sean20

The best advice I can give is to search this forum and watch every YouTube video you can find. There are a million different ways to make these baits, and no one does it the same. You just gotta find out what works for you. Keep in mind, there is a lot of trial and error in this process, so don’t get discouraged if your first bait doesn’t turn out like you expected.

In my experience, I've never had an issue with the bait failing at the transition. Resin does a pretty good job adhering to resin. I typically pour the bottom half, wait until it's almost cured, then pour the second half. I never remove the bait from the mold. This will help keep the transition smooth. Pouring the top half while the bottom half is 90% cured also helps. It's hard enough at that point to prevent too much mixing, but soft enough for both pieces to become one.

Have you tried different combinations of tungsten powder and micro-balloons for the top/bottom of the bait? I haven't used tungsten powder, but one technique I've used with success is pouring approximately half the bait with resin only (which is naturally more dense than water), letting that cure, then pouring the remainder of the bait with micro-balloons mixed in. This gives the bait a natural ballast with no additional weights necessary! It takes several pours to get it right, so if you try this method, make sure you take note of the proportions you use each pour so you can zero in on a good ratio.

My first baticaster was a right handed because that's what the guy at the store told me to get (I am right handed). Since then, most of the reels I've used have been the same. However, several years ago, I bought a left handed reel for the sole purpose of flipping jigs since I wanted to be able to set the hook quickly if the fish hit immediately on the fall. It was awkward at first, but now I'm able to fish both fairly comfortably. Still fish right handed reels 90% of the time though.

Super cool idea man! Looking forward to seeing how it comes out.

91

Definitely in! That thing is sweet!

That's awesome man! I'm totally in!

Almost always have a gantarel with me. They definitely catch fish!

I second the Gantarel. Both the Jr. and regular size work pretty well in lakes/ponds with bluegill (have yet to try the Gigantarel, so I don't have an opinion on that). They aren't very expensive, but if you don't want to pay full price, a lot of people sell them on here for cheaper. Just keep an eye out for one in the Black Market.

Awesome bait! Not sure if you're willing to share you're secret, but how do you get the cracked effect? I've been trying to figure it out to customize a reel.

MakeLure.com sells Alumilite Amazing Casting Resin in 2-gal sizes. Not sure if that is more than what you're looking for. I use the amazing casting resin, and have not had any issues with it so far. Demold time is around 10 minutes like you're looking for. Never used RP-40, so I can't comment on that. Alumilite found here: http://www.makelure.com/store/p/934-Alumilite-White-Amazing-Casting-Resin.aspx

I've had a lot of luck on the Gantarel, but haven't really experimented with any other gill type swimbaits.

Looks awesome man!

I've found this video pretty helpful for detailing wooden swimbaits. I'm sure there are several ways of doing it, but this seems to be the most common. I'd say patience is the most important part of detailing (especially scales).

Definitely a solid idea!

Great video! The action looks awesome!