jbass

I also drill a seat for the eyes if you will. This gives the appearance of a real eye. I've found if there is a small void under the eye after adding the epoxy an air pocket will form and it won't seal properly. There will be a small pin hole next to the eye where it has off-gassed. So if you use this approach for seating eyes on crank baits be aware of this situation that could occur.

I currently use the 3D stick-on eyes on my crankbaits and cover them with Devcon when it's time to put the finish on the bait.

I think Jann's Netcraft carries them too.

awesome!!

Yes, Janns carries them, not sure of the sizes.

Colt Model 1911 Semi Automatic .45 just because of the knock down power.

I'm a lefty shooter and have a righty Rem 870 Express. If you don't mind the shells coming out in front of your nose, what's the difference? Lefty shotguns are a little more expensive because of the action difference, but they all shoot the same to me. Jerry

Suspending baits are a little tough. Once you've added ballast to the bait, make sure it's heavy enough to start to sink below the surface. I normally do this in a big pot of water (no need to go to the lake) and then start clipping of a little of the ballast at a time. Once you reach a neutral state (just floating below the surface not sinking) it is suspending. I don't make alot of these, because when they suspend and get hooked on a limb or some sort of cover, they don't float to the surface, and you need a "hound dog" or lure retriever. This is how I do it, and I assume there are others here that do it differently. Good luck.

Awesome looking jigs. They look like 3/4 ounce, with a 5/0 hook, am I close?

John,those are absolutely awesome.

The Lexan is much thicker, will add weight to your bait depending on how big it is and is very durable. Don't use plexiglass, in cold temperatures it will break. Light weight and very dependable is the circuit board material. I get mine from Jann's and I change the shape with my belt sander or Dremel.

Like BobP said, "If it ain't broke don't fix it." D2T has been a staple in my arsenal for a while, yet I'm still in the learning curve, I would be open to any new finishes that will last and is resistant to checking and the like. I built a twitch bait that really came out great. Fishing it in one of our local waters; I whacked chain link fence post. I though for sure it was damaged but I could not find the spot where it hit. That's why I'm sold on D2T.

Killer names Skeeterman!!

Smallie. No doubt.

The one center right, without the gill plate paint, it could be a smallie pattern. Very nice.

my mistake Marty, the one I repaired sure looked like balsa.

Poe has made balsa baits with epoxied screw eyes for years, I've never had an eye pull out of those either, but I have broken many diving bills on them. For some reason they just don't hold up.

Like Marty, I make my own screw and tie eyes. Mine are atleast 1 1/4 inches long and epoxied in as well. I have yet to have a failure. I've mounted a bait on an overhead board at the tie eye and held on to the screw eye with a pair of vice grips and neither pulled from the bait.

You know the bait is a winner when it gets pounded when tuning it. Nice...

Love those jigs. Football heads my fav.

Marty always awesome. The second one from the left would be killer on the Smallies out here. Nice.

I'd change the name to "Fish Catchin' MF". Nice, I love the football heads and use them exclusively for shallow to deep water and anything in between. Great looking bait.

There are more guys on this board that can answer your questions but I'll give it a shot. 1. Fine lines around the gill plates: I've made a pattern from cardboard and traced around it with a pencil and used an exacto knife to follow the lines then remove the material with the exacto knife. 2. Cutting the lip slot: Locate it on the blank before you start carve. You can put the lip slot square to the blank with a handsaw or table saw. Just depends on the thickness of the lip. I use a coping saw because I use the very thin wafer type lips. 3. Eyes even: Once I've cut my rough blank, I'll run a center line the length of the bait, back to front and down the belly. This way I have a line to go by to keep the bait symmetrical and you can locate line ties, hook hangers. You should drill these holes as well before carving. Using a cloth tape you can measure for the eyes on either side of the center line equally. There is a post on May 23 in the tacklemaking page and there are a few of my baits there. The first picture is rough cut an a sanded blank as well and you can see the center line on them. I hope this explains what I'm talking about. 4. Ballast: Basswood is pretty light so you need enough to have it sit upright and perpendicular to the water. I could be 1/8 ounce could be more. These are some of the things I go by and I hope it helps you. Again there are better bait builders on this site than me but this is how I make mine and it works. Good luck on yours as well.

All painting is hard for me but the blue gill pattern, seems to evade my expertise.

Those are great. I like the color combos, fish catchers for sure.