The Fishing Thread
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I don't know if it's different than some of the scent gels that I'll use when fishing, but things like JJ's magic, if you spill a little on your hand, you'll just reek of garlic. I only use the dip kind for soft plastics.
The gels are a little bit more forgiving, and I found that the two or three that I'll keep when I'm fly fishing seem to at least make a difference when I'm getting a hook up.
The fish don't seem to spit the fly out as often because it doesn't taste like feathers and deer hair.
Tarrant
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There's two methods for using them when making soft baits, you can mix a couple drops in with the plastisol before injecting, but that runs the risk of weakening the integrity of the bait if you put in too much.
When I've seen many do and what I think I will do is when its ready to take out of the mold and cure, I'll put them into a ziplock bag and put a couple drops in that so they soak it in while they cure. From everything I've read, they work almost like a sponge when doing it this way.
Either way, I'll be wearing gloves when handling it because good lord its crazy.
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Tarrant
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Started shooting some clear ribbon worms tonight for practice. Learned a lot.
First shoot, I preheated my molds, which they worked like champs....but they took forever to cool to the point where I could open it and get the baits out. Due to the heat and not being cool enough, they were ruined when I opened the mold.
Second shoot, didnt preheat the molds as they were still warm. They were better, but the injector was cold the plastisol started to harden a bit and didnt get all the way back to the tail.
Third shoot, still didnt heat the molds, bodies turned out perfect but the tails didnt shoot like the back 1/3, mold was too cool.
Fourth shoot, heated just the inside of the mold to like 100. Tails shot but still a bit off. This time I tried to shoot them at 340degrees, I think if I went to 350 they would have formed better, but that's why I'm practicing, to learn these nuances.
These are the 2 from my 4th shoot. They look okay, bodies look great, but the tips of the tails are a little rough is all.
First shoot, I preheated my molds, which they worked like champs....but they took forever to cool to the point where I could open it and get the baits out. Due to the heat and not being cool enough, they were ruined when I opened the mold.
Second shoot, didnt preheat the molds as they were still warm. They were better, but the injector was cold the plastisol started to harden a bit and didnt get all the way back to the tail.
Third shoot, still didnt heat the molds, bodies turned out perfect but the tails didnt shoot like the back 1/3, mold was too cool.
Fourth shoot, heated just the inside of the mold to like 100. Tails shot but still a bit off. This time I tried to shoot them at 340degrees, I think if I went to 350 they would have formed better, but that's why I'm practicing, to learn these nuances.
These are the 2 from my 4th shoot. They look okay, bodies look great, but the tips of the tails are a little rough is all.
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Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I had a fishing partner that he got really got into different color mods to soft plastics. At the time it was pre senko and we fished a lot of bass assasins over hydrilla. It worked well and we settled on albino in dark/stained water. One day he took a marker made to add color to baits and painted the last inch red. It wasn't massive but on the local lake we fished you could tell over the length of the day. Small 2,500 acre lake near where we went to college where it was not uncommon in the spring to catch 5 pound bass till you gave up or changed to spinnerbaits as it neared dark.
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I guarantee you even if they didn't turn out perfect the fish aren't going to care. I'm certain they're perfectly fishable. That's pretty awesome though.
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I keep a giant bin of sharpies of all different colors on my bench to color flies, and I even keep a few in my bag when I'm out fishing in case I need to maybe change something up. Yeah you might need to touch stuff up at the little bit but sharpies were surprisingly well. I don't know if they would work on soft plastic, but on feathers and deer hair and what have you, they're great for really coloring out something to look like a bait fish, or a specific bug.
I know that makes some really good markers and I forget what they're called, but they are much more permanent than even sharpies.
Borzak
Bronze Baron of the Realm
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I have a couple of the ones they make for using on soft baits. They're not permanent at all and depending on how long you fish you may need to freshen it up. It literally is just like "flavor" to your bait, just something different. So an albinio shad assasin painted red on the end it will last maybe an hour and to be honest if I haven't caught a bass in the spring when I use those mostly I move on to another bait normally.My friend is a semi pro fisherman and when he started another friend of ours started drawing all kinds of designs and patterns on. I don't know about that.
Tarrant
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Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm going to keep practicing today. The plastisol I'm using is starting to yellow from reheating so much. I put some stabilizer in it to see if that helps and figure at some point I'll probably load it up with chartreuse color, shoot it and see what happens.
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Will adding the dyes and stuff affect how it'll set up and cure? I've only ever watched like one or two videos about guys doing their own soft plastics before and I don't remember much about it. This is curious if it changes how the temps will affect that solidifying stage if you mix a whole bunch of other stuff in. Assuming you're going to end up putting some glitter and what have you in there as well, right?
Also are you going to try to do like a two-tone thing like a tequila sunrise or something? No clue how you go about doing something like that.
Tarrant
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I just made about 20 tails (have to shoot the full bait and clip off the tail and then put it in the mold for a shoot of a different color) and they were chartreuse and I added UV powder to them. Everything worked great and I was able to speed up the process by learning the minimum amount of time I need in order to let the worm retain its shape when opening the mold.
Either today or tomorrow (probably tomorrow) I'll try to use the tails and will post the the results.
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Tarrant
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Thanks! Hoping these next two are a bit more transparent, but I again put in a bit too much. Tried for a drop and got a dab lol.
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I'm sure the more you do it the better they'll end up turning out and you'll get everything dialed in.
It's no different than my fly tying stuff. I look back at some of the ones I made originally and I was just learning, but I keep him around to remind me of where I started and where I currently am skill wise. I'm no master like Kelly Gallup or something, but I'm infinitely better than where I was at the get-go. Part of the fun of the hobby.
It's also just fun to experiment and see if something works. I'll fish whatever I've tied and sometimes I won't ever catch anything, but then again some things I've made have become very reliable.
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Looking good. Should maybe throw some red in there if you do another round or maybe gold and red. But like you said I don't think the fish are really going to care, as long as you got a little bit of UV action going on, nice movement in the water, and it's just the right color for the right water clarity or time of day.
What do they say about fishing lures or baits, they typically catch more fishermen than fish. I'm as guilty as anybody else's buying too much tackle, especially when something looks good to the fisherman but the fish don't care.
I know with you being up north, not sure how tanic your Waters are, but might not be a bad idea to do some motor oil colored, or some dark brown or pumpkin seed.
One of the best things I've learned at least with fly fishing is Dark Day, dark fly vs Bright Day, bright fly. Then of stuff isn't working you jump to the polar opposite of the spectrum, and just start working your way towards the middle once you figure out what color is the ticket. Obviously if it's stained water you run with dark colors, a black bait will show up better in dark water or lack of light. I think it has something to do with just presenting a more opaque profile where you would think bright flashy colors would show up better. I didn't realize that for a long time because it's just counterintuitive.
Tarrant
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Yeah darker colors are usually the color of choice for bass up here, I don’t have any black color right now but I do have brown. I’ll end up making lighter colored ones as well, but I’ll need to run through these greens first as I have quite a bit left over.
or who knows, maybe I’ll make more colors just to try them out. I think I’ll cut back to 1/4 cup at a time instead of half.
right now I’m limited in colors/flake and very limited with molds as I only have two. But I’m looking forward to making more. Eventually I’ll start using scents as well.
or who knows, maybe I’ll make more colors just to try them out. I think I’ll cut back to 1/4 cup at a time instead of half.
right now I’m limited in colors/flake and very limited with molds as I only have two. But I’m looking forward to making more. Eventually I’ll start using scents as well.
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What's the shelf life once you open or mix up the plastic? I'm guessing you got to use it pretty quick?