Conference wahoo::fishing

       Have you tried any of the 'hobby' or 'craft' stores?
                                                    Denny

    re: .1
    
    I think I saw them in the Mid-land catalog. Will try to check tonight.
    
    BTW- in addition to looking for a small eye, usually a long screw
    section is also desirable (holds better).
    
    Bagel
    

     Jeff, try NETCRAFT, 2800 Tremainsville road, Toledo, OH 43613.
    Phone # 419 472-9826. They have EVERYTHING for lure hobbyists; in
    fact, in my catalog I saw eyes and screws - just what you need...
    
    --The Skoal Bandit

    Thanks for all the replies...
    
    An Bandit, thanks for the ph #,and address, I'm going to call now to
    get a catalog.
    
    

    Anyone know how to make spoons for trolling? Where to get info,
    etc??? I'd like to make my own just for the hell of it!
    
    Don

          RE:.5
        Sure, just get some old spoons(yes, the kind you eat with)
    and cut off the handle, grind off excess and sand it smooth. Then
    drill yourself a hole in it. Use your imagination for the rest,as
    far as colors to paint them and such. My grandfather had quite a
    collection and they worked great too. 
    
                Bob
    
       Yes, I'm serious.

    You can use a number of different types of sheet metal too, like
    brass, copper, bronze, aluminum etc. (rust free metals). Just cut
    them into an oval the size of the spoon  you want. Drill a hole
    in each end of the spoon for the split rings then put the
    metal on a block of wood and using the ball end of a ball-peen hammer
    start tapping near the ends and work your way towards the middle,
    this will put the curve in the spoon. You can work the hammer around
    near the edges too to make them curl up. Start out making one thats
    similar to something you already have then experiment with the curving
    to change the action on the spoon. Once you have it were you want
    it you can use it as is or sray paint it. If you paint it you may
    want to use some fine sandpaper on it to give the paint a better
    surface to stick to. If you've got some old spoons around that don't
    produce, change them around, reshape them, repaint them etc. Gives
    ya something to do over the winter. I repainted some small Mooselooks
    (sp?) red with white dots for salmon. They work great. My grandfather
    is the one that was doing this all the time. He made some spoons
    similar to a Hinkley (long oval) but made them out of brass. We
    used them for trout in a pond we used to go to in upstate N.Y..
    What we did was take a snelled hook and thread a worm onto it and
    them put that on the back of the spoon. You should see the action
    the spoon put on that worm. It drove the fish crazy. I haven't done
    that in a long time. Hmmmm.
    
    Got carried away here didn't I.
    
    Well, have fun
    John

     Netcraft in Toledo Ohio has everything you need.
    
    --The Skoal Bandit

    Yo Bandit...
    
    I called and ordered the catalog...should be here in a couple O'
    weeks...
      				 	 
    					Thanks again
    						jeff

    I just got the Netcraft Catalog last friday...
    
    I'm going to be ordering screws,trebbles,split rings etc.etc. along
    with some blank rebels,and "fat" Raps w/rattles....and worm mold....
    
    heck for a dozen rapala's 3 �", for $7....just add hooks,decal 'em,and
    laquer 'em....ya can't go wrong. 
    
    Gonna start off ordering small bulk...and if I like doing it as much as
    I anticipate...I'm going to get a booth at the next flea market and
    clean up.
    
    				jml

    re:10
    
    	How about an update ??? Have you made any lures yet ? How has it
    worked out ? About how much does it wind up costing per lure ?
    
    	RAYJ

    Re:10

    	After reading my last note, I saw that I should have added a little
    more around the cost question. In particular, about how much would it
    cost to put a 3 �" shad rap together ?

    	Has anyone tried repainting any of their lures ???

    	I sent for the Netcraft catalog and hopefully that will have what
    I'm looking for. 

    	I have a preference for silver/black colored crank and stick baits and 
    decided to repaint some of the ones of various colors I've gotten over the 
    years. I also wanted to try out an air brush I got awhile ago.

    	The air brush worked excellent but I encountered two problems. One was
    that the metallic silver paint I was able to find just wasn't bright
    enough. What I'd like to find is a high gloss chrome colored paint for
    use with my air brush. I temporarily got around this problem by
    sprinkling some silver glitter on the lure while the paint was still
    wet.

    	The other problem was that after 5 smallmouths and a striper,
    almost all of the paint was gone. It was an epoxy based paint and it
    just didn't seem to be hard enough.

    	Does anyone know what the manufacturers use for paint and where I
    might be able to get some ?

    	RAYJ

    rayj,
    
    There is a section in Cabela's or BPS that has a lot of lure paints.  I
    ordered some two summers ago (don't remember which catalog) and by
    coincidence, I dug it out last night to repaint the open mouths on my
    Tomic plugs (looks sort of like a shad wrap with a mouth like a
    popper). 
    
    I only bought the paint and not the "special thinner" they sell.  This
    paint is a royal bear to work with.  When I mixed it, it sort of acted
    like one piece of paint....like pizza dough or something.  If I had
    some of their thinner, I would have watered it down.  It is such an odd
    looking enamel substance that I was affraid to use J. Random thinner
    with it.
    
    I spread it on the mouth of my lure with a nail......never would have
    worked with a brush (the way it was).  I checked it this morning and
    I've used it before.  It always adheres to the plastic real well.  It
    seems to last a while.  
    
    I imagine with enough thinner, you could probably even use it with an 
    airbrush. 
    
    /brett

RayJ,

   Re: .13   

>    There is a section in Cabela's or BPS that has a lot of lure paints.  I
>    ordered some two summers ago (don't remember which catalog) and by
>    coincidence, I dug it out last night to repaint the open mouths on my

    It's Cabela's that has quite a large selection of 'build your own lure'
stuff - wooden bodies, foil skins, paint, propellors(sp) spinner bodies,
etc. etc. etc.....

    I'd be happy to interoffice mail you a copy of the Spring catalog if
you e-mail me your mail-stop/pole-#

			WFOOFF::Whittemore_J

JW-FWTWMTWBTWIH(MA)

    	I have a correction to my note .12. The paint I used was enamel,
    not epoxy.

    	re:13

    	The book that came with my air brush said that unless special
    instructions came with the paint, the guideline to use was -

    	For enamel  - Use 2 parts thinner to 1 part paint
    	For acrylic - Use 7 parts water to 1 part paint

    	I don't remember what it said for lacquer but I'm sure you get the
    idea of how thin the paint needs to be for the air brush. 

	It was surpising how well the enamel went on and covered
    considering how thin it was. It did a excellent job of covering on
    the first coat and it dried within a few minutes.
    
    	I guess if I can't find anything else I could probably get some
    auotomotive paint. That's fairly hard stuff and as thin as you spray
    it, a little goes an extremely long way. I'll probably have a hard time
    finding it in a chrome color though.
    
    	For the time being I guess I'll just have to wait and see what the
    Netcraft catalog I ordered has in it.
    
    	RAYJ

    Testor's (remember them from your model building days?) has a new thing
    that I like. It's a felt tip paint dispenser, a lot like the Marks-a-Lot 
    permanent markers that dispenses enamel paint. You don't need a brush! 
    They come in lots of colors, too. I bought one that dispenses bright red, 
    to paint jig heads and put little red flourishes on crankbaits to make 
    them look wounded (notice how most minnow type crankbaits have a touch 
    of red on the mouth). 
    
    I got the idea from the NEW! NEW! NEW! "wounded shad" lures promoted 
    by BPS this year (they have little streaks of red paint on the side to 
    make them look like a good prey victim). Also I've found it hard to 
    locate red jig heads in the stores, so now I carry the painter in my 
    tackle box and all my crankbaits have red smiles on them. Too early 
    to tell if the new wounded-look minnows work well, I've not fished 
    much since then, but I've got some vacation time coming up, so...
    
    Ed

    	Just an aside, but after having tried to paint some of my lures
    it's really made me appreciate what goes into making lures. I do a type
    of fishing where I intentionally cast a crankbait at the base of a
    cement wall and let it drop into to water. Even after that kind of abuse 
    they just keep on shining. 
    
    	Looking at some of the "realistic" fish look alike lures (i.e. the
    ones with scales, etc.) it's really amazing what they can do. These
    things are like little works of art. Luckily (for me anyway) the fish 
    can't seem to really be able to tell that much of a difference (or
    care).
    
    	An idea that crossed my mind is that when/if I make some of my own 
    lures, I could dip them in the epoxy resin they use to embed things in
    (i.e. like paper weights). This stuff stays perfectly clear no matter 
    how thick of a layer you put on. It also is one of the hardest surfaces
    I can think of for this purpose. If I can find a way to thin and spray it, 
    a little would go a very long way too. 
    
    	If I did this, I could put the softer enamel paint on first as well
    as the fish eyes, glitter, etc., and then just coat the whole thing in
    the epoxy resin. Sounds like just the ticket.
    
    	RAYJ
    

    Consider a urethane paint as an alternative to epoxy. Tough as nails.
    
    It's plastic paint is what it is...
    
    Ed
    

    I stumbled over a can o' stuff in my basement last night that will do
the trick for you - if you can aquire it ..........

    It's 'Clear Coat' auto finish. It's used in auto body shops as an
additive to the pigmented paint or as a top coat. Some sort of an acrylic
lacqure. It'll probably need to be thined for your application. On stick
baits etc. dipping would be the best method, hang to dry (approx 10 min.!)
and then cut off the little droplett that'll be left on the bottom.

    If brand name becomes important I can reread the can and post it on
request I got mine from an old neighbor of mine ..... try your local
speed shop or body shop.

JW

    	re:19
    
    	I went to an auto parts place that sells paint and the person
    behind the counter said he's tried using various kinds of auto paints
    for his lures and they still don't hold up like the original finish.
    
    	For normal use on fish without teeth it would probably be OK but I
    don't think it would last long for what I need it for. I'm using a
    crank bait for river smallmouths and one of the most effective
    techniques is to cast my lure into the base of the cement retaining
    wall. The original finish seems to hold up OK so if I can find out what
    they use I'd be all set.
    
    	I sent away for the Netcraft catalog and I'm hoping they will have
    what I'm looking for. My guess is that they're using epoxy paint. I know
    they make a glass clear epoxy (for making paper weights and such) that
    is extremely tough stuff. I may try going for something like that if
    the catalog doesn't have what I'm looking for.
    
    	On a different note I was considering making my own lure bodies if
    the catalog doesn't have what I'm looking for, namely, a shad rap body. 
    What I was thinking is that I may be able to make a mold out of clay by
    simply pressing a shad rap minus the hooks into clay for each half.
    I'd probably have to paint and fire the mold for my purposes. This 
    would give me the bill and everything. Next I could make the mold
    halves fit together so as to be able to inject some 2-part floatation foam. 
    I've used this foam before and it has a density similar to balsa wood but 
    will not absorb water. I cost about $20 for 6 cubic feet so I should be
    able to get lots of bodies out of it. This would give me a foam lure body 
    which I could dip in epoxy to give it strength. If I can get the lure 
    bodies for $.60 a piece as mentioned in an earlier note then it's probably 
    not worth it (unless they don't have what I'm looking for).
    
    	RAYJ

    	Well I got the netcraft catalog and it had pretty much everything
    I was looking for. It still did not have a few of the things though.
    I couldn't find silver paint which would be no big deal if I could have
    found clear gloss epoxy paint. They even mention using it with the 
    glitter crystals they sell but they don't seem to carry it.
    
    	They did have clear vinyl lure/jig paint which they say is the
    hardest paint they've ever used and that it won't chip. I question
    what kind of clarity it has though as clear laquer actually goes on
    somewhat cloudy.
    
    	The other thing I couldn't find is jointed minnow bodies but I may
    be able to make them if their lure bodies are solid and not hollow.
    
    	Alot of the write-ups for the different items are written as if
    they have staff which uses the product. This may work out well as I
    have a lot of questions, some of which can only be answered by someone
    that's familiar with the product.
    
    	I've done a rough work up on how much it cost to build vs. buy the
    lures. It winds up costing about $1.25 per minnow type lure and about
    $1.45 for a Shad Rap type lure. I have no idea yet on how much labor 
    is involved to see if it's worth doing for anything other than a hobby
    and to save a couple bucks.
    
    	RAYJ