cadman

Went out to Delavan on Sunday. Cold, foggy morning. Started at 6:00 a.m. just past Lake Lawn Lodge. Buddy got a 18-1/2 " smallie (wacky worm) about the 3rd cast by a dock. I then got a 24" northern (jig). Then buddy got another northern about 22" (rattle trap). Move to the Hump, I got a 34" northern (top water). 7:00 a.m. moved to the beach, buddy got a 21" walleye on a (rattle trap). Moved down that shoreline for awhile nothing, ran across to the other side fished weed edges nothing, fished next two points nothing. Went to the clock tower it is now about 11:a.m I got a 17-1/2" smallie 2 feet from the shore(wacky worm). 12:00 noon shot across to the pagoda fished that stretch until 2:pm. I picked up 2 largemouth 13-1/2 and a 14" (wacky worm). My buddy got a largemouth about 14-1/2 (wacky worm.) We could not find any big largemouth, and also a very slow day on the water. Going to Powers Lake on Thursday and to Lake Beulah on Sunday. I will give follow up reports when the days arrive. BTW Browns lake at Fischer is closed from Sept 17th to Mid October for ramp and construction work.

Look down 5 threads and read all the posts there. Question has been asked before or here is the link. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/143498-where-to-get-lead-for-making-jigs/

On my 225 I have a transom saver, on my 9.9 I tow with it down.

3/16 or 1/4 oz jig with a 5304 Owner hook and a chunk trailer

Most of Do-It molds are designed for a specific hook size, and then you can safely either go up or down one size, without any problems. If you go up one size, and depending on the hook brand, you may be taking out the tolerance where the hook shank lies in the mold. This may be why you are getting bad pours, and gapping the mold is helping you relieve trapped air. You can open this area up with a small miniature round file. Now if you do this and then decide to go back down to a smaller hook, you will get some lead flash coming out by the collar. You can easily trim this off. I would rather have some lead flash on a perfectly poured jig, then waste time on a badly poured jig and have to re-melt and re-pour again. If you need more info or some pics let me know and I will e-mail them to you.

No problem always willing to help. If you think the business card is too thick, you can also use masking tape. The options are endless. Also if you want to eliminate the business cards altogether, you can cut reliefs in your mold to let the air escape. That would be the best of both worlds. Anyway, happy pouring.

All lead will melt and pour the harder lead should be mixed with the softer lead to achieve the hardness you want. I have poured straight hard lead and also straight soft. I don't have a problem with either, however some molds are more problem prone to hard lead than others. I use a 60/40 or 70/30 lead ratio. The bigger number being the softer lead.With that said If you are having problems getting good pours try this first. #1 Your Lee IV pot should pour any and all lead on #7. The higher the number you go #9 max the hotter the lead, the more fluid it is and the better it should pour. If you are at #9 with bad pours, first thing I would do Is have your t-stat repaired. The cost is very nominal, as Lee does a great repair job for minimal cost. #2 If that is not the problem, make sure your hooks are warm to very warm before you put them in the mold. Use a 100 watt bulb, that works well. #3 If that doesn't work, try this as well. Take a business card and tape it to one 1/2 side of the mold. This is called gapping the mold. What this does is eliminates any air that might get trapped in the mold as the lead flows. The closer you tape the card to the hinge, the bigger the gap. What you want, is to get the gapped mold to pour full without any flash. #4 Lastly and I stress this to everyone, get and use mold release. 95% of your problems will go away with bad pours. Lead bullets are fine for pouring they may be harder, but pose no real major problem. It seems like you know what you are doing and at least have some knowledge, so try some of the things I mentioned. Post back with your results. Also if you have anymore questions feel free to ask or PM me..

You can get scrap lead from a salvage yard, construction sites or this place. Soft lead is about $2.00 per pound. Start with soft lead, as it is easier to pour and you get more complete pours. http://www.rotometals.com/Lead-Products-s/20.htm If you have any more questions feel free to ask. One thing and that is please be safe. Pouring lead is safe as long as you follow rules and pay attention. There is more info on how to pour lead, coat molds and a lot more at tackleunderground.com. There are also a lot of good safety tips there. Please read them.

I can tell you that it is expensive for the bismuth. The pouring is easy, and the bismuth is very hard and sharp. Pm sent.

I'm originally from Chicago, and now live in the northern suburbs. I fish a lot of South Eastern Wisconsin lakes. Like papajoe said, check out 'Where are all the Illinois guys' thread, lot of us fish around here.

Went to Browns on Sunday. Got 4 bite offs from northern, missed two fish, and only ended up with a 15-1/2 and a 16" for 6 hours of fishing. This lake is definitely not a lake Delavan. More snakey northern in here than ever.

Wow nice skyline and a nice fish

Went out to Delavan today. Not a bad day overall. Started at 6:00 a.m. by the hump . Got a fish first cast and missed it, second cast I got him on a jig and pig. 4 lbs 8 oz. Then my buddy picked up and 18 incher. Moved down the shoreline, we both got two 16 inchers. Further down the shoreline I got a 18-1/2 incher. Shot across to the other side and fished that shoreline, my buddy got a 4 lb 4 ounces largey on a senko wacky style fishing docks. Moved down the shoreline got another bass about 15 under the docks. Further down that shoreline my buddy got another bass 4.0 lbs. Went to the house with the clock fished that dock got a 17-1/2 incher. It was now 10: 30 A.M. next hour and a 1/2 nothing nowhere. Went back to the shore by the pagoda fished that till 1:00 P.M only got 1 more bass about 14 inches. That's it . No northerns today woohoo. Below is a pic of the 4 largest bass. Going tomorrow to either Powers Lake or Browns.

Ronnie James Dio and Lizzy Hale from Halestorm

Yes, all you need is a pair of long nose pliers and a pair of cutters. I make three wraps of wire around the skirt, twist the tag ends,cut the tag ends to about 1/8 to 3/16" long then bend the twisted ends down. As far as wire goes you want to use copper or colored copper wire. It is soft and very manageable. You can buy it at a craft store like Michael's, Hobby Lobby or Jo-Ann fabrics. Buy 24 ga or 22 ga. The smaller the ga. the larger the diameter of the wire. If you want I have a step by step tutorial on how to hand tie. Pm me your e-mail and I will send it to you tonight.

2d or 3d eyes are the last thing I put on a jig before I clear coat it. I wipe the painted jig with rubbing alcohol, stick on the eyes with tweezers, press on the eyes with my fingers (our hands have oil, so I wear latex gloves) then I clear coat the jig. I clear coat the entire jig to keep the eyes from falling off. Some use glue, but I don't like the mess, to each his own. Also 3d and 2d eyes are not all the same. Some stick better than others. I sent you a PM with info on the eyes and what clear coat I use.

First of all, if you want to make the mold that you pictured, you cannot do that with a drill press. It has to be done on a milling machine with a round end mill. The reason being is you have an elongated slot and you must cut this out, which you cannot do with a drill press. Also you have to make sure that the cavities are aligned and pinned. If you don't pin them then the mold halves will have to have a hinge. Wood is not a good choice, as It will start burning from the hot lead, and eventually the cavities will crack and get charred from the heat. Most molds are cut from aluminum. Reason being, aluminum is easier on the tooling, it cuts fast, and it dissipates heat when you pour lead. As far as sizes go, unless you know what the mass weight is of the size you want, it will be trial and error. Also depends on the lead properties. Pure lead is heavier than alloyed lead. This is just a start. There are many other thing involved in doing this. If you insist on doing this, you should also have a technical drawing showing sizes, depth, length and position of the cavities in the mold along with all of the dimensions, so you can duplicate accuracy. You can make molds out of high temp silicone, but that is short lived as well. Good Luck

PM sent.

Yes, we were there on Sunday at 6:05 a.m. Went to the hump, 2nd cast I got a northern about 23" long. About 10 minutes later my wife got a bite off. Went to the point by the hump nothing. Shot over to the east shoreline by the Pagoda. I got a 14", 10 minutes later got another 14" both on a jig and pig. Another half hour later and my wife gets another bite off. Shot over to the extreme S.W. shoreline and fished a stretch about 200 yards. My wife picked up (5) fish fishing a swim jig. (2) 17-1/2", (2) 16-1/2" and (1) 14". See pics below. We fished till 1:00 and didn't get anything else.

I'm not saying all outboard places are this way, but all the ones I've dealt with will not give you repair advice or help. Reason being is they want to do the work. I am a do-it yourself guy, and I like to see what is done to my boat. With that said, a friend of a friend of a friend gave me this ex merc marine mechanic. He came highly recommended. I called him up, and he will come to your house to help you out. I had him replace both water pumps on my 225 and 9.9 as a preventive maintenance, and he was very reasonable with parts and labor and service call. He works right out of your house, or I am sure you can take your boat to his house. He does everything in front of you and shows you how everything works. that's what I like about him. Hands on and explains everything. He lives in Bloomingdale, and he drove to my house in Vernon Hills. Only issue I had which was trying to schedule him, but I had two busy weekends in a row and he was open. Great guy and I would highly recommend him to anyone. PM me for his full name and phone number if you are interested.

PM sent.

First of all I do not use the metal pins that come with the molds, because they are a P.I.T.A. to get out once the jig cools. I use Teflon pins, much easier to use and reusable. I pour with the teflon pins, then when I'm done I put clean pins in the weedguard holes, and then powder paint the jig. As soon as I put the paint on the jig, I immediately remove the pin. This to me keeps the paint along the edges of the weedguard hole nice and painted. After that, I put all the jigs in the toaster oven for baking. Once done let cool and glue in your weedguards. If you need more info on how the pins work, I have a small tutorial. PM me.

Thanks for the info. I'll let you know how we do. if you plan to go out there, I'll be in the white/wine/silver 619VS Ranger, and maybe we can talk some.

Don't know if it's the best but I bought a Sears Platinum this year. Big $$$ battery at the recommendations of others. Great battery but expensive, however I am using it to start my 225 Merc. Opti. So far so good and a lot of power. Motor doesn't even hesitate. I charge all my batteries with the on-board charger by Dual Pro. PS: You will get a lot of opinions on here. You will have to decide for yourself.

1994, Ford F-150 XLT long box, 4x4. Original owner with 49K miles. All stock pulls my Ranger 619VS. Once I find a pic I will post it.