Thinking about making my own soft plastics

[NavyVet1204]

Anyone else do/have done this? 
 

I want to pour my own craws, senkos, and finesse worms. What am I getting into? Ins and outs, pros and cons?

[looking45]

Your going to need plastisol, molds, coloring, glitter and bags to pack them.  Production will be low if you only have one or two molds for each bait. You can buy a lot of baits for the price it's going to cost to get started. Have fun

[NavyVet1204]

1 hour ago, looking45 said:

Your going to need plastisol, molds, coloring, glitter and bags to pack them.  Production will be low if you only have one or two molds for each bait. You can buy a lot of baits for the price it's going to cost to get started. Have fun

I had kind of figured that to some degree. I have watched YouTube videos of guys doing it and they all mention “orders” for their baits. So basically, if my aim is to make money with it it is more of a go versus my own use type of thing. Or if I build enough of a pile of unused leftover plastics then I could use that.

[Heartland]

What would you do special with your baits that would make them stand out and people would want to buy them?

 

[Jaderose]

While you can certainly do what you wish, be advised that there are 100's, if not 1000's of small bait makers trying to make a buck.  I doubt most do.  Some of them make some unbelievable stuff and still have to charge less than the big guys.  As a hobby, go for it.  To make money?  No offense, but I doubt it.

[swhit140]

Save your old ones for remelt or collect them from friends and do some remelt work. I think that would be your cheapest option, but if you're really wanting to get into it you're going to invest some money, time, supplies. There are so many people & companies that produce them I don't think it is really worth it. That's just my opinion, but if you want to do it for a fun hobby why not.

 

[Mobasser]

I had a friend who bought all the stuff to make plastic worms years ago. He made some good ones and caught fish on them. I wouldn't try this for profit, but it might be fun to.make some for yourself. You could make some interesting color combinations that might be a little different than what everyone else is throwing.

[NavyVet1204]

11 hours ago, Jaderose said:

While you can certainly do what you wish, be advised that there are 100's, if not 1000's of small bait makers trying to make a buck.  I doubt most do.  Some of them make some unbelievable stuff and still have to charge less than the big guys.  As a hobby, go for it.  To make money?  No offense, but I doubt it.

That’s my main focus is for my own use. If some one comes along and inquires about my homemade lures...that could be different.

11 hours ago, swhit140 said:

Save your old ones for remelt or collect them from friends and do some remelt work. I think that would be your cheapest option, but if you're really wanting to get into it you're going to invest some money, time, supplies. There are so many people & companies that produce them I don't think it is really worth it. That's just my opinion, but if you want to do it for a fun hobby why not.

 

This is my overall intention especially just to make use of my old plastics.

11 hours ago, Heartland said:

What would you do special with your baits that would make them stand out and people would want to buy them?

 

I guess I misworded my initial post, I wouldn’t want to try and make money on it. It would be for personal use.

[scaleface]

I use to make my own design . I whittled the shape out of a piece of wood and made a two sided plaster of paris mold . Then melted my used worms and poured in  . I have two or three other carvings that I never made a mold for . I actually sent some of my worms to Bass Pro but never heard a word from them . I imagine they went straight to the trash bin . They were pretty ugly .

[NavyVet1204]

58 minutes ago, scaleface said:

I use to make my own design . I whittled the shape out of a piece of wood and made a two sided plaster of paris mold . Then melted my used worms and poured in  . I have two or three other carvings that I never made a mold for . I actually sent some of my worms to Bass Pro but never heard a word from them . I imagine they went straight to the trash bin . They were pretty ugly .

That “ugly” bait probably caught you a lot of good fish

[scaleface]

1 minute ago, NavyVet1204 said:

That “ugly” bait probably caught you a lot of good fish

Its a unique bait and it worked pretty good .I need to make some more some day .

[WRB]

To get fine details you need a injection mold, hand pours work OK for straight worms or curl tail worms.

Check Barlows Tackle catalog, they carry everything needed.

Most custom hand pours will make whatever you want and have lots of molds to choose from.

Hard to beat Roboworms or Uptons Customs.

Tom

[Jaderose]

1 hour ago, NavyVet1204 said:

That’s my main focus is for my own use. If some one comes along and inquires about my homemade lures...that could be different.

This is my overall intention especially just to make use of my old plastics.

I guess I misworded my initial post, I wouldn’t want to try and make money on it. It would be for personal use.

No worries and sorry if I was being a downer.  I've considered making my own as a winter hobby.  Knock yourself out!

[NavyVet1204]

A winter hobby indeed!

[PourMyOwn]

I pour for myself, a buddy or two, and my family- no desire to sell baits.

 

Spend your money on a good injector. They're safer, nicer to use, and easy to sell if you stop pouring. Mine is a Basstackle and it's such a nice tool.

 

One place you can save money is with yard sale microwaves. Five years later my two dollar microwave still hasn't died.

 

There's so much more, but so little time. I agree that selling baits is futile, 90% of the guys selling use the same molds anyway. There's rarely anything that sets them apart.

[Jig Man]

Plan on spending several hundred dollars to get set up very well.  You need a lot of stuff in order to do much.  Just getting set up to pour tubes cost me $300.  There are lots of good bait making sites where you can get valuable information.  Tackle under ground has a don’ts for newbies that can prove invaluable for you.

[ChrisD46]

On 6/9/2020 at 11:18 AM, WRB said:

To get fine details you need a injection mold, hand pours work OK for straight worms or curl tail worms.

Check Barlows Tackle catalog, they carry everything needed.

Most custom hand pours will make whatever you want and have lots of molds to choose from.

Hard to beat Roboworms or Uptons Customs.

Tom

*Forget trying to make money from it - I personally would want to emulate the great West Coast hand pours you guys have enjoyed all these years !

[Guitarfish]

Do it for fun.  It's addicting.  Every time I set up I end up pouring a whole lot!  I pour mostly saltwater.  Jumbo Slug-go, various squids, all sizes swimbaits, etc.  But you need to get on the water to use them.  

 

I made all my molds from resin, and just use Baitmate spray scents as a mold release.

 

Just don't breathe the stuff, and remember to cover all your skin.  I had a pyrex cup shatter as I was moving to pour.  Got an instant blister where it landed on me.

[vaparrothead]

Try Netcraft; their stuff seems to be reasonably priced.  I have some of their hand poured worm molds and they work great.  Going to ask "Santa" for injection molds.  Hand poured take way to long, melt plastisol, pour, wait for it to harden, unscrew and pull mold apart.  It's fun and I've caught some decent bass but it's a hobby only.