SENKOSAM

I thinks most of us keep a basic set of lures stocked. I have my seasonal baits that usually work and then the extra junk I own that I imagine might be an addition to my standard stock. The problem is that my lure success changes from year to year based on a number of factors - ie. I suck more this year than last year and it's really not the lure(s) at all or fish seemed to hit better this year than last. RickZaleski (an excellent fishing writer) gave a nice seminar a few years back and showed us his lure selection from one small tackle box. The man can fish! He rarely runs out to buy the latest model of any lure he owns. His color selection is small, same for sizes. He fishes bodies of water he knows well. More and more, I'm adopting his philosophy - KISS, though it is nice to own a few new toys that I could only guess have potential. The more I look at the new catalogs, the less impressed I am - must be getting old. One other thing - does a lure's higher price justify buying it?

Have to agree with Franco. Senkos work but aren't the most efficient bait to cover more potentially, productive water faster as well as different structure and depths. Senkos are a slow presentation lure and there are times when you need to speed things up. I wouldn't even bother using a Senko as a jerkworm in spring - there are just too many better baits for prespawn and post spawn bass. Jerkbaits in spring and fall cover more water and will catch more fish. By the time you work a long point with a Senko, it's time to go home. A jig, tube or crankbait would seem to be one of many better choices. Same for water over 8' deep. I know a few bass anglers that limit themselves to only a few lures they have confidence in and wouldn't switch even if you outfished them 10:0. Senkos are not versatile IMHO!

Pencil (mojo)weights are good for rocks, but for weeds, I have a variety that work equally well: tear drop sinkers - the old stand-by for live bait bass worm bullet wt. - I put a wire* through, loop one end and add a bead underneath, looping the wire again. I use it nose up. Or I'll use two bullet wts in 1/16 or 1/8 and use the same wire through both, pointed ends away from each other, wire loops at both ends. I recycle my old rusty 1/8 or 1/4 oz ballhead jigs by cutting off the hooks. One trick I learned last year is to put the line into some rubber tubing (the stuff used to secure stinger hooks on spinnerbaits) and shove a pencil weight into the rubber cylinder. I like to be able to adjust the leader length and to be sure the weight doesn't slip, I knot the line every 6". *the same cheap craft wire used for floral arrangements, which I use for by jig locks.

Variety is the spice that keeps me going through all the expense and trouble. I think the reason I stop using lures I've finally done well on consistently is that the challenge lessens - been there/done that. I did well on jig and trailers for consecutive years using pork, but that got old. Now with the new action trailers Zoom and Strike King have come out with, I'm back to trying jigs other ways. Making soft plastics adds variety of design with theories why bass hit some of my creations. Used to be only big companies fed us new lures in the winter catologs. Now I just meditate on what I want a lure to do and then make it. Catching fish on it is just the icing. Just the idea that a bass or other fish is attacking my lure with disregard for any danger, makes me thing of a lion attacking an animal it's postitive it can catch and kill. I am part of that chain and sense the uh oh in that fish when it's hooked. Going to work day after day is a routine. Fishing should never be.

One thing I've learned watching hours of underwater videos of bass eating lures, is that little things count. Glen Lau has incredible footage of large bass taking lures (surface to bottom) of different designs, actions and presentations. Much of the footage was taken in gin clear water in Florida of some bass taking their good ol time looking at some lures or reflex stricking others, ambush style. This suggestion concerns bass that mosey up to a lure when it's good and ready. We all know the value of finesse in fishing. Those guys out west who fish clear deep lakes sure as Hell do! Finesse baits, small diameter line with slight action imparted is what gets bit. Less is best but more of less it better. Here's an example. Back to Glen Lau video, Homer Circle cast a 5" jerk bait and twitched it only once after a minute. He knew a five pound bass was present because Glen told him exactly were it was. A minute is a long time in human terms, but to a bass where time is way slowed down (depending on activity level) a minute seems less when it's time to eat an object that meets its extremely basic food criteria. The bait was totally unnatural in color - a bright yellow with coachdog pattern and the bass watched it for at least 15 second before slamming it! If Homer had moved the bait mopre and out of the strike zone, I doubt the fish would have been caught, even on another cast. Finesse and shakey worms are usually soft and undulate with the least amount of rod tip action. Like the jerk bait above, less horizontal movement is best and bass who are curious watch a lure while the angler slowly builds suspense and irritates the fish into striking. Here's and example of a simple improvement thatmakes all the difference and fallwithin the idea that little things matter. Look at the craw bait pictured. Originally the the lure has six side legs and a fan shpaed tail. The lure's action swas sacrificed for a human's appreciation of crawfish anatomy. Bass never studied zoology and therefore care less if there's six , eight or thirteen legs! It doesn't take note of the absence of antennae, fan tail or eyes nor of unusual craw colors, but is aware of tiny motions that tickle it's lateral line. To give the original bait the type of action I believe would improve or increase subtle action, I made the following modifications: 1. cut off the front antennae. 2. thinned the claw attachments to the body 3. cut off the fan tail 4. added silicone skirt strands 5. cut off the side legs leaving stumps for texture The creature-bug now has far better action than the stiff bait the designers intended to impress anglers over bass. After seeing no interest in the original, I tested the modified bait in my pond. A small bass mosied up to the lure three feet down in some tree branches. I did the shakey thing once and then nothing. The legs still moved with rod tip held steady. Within a minute (again a short time to an inactive fish), the 12" bass glided over and inhaled the bait. The sequence proved to me what Glen Lau's video showed me a long time ago - more of less and less of more can really make a difference! Thanks for reading and (hopefully) keeping an open mind. Frankm

I know some of you have tried hook sharpeners (battery) and files, but recently I tried my wife's Dremel to sharpen and sand. Sharpeners have their limitations because you can't change heads having less grit and can take off too much metal at the tip resulting in a ruined hook. Dremels take many attachments such as thin abrasive discs , cones and cylinders, have low and high spin rpm settings and are rechargeble. Nice is being able to buy disc replacement packs for a buck each at the dollar store. I usually try to check my hooks before leaving the house. Rust is the eventual death of all hooks it comes in contact with and a fast way to take it off is with a thin abrasive flex disc with low grit which I've also found better to sharpen hooks with. I lightly sand three sides for a diamond point and do a much better job than with a file. The sharpened point easily catches my finger nail. Sanding the lead on the sides fof leadhead jigs to make them shiny is also something I've done for years which I think adds to a grubs appeal. I used to use light grit sand paper but my arthritis makes it difficult to sharpen many hooks or jigheads at one time.

I'm not a big believer in line diameter as a fish turn-off, but I do strongly believe that the wrong design or size lure can be a problem for less than aggressive fish. There are many rules for using various line diameters and types and I agree that each has its place, but one key rule I go by is the smaller the lure or deeper the depth, the lighter the line test for the best lure action. Using 20# test mono for a 1/16 oz jig or small dropshot finesse lure is counterproductive because everything about the lure and its action is subtle and slow. Even using small lures with faster retrieves on more aggressive fish requires smaller diameter line IMO. I wouldn't use large diameter line on X-Raps. for instance - it would mute the action. But for large deep dive crankbaits, I have no problem using 17 lb test Trilene XT when trolling. If fish are pressured or need a bit of harrassment, small lures and line to match present a complete compatibility of parts which is always required for most set ups. Hook size matches bait size; line size and type accomodate the best action and speed of the bait. You don't put oversized hooks on soft plastics and neither would you use too small or too large a diameter line on large baits that fish are hitting. Every year I see bluegills bite my blue line near the surface when I use poppers. I don't have a clue why, but if fish thought the line threatening, how come so many fish of different species hit baits on 12# test flourocarbon ice fishing? The lateral line easily detects the line and the eyes detect the hook but the fish thinks nothing of it. And maybe that's my point - fish don't think - they react - sometimes slower, sometimes faster. FrankM

I'm not a big believer in line diameter as a fish turn-off, but I do strongly believe that the wrong design or size lure can be a problem for less than aggressive fish. There are many rules for using various line diameters and types and I agree that each has its place, but one key rule I go by is the smaller the lure or deeper the depth, the lighter the line test for the best lure action. Using 20# test mono for a 1/16 oz jig or small dropshot finesse lure is counterproductive because everything about the lure and its action is subtle and slow. Even using small lures with faster retrieves on more aggressive fish requires smaller diameter line IMO. I wouldn't use large diameter line on X-Raps. for instance - it would mute the action. But for large deep dive crankbaits, I have no problem using 17 lb test Trilene XT when trolling. If fish are pressured or need a bit of harrassment, small lures and line to match present a complete compatibility of parts which is always required for most set ups. Hook size matches bait size; line size and type accomodate the best action and speed of the bait. You don't put oversized hooks on soft plastics and neither would you use too small or too large a diameter line on large baits that fish are hitting. Every year I see bluegills bite my blue line near the surface when I use poppers. I don't have a clue why, but if fish thought the line threatening, how come so many fish of different species hit baits on 12# test flourocarbon ice fishing? The lateral line easily detects the line and the eyes detect the hook but the fish thinks nothing of it. And maybe that's my point - fish don't think - they react - sometimes slower, sometimes faster. FrankM

I'm not a big believer in line diameter as a fish turn-off, but I do strongly believe that the wrong design or size lure can be a problem for less than aggressive fish. There are many rules for using various line diameters and types and I agree that each has its place, but one key rule I go by is the smaller the lure or deeper the depth, the lighter the line test for the best lure action. Using 20# test mono for a 1/16 oz jig or small dropshot finesse lure is counterproductive because everything about the lure and its action is subtle and slow. Even using small lures with faster retrieves on more aggressive fish requires smaller diameter line IMO. I wouldn't use large diameter line on X-Raps. for instance - it would mute the action. But for large deep dive crankbaits, I have no problem using 17 lb test Trilene XT when trolling. If fish are pressured or need a bit of harrassment, small lures and line to match present a complete compatibility of parts which is always required for most set ups. Hook size matches bait size; line size and type accomodate the best action and speed of the bait. You don't put oversized hooks on soft plastics and neither would you use too small or too large a diameter line on large baits that fish are hitting. Every year I see bluegills bite my blue line near the surface when I use poppers. I don't have a clue why, but if fish thought the line threatening, how come so many fish of different species hit baits on 12# test flourocarbon ice fishing? The lateral line easily detects the line and the eyes detect the hook but the fish thinks nothing of it. And maybe that's my point - fish don't think - they react - sometimes slower, sometimes faster. FrankM

Patents take money and infringement law suits even more. good luck!

I'm experimenting with a few more colors. Soon I will pick out the best looking baits in each size and mold in plaster for mass pours.

Didn't know you missed me. I promise I will be more active. : I'll post pictures in Tacklemaking forum when I get home from work.

Spoon Minnow Clay used to contain plastic Spoon Topwater Turtle 38 degree swimbait hook used with Spoon Turtle various Delta clips added to swimbait hooks

This summer I designed two lures using a tablespoon as a mold and hot plastic. One is a minnow imitation and the other a turtle shaped topwater. Both have excelled when test in summer and fall. See the particulars in the tacklemaking section. FrankM

There are two soft plastic baits I designed this year that are similar to old lures made years ago by Heddon and Mann and the mold is something you eat with on a daily basis. Remember the Shadow by Tom Mann? It was a minnow shaped soft plastic with molded fish details. The small size works great on a jig for bass and panfish; the larger size Texposed for bass and pike. My modification uses a spoon for the mold(tablespoon, teaspoon or slightly larger serving spoon), pouring hot plastic from one end to the other in a narrow stream, allowing it to accumulate at one end for thickness, adding to it while hot to thicken the body. I use clay to contain the nose and body and never repour the thin back 3/4s so as to keep the tail super thin [/b. With sharp scissors I trim the spoon minnow to shape the tapered tail towards the body (no back fin like Mann's). Smaller baits work extremely well on an Octopus hook, dropshot rig; larger baits (3" or more) work on nose hook Octopus or weedless on a worm hook using many presentations. The overall action beats that of any finesse bait I've ever used and duplicates a suspended or slow moving minnow like no other. The first time I used the 2" size on a 1/16 oz ballhead jig, the lure was hanging over the bow down about a foot in 4' of water. A small perch nailed it and hooked itself! The school was tight in the area and everytime I laid the rod down with lure in the water, perch and sunfish hooked themselves again and again. I went to a different area, rigged the bait tandem, nosed-hooked with a flash (hair) jig on bottom. A large mixed school of crappie, perch, sunfish and small bass were off a point in 12'. I stopped counting the number of doubles after 10. The Spoon Turtle, a topwater bait, is made by pouring hot plastic into a tablespoon or teaspoon (for smaller fish). I originally used a large serving spoon, but the bait caught lily pad stems a bit more than the smaller sizes. After the plastic cools, I pull strands of pattern colored silicone skirt material through the rear corners - four per corner. I rig this on a 38 degree mustad swimbait hook with a wire lock I designed earlier this year. My first cast produced a bass on a weed edge; the third cast produced another which hit it twice on the same retrieve in a weed pocket. The action is amazing! Picture the plop plop plop wake of Jitter Bug, the sashey of a Spook with a skirt swaying from side to side, flaring when paused and the wobble of a spoon twitched subsurface. This bait blows away topwater frogs and can be worked as fast or as slow as needed according to fish aggressiveness. Also, when worked fast, it makes the noise of a toad running across the surface trying to get back on land. Pike will clobber this bait next spring! I think one of the most important factors in fishing a lure over a mat of weeds or pads with openings is a lure's profial, noise and action. Larger wider baits like the Silver Minnow Spoon and Grass Hog rigged with pork or plastic were excellent when I used them years ago, especially in thick duckweed over shallow water. But this design offers more action and noise as well as a larger profile that challenges a territorial bass to a duel! Sometimes simplicity is truly beautiful! FrankM

It depends on the area of the country, it's unemployment and the price of gas in summer. To spend an average of a few hundred bucks a few times a month, may stretch some budgets too far. If boaters can afford to let a nonboater some slack (if the nonboater is unemployed), then maybe some schedules won't be disrupted. As it is, even TV subscriptions will nose dive, seen as a luxury as well as much discretionary spending. Tackle producers will also take a hit. Ebay, on the other hand should be quite actiove.

1. heat plastic - first color 2. pour one color into one side or half of the mold or in the case of one sided molds, pour a shallow layer 3. Next color - hot plastic a necessity to bond 4. in the case of a two sided mold, close mold and carefully pour into the small cavity; for one sided molds, pour over the bottom color.

here's a start: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/pouring_plastic_worms.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/pouring_plastic_worms_supplies.html To use clay, you must use silicone for deep mold and irregular shapes. Lurecraft has silicone molds which do quite well for most baits. Their plastic is good quality and consistent. LC is owned by Poor Boy Baits. Their service is the best. BobsTackleshack has great metal molds and also great service.

Weller heat gun with various tips or a knife heated over a flame. Glue is messy and Pro Soft not the cheapest soft plastic glue. Locktite is the cheapest and lasts the longest, but the other alternative fishing glue is $2.50 / oz. Every glue leaves hard parts in soft plastic welds so to mend or make hybrid soft plastic baits, nothing beats a candle flame. These are a few of over 100 that have worked for over 8 years.

The lures in the picture were made from plaster of paris molds. A link at the bottom of the page tells how to make copies of baits or prototypes. One part molds will have a flat side; two part are full round. Lurecraft.com and fishingworld.com have the best service and plastic IMO as well as most colors in dye and glitter. I sell glitter on my own site. PM me for any questions regarding lure making. Tackleunderground.com has all categories of lure making forums and the talent is amazing.

EW, has Del's Calhouns plastic improved? Consistent QC has been a major problem. Lurecraft and M-F for me for quality and service!

Also livingrubber.com.

Bubbles come from a couple of sources: 1. the plastic - Calhouns plastic has a big problem with bubbles and needs to be cooked, allowed to cool and cooked again to get the microbubbles out. 2. As the plastic contracts, it creates and air pocket at the top 1/4 in two part molds. Best way I've found is to pour 3/4 of the way and add the last 1/4 after 30 seconds. No bubble. 3. Never use wood to stir. I like a metal butter knife and like EW said, the salt and glitter will stay suspended for the pour. Fine salt (Diamond brand from the supermarket) is far better than large grain salt for suspending. 4. Keep the plastic stored in a dry room with the cap tight on the container. Moisture contributes to bubbles. A gloss primer as was mentioned (Elmer Glue, wall primer, Devcon epoxy) creates a super shinny surface. Original Fish Formula oil works great to add to the gloss and helps as a bait release for deep detailed cavities, plus it's much cheaper than worm oil purchased from lure making supplers. If the gloss in the cavity is good from the primer, oil may not be needed.

It would be a good idea to check with the local DEP or DEC for a stocking permit if needed for your state. A $15 dollar casting net from Walmart is good to collect a variety of small prey for a new pond. I've gone out to a small local pond, thrown bread balls to accumulate minnows and small sunfisn and brought in those species, tadpoles and crawfish. A Colman cooler is good for storage and some ice (frozen in a juice container with holes) helps to cool the water and helps with oxygenation. If you fish a lake that has yellow perch, catch them and put them in because they are a major food item for bass. Large pumpkinseed sunnies will spawn and add to the food chain as well as be an aggressive and pretty fish for kids to catch. Crappies are okay, but you want to keep down predators like pickerel that compete for the larger prey. (In theory larger bass have a larger prey preference (ie Dr. Keith Jones of Berkley) and should have little competition for medium to large prey.) Heron can be a problem and leave dead uneaten fish on the shore. Not much you can do except chase them and Canadian geese off. Geese crap all over the place and can be nasty critters when in spawn. Ditches and small streams are great places to net or set traps for crawfish. A chunk of raw chicken or boiled gizzards will net a dozen in 24 hours. Craws are another main prey source for bass and some panfish. It helps to unload medium size rock in the pond for the craws to hide and spawn. Weeds are needed to help hide newborns, but invasive species will be a big nuisance if your not careful what you introduce. Pads and catails are the best to start and use up much of the nitrogen excreted in fish urine. They are tough to pull out of the ground from other locastions but worth it once established. Algae in the water does the same, adds oxygen, provides a sun filter and is beyond your control except don't allow fertilzer runoff to create an algae bloom which could drastically alter pH and a possible fishkill. Ray Scott has written a book on creating and managing ponds. It might be a place to start for time saving tips.

Questions are good, sharing anecdotes revealing, and sharing discoveries, the stuff that makes good forums worth lurking or contributing to! Do any of the above and you are no longer a lurker. Welcome to the give & take of fellow anglers!