Dave A

I like them because of my early experience with Beetle spins. You can make you own using Hagens little wire bender and stainless steel wire if your supplier is out of stock.

I always check for clearance items as well. last fall I got Gami worm hooks that they were clearing out for $1 a pkg

Yep- LC

Update: I filed a dispute with my credit card company and got my money back. Still looking for a good replacement supplier. So far Blick is the front runner.

Not sure if you are aware of it, but the essential series molds are cast aluminum as opposed to CNC, so the finish will not be as refined and the resulting baits will be dull as opposed to shiney. They will be fine to fish with, but I thought you should know this to avoid surprises.

I like the 5.8". Kalamazoo, Mi area.

You can fish the back half of ripped senkos and twister tail grubs on it too. That way you can have them fish with a bunch of other colors Here are pics of some that I poured. Green Pumpkin with blue hilites and orange tips

Beetle spin- YES! Catches everything. 82 cent at Walmart

Fantastic work! Thanks for sharing- yet another technique to learn!

Scraping the sides usually works for me. I do it while the pot is still hot.

Looks great! You can always paint it to add accents.

Here's a fluke based on Del's mold, enlarged to about 8.5"

Depending on the wire diameter that you are using, you may not have to modify the mold at all. Here I use 0.024 ss wire in a std mold to get a keeper. Cut the wires to 1.5" and bend the tip a little to mold the wire in place. lay it next to the hook and pour lead. I did mod the eye to accept a flateye hook. Hope this helps, Dave

Consider your self fortunate. They won't respond to email or answer their phone. VM box is full. there is a feedback site with alot of angry folks expressing their feelings. I have ordered from them on a routine basis for the last 4 years with no issue and now this.

The only drawback with tin is the cost! Yes wire breaks with use, but I find the twisted wire lasts longer than the std wire that Do-it supplies for this mold. I am thinking about using heavy fluoro to improve these, but haven't had time to work on it. Allen, you are right. those are the LPO twisted wire weedguards. THe ones that do-it sells for this mold are a PIA to place so I switched. They behave much better when closing the mold and pouring. I haven't had a hook straighten out yet but will keep this in mind for future designs. Thank you! Dave

I went to the Portage, Mi store yesterday. It is closing. most fishing stuff is 10-15% off right now.

Here is an example of an expanded bait using Hydrospan. The original was 3.5" and the expanded version is 6". It is a 2:1 mix . I find you need to let the baits cure for a couple days before placing into water , otherwise the surface tends to crack, prob because the water absorbs too quickly. The bait will dry to its original size if left out of water and can be expanded again. It has a relatively short shelf life, so plan out your projects accordingly, otherwise it gets too thick to work. I'd be interested to hear others' experiences with this product- hope you find this useful! Dave

I like to use weighted wacky hooks. I made these yesterday using tin since I hate when the lead head gets loose. The weights are 1/16, 5/64, and 3/32 using the std mold. I like the designs shown above- makes me think about the rings i use with my wacky rig, and alternate ways to approach this...

Has anyone else tried to order from CAS and gotten no response, no product, no refund? VM is full. Thanks, Dave

I save money by making my own lures. I pour soft plastics, have almost every jig mold, paint cranks, buy hooks and skirt tabs and split rings in bulk and have started looking into making my own rods. Wait- what were we talking about?

This is a new mold that I poured/injected last night. It is new for this year and I can't wait to try it on a swing head.

Well, apparently you can't cure them for too long. I Accidentally left a batch in the toaster oven and fell asleep. THey baked overnight and looked fine. It was either GP or copper vein from Columbia. I don't remember which but they were football heads.

2X for Zeiners. They made a mistake and sent the wrong mold one time and immediately made it right. And they will credit you on shipping when possible.

One day I had some fellow baitmakers over. They were impressed that we could actually make it over to the workbench. I told them that it was a good thing that I cleaned up before they came over. You could hear them laughing across the lake.

Yep- been using both with no mishaps yet. But I wear gloves and have a bucket of water by my side all the time because I do get burned from time to time. And I always wear an organic vapor mask and have exhaust fans going.