Test swam some stuff yesterday.
Half of it sucked..........but this 5.5oz Oprah Winfrey version of a magic swimmer was an "OH MY GOD" moment for sure. Typical frantic swim bait action at speed, but slow it to a crawl and it looks totally, irresistibly alive. If the line tie upgrade and finishing doesn't throw it off (right now it suspends perfectly)I like its chances.......to make that plastic humping, blarney-stoned, Zappa-spouting, sh!tgrinning machinist I fish with cry for a change. :bshake:

Chris those came out great. All hooked and dresssed. Ready to throw. Who's spoon lip?

Catching up from yesterday's Demo day. If I feel ambitious, I may paint a few Pikes. Got some color recommendations from visitors yesterday. Picked up a bottle of Createx Black pearl. Never saw this version but "lobby" has a great Createx selection. What distinctions does this show? Swirls, silver blends?? Can it be air blasted to seperate the pearl effects over say silver base?

Hahaa. Looks fantastic. I hope you are making more than one and they sink very slow cause with something that large and the crappy backlashing reels you use a snap off is in your future and depending on me to hang off the front of your boat with my rod tip to retrieve it might result in a disappointment. Does look very cool though look forward to seeing it a plugfest if you haven't lost it by then.
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Bah, I'm not worried. I'll carry a mask and fins so you can go get for me......plus Art gave me a new reel for xmas so I can retire that pathetic worn out crap I've been using.....maybe.

Art is a smart man. Probably got sick of your swearing
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now that CSA's demoday is over I'm hoping to pick up building again. Finally got a chance to video my new "jerkbait" style plugs with some different weight arrangements.

8" with the weights set in the middle runs 2-3' down on a steady retrieve, can be cranked or pulled down to 6'+

with 2 weights at midship and one 2/3 back runs 2-3' but stays there, even if pulled hard.

Attachment 63812

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqgtAH11nyc

Looks great and I am sure Numbskull is flattered you named it after him.
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Nice work Matt! The front of that bait kinda reminds me of a Suick Thriller musky lure.

Touche :bl:

I saw Paul in line shivering Saturday morning, so I have to agree with him on this one ;)

However, if the "jerkbait" actually "worker" according to Paul maybe I'd have seen George next to him. (that would mean George is actually a jerk) So the plug is in the wash....

Still refining it, but I am finding this build to take less time than darters so it's a fun build. I still love building darters, and don't fish much else with the exception of spring. and then its needles and darters.

I picked up googooman's darter saturday and threw that too... "oh my" is all i have to say.

Thanks Ryan, yah the design is similar to a musky bait. Those guys use a lot of jerk-baits ... dive and suspend or dive and rise. Mostly a boat situation.

I was looking for something that dug fast and could hit 8' depth and rise after hitting structure (but from the beach, rock, etc).

Nice I could see how that might come in handy

More painting , accents and combos.

Twas the week before plugfest and all through the house,
The paint fumes have killed all as small as a mouse.
The sun may be shining or the sky full of snow,
but down in the basement there is no way to know.
The woodchips are knee deep, with more shapes to mull,
The lathe keeps on spinning, though the tools are too dull.
And wires and swivels are scattered around,
With the correct sized lips, nowhere to be found.
And the airbrush is clogged, from its cup to its tip,
and spits paint like a drunk, choking on a nip.
But there's no time to clean it, when you gotta be quick,
So you crank up the pressure and lay the paint thick.
The epoxy is pock marked and full of dust flecks,
but the damn things are for fishing so who gives a heck.
And your friends show they up, to "just say hello",
when you both know damn well, they come to plug ho.
And you wife is annoyed, alone in the bed,
While the epoxy gets laid and the spinner gets fed.
And so it goes at this time of year,
'Cause nothing else matters as plugfest gets near.

Classic.
I have finished nothing so I will be in full ho mode. Did start painting yesterday though.
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Im still working on refinishing a big batch of plugs to get them back in the rotation. I've got those sealed & primed. While they were stripped I tweaked weighting on some of the needles. Will be nice to get the winners back in the plug bag. I intentionally did not fill hook swings or tooth holes, figured I'd be able to find my old favorites easier that way.

In between doing that I've been messing around with some maple scraps I've had kicking around while but I need to hit a lumber yard soon and pick up some more maple. The only plugs I've finished so far are 4 needles I made out of an old piece of tiger maple I found when I was going thru my stack of wood looking for soft maple. Funny I did a search of this forum yesterday to see when I was playing with that (and it was back in 2008). I ended up reading some old threads from back then for a couple hours, pretty entertaining :)

I also learned the hard way that the jig I use on my drill press for thru drilling the starter holes from each end was out of alignment. I did turn a batch of needles but ended up misdrilling almost 1/2. Next year I will have to remember to test 1 first before drilling the whole batch.:gorez:

I was finally able to get a resin plug poured... and I'm pretty happy with the way it came out (although the sink rate is a little fast for where I typically fish.)

I'll be trying again soon with more microballoons to see if I can get the sink rate a bit more dialed in.

I like this style of lure building... exercises the scientist in me!

(If I ever get to a computer I'll try to upload pics)
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Played around with some new spray paint colors and brands, got some graffiti style sprayers.

Found a nice BI green and parrot combo and some transparent colors which are killer.

Sprayed some plastic lure bodies from eBay to test, digging the results

Need to get some pikies sealed and Sanded this week
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http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...psho2te15p.jpg

Finished this project up yesterday in between taking flu meds and sleeping.

Full redo, stripped, sanded, heat epoxy sealed twice, eyes removed and re drilled, hand painted red eyes, lots of hours into it.

Was for a buddy that freshwater fishes and throws swimbaits and big baits exclusively.
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Got these two plastic swimmers epoxied too, redhead parrots, some new paints, they blend awesome and the epoxy lays great on em.

Mamba minnow and savage gear copies from eBay, $2 each, nice way to test paints and epoxy

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3zj8s4wj.jpg

http://i1227.photobucket.com/albums/...pson9k4mjg.jpg
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Nice Chris!
Test swam some stuff the other day when it was in the 50's. I like the way the small predators swim unweighted, could only get them to dig down about 2' but I was in an area with not much current.Also swam a skinny musso Sr. with a lefty 2 hi slot lip, Really like the snake like action and it will start swimming on the slowest of retrieves. Got high hopes for that one. Should be priming and painting stuff this week.
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That mouse thing is awesome!

Wired a dozen or so pikes. First coating S3 today. Wish me luck. I'm also going to do a few with my clear coat baseball finish, 1 part KBS clear coat. 2 coats 3-6 hrs apart to chemically bond the 2 coats. The bats get 2 coats with a scuff w/gray pad prior to 2nd coat. Hard as nails. JLH use same with 1 coat and other than hook rash, no noticeable problems.

I've got a can of that stuff and have been afraid to open it. I really want to use it instead of epoxy.

Are you spraying it? If so, what sort of gun/pressure/thinner?
What sort of vent system?
I think that Mike (M&D's) used it for a while but had some health problem attributed to it .......I think it was elevated liver enzymes.

Supposedly there is also an issue with it drying once opened. Are you using the sheet metal screw in the side of the can trick, the marbles trick, or some type of argon spray?

This is the third building season that I've been using it. Like Billy said I just use one coat which covers and protects the paint well but it doesn't provide a lot of protection against hook rash like some of the thicker epoxy coats do.

I just brush it on with a foam brush and personally I wouldn't spray it without a very good ventilation system as I've also heard of health issues from working with it and that along with problems breathing the fumes it can be absorbed through the skin. I like that it's just one part and I don't have to worry about mixing, spinning or temperature very much. Its very thin and easy to brush on and a little bit goes a long way. I'll wait for a warm day to use it and generally setup in the garage with windows and doors open or right on the basement steps with the hatch open and always wear a respirator and rubber gloves. It will harden in lower temperatures, I think KBS recommends over 50 degrees, but I've used it on mid 40 degree days without issue. It seems to stop gassing off after around 8-10 hours and is hard enough to handle after 24 though I'll usually wait 48 hours to wire plugs.

It does harden up if exposed to air but using the sheet metal screw trick one small can lasted me two winters.

I spent the last few sessions working on some glide baits for the coming season. I made a couple variations at the end of last winter and had one that fished well that I'm working on reproducing it. I would have probably fished it more last year but only having the one I didn't' really want to loose it. Fortunately it survived the season and I actually remembered to take notes on how I had build them last year so hopefully these will work...

Well I system 3 10 plugs first coat. Hung them with 2 heat lamps c lose by. They are already touchable . 9 hrs. Did 1 pike with KBS. 2 coats. 6 hr between. First coat was dry to touch , very little tack. Second coat covered a y voids and gave it a deeper finish. Also did a few bats while I had it out. Punched a small hole in b otto and resealed sith screw, the left over fi is will solidify around the hole helping to seal out air,. This stuff hardens with the co er on. They sell a b "burp" spray to replace e air in a i.le. argon. Nice t n I g with small hole you squeeze out just enough. Never used the screw method , (thanks J). Always repacked in a Mason jar and vacuum pa ked it. Real PIA. I'll keep post results of plug fi is and pot life in can.

I've had a good couple weeks. I made it to downes and reader and picked up some more soft maple and white pine and have been messing with that. I've sest swum and tweaked some darter/slope headed stuff Ive been messing with, and I've got the rest of the stuff I've turned sealed. I've got too much in process and have to start finishing some stuff but I still want to turn more needles and maybe mess with gliders those look like fun.

I Had a small mishap with the spar varnish . The container I use lives under a workbench and must have got kicked around and cracked and with all the old dryied varnish coating it I didnt notice it till I was in the middle of a very sticky flood.

I Started painting the pencils I am refinishing this morning, it will be good to get those done and out of the way. Just going with 4 basic color schemes on those. Most of the pink will be pink mac's but I need to make a new stencil.