purpurite

You're not going to get consistency in any paint brand that you are looking for. You will need to thin all paints to some degree, and not with water. I use any clear glass cleaner, like Stoner's from a spray bottle but the Createx and Wicked reducers also work well. 4012 or 4013 is my go-to if I am using one of their color shift paints. You are likely shooting too low of an air pressure with paints that are not reduced enough. I will shoot anywhere from 20psi to 50psi unless I am doing detail work, which requires more reducing and lower pressures. Also you should be reading your air pressures while the trigger is held open, not static. PSI only matters while paint is flying, not when the trigger is closed. I have been using Createx/Wicked/Faskolor paints for over 30 years with excellent results on R/C lexan bodies, motorsports helmets and all types of fishing lures. It's not the paint. There is a learning curve with painting and airbrushing, like any other craft. It's not going to come overnight. I have a painting series on YouTube @squareheadbaits that can help guide you through the process with a little less stress. It's not difficult to get awesome results, you just shouldn't expect it in the first few days of using an airbrush. Oh, and you were smart to dump the HF airbrush. Nothing but headaches with cheap equipment. Oh, and you mentioned some of the "detail" paints from Wicked... they are essentially transparents or candy colors. You shoot them over other colors to adjust tones, and yes, moss green is a must-have. I also use detail smoke black, yellow ochre, burnt sienna and sepia a lot for lifelike fish colors. Here's the trick with the details, though, I shoot them NOT REDUCED and at 40-50psi. I sometimes will shoot fluorescents like that, too. It's counter-intuitive to everything I know about Createx-based paints, but it works.

Use 303 Protectant if you are worried about UV, if anything—no waxes on the plastic, it's not necessary and doesn't do anything to help.

The best advice, right here. If you aren't peeing at all, you're dehydrated. You have to keep drinking water, and be alert to the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

I use a Plano Stowaway box, 3440. It's water-tight, and it fits my phone and GoPro batteries and cards and keys, if I don't put them in a center console on the yak. Best part is that it floats if it falls over.I use a Plano Stowaway box, 3440. It's water-tight, and it fits my phone and GoPro batteries and cards and keys, if I don't put them in a center console on the yak. Best part is that it floats if it falls over. It's like $5 at Walmart.

I had the same issue on my MGL and it sent me into mild panic. I pulled the spool out, put it back in and made sure it was fully seated in the drive cup. Make sure the latch is fully wide open on the side plate, and that the side plate goes on perfectly square. It's quite fiddly but I was able to get it to sit flat and lock. For me, it was just a matter of getting everything perfectly aligned to get it all seated.

Don't rule out buying anything second-hand. I looked for 6 months on CL and FB Marketplace, as I wanted something fairly specific and in a certain color. I had my list of 2 or 3 different boats I wanted, and I watched the market asking prices for boats that disappeared fast and ones that stuck around in listings for a long time. A week ago tonight, I picked up my 2020 Vibe Sea Ghost 110 about 40 minutes from my office. It had been used once in a river, and like most Covid recreational purchases, was never used again. The seller had listed it on FB as "Kayak" with poor photos and no description at all. I'm still not sure how I found it a half hour after it was listed. I couldn't get there fast enough. Bought it for 50¢ on the dollar for the price of a brand new one. It needed the rudder and pedals set up correctly and a good wash, and it's like brand new. Can't wait to get it out on the water. Don't give up on one if you want it. There is one out there with your name on it.

Laws and rules are not established to remove stupidity completely—just minimize the overall damage to the rest of us.

I managed to get in touch with Steve Corley, who is the nephew of the late Bobby Ditto, the creator of this bait and many others. Here's what I learned... These little snake-headed worms were indeed called the Ditto Verifier, named by the late Dr Loren Hill, because, "these baits will always verify if there are any bass down there or not." He had something to do with the development of the Snatrix, too, and the matter of which came first is up for argument. The Verifier was first molded in 1980. The funky caramel/purple one was called Chocolate Motor Oil, and the back and blue was called (you guessed it), Black and Blue Laminate. He said they were available in both 3" and 11" versions if you can believe that. And it's true that Terry Scroggins owns all of the old Ditto molds and produces them mostly for himself, but does give them away on his social accounts from time to time. Fun little fishing tackle archeology adventure. Can't wait to see how these work, once I figure out the best way to rig one up.

i prefer as fast of a ratio as possible—it's way easier to slow my reel-in than it is to speed up. i want 8 on all of my reels, but 7 is acceptable if it's the fastest of my choices. i don't like anything slower than a 7, personally. i have a 6 on my frog setup and it's my least favorite combo to use.

remember, when the temps of the water and air combined are are less than 120°, hypothermia is the top lottery winner. know the risks before you go out.

Use a little raw Plastisol with the old cut down plastic, and use a heat stabilizer. Microwave back up until it melts down again. Stir often.

Big fan of Z-man Ned baits, but I could do without all of the babysitting the Elaztech to keep it away from every other plastic on the planet. I keep them all in their original bags like they recommend, though I would rather sort my stuff in 3600/3700 tackle boxes.

There are a few really good FB groups for lure painting and a handful of excellent YouTube channels, too. I'd recommend joining and following a couple of those—you'll be surprised at some of the talent out there. Some incredible talent showing off on Instagram, too.

i really like elaztech baits but i hate storing them. they have warped or distorted every container i have had them in, including BUZBE cases. i don't usually keep baits in the bags that they come in preferring to box everything, but for my Z-man stuff i leave it all in the original zip bags and use the plano 1-compartment boxes to store them all. it's the least offensive solution to my OCD organization issues.

I would agree with the CVT comment, too. I'm definitely not a fan, but I don't hate it enough to make me not love my car. I don't think I would buy another CVT car, though. I don't know how to describe it. I have had 35 cars since I was 15 and only 3 of them were automatics, so it could just be my dislike for automatic transmissions, in general. It just feels vague and disconnected, if that makes any sense. Just saw a Car & Driver list of the top 10 fastest selling new cars and the Crosstrek was number 1, with cars not sitting on dealer lots longer than 7.5 days at the most. Tough to get anywhere, and many dealers are marking them up $1500-$2500 over sticker. Dealers are calling owners like me and offering more than I paid a year and a half ago to buy them back.

Donno what that copy & paste does for anyone, because all car manufacturers have recalls and issues. That mess isn't an owner's point of view, it's white noise, IMO. I've owned my 2.5L Crosstrek Sport since October of '20, and it was the second Subaru we have owned (a 6-speed '15 WRX was my wife's ride for 4 years). We have loved BOTH cars and have had next to zero issues with either of them. I would buy another Subaru again in a heartbeat. If it holds any water, a recent Consumer Reports ranking had Subaru as the #1 overall brand. In my ownership, I haven't had anything show me otherwise. doug

Such wonderful information, thank you guys, They are definitely NOT getting melted down. I didn't think any of this stuff that I picked up was of vintage age, and it's not my intention to destroy any of it. I can replicate the colors if I want to pour them into different molds. Sure is fun watching this information come to the surface, so to speak. There is almost nothing out there on the interwebs about these old Ditto baits, other than Gator Tails. It's also pretty entertaining to continue to get conflicting memories of what that strange color is called. I don't think I have had the same name said twice anywhere I have asked about it. Thanks all! Doug

Definitely not getting melted. Too odd, too rare, and I don't need to melt stuff to mold. Plus, I kinda want to try them out. So, it appears as though they were a knock-off of an 80s Bill Norman Lures soft bait called the Snatrix. They look extremely similar, and were also offered in 3", 5" and 8" versions. Apparently a topwater light tackle worm. I still have no info on the Ditto version, but I'll pass it along when I know more. Doug

Austin is TIm's son, not brother.

So yesterday morning I took a drive to pick up a couple of tackle boxes of unbagged soft plastics that were listed as "gummy fishing worms." In total, it's about 6 pounds of stuff that I had really only acquired to melt down and re-shoot in my own molds. I figured the drive was going to be worth the donor plastics. Turns out there are quite a few colors that look to be NLA or special production, mostly Zoom and Culprit. About 2 pounds of Zoom Junebug finesse worms and brush hogs alone. Lots of really interesting color combos. One worm is really stumping me. It's stamped DITTO and is the strangest combo of an earthworm or caramel color and a color shifting purple, depending on the light angle. It's about a 3" curly tail worm, eel or snake in molded form. I can find almost nothing online about DITTO baits, other than the "Gator Tail" seems to be a well-loved worm over the years. Looks like the namesake and former owner Bobby Ditto passed away a long time ago, and I don't see anything about a company still making any products still. Anyone have any info on this one? Like, what's the color called and what is the bait called? Don't think this one is getting melted down, it would just look like a blob of clay anyway. I decided to look back into some of these bags to see what I may have missed when I was separating it all and bagging it yesterday. Turns out, I missed some things in the bag of black baits—some Culprit black grape worms, and more DITTO eels (or whatever they are)! Found 6 more of these little 3" Ditto snake/eel things—they are split laminated, half opaque black and half SUPER dark transparent blue, which makes them look like a black grape when you hold them in your hand. Up to the light, it's definitely royal blue. Because of the rough molding on these, the edges get this weird blue halo, which is really cool. Still have no idea what these are, but this is fun. LOL

Big fan of Brave, which is a stripped down and very private version of Chrome. I never use Safari anymore, as it's just become bloatware and seems to be beta tested on live users. I don't have the patience for that crap from Apple anymore.

I keep all of my broken and segmented plastics just to cut them up into other shapes and use them as trailers or other things. I keep them all in a separate ziplock bag with the handwritten word, "IDIOTS" on it. It's my own island of misfit baits. You never know when you will have a small or micro jig that needs a very special trailer.

I have a whole box full of various color Fat Albert grubs. Total confidence bait for me. Use them on their own Texas rigged or as trailers on jigs or spinners. I love them.

Plenty of companies out there like stickermule.com that do a handful (usually like 50) for $20 or so. Quality is really good, I use them all the time.