Hand pours vs. Injection molded baits

[earthworm77]

Do you guys have any preference as to the different ways these baits are produced and what do you like about your favorite?

[bass1cpr]

Softness of either is important to me, softness = better action and usually improves fish holding power meaning the bait feels more natural and they hold on to it longer.
Tearing up baits isn't a problem I repair them with a wormizer or soldering Iron if I'm low on them and can't get more right away. I take them with me to overnight and multiple day tournaments just in case I can't find the bait or color that I'm using. At night I'll repair them so I can get more use from them. Sweet beavers are hard to come by on a regular basis so I've been repairing a lot of them this season, last season this wasn't such a problem but now the demand is so much higher and the production isn't keeping up with demands.
     Zoom products I just remelt them and make hand pours from them by adding a little fresh plastisol. Same with Berkley products berkley requires a little extra time cooking and getting the bubbles out before pouring.

[Joe. S]

Well I guess I'm a little biased but I like handpours, pretty much only use my own baits as far as platics go. I know what's in them, and if tasted by a fish I know he's caught, unless there's an error on my end .

[SenkoSam]

EW, I don't think the majority of anglers know what and injection mold is or the process required to make a fully rounded bait versus a flat sided one.

[MotherNature]

Earthworm,

If we were still in California I would have to say that hand poured was the way to go but here in Louisiana it is hard to make a call. Some of the things that I do look for in a bait is the texture... I like baits that are soft to the feel as well as have a little salt in them. I think that the texture that the salt gives to the plastic helps it to feel more life like and increase my catch ratio.

[SenkoSam]

Have to agree about salt-textured plastic. If you feel a split apart Senko (after you've caught a few fish or so), the texture is grainy and spongy, though soft. I think that unique feel has a lot to do with fishing taking the lure off bottom and carrying it off.

I think much of the success of EW's plastics comes from their super soft texture, especially his dropshot baits. I that case, small size and softness may be adequate without salt, whereas in a larger, thicker jerk stick, that spongy texture is a plus.

Grubs never need salt, in my opinion, just a proper body-to-tail size ratio and tail action, (the same for lizards, creature baits or action tail worms.) All salt does is make a grub flimsy.

[IamWill]

Hey Senko what type of plastic you use in your senkos? i just started making my own about 2 months ago and i cant find a heavy but slow falling plastic or at the speed i want anyways  Im all about perfect

[SenkoSam]

I use Calhoun's plastisol, but it's not the plastic, because the plastic floats.
It's the additives, like salt and clear plastic flakes, that handpourers use to add weight to a stick. Most times, the salt must be ground into a flour to suspend in uncooked liquid plastic.

[Fishaholic]

pouring a serious high quality worm is akin to a potter having that magical glaze on their pottery that no one else has...I've tried pouring my own...I'm not very good at it and respect anyone who is...but I've read extensively on the various formulas that people have to make their worms/baits sink slower or be more durable, yet soft, or have unique colorations or scents in them...and I've noticed that they'll all put you pretty close to where you want to be, but none of em are giving up the secrets to their truly successful baits...can you blame em? It gives them an edge that no one else has.

[earthworm77]

Fishaholic, that is an excellent point. Sometimes the varying degree of the size of salt can put one miles off if he is trying to duplicate another individuals bait. In the early days of my pouring, I attempted to imitate several baits but quickly realized that I was developing baits that were slightly different yet just as effective if not moreso. I then became more self sufficient on my bait designing and really strive to make things differently than most other people.

[SenkoSam]

Fish, there's no big secret to handpouring a bait that will catch fish right out of the mold. My first handpours had one flat side, had no additives and were colored with dye or glitter. Since they were 4" and 5" soft sticks, they easily caught bass the first time in shallow water. Once I found out a few ways to add salt and realized the importance of softener to offset salt's hardening effect, it was a bonus to be able to have that spongy-gritty texture, bass like so well.

Copying lures or prototypes has it's advantages - making them come out exactly like the original is sometimes quite a different story. But, practice makes perfect and I have a few (35) molds that produce nice looking copies. (Gator Tail Worms, Sweet Beavers, dropshot worms, jig trailers, fat grubs, etc.)

I don't add scent to any bait or add oil to the bag of baits. I use them dry right out of the ziplock and keep them away from the sun's ultraviolet/heat to prevent color fade and softening (like for any soft plastic).

I have a tutorial on another site that goes through the process of mold making and hand pouring. Once the equipment is purchased and the steps followed, it becomes second nature to quickly produce a reusable mold and lure in less than an hour. Many times I have poured a few baits just before leaving for the lake and made up a dozen in less than 10 minutes.

What sets a good handpoured bait apart from mediocre handpours is:

•   the neatness of the bait (no flashing or excess)
•   no air bubbles (especially in worms or sticks)
•   bright color or uniform color
•   uniform salt
•   thin action tails
•   sharp details (ribbing, appendages such as legs and flappers)
•   proper softness (for maximum body action and bite retention)
•   uniform symmetry for balence and appearance.
•   a shiny gloss is nice, but not necessary.

Some handpours are junk (like a few of my early ones) and not worth the price, regardless of the hype. But, if a handpour can consistently catch active fish, regardless of how ugly or how much it's appearance varies from that of a manufactured bait , it's worth it and worth reordering!

[A.M.]

wow, i was just looking thru the forums here and i see some names i'm fimiliar with from another website. If anyone here wants to learn how to pour their own baits please listen to senksam and earthworm. I learned all i know about pouring some of my own plastics from senkosam and a few others on tackleunderground.com. These people make incredible plastic baits. Just look at some of earthworm77s plastic baits on ebay. They will make your mouth water. lol. My next step is to try some of senkosams sugar flakes instead of salt which i rarely use anyways. I heard they help sink the worm without having to add so much salt or none at all.

[luremaster]

I used to hand pour all my worms but found I like the injector molded much better.
all of my worms are injector molded now.

[SenkoSam]

Are they harder to use than regular pour molds?
What lure styles have you made?

[luremaster]

The injector molded worms are done on a large injector molding  machine similar to a centrifical molding machine for lead product. Molds are expensive compared to lead. I kind of like the hand molded craw-dads better than the injector molded.Don't mind a flat side on a crawdad.

[bass1cpr]

     Injection molding is not done with a centrifical mold. It's done under pressurized heated hose into Aluminum molds. Generally a mold cycle takes less than a minute.
A days producton run is about 12,000 to 15,000 pieces per color depending on the number of cavaties per mold. Worms can be up to 60 cavities per mold more complex designs will have fewer cavities. Laminate molds will have fewer cavities.

[luremaster]

The newer centrifical molding equiptment will mold soft plastics much like the lead molding process. I think the older machines actualy use stainless steel molds anyway they are quite expensive.I didn't mention them becaust I don't think you can buy them anymore. not sure tho

[bass1cpr]

     I've done some more research and checking and no one is using Centrifical molds for pastic. Some are using round molds but they are still injection. Another downside is if they were using Centrifical molds they could only do a single color no laminates, no firetails, and it would have to be pretty much a straight worm.