earthworm77

I agree with you on the Devcon, it works great and brushing a few baits at a time isn't a big deal.

I'd go with a Shimano Stradic CI4. Or something JDM like the Cardiff/Soare etc.

RP40. It is a 2 part alumilite type casting material.

I got an email from a buddy who asked if I could make a UL version of a spinbait for trout fishing in the mountain streams of North Carolina. It seems that Duo Realis discontinued the spinbait 60 and now only makes an 80 and 90mm version. I couldn't even find a 60 but I remembered that I had one. I am a jig and spinnerbait guy, I've never made a hard bodied bait before. I took on the challenge because I felt if I was successful, I'd have a hell of a bluegill/bass bait for my own pond on my property in NC and the rivers I fish here in Florida. How I went about it: I'm not ashamed to admit I made a 1pc mold of the 60 and cut it down to the length I wanted and sanded it to the necessary profile I was looking for. I made both a 1 5/8" and a 2" body. But with that came the issue of properly weighting it so that it would fall flat horizontally with that sexy little shimmy. I needed to add weight to a solid body, not a bait I could assemble from two halves with spots for the weights molded in place. I molded about a dozen bodies and then had to experiment with weighting the baits. I needed the bait to do two things........swim straight without wobble and fall perfectly horizontal with that sexy shimy like a Senko. I drilled a series of small holes ahead of and behind the belly hook and filled them with tungsten powder. I got really lucky and pretty much nailed it with the first two baits I made. Next I mocked up a bait with the screws and hardware I would use to complete the bait to test it. I swam some of the baits in the pool and found that they blew out and rolled if fished too fast. I simply bent the paddles of the lead prop the opposite of the tail prop and this was instantly corrected. The bait fell exactly as I wanted it to and it swam great. I would decide to use Decoy single hook's on the 1 5/8" bait and Gammy trebles on the 2". At about the time I was knee deep in the project, I read on Tackle Tour that Duo made the Tetra Works mini prop which is a ul version of the Spinbait. Despite the bait being rather difficult to acquire, I managed to get one and here is a comparison photo with the 1 5/8" bait I made. Here a few smaller ones @ 1/8oz ready for clear coat. 2" baits are about 3/16oz. I was going for small in the sense of length and profile. A slightly heavier bait in moving water or deeper water like the quarry pits I fish could be a good thing. These are essentially the finished baits in both 2" and 1 5/8". A couple were also specifically made for deep water. Here is a family tree of the 90mm,80mm, 60mm and 48mm baits from Duo and a couple of mine. [/quote]

I'm a Slider guy Allen, I dig that.

If you've ever had a Zman TRD on your jig for a long time you will notice that it becomes rather spongy and flexible and floats like no other plastic. I'd like the Ned Robo for a drop shot because of the colors. But I'll stick with the Zman forNed rigging, of which I've already caught thousands of bass on despite my previous aversion to elaztech plastic.

Orange lake and Loochloosa are right there.......when Orange is on.......it can be the best lake in the state.

bring sunscreen?

I live in Fl but have 20 acres in Granville NC. The guy who looks after my property lends me his creek boat for my private 1 acre pond. I use it for bass fishing. For small waters like mine, it is perfect. It paddles fine and could handle a 12 volt troller........my only concern for you is its stability on larger water. I'm not sure it is the best option. I think it would be very easy to get off balance especially shooting and take a dunk in it.

It certainly would skew the 10% thing.

The problem is that most guys who fish THINK they are one of the skilled guys and usually they aren't. It is an ego thing.

They are on top, stick to the theme of top water baits or stuff that sinks really slowly like unweighted soft plastics.

Hooksets are free, when in doubt, set the hook.

OSP Dolive Craw and Yamamoto Fat Baby for me.

I manually close the bail not because of damage to the reel by not doing so, but because manually closing the reel prevents any chance of a pool of line getting loops on the spool and causing line twist or tangles later on.