CPBassFishing

is devcon like regular 5 minute epoxy or a lot thinner? What i'm worried about is having it dry with a very lumpy finish from being brushed on and spread around like 5 minute epoxy does

For you guys using devcon- what ratio of epoxy to denatured alcohol are you using? Thanks in advance.

There really is no single best lure, but if it came down to only using one thing it would have to be a 5" senko. I hate using them because its so easy to fish them but they flat-out catch fish any way you rig them.

For your budget, I would skip the cheap chinese injected plastic baits like the bbz1 and go for any of the following- 7" or 9" MS Slammer Hardgill 8" Huddleston Huddleston 68 special If you want to splurge a little go for an 8" triple trout.

Just a thought- hard swimbaits will last over 100 fish if used properly. That's a better bang for your buck than senko fishing.

Whatever you have confidence in. but seriously, any 4-5" swimbait works great.

I decided to brave the 15 degree weather on Saturday and went out for a few hours. Half the pond was frozen but I found a nice dropoff right near a creek inflow with some brush nearby. This guy decided to bite a green pumpkin chartreuse tail swim senko deadsticked and slowly twitched along the bottom. I was deadsticking the bait nearly half a minute at a time. Of course, I forgot to dig out the scale to weigh the fish but I'm guessing somewhere in the 2lb range. Sorry the pic is sideways. Thanks for looking!

cedar. It is tough enough to hold in screw eyes but soft enough to be easy to carve and sand. It also rquires less weight to sink than harder woods. I only had to use 1 1/4 oz of tungsten for this bait.

alright man I'll keep that in mine. I'm getting plaster tommorow so I'll pour some tails. The finished product (except the tail)

PTL Food Chain Tubes

Paint, clearcoat, and weighting done. Foiled gill plate. best I can do without an airbrush for now.

I'm going to fish this one. I'll make another with 100% exact scales (same on both sides and perfectly proportioned). I'm playing around with the weighting on this one to figure out the balance that will get the best glide.

its wedged in and superglued. The resin ones will have soft plastic tails.

its a labor of love for sure. I did everything with a chisel! Took about five hours.

My best work so far. getting painted and clearcoated tonight and then I have to wait for my order from lurepartsonline for all the hardware. Here's a couple pics.

Here's a 10" trout I made. HemoBass paintjob. needs a lip. I haven't quite mastered the art of lipless swimmers yet. I don't think the type of joint I used is designed for wood baits. I didn't account for the thickness of the paint and the clearcoat, so the joints are too tight and it doesn't swim. It will with a lip though. Another rat. This one will be molded and put into production as a resin bait. Swiveling hook hangars

I have a dremel tool I would buy a bandsaw but my mom won't let me because she is so overprotective.

It's good for certain applications. If you are serious about making videos get a non- fisheyed camera and a tripod and film yourself instead of using a headcam. It is very convenient to use for applications you need both hands for.

most of the diehards actually recommend the 9" haha. I don't know anybody who fishes the 12" regularly.

Haha you mean Butchathon? Heard the deps booth was a joke. 60 baits, and guys 8th in line didn't get one because all the bassbrigade guys passed them back to their buddies. Pathetic.

its a labor of love for sure. I start losing my patience occasionally haha. I was making a 7" shad yesterday and kept messing up from being overtired.

what is your heaviest action rod? I threw 2- 2.75 oz baits on a 7' 6" MH Veritas all summer because I couldn't afford a decent swimbait rod at the time.

Can't recommend anything from sebile or reaction strike. Poor QC. I had a hard magic swimmer blow up on me and the soft ones have awful paint peeling problems. Go with the proven baits if you want to get into swimbaiting Spro Bbz-1 jr 6" Black Dog Bait co. G2 Shellcracker River2Sea S-Waver Huddleston Deluxe Mattlures 3:16's Check out Savage Gear as well, they have some great stuff coming out this year.

They're two completely different baits. Its actually funny how two little worms can be so different. For an extremely tough bite I will throw the robo purely because of its softness, but if I'm on a hot bit I throw the tickle because it is LITERALLY ten times as durable as a robo. On a shaky head, it will last 10+ fish, where as a robo will last two before it starts to twist off the spring from the hole being widened. Its pretty much a confidence thing. I feel stupid for liking the robos more because they are less durable, but the colors flat-out slay. I'd say the ticklers are a better value because they last longer. You also get the aded benefit from the hog tonic.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. As for the securing part, I have a spring cord attached to a carabiner and a big split ring that I put on the cord. I'll clip the carabiner to a belt loop when I fish.