Custom Baits - Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: ctom on 06/14/13 13:51 UTC
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I fish bass only occasionally but here in town I have a spot that is full of them and I like to sling frogs to them. One of my favorite color patterns is red/black. I finally got my hands on the 3" croaker mold so I can whip up my own bass poison and when I opened the mail last night and found the mold there I just had to play.
(http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss184/crappietomtackle/73c0672d-a426-4d09-8fe3-5094687a23b5_zps1c6d0d4e.jpg) (http://s574.photobucket.com/user/crappietomtackle/media/73c0672d-a426-4d09-8fe3-5094687a23b5_zps1c6d0d4e.jpg.html)
The black is obvious. The red is actually a re-melt in tomato with red glitter and red hi lites.
Me thinks I need to take a stroll around my pet pond.
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Very nice now I want that mold.
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Here are a couple others using left-overs.
(http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss184/crappietomtackle/002ff501-1ccb-498c-8853-610466350477_zpsf46f260e.jpg) (http://s574.photobucket.com/user/crappietomtackle/media/002ff501-1ccb-498c-8853-610466350477_zpsf46f260e.jpg.html)
The one on the right has a green back with a yellowish chartreuse underside while the one on the left is black with a green chartreuse underside.
I had ideas of slipping over to the pond to flip these today but Ma got back home and changed my plans.
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Nice looking baits, Tom, you might have to think about adding them to your crappie store! Don't walleye feed up on frogs in the fall?
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My bro in law got a walleye on a frog last spring. We were both pretty surprised.
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I rember In-Fisherman saying that in the late fall there is a migration of the frogs back to the lake bottom for the winter. The walleye feed up big on them at this time.
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Those eyes really set these frogs apart.
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I didn't see this post please go to color book part
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I made a thin plate to use to split the colors and so far it works real well. My daughter was over for dinner tonight and I handed her a couple of the green'chartreuse ones and she thought they looked and felt real. I have to work on some black spots now.
The mold takes some getting used to. This is the largest bait I make and it was a real eye opener as far as having to wait to remove the bait from the mold.
I've heard people talking about catching eyes on frogs but I haven't had the pleasure yet. I have taken early winter eyes using a Culprit creature bait that resembles a centipede that's about 6 inches long fish simply as a dead stick....dropped down on a jig to within a foot of bottom and the rod set down so the bait just flutters along as the boat drifts or is slowly trolled. Now ya'll have me thinking.
I have to go and try some spots now. Ma's going to hate this mold I can tell.
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ctom great looking baits. I don't have a frog but plan on getting some soon. mike
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Here we go....
(http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss184/crappietomtackle/4c5fb1cf-d415-4937-806c-f23e24a6d4ca_zpse36df17d.jpg) (http://s574.photobucket.com/user/crappietomtackle/media/4c5fb1cf-d415-4937-806c-f23e24a6d4ca_zpse36df17d.jpg.html)
This is the same green back as previous frogs but the belly section is a white pearl with just a small chunk of yellow chartreuse added in to pull the color to a cream-colored pearl. The spots are obvious. They were put in the mold using a skewer stick, pointed end, that has been dulled to create a slightly larger surface to pick up slightly more of the black.
Adding the spots is a quick process, meaning that you have to work super fast. The plastic will cool in a snap on the stick since there isn't enough volumn to keep things up to working temp. After I had the spots in the top half of the mold I slipped in the plate and shot the green and trimmed out the top portion, then shot the cream.
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Great lookin baits Tom. Especially that last one.---Tim.
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Some of you guys have so much more on the ball than me that I feel humbled in your presence. That frog of Toms is a case in point. I also like my frogs with markings on them, but I simply paint them on using a dowel, or brush or whatever. It never, ever would have crossed my mind to make them out of hot plastic and installing them in the mold before pouring the frog itself. If our frogs were placed side by side, Tom's frog would look like a frog. Mine would look like a frog that was used as a drop cloth. Big difference. I envy you guys that can think outside the box. I have trouble doing that.
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I fish my frogs almost exclusively top-water. Bass don't see the top of the frog. Most of the ones I make are solid color, anything besides green or brown is for my enjoyment or just to play around with new colors etc. Unless you're fishing them below the water surface, pretty frogs are for catching fishermen, not fish. ;) Having said that- Tom, these look GREAT! ;D
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Nice work Mr. Tom, I think you're starting to get the hang of it now. ;)
Color Ninja, Frog Meister Tom
That's what...
Jerry
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lol....ninja. What a guy.
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I did up a few more of the frogs this morning and the clear dip is a firm plastic....saltwater firm actually. My thinking is that the harder plastic will help keep the hook in place longer without tearing. I might try some reverse dips tomorrow....after I get back from fishing. :D
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I fish my frogs almost exclusively top-water. Bass don't see the top of the frog. Most of the ones I make are solid color, anything besides green or brown is for my enjoyment or just to play around with new colors etc. Unless you're fishing them below the water surface, pretty frogs are for catching fishermen, not fish. ;) Having said that- Tom, these look GREAT! ;D
That is oh so true. But those are cool looking frogs. And I'll admit I'm going to try to make some now with the spots. Not because I think it will catch more fish but it will look really cool.
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Those are some awesome lookin' frogs. I like the black/red. I wouldn't think of that one, but will have to try it out now. Thanks.
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Those are some awesome lookin' frogs. I like the black/red. I wouldn't think of that one, but will have to try it out now. Thanks.
When I am tossing frogs for bass I generally find a northern or two, or four, hanging around. The pike seem to relish red/black or orange/black. Quite often these big fish will take a swing and miss on a plain frog color. I'll immediately haul in the bait just missed and fling out a red/black frog with a double hook in it to the same spot and slow it down a hair....works as well as poison on those tooth-ridden creatures. Gotta be something about the red or orange. The regular frog colors get bit plenty, but when the pike swing and miss I think they are only trying to say "stay out of my space". Drop one of the red ones in the same space and I think they just flat out get MAD about it. A friend and I were doing some big-river backwaters for bass one fine day and pike were becoming quite common. My buddy had his red/black rigged rod laying against the top of the gunnel with his frog hanging about ten inches off the rod tip. He had a pike follow a regular frog right to the boat. When my buddy went to make his next cast, that pike came out of the water and hit the red frog dragging the whole $300.00 nine yards into the drink and to parts unknown. This is why I made the red/black.
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I would have to agree with you ctom. Your thoughts are right on and makes a ton of sense to me. I don't have a lot of northern spots around me, but there are a few with them in the drinks. I hope to get out in the factory tonight and if I do, I will try your color pattern. I am hoping to get out fishing on Sunday or Monday of this coming week. WOW! That is nuts. That would have made for you heck of a video! Very cool, not the rod/reel going missing. Thanks again!
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I also agree on the red/black and red/white combo for Northern Pike. Most of my flies for Pike fly fishing are in those two color combos.
And I learned NEVER to leave a big fly handing over the side of the boat while fishing another rod. I didn't loose the rod...it just got snapped in half when the Pike that was chasing my fly jumped out of the water and nailed the one hanging over the side of the boat.
Red/white is also a great color combo for largemouth.
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andrew-that is nuts. Y'all and these pike issues are making me want to go after some pike or musky. I haven't fished in over a week and have a real bad itch...lol. I was on a cruise last week and didn't get the chance to fish. I thought about a charter on one of the islands, but they wanted $400-$600 for 4 hours. I couldn't pull the trigger on that. Red/White is an excellent combo for a lot of species. I like that one for crappie the most.
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I was on a cruise last week and didn't get the chance to fish.
I'd have packed a hand line and a couple minnow baits. The flying fish that chase those cruise ships would be a riot on a hand line.
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lol...ctom! :P I did think about packing my Plano tube with rods, but didn't want to piss the wife off on our first vacation together in 5 years. The only real access to the water was either on the aft 5 decks above the water where the 3 props were or on deck 16. I didn't think I could get a fish up that high and didn't want to make the captain angry. We are thinking about going on one next year in March, I might just have to sneak a collapsable rod/reel in the suitcase...