AUGUST

[Micanopy]

Thanks Jack

[DockShootinJack]

I bought an airless sprayer. Certainly makes painting far more enjoyable. Plus you can get done extremely quickly

[Micanopy]

Painting went well yesterday. The bedroom looks great. We removed all the electrical plates, and taped off everything, and patched holes. She applied the paint. I slept on the couch last night. So hopefully we finish today and get the bed back together.



I had another go at adding eyes to my plastic baits. This time I used a thermometer to ensure the Plastisol was at 350 degrees. I also dip a deeper dip action. That worked a lot better than my previous attempt. The eyes are on there and will hold up to most of the abuse likely to occur. Getting the Plastisol to the 350 degree temperature is the key to this working. A thin coat that adheres.

Of the ones in the picture, I like the middle one. It has an eye that stands out. This is leading me to think that this technique is probably best for a just a few of my baits. The rest will do better with jig heads with eyes.

I read that reheating the Plastisol multiple times will lead to it developing a brownish hue. So heating up just what will likely be used is the way to go. Also there are various types of plastic, and there are bad effects from over heating. Cook…..stir…..measure….cook some more if needed. Take your time in the warming process and apply quickly.

Some baits do not do well with the Screw Lock system. They just don’t. Others do exceptionally well with it. There is a learning curve with it.

I have had issues with getting that perfect alignment when attaching plastic baits. Just a little off one way or another will produce jigs that spin when trolled. I start by holding the bait in between my left hand’s thumb and index finger, straight up and down. Then in my right hand’s thumb and index finger I approach with the jig head, upside down. I ensure that the tip of the hook starts dead center. Then I slide the tip through the plastic, maintaining the straight up and down posture. I use the feeling in my left hand finger and thumb to ensure the tip stays in the center of the bait. Then I expose the tip a little further back on the bait than I would with a jig head without the screw. Bring the bait around to the screw and look to see that it will enter the face of the bait correctly. Then start screwing it on. It is important that the screw enter correctly.

It is a bit tricky to master at first, and to be sure I still botch a few. Some baits can be redone, others need stripped and tossed. I do have a recommendation with regards to Screw Locks. Buy a few jig heads with them before deciding to buy a mold that uses them. Some folks just cannot get along with them and I totally understand why. My new mold, which has not arrived yet, will have the Screw Lock system. I hate seeing baits slide down the shank and spin up the line. I have caught fish on spinning lures sure, but I am certain they would have taken a true running lure, too.

Trolling lures requires extra attention to the small details. I learned that holding the rod and watching the lure swim next to the boat doesn’t mean that is the way it will run back there when you are fishing it. The extra line out changes the dynamics of the swim. What looks good in close is not what you get when it is back behind you a ways. The faster you go the worse things get. Properly aligning the bait to the jig head is very important for this reason.

This alignment is easiest done without a Screw Lock head. No doubt about that. Screwing the bait on adds an extra element of error. Other things can also add errors, such as spinning blades. Often times I will test my lures with blades by ripping them quickly through the water. Seeing how they behave at faster speeds will indicate alignment errors. My custom blade designs can be tuned by simply bending the extension wire. This is handy as hip pockets when the bait proves to have been applied with a less than perfect alignment. The blade can compensate for the error. The lure can be tuned.

I want to design a jig to lay the bait into for applying the hook. Something that allows me to see exactly what I am doing. I have used my fly tying vice to capture the eye of the jig head and that frees up both hands to gently and slowly guide the bait onto the hook shank. This surprisingly works fairly well, which is why I am thinking about a jig to hold the bait. Having two hands free allows me more control. I can slide on a tad, then a bit more, then go for the final thrust and done.

Once a perfect alignment has occurred, it is still possible for the bait to work itself loose and spin some and throw everything out of alignment. I use glue to secure the head of the bait to the regular jig heads to prevent this. I attach the bait, then back it away and place a drop of glue on the shank. Then slide the bait into position. This carries glue along the shank and it damns up on the front of the bait so that when it reaches the jig head I can push it firmly and then hold for a few seconds to secure. This works well enough I suppose. The Screw Lock eliminates the need for glue. Once the screw locks in place, it stays in place and makes it very hard for fish to pull loose.

Once the bait is completed, I will examine it for proper alignment. A heavy jig head can easily overcome a plastic bait that is crooked, but when using lighter heads, errors get compounded. Yes, you can still catch fish on misaligned plastic baits. No doubt about that, but when a bait pulls cleanly it can dive a little deeper and run with less water resistance and provide a smooth pull. Minnows don’t spin as the swim, they are sleek and smooth.

A well installed bait will also swim better as far as tail action. I try to enhance this action by using short shank hooks. The Eagle Claw 571 is a great little hook. I can ease the bait on and leave more of the plastic bait free to wiggle. Easier to affix because there is less distance to guide the tip through the bait. The shank length isn’t so short that they might short bite and miss the tip. They also are sharp and have a nice barb that holds the fish very reliably. I hate losing fish and these hooks makes sure there are a very few that do that to me. The tip stands proud and no need to bend the hook tip up for a better hookup ratio.

It is tricky to swim a bladed design and have it travel in a horizontal fashion. The resistance of the blade cocks the jig nose down. This attitude is not natural. Yes, you can still catch fish but it is not natural. My only solution has been to use a 00 Willow Leaf blade as it has very little resistance. Heavier jig heads can take larger more resistant blades, but for 1/16th ounce, I have been using my tickler blades. They don’t really spin, they just kind of wobble back and forth and tickle the belly of the bait. Looks cool, too. Got them on clearance.

I still enjoy using the swivels that come with one eye open vs. both closed and cutting one open, or adding those dreadful split rings. I feel that the rolling swivels will work for me just as well if not better than the ballbearing types. A lot easier to install as well.

I guess I should buy some more fly tying materials. Try my hand at making some of those. I just cannot get past the fact that plastics just look more inviting to a dumb fish. I really don’t have any decent feathers. I got cheniles and stuff. Maybe some stuff to make minnow imitations. I rarely see colors in these things that are as bright and vivid as plastic baits can be.

Anyways got to go and finish painting operations. I must say that the colors she chose look very nice.

[DockShootinJack]

Great looking baits. Always good when you like the colors that she picked.

[Micanopy]

I think I would take a swipe at this one.

Good thing I gassed up with ethanol free stuff, because it has been a month since I toured a lake. Fishing been slow anyways so kind of hard to get motivated to get out there. Seems every weekend something gets in the way.

The bedroom turned out very nice. I helped with the prep and she did all the painting. That’s the way I like it. However it did take up the entire weekend. Here it is Tuesday and I have yet to be informed of what I will be doing this upcoming weekend.

My mold has not arrived yet.

[Danny Lang]

Nice jigs heads and jigs also, good work.

[Micanopy]

Nice jigs heads and jigs also, good work.

Thank you very much Danny.



I received an email today from PayPal. It gave me a USPS tracking number for my mold. Tracking says Thursday.




Maybe I am too expectant, and placing too much into this design. Maybe this will become the best lure that can be found locally. To really know, I plan to gift the locals and then listen for the echo.

Here is what it looks like….variation number 5.



The blade - like leading edge will probably be uncontrollable when trolled. I hope that this leads to an exotic action my local fish haven’t seen before. Screw Lock system. Without any collar the head must be larger than the others. I mean if it does weight 1/16th ounce. Which we will definitely discern.

My choice was really about the eyes. I wanted a large cavity for eye diversity. Sizes, shapes, and designs. Again, I look to place an object on the eye socket, then pour resin over top to seal and secure. This will allow 3D…..4D…..and 5D….eyes, too. Can be non-eye designs as well. The painted side showing, the eye cavity showing, and the third color highlighting the beak. If it works out that I can resin cover objects inside the eye cavity, that leaves lots of room to experiment.

You will know when this mold is in hand. Count of that.

[Micanopy]

Well it didn’t exactly knock my socks off or anything. The slop in the hinges is evident. I have to squeeze and realign it, then snap it closed. The mold is long and thin, so this hinge wobbling is very evident. For me this is an issue.

The sprue tears free and very clean, as if someone knew what they were doing. Very nice gate. Every dip of the ladle yielded a filled cavity. Even mistakes filled fine. This means the designer has knowledge and experience.

I grasp the sprue with pliers, while the jig is still in the mold, and I bend that stuff forward as I pull it free from the mold. This creates a nice fold, for breaking the jig free from the sprue cleanly, and without loosening the hook within the head. Don’t have to use flush cutters.

The cavities for the eyes is disappointing. The CAD drawing showed a more aggressive cavity rim. Deeper. Well after pouring and painting, I doubt it will do what I wanted it to do now. Why I bought it. To make my own eyes. Shame.

There are eight cavities and they can be modified as needed. I selected the nearest model available, to my preferred hook, and can only pour that special hook in just one of the cavities. The hook slips away and leaves the Screw Lock assembly being the only thing covered in lead. Odd. I used another hook and everything worked as usual. I am going to need to modify some.

The machining of the mold was world class. Absolutely milled beautifully. This mold took a lot of time to carve out. Each cavity looks exactly like all the others. No orange peel stuff. The jigs popped easily away from the mold.

I was disappointed about the slop in the hinge. I have a friend that might could replace the hinge for me.


The babies are in the oven. I am going to go look in on them.

[Micanopy]

Out of the oven and just now opening their eyes.




I like the look of this jig.

While the eye cavities are not deep enough to please me, they seem to do OK with my lazy man eye application technique. Scrape eye from backing, place on jig, dab some UV from the bottle right on top, and let it flow down around the eye and onto the jig head. Forms a nice little seal. I think it will work for what I want to do after all.

You can see the resin enveloping the eye, and encasing it, if you look closely. Just daubed it atop and froze it with the. light after it had flowed enough to reach the jig head. The eyes are on and staying put, and it was easier than painting them on.

The jig head itself looks very nice. It incorporates several styles and fashions. The round head jig because the 3D eyes kind of take it there. Aspirin Head. Hatchet Head. Minnow Head. Kind of an amalgamation of various styles. Looks like he would be a graceful swimmer.

Clean up prior to painting was laughable. Nothing like a sand mold. Clean as any I have ever seen.

Wait time was three weeks or so.

The wooden handles are an absolute joke. Sorry to be that way but really ?

I suspect this is going to become my favorite jig. I need to put in some time with this mold to know what to do next. I am glad I bought it because it makes a cool head. Less than thrilled with how it made those heads.


BTW- I also am going to try a new UV resin. New to me. Picassio from Amazon. They say it is super clear and the price is good. The trick to daubing eyes is to apply an exact amount each time. Wait…..let it flow…then freeze in place…..then fully cure.

The resin I used in photo is some old chinese stuff. It dims the eyes. I want something to enhance the eyes. They make craft resins that are good but require mixing and timing and such. You can’t remove the eyes with your fingernail because the resin makes a slick edge.

I had issues with my daubing technique. Still the result is fine. I plan to use the printed eyes, but also other things what flat round and small. These eyes are 4mm, but I think larger eyes might be the deal. Especially when I run into adding extra color. Sequins. The way I affix the eyes to the head allows lots of room to finagle something in.

When viewed from below looks like a minnow head. Pointy edge flaring back.

Might be better suited for me in a 1/8th ounce size.

Makes me wish I was brave enough to sell every single Do-It mold I got. I don’t know why I waited to get a CNC mold. Didn’t save me any money chasing junk.

[Micanopy]

Yesterday, my wife decides she is going to go with her friend to Hippy Fest. Knowing that, I mentioned it to the boss on Friday. His wife was also planning to split somewhere, so he invites me to go swimming in the springs.

Well I make it to his lake house and ride in his truck pulling his boat. There is a boat ramp at Salt Springs and we put in there. I climb aboard and was a little nervous about the looks of the boat. Everybody is asking how fast the boat goes. People staring at the boat. Has a 300 hp Racing outboard on the back. It is a Daytona Avenger, I think.

When we made it out the creek and into Lake George, he opened it up some and Wow. We were going 60 mph and it seemed pretty fast to me. His buddy met us there and he had a Daytona something, too. Now we got two boats screaming along and the race was on. 80 mph is kind of fast on the water when the water is right there beside you. My wrap around sun glasses couldn’t keep the breeze out of my eyes and my ears were garbled with wind.

We arrived at Glenn Springs and the place is paradise. Even with the yahoos, it is still beautiful.




We swam around a bit but mostly just kind of stood around in the water. Cold but refreshing. There were girls everywhere and some had on an “almost nothing there” bathing suit thingie. They definitely wanted attention. I must admit, I looked, but quickly averted my gaze so as not to offend the little things. There were lots of boats. Big boats, little boats, houseboats, you name it.



I took a picture of my boss’s boat, and his friends is blue.



Then we left and went for a run up the river. Screaming up the river was more like it. The blue boat was the first boat to break the 100 mph barrier. They are several decades old and have been refurbished. They leave almost no wake behind them no matter the speed. They bought them to water ski behind.

We stopped at a restaurant on the water and ate burgers while watching alligators beg for french fries. Well chicken wings is probably what he preferred. The service was OK and we sat underneath a tiki hut roof with large cooling fans blowing on us. Of course they didn’t have my brand of beer.

Back out onto the river and we screamed North even further and stopped at a wallering hole. These are sand bar affairs where you pull up and go for a dip in the river. I guess the idea is that alligators won’t attack if there are a bunch of people. I have seen the alligators that river harbors and couldn’t believe I was neck deep in it. Seeing dogs swimming around was a great comfort to me.

Then back in the boat and off we went again. They like to race a lot. Then we came upon a sandbar affair in the middle of the river and puttered in. I saw this one dude with his fishing boat and I said we were looking for people to race. For money. Yes, ours was the fastest boat on the river. Then we heard this sound, and I saw this thing coming towards us. Have a look.



This is his childhood friend’s boat. Two massive Viper engines. Unbelievable sound. I got a good look at it and the boat was immaculate. He said it got 1.4 mpg, that was if he didn’t get into it. We soaked in the river and he was complaining about the price of gas. I asked his wife how she kept her hair from getting caught up in the air intakes. Asked how they talked on the phone. I mean that thing was loud. Never did get the top end speed report, but it has to be 130 plus.

My boss’s boat will do 100+ when he is alone and conditions are conducive. I was soaking neck deep in the St Johns River, and thinking about my boat at home. Yup, I prefer mine. They can have all that speed demon stuff. My boat will got 50 mph when I do everything right, and that is plenty fast enough on the water.

Well it was a long day 9-5, with lots of soaking going on. Never got hot. The fishing still stinks. Got to see what it feels like to have people screaming and waving at me because I was in a cool boat. Having lots of money probably makes people buy such toys. Guess I am just not properly motivated to earn enough money to go buying such things. My boss has about seven boats, maybe more. I think the green thing is his favorite. He had to completely refurbish it. It looks as good up close as it does going past you.

Girls really like to ride in hot boats you know. Amazing.


Anyways, it was a great way to spend a hot day in August. He likes to fish and gave me some of his swim baits so I could put eyes on them for him. He is fishing with his Dad this morning. Trying for specks. I doubt they will catch very much. For several months now the fishing has been pitiful for long lining around here. Last year this time I was filling my limit and landing the boat within an hour. Not sure what the difference was, but it is remarkable.