber or bio silk skirt that I also make). I use a 4" or 5" GYCB double tail grub for a trailer. At $6.99 for a 20 pack, the cost is not a budget buster. My simple, direct answer is that I have the most confidence in Yamamto's plastics although I effectively use other brands as well.

4" wacky rigged Senko

You may find these how-to videos from jannsnetcraft.com and LurePartsOnline.com helpful: Click on "Training Videos" on LPO's home page for their sequence of assembling an inline spinner. If you're making baits as a hobby, I wouldn't be too concerned about the slight difference in price for flash materials (or hair or feathers & etc.) that you'll find among retail component suppliers. I do business with the above mentioned suppliers but buy most of my supplies - wire, beads, blades, molds, hooks, and fly tying materials from barlowstackle.com who I think has the best selection. And if you're looking to make these spinners in quantity you'll want to check Barlow's tool category for a wire bender.

I'm back in from shoveling as much snow as I care to, and will now turn my attention to observations from the 2016 season. Don't know that I learned anything new but rather reaffirmed, gained more confidence in baits that I had previously shown to smallies and refined my presentation of them. Let's start early season with small hair jigs when the water temp was in the mid to high 40ºs. In an earlier post I used the term "dawdle" because that describes the speed of the retrieve in water this cold. Save the hoppin' and boppin' for warmer water and a different type of jig. Vibrating blade baits showed me some decent cold water smallies too. If you missed it, check out the recent post about this extremely effective cold water bait: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/183746-a-difference-between-blade-baits/ Still early on a bright June morning, the topwater bite died. I was sitting on a favorite rock hump and noticed a hatch had started. Opportunists that they are, smallies eat just-hatched bugs that are making their way to the surface. Opportunist that I am, I wacky rigged a 4" Senko on a #1 Gamakatsu circle hook, cast, let it sink for a two or three count and twitched it back to the boat. The smallies ate it as long as the hatch lasted. Here's one of six: Can't say enough about Duo Realis' Spin Bait 80 which worked for me consistently in water that ranged from 55º - 75º. This June day had been very slow overall and at 3:00 I was hot and bored. Why not amuse myself with a popper? I was working the edge of a steep breaking flat thinking maybe, maybe a hungry cruiser would take notice. The boat you see in these photos is one from the rental fleet that the Massachusetts Division of Conservation and Recreation maintains at Quabbin Reservoir. One morning, when I was in the middle of this sizable body of water, I spotted a stowaway! If I were fishing a pad field for largemouth this creature would have been in big trouble but, being a smallie guy, I had no use for it and deposited it on shore at the end of the trip. This season I used 6 lb. line, both Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon and Silver Thread AN 40 copolymer more often than the 8 or 10 lb. lines that I also use. That's because I often used light, subtle presentations. (1/8 oz. hair jigs, 4" Senko, Duo Realis Spin Bait.) Even used it toward the end of my season in late June for T-rigging a a small bait on a 1/0 EWG hook. And I'm thinking through this recap of the season's memorable events that 6 lb. works fine to properly balance an outfit/presentation and may make a difference on a "tough bite" day. Here's the biggest surprise of the season. On 6 lb. Tatsu: Got my jig back! Hope you enjoyed this ramble through my 2016 smallie season.

Immaculate work, DoDFire.

I get adequate distance and have had no problems with hooksets using a 7' ML rod, a 2500 size reel and 6 lb. Tatsu fluorocarbon line. This is very expensive stuff but worth it to me.

I make my own baits because I enjoy small, detailed hand work. Do not get into this with the expectation of saving money. Do expect, whether you're molding lead or plastisol, that this activity will advance in the same manner as your experience with reloading - if you like what you're doing you will want to acquire more stuff to advance your capabilities. Read this post: http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/170471-jig-pouring/ and remember to read everything posted by smalljaw67 and cadman on BR and TU to name just a couple of excellent, knowledgable craftsman. Have fun and be careful when playing with molten materials!

This video, which A-Jay posted when the topic of "blade baits" came up last year or the year before, is one of the best: I've only been fishing vibrating blades for a couple of seasons and would tell you that the most important thing to keep in mind is not to overwork them. Present like so: Let the bait hit bottom then with a steady, short pull, say 18" - 24", lift it off the bottom. All you want to do is feel the bait vibrate. Remember that both bass and prey, being cold blooded, are moving slowly in 40º -50º water. Reel slowly as you follow the bait back down with your rod. Let it rest on the bottom for a second or two. Repeat. Expect the bass to eat this bait while it's motionless on the bottom. This lure type is one of the worst for hanging up which is why I've been experimenting with hook arrangements. tholmes on this forum likes double hooks. I was still plenty capable of hanging with them so I went with a single rear treble last year and had better results re hang ups. I visualize a bass attracted by the vibration of this bait to kinda mosey over to it and then inhale it. The single rear treble worked satisfactorily. That said, during April 2017 I'll be trying an arrangement that Crestliner2008, also on this forum, swears by: a single 1/0 siwash hook. In my neck of the woods, bassmasters say nothing beats a blade for chilled out smallies.

I don't pour plastics. I keep busy enough with what www.tackleunderground.com refers to as "wire baits." Do check out this site. There is quite a bit about jig tying on YouTube. Start by Googling "smalljaw." Then click on "videos." Catalogs you should have: www.barlowstackle.com www.lurepartsonline.com www.jannsnetcraft.com www.lurecraft.com You may find helpful basic information in this article: If you're molding, the first thing you should be thinking about is safety. And, lastly, I can't say enough about the value of patience and practice. Put all of the above together and you'll have a rewarding hobby.

I make baits.