cadman

When you are referring to making molds , are you looking to make machined aluminum molds that will last, or something out of bondo or Durham's wood putty?

I leave all my lead in the pot all year long. I never clean my pot unless I have real problems. I too clean my lead with bee's wax. Best way to do this is light the fire and then slowly mix the lead. Letting it smoke, will juist make a lot of smoke.

Depends on what you are doing with it. If you want one that goes through weeds well. Do-It Ultra Minnow mold.

Ataris take all the information above to heart. Safety is #1 issue. You must have a stable bench to pour on along with a lot of ventilation. Pouring lead must be done over a covered area. What I mean by this is, do not pour outside in the open air. If you get any water or a bug lands in your hot lead, the moisture will make the lead explode and you will get seriously burned. You must be very aware and diligent of your surroundings when you are pouring lead. Powder painting inside the house or apartment is not an issue as there really is no smell. Also like mentioned have a dedicated toaster oven only for powder painting.

As far as jigs go, you can use any hook you want in any mold that will accept them. At one point I even called Do-It mold company to ask them if I can call my jigs "Poison Tails and Snootie" and there was no problem with that either. Do-It was very accommodating. Any and all other jigs like football, ball, arky , are all generic terms. However if you feel more comfortable, it is always proper to call and ask. It is just reassurance for your own piece of mind. If you need help with making jigs feel free to e-mail me or I can call you and help you out getting started.

You are absolutely correct.

I do know there are 4 pedestal seats like you mentioned. Maybe on the newer version seats flip up, but I don't believe that would be the case on a 10 year old boat and his price range. You also are correct, that you cannot lay down a 7' rod on the deck, unless you put it between the consoles, or buy a boat that has only a driver console. The 619, 620 and 621 in the 2008 year range have all the same front deck size. The extra footage is added in the back behind the consoles, which would give you more leg room. J Francho, yes the Ranger multi-specie boats are not speed demons, but with 6 people in the boat for recreational use, I guarantee you are not going to be flying across the lake with that kind of weight. Also you can't get a family boat to hold 6 people and then expect to do 90 mph across the lake. There are a lot of trade offs here, depends on what is important to the OP and money situation.

You can also look at a Ranger 621VS. It will definitely sit 4 in the back and two in front of the windows. If I recall, my buddy doesn't have a # of persons rating card on his boat. I believe you don't need one on boats 21 foot and over in IL. It will probably have a 250 or bigger motor on it. Lot of storage room, a big livewell and a baitwell, along with a cooler. Front deck space is long enough for me. I have a 619 which is 19'6 and I can lay a 6'6 rod on the deck on an angle. My boat is rated for a max of 6 people, don't know off hand the max weight though on the ratings card. The only thing is this boat would probably have to be over 10 years old and easily be pushing 35K. Aeration, rod storage and everything else is excellent. Plenty of room as well for a tournament partner and his rods and tackle. If you add in the extended deck in the back which is removable definitely would make a good bass type boat for tourneys. I will tell you this. These boats are heavy and ride really well in rough water along with a dry ride and a safe ride. But these are not speed demons. My 619 fully loaded with gas, two people, tackle, a 9.9 kicker and a 225 Opti on the back, will max out at about 57mph on a calm day flying across the lake. So if you want speed this is not the boat.

Going out to Beulah tomorrow and to Delavan on Sunday. Will post fishing report when I get back.

1/8 and 3/16 oz custom made with a chunk trailer.

Now you have to change your PB under your avatar, job well done. Those are some nice fish.

Went to Lake Beulah yesterday. Nice day but cold and a bit breezy. Started out in a spot right before the main lake that I always catch fish and nothing. Went to the main lake and to the kids camp, got a 15-1/2" bass there. Went over to the other shore nothing. Started to fish in front of the island, a bit windy to hold the boat, got two fish on and missed both. Went to the back of the island, nice to take a break from the wind, water dead calm. Wife gets a 17-1/4" bass. Couple of casts later wife gets a 18" bass (3.3 lbs). Still fishing same area, I pick up a couple of dinks. Fish stop biting, shoot across lake to Mill Pond. First cast wife gets a 14-1/2" bass. Nothing after that. Shoot back to the island no hits at all. Run back to the dock, some guy screaming at me. Couldn't hear so I shut off motor. Apparently he got his rope wrapped around the prop. Towed him back to the dock. He was very grateful as there were no other boats on the lake. Did my good deed for the year. All in all not a great day on the water, but we did get some fish. Water temp was 57 degrees, air temp 47 degrees. Here are pics of my wife's fish.

Wow that looks beautiful. When I had an aluminum, mine never looked like that. Beautiful, top notch work.

Fishing was very slow. First couple hours of the day we didn't get any bass. The 5lber came at around 10:15. Then as we moved around, from spot to spot we picked up the pike. Towards the end of the day when we fished in front of the island, that is when we got the remainder of the three bass in an hour. After that again nothing. We fished that island for about 2 -1/2 hours hoping they would be stacked there. No such luck. I didn't see a black Bass Cat out there limping around. I will probably go to Delavan again Saturday or Sunday if I don't go this Thursday. Thursday plan on going to Beulah, Powers, Delavan or Geneva. Maybe I'll see you there on Sunday.

Went out to Delavan yesterday 11-10-2014. Got on the water at 8:00 am and left at 2:30 pm. Started out fishing the beach, nothing. Went to the hump and worked that shoreline nothing. Went to the point by the hump, got a largemouth 5lbs even. Went to the side by the Pagoda got a pike about 24". Fished further down got another pike about 24". Shot to the other side again, got another pike about 18". Went to fish in front of the island. Got 3 more bass. (1) was 4 lbs 15 oz, (1) was about 4 lbs and the other was 3 lbs 8 oz. All fish caught in about 11 feet of water and on black and blue jigs. Beautiful day on the water.

warrior 1 My first boat was an aluminum and I had it for 17 years. I never got tired of that boat. Actually at the time, I used to fish multi-species, and the boat was great for what I needed it for. It was also easier to tow and to handle launching the boat with one person. Also aluminum boats can take more nicks, bumps and scratches than a fiberglass boat can. I used to fish the Illinois and Wisconsin River with my aluminum. I wouldn't dare take my fiberglass boat there. I'm sure you will enjoy your new boat.

I store my boat in an enclosed rental place all year long. During the summer when I use my boat I naturally leave all my tackle in their. In winter, I take all my tackle, rods and reels included, out of the boat. I then loosen all my drags and take the reels off the rod, and put the rods in a rod rack. They stay that way until Spring. I just like to keep the rods standing up with no stress on them. I don't think it matters, but this is the way I do it for piece of mind. I would like to hear other guys input as well.

Choporoz beat me to it but the two videos posted are excellent. If you are going to use wire than you can hand tie, if you are going to use thread, it is a lot easier to use a fly tying vice and hand tie. Learn to tie with the weedguard in, as many store bought skirts are put on with rubber collars, and they will eventually fall off if you don't lose the jigs first. Both wire and thread can be used to tie skirts with the weedguard in place. Good Luck.

I still have one somewhere, never caught a fish on it.

Fished Delavan yesterday, beautiful day to be on the water however we caught all small fish. (12 bass) in 9 hours. Biggest was 16-1/2 ", all others were 14" to 15-1/2". Fish were in shallower water on outside weed edges on 1/8 oz jigs. No particular one place, just fished long stretches of weeds.

No it is not feasible or even practical. How are you going to consistently bend the wire, then harden the hook and finally sharpen the hook point????

I am originally from Belmont and Central area. I believe that is the "Cragin" neighborhood. Also know a few tourney partners that live in Arlington Heights. I mainly fish S.E. Wisconsin lakes. Lake Geneva, Lake Delavan, Browns, Eagle, Como, Powers, Tichigan, Wind, Little Muskego, Beulah, Pewaukee, Okauchee, Madison Chain, Rock, Whitwater, Twin Lakes, Silver Lake, Camp Lake and a few more. Local lakes, from shore are Banana lake for trout in fall, Little bear and Big Bear, Independence Grove, Lake Carina, Butler Lake. From boat in IL are Bangs, "The Chain", Diamond Lake, East and West Loon, Lake Minear, Deep Lake and lake Zurich When I lived in Chicago, I used to fish Axehead, Belleau, Riis Park, Schiller Woods, Dam #5, Big Bend, Beck, Banana lake

I'm originally from Chicago what area? Welcome to the IL forum.

I have never heard of it. Need to know more. Where is it located, and boat access? I will try to call you tomorrow, I have a few more questions I would like to ask you.

Thursday 9-18-2014 Powers Lake. Got there at 6:00 a.m. Started with top water to the right of the dock along that shoreline. Had one blow up and that was it. Put on a jig about 8:00, and got a snakey northern. By 9: 00 I had two more snakey northerns. Went to the point, small bass hit jig at boat side and missed. About 10:00, got my first bass it was 16", 10:15 another bass 18", 10:30, got the final bass that was 19" weighed in at 3lbs 4 oz. Pic below. Went to the other side nothing. Went to the back bay nothing. Fished the two humps nothing. Went back to the ramp area, my wife and I got a rock bass each. Left lake at 1:00. Going to Beulah on Sunday