BobP

Why rely on a book when there are so many good sources on the internet? YouTube has dozens of video primers on crankbait building. A Brit named Paul Adams does some great ones but there are many others too. If you want to get into the nitty gritty, peruse the member submitted tutorials of tackleunderground.com. There are many paths to making a crankbait and that site explores them all in detail among its hundreds of members. With new techniques and products popping up every year, any how-to book becomes outdated pretty fast.

I use acrylic water based airbrush paint and dry it with a hair dryer between each color so the paint is bone dry when finished. If there is moisture left in the paint when yo apply MCU, it will react and blister. You can't predict how MCU will go on over an oil or solvent based paint until you try it. MCU contains its own solvent which reacts with some other solvents. If you use solvent based paint, be sure that all of the solvent has evaporated before coating with MCU. That tipically takes days of drying for some solvent paints. Lacquer based paint usually works OK. I've never had a problem with dripping paint. Since MCU contains solvent, it will cause any dye based color, a Sharpie for instance, to run. You want excess MCU to drip off the lure because a skin forms on this stuff very quickly and if a pool of wet finish gets caught under the skin, it will form bubbles in the paint. That's why it's important to quickly flood coat the MCU onto the lure and then hang it up so excess MCU will Drip off the bait, avoiding any pooled areas of MCU. I use a flat bristle artist's brush to apply MCU and it takes only about 15-20 seconds to flood coat a lure.

Staysee V1 very slow rise, V2 true suspend. V3 very slow sink. They're all good.

Yes, the Solarez company sells a variety of uv cured polyester resins. The problem I have with them is that the one that is economical to use ($25 per quart) is the Dual Cure Gloss resin and it contains small wax flakes that are necessary for the resin to cure hard. On a topcoat application, the flakes can be seen in the finish over a dark color paint as a white blush. I don't like that so only use that resin for undercoating wood baits, where it works well. Their resins for fly tying are pretty expensive and come in small tubes. Uv cured resin is really neat and fast to use but I want one that doesn't have wax flakes to use for topcoating. It's really designed for finishing surf boards where a white blush is not an issue.

Yes, I brush it on lures. Quickly in a flood coat. Then hang it up by the lip to let excess MCU drip off the tail. DO NOT ROTATE MCU after application, just hang it up to dry for best results. Is dipping even faster? Yes, but you have the problem that MCU is easily contaminated in the storage container with moisture dripping off the lure and exposure of the surface of the MCU to atmospheric moisture. That causes it to begin to cure in the container pretty quickly. Best practice is to use the tap the can method of storage and dispensing. That means tapping a screw into the bottom edge of the unopened container, then removing the screw to dispense enough finish to coat your lures with a brush. That will allow you to use the whole can of MCU without it beginning to harden. I guess you could dispense enough to dip lures, but it would be awfully wasteful. You never want to pour excess used MCU back into its storage container, so you have to trash it.

I use the light oil that I'm using to lube the spool bearings. Worm gears are open to the elements and are prone to having trash and water carried into them by the line as it is retrieved. So I like a thin oil that is less prone to stick to this debris. Ardent makes a bearing oil in its Reel Butter line.

I soak all steel or ceramic bearings in aerosol starting fluid (ether) because it's the fastest solvent I know of to dissolve oil. Drop them in a shot glass, swirl them around a few times while soaking for a few minutes, spin by hand on the tip of a pencil to check smoothness, and set them on a paper towel to dry for 5-10 mins. When clean and dry, they will spin more slowly than they did loaded with solvent. Then add oil and install.

I can think of about 6 places in a reel where bearings can be an advantage, if they are good ones (including the anti reverse bearing). Maybe 8 if you include ones on the handle paddles, which I don't much care about. But smoothness depends on a lot of things that have nothing to do with bearings, including the precision alignment and design of all the parts, how well the gears mesh, how well maintained the brakes and other internals are, the overall design of the reel, etc. Choosing between 2 reels, one from a second tier company with 12 B.B.'s and one from a first tier company with 4-8 B.B's, I'll take first tier every time. You may find a jewel from a second tier company occasionally but it's a crapshoot. I buy from Shimano, Daiwa, or Abu and have been satisfied with their quality. Others may suggest Lews but I haven't tried them so can't comment. JMHO.

I think glass versus graphite is mainly player's choice. Guys say it helps keep fish buttoned but I've never had a problem in that regard with graphite and don't like the extra weight of glass, so use graphite for everything. You can find graphite rods nowadays that have similar action to glass, so that's a non issue for me. Jmho

Fly fisher, not sure what you're saying. Spool shim washers are put on the axle that holds the spool. When added, they cause the spool to sit a little more forward on the axle, causing the line to spool more toward the rear of the spool.

You don't want to fill a spinning reel to the top, especially with fluorocarbon. I fill mine to about 1/8"- 1/4" below the spool edge and that avoids the problem. Also, at the end of a cast, close the bail with your fingers, not with the handle, and give the line a little tug to reseat the line on the spool. Do that awhile and it will become second nature, and will avoid line jumping off the spool unless it has become badly twisted. as far as the uneven line, I think adding shim washers will spool line more toward the back of the spool. Adding a thinner washer will move line toward the front.

I think Shimano uses mostly Fuji parts and there is a two part Fuji real seat sold by Mudhole and other rod building suppliers. I'd take a close look at the seat to see if there is a manufacturer stamp on it somewhere and go from there.

I've been mostly a Shimano guy. I like the durability of Shimano reels and still use several Curados that are more than 15 years old. Recently, I tried a Daiwa Tatula and really like its performance, which I feel is fully equal to my Shimano and better in some respects. Durability? Have no idea but it seems solid and I think it will last just fine. What do I like most about Daiwa? You can usually find them at a considerable discount while Shimano has a long standing history of enforcing retail pricing by punishing dealers who don't tow the line. So I feel you can get comparable features in a Daiwa reel at a better price than a Shimano. Not that I can't afford anything I want to buy, but saving a few bucks is a nice plus.

I don't know of any real no gloss topcoats but Solarez has the least sheen among the popular choices. You could probably find a flat auto clear or a clear lacquer if it is critical.

Anything you use other than split ring pliers is a compromise. I mount and remove split rings hundreds of times per year since I build and repaint baits. The Texas Tackle pliers are among the best and are worth the money.

Might want to use a T-rig style hook on that dropshot so it can't snag!

I'd probably try a 3/4oz jigging spoon. One less treble to snag and it has enough weight that you can usually jiggle it free when it snags, if you aren't horsing it during the presentation.

All good advice. If you're going to be dragging dropshots through cover, I like to use thinner cylindrical shaped weights because they hang up less than other style weights. You want to use a longer hook to weight tail because the line will be at an acute angle and needs more length to keep the bait up off the bottom.

Opinions vary about how a full moon affects fishing but outside of the spring spawn where it can help, I think bass tend to feed more during moonlit nights and therefore less in the daytime.

Hughes Custom Baits is a shop that media blasts baits before repainting them. An established company with a sterling reputation. Check out his website.

Another way to avoid a lot of damage. Slather some Kickn' Bass attractant on the Senko before you put it on the hook. It's fish oil based so lubricates plastic baits to make them very slippery. When I use a Gamy wide gap hook and get a bite, the Senko ends up on the line above the hook most of the time. Unhook the fish, slide the Senko back on the hook. Repeat.

Who doesn't want more? But the problem is if you are switching baits every 5 mins, you're just spinning your wheels instead of keeping your line wet and catching more fish. If you have baits that perform well, I think one from each of the bass food groups shad, crawfish, sunfish should be sufficient for each of the baits you like to fish. Throw in different depths, different sizes, and different swim actions and you have a wide variety from which to choose. But you need to exercise some discipline when you're in the boat. The reason they aren't biting most times is either because they just don't want a crankbait or they just aren't where you're throwing it.

I use most of the trebles mentioned, depending on the specific lure and whether I want to upsize the hooks but don't want them to foul on each other. I don't use KVD short shank hooks on top waters or jerkbaits because they don't hook well if a fish just slaps at the bait. Round bend Gamakatsu or Owners are better for those. JMHO, Japanese brands tend to have harder tempering and they stay sharper longer than VMC's or the cheaper Mustad models. Because of wide availability, I use more Gamakatsu than any other brand. They now make short shank trebles too but theirs are not as short as the KVD Mustads, so are less useful when upsizing.

It sounds like an Original Floating Rapala to me. Caught my first bass on one many years ago, followed by a lot more bass after that one. Still got the lure in my garage but don't fish it any more 'cause it's too light to throw well. It was followed by the Countdown Rapala. Rapala still sells both models.

Silicone sealants: My boat's live well fittings were sealed with it at the factory and after a few years the plastic fittings broke off the live well, flooding the bilge. The silicone sealant used contained something that made the fittings weak and brittle. So I recommend using 3m marine sealant on plastic boat fittings to avoid this problem down the line.