Topic: Pouring Soft Plastics

[Brazzy]

So this winter I was thinking about setting up shop and start pouring some of my own soft plastics. Just figured I would see if anyone else has gone down this path and has given this a try and if they have any pointers or lessons learned to see if there is anything to share.

[Joe P]

I have thought about doing this myself but never did it.  There is some really good info on you tube to get you started

[Brazzy]

I was able to watch quite a few last night when it peaked my curiosity and saw the price of some molds out there. Its a lot cheaper than I thought it would be and there are molds that replicate some of the more poplar baits out there. It also does not seem to be all that difficult. My initial thought is that I would really take the time to customize the baits to really match the forage of some of the places I fish. There are so many colors out there, but in some instances I dont know if it truly matches the forage we see around here. Couple that with some really clear water and it makes a difference. For example, fishing June and July at Candlewood the fish really feed on adolescent blue gill in and around the milfoil. These blue gill have a real light color from the sun, especially on their fins. So dark back, really dark blue/black on the gill, lighter body, super light blue tail with chartreuse like shimmer to it. During this time 2 of my more productive baits pitching a tube with green pumpkin on ones side and black/blue flake on the other (I sometimes color the inside of the skirt portion chartreuse). The other is a green pumpkin craw with the tips dipped in chartreuse with a black/blue punch skirt. I feel like they do imitate the adolescent blue gill, but thats some odd mixing and matching and playing with dyes on the boat (I am so over due to spill one of those things). Crazy Im sure, but I think I could "match the hatch" a little better than some of the generic colors out there meant to imitate blue gill. I know Im getting super detailed here, but winter is coming and I will need something to scratch the itch until ice out. The videos taught me how to do it. Im more curious if people have done it and for the purpose of matching local forage.

[Curt - RI]

@Mitz has been doing this for quite a few years now. Maybe he can pipe in here and give you some tips. I know he enjoys it and catches a lot of fish on his own baits 

[Brazzy]

Getting into this quite a bit and I have to be honest. I am impressed with the quality of how these are coming out. The ability to use salt, scent, softener, etc to control the action, buoyancy etc is amazing.

At this point I can do rockvibe shad, senkos, d-bombs, paca craw, lizards, and flukes.



The rockvibe shad are a smally crusher for me. These are some I made today. The dark part looks like black. Its actually green pumpkin with purple flake.

[metz12]

I have been thinking of doing this as well. What moulds are you using? I was thinking of trying to make my own senko mould with a router in a block of hardwood. I have been working on my lathe at home making topwater lures like spooks, poppers stuff like that, but I would really like to get into pouring soft plastics.

[Brazzy]

So the 2 places I get my molds and plastic and equipment are Do It molds and ebay. Do it has some decent stuff. Ebay has dealers in the ukraine who make molds of some mainstream baits. My advice is they sell plastic molds and aluminum. The plastic are tough the work with, but the aluminum are really good. Before you start, do your research on this. Look at the plastics, hardener, softener, salt, scent do to the baits. ... and then just experiment. I have not fished with my baits but bath tub tests will show you a lot. What makes a yamamoto senko special it's it's high quality plastic and crammed with as much salt and softener as it can hold. I tried to do the same with my plastics. Some companies harden the plastic to make it more durable, but that hurts the action. In my eyes I make then myself.. and I can recycle them. I don't care how long they last because I have an endless supply of them. So if it's meant to be soft, I want it as soft as possible.

[Curt - RI]

@Brazzy Those look great!

Those Rockvibe Shad look really good. Having that ribbed section in front of the tail must give it some great action, even on slow retrieves 

[Brazzy]

Thanks Curt.

The rockvibe shad is a big time player for me anyplace with hard bottoms and smallies. When it comes to soft plastic swim baits there are really 2 modes of thought. There are the ones with super light/thin paddle tails that give a really tight wiggle even when going slow which are better as chatterbait and spinner bait trailers. The rockvibe shad goes in a different direction in a long thin stem with a thick/heavy paddle on it. If you grab it by the head and hold it vertically upside down the tail almost fully doubles over. That paddle really goes hard side to side giving it a wide wobble (even when going slow) and a side to side roll. The side to side roll draws a lot of attention, especially with baits that have contrasting colors and flakes. The roll just flashes that stuff very nicely. The down side to them is that are less than ideal as trailers, and sometimes will hook themselves while casting. However, dragging one of these on a swimbait jighead on the bottom is deadly for bigger smallmouth. For a lot of people this has replaced the Carolina rig because it does bring in a better quality fish and is less likely to gut hook a fish. The Carolina rig will always have a place in my heart though.

One tip I would like to share is don't get too jumpy. They seldom gulp these down in one shot. The bites comes as very light ticks and they will often mouth it a couple of times (sometimes biting it in half) before fully gulping it. When I first started doing this it was so hard not to try and jack the fish, but just stay on the slow steady retrieve. When they do gulp it the almost always come from behind, gulp it and turn away. So the slow and steady with a gentle lean into them is more than enough to hook them as they essentially set the hook themselves.

[Curt - RI]

Great info, @Brazzy Thanks for the tips! 

By the way, what sizes do you use?

[Brazzy]

4" is the go to for me. Later in the year there were places where I saw the bait was small so I downsized to a 3.25" and they were getting annihilated. I have 5", but will seldom throw them. If Im throwing a 5" its usually for largemouth and Im swimming it off the bottom.

[Curt - RI]

Oh, and exactly what kind of swimbait head are you throwing them on?

[Brazzy]

There are a lot of good ones out there. I really feel the rockvibe shad looks like its missing a head LOL. My go to has been the 1/4oz(mostly) to 3/8oz VMC swimbait jig head. The keeper on these things are awesome. I used to use some other jigheads but had to put a dab of glue to keep the bait up the shaft. With this keeper the bait stays there until a fish bites it in half or you decide to rip it off yourself.

Another route is an underspin.

http://www.amazon.com/VMC-Swimbait-0-Size-8-Ounce-3-Pack/dp/B00AU5TBJG/ref=pd_sim_200_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00AU5TBJG&pd_rd_r=5PD2P6QJZHCSAFXP8EG5&pd_rd_w=pHmvp&pd_rd_wg=VnFy7&psc=1&refRID=5PD2P6QJZHCSAFXP8EG5

I was taught to throw these while fishing with Paul Mueller and I really haven't looked back. Its just produced. I fish it on a similar set up as he does with 12-15lb braid to 8lb fluoro leader on spinning tackle.

[Curt - RI]

Thanks! @Brazzy I sent you a PM 

[Brazzy]

Got some new molds in. Here's what I put toget her so far...