hawghunters

I bought the green perch when it was on sale a few years ago and have caught several fish on it. It's action is pretty good. I think of it kinda like one of those wooden segmented snake toys. If you twitch your rod tip on a semi slack line it can have a pretty decent swimming action. I've only really used it fishing ponds though.

check out mytopo.com and their online topographic maps. I've had a lot of luck finding topographic maps for lakes I can't find elsewhere.

Leaving them out should help, that's what I do with all my skirted baits. I also have found that the older jigs that have sat in my box are more flexible than those that are brand new. Usually I make mine over the winter, and by spring they have softened up.

I really like lure craft. I do not buy salt or scent from these companies though. I just use a mortar and pestle to grind up regular salt, and just buy whatever cheaper scent from anywhere else. I use the berkley scent because it's by far the cheapest and is pretty smelly, but I also like to use smelly jelly. Also, when I first started pouring I looked at these beginners kits and found that they were not going to help make the baits I wanted. Therefore I decided to just order a quart of plastic along with a couple molds that I would use like a senko, creature, and swimbait. Then a bottle of black, green, and pumpkinseed coloring, and couple glitters. I also order a pearl power for swimbaits. I ended up getting more the molds I wanted and the colors I wanted for around the same price as the beginners kit.

I use fishingskirts.com because they have a huge variety of skirts you can make. They sell pre made skirts, but they mostly sell the tabs. Generally, a two tab skirt is what I use on spinnerbaits, buzz baits, and jigs. You can make so many different colors its nuts, and the quality is good too. To get started you just need the skirt tool ($10), pack of bands (cheap), and then you select your tabs. They come in packs of 10 for $2.50.

I buy most of my crankbaits from dicks. End of the year they're almost always on sale. I also scored Berkeley twitch drop shot minnows $1 a bag. I also hit up wallmarts sale where I got some cheap square bills so I won't care if I get it stuck in a tree.

It's pretty simple. The key for me is that I mix the epoxy inside the cavities. It saves from using a ton of epoxy. I then use like a Popsicle stick or something like that to spread the mixed epoxy across all of the cavity. If you mix the epoxy on a plate, or use a paintbrush you waste a lot of it. Mixing inside the cavity has been most effective for me.

I hand pour everything, and it with out a doubt saves me money. The thing I looked at when I started pouring was what baits are costing me the most? Swimbaits, craws, creatures, and senkos. I would have very little need to make my own tubes or finesse worms because I already buy them really cheap. I use lurecraft molds that run between 10 and 15 dollars. In all reality, you make your money back after pouring 5 packs including cost of plastic, colorant, and glitter. As far as the plastic, colorant, and glitter, I kept it simple. I use chemionics plastic $35 for a gallon. Colors I have 4: black, watermelon, pumpkinseed, and white pearl powder. I can make plenty of greens between the watermelon, and pumpkinseed. Glitter I kept simple to blue, gold, and red. I use a microwave for free from a friend. In all, the investment for 3 molds and plenty of plastic, colors, and glitter will run you less than $100. Keeping in mind that I have yet to run out of glitter or colorant and I've poured well over a gallon of plastic.

just keep in mind you will need to seal the mold when the plaster dries. Some use a 50-50 mix of elmers glue and water, but I use 2 ton epoxy. I find that the epoxy lasts longer.

I have ordered from them many molds and haven't had a problem. I order online, not by phone though.

I opt to using floro for that application because of its abrasion resistance, but I don't mind 17lb mono either. I like the stretch in mono for those applications because of a little more delayed hook set. However if I'm in any sorta cover I like the abrasion resistance and less stretch.

I too have an older accurist and have no complaints. The thing has been my go to fishing a jig in junk reel for years. The reel stays smooth and easy casting, but I must take care of it. I also have bps extreme reels that work well, but I take care of them. I own shimanos too, but struggle to see spending the money on them when others work fine for me.