Custom Bottom Bouncers!

[jkwildhunting]

Today was like Christmas all over 

Placed an order thru a place in Kansas and got 4 new do it molds!!! Finally bit the bullet and got the tear drop mold with wire keeper. A lot of the guys in area want this jig. I then bought the live bait mold with eyelet and Erie 1/8oz and 1/4oz mold for my spinner jigs I make. My 4th mold was bottom bouncer mold. I been wanting to make my own custom bouncers for while now. Don't know why, but I just thought having taller bouncers would be deadly in some bites. Now I know I could use in line weights to get bait up off bottom which I also have that mold but feel like I do better with bouncers.

I found a guy on eBay to make me the wires all set up with notch half way to hold weight. From what I could tell he uses quality crane swivels/snaps and has closed eyelet where main line goes into. I ordered 42 wires early in week and got them yesterday molds showed up after work today so I poured all 42 bouncers quick tonight. Giving a few away to some close buddies to get me feedback and going to use them myself Sunday. He used .045 SS wire. They are 18" tall and I am thinking of trying 24" soon but want to test these lengths out first. The only issue I see right now is the wire is not "sturdy" enough kind of makes it flimsy with that much length and weight to it. I am the odd ball when I run bouncers as my bread and butter weight is 2oz I always run that as I am usually in around 20ft of water if I go deeper or it’s really windy I throw on 3oz. With this mold they have a 2.5oz one which I think will be an awesome in between choice as there are times the 3oz is to heavy but 2oz is to light!

Anyone else run any custom bouncers? Anxious to see results in these if they will be a hot ticket item or not. Friends in Canada said some of the tourneys up there have been won with guys using taller bouncers....so I figured I would try it out!

[Brent]

I would have to ask this, if you have a longer lead arm (the one with the weight) unless it is held perfectly or close to, vertical would you be gaining height, as the angle would just change? 
I couple ideas that come to mind is cut the one arm off and use as a heavy pencil weight attaching line with 3 way swivel, then the height is infinite .
If it is legal you leave the arm and run a double rig

The other idea is to increase the lure arm length but unless you use a small float or like a Wordens Spin-N-Glow I would think the arm would just rotate towards the bottom

I'm not sure if this is making sense?

[walleyetracker85]

Hey guys I have a question. I'm terrible at looking at a bottom bouncer and saying that's a 1 oz. Anybody had luck taking like a engraving tool and writing the size on them? Tia

[ctom]

"I'm terrible at looking at a bottom bouncer and saying that's a 1 oz"......

Jerry has that same problem with fish only he deals in pounds.

Try an engraving tool to cut the size on the inside of a cavitiy to see how it works. Might have to carve it backwards though.

[walleyetracker85]

Thanks for the help ctom, I will give that a try!

[TommySkarlis]

I run custom bouncers because I prefer longer ones than are commonly found on the market.  I also tend to err on the heavy side - especially if I am going to be bouncing at higher speeds.  I usually try to run a weight to keep the bouncer at least at a 45 degree angle - or less.

[Kasilofchrisn]

Hey guys I have a question. I'm terrible at looking at a bottom bouncer and saying that's a 1 oz. Anybody had luck taking like a engraving tool and writing the size on them? Tia

Just Dremel a line in your mold.
One line for one ounce,two lines for two ounce,three lines for three ounces etc.

[walleyetracker85]

Thanks for the reply kasilofchrisn. I will give that a try. I don't know what I'd do for 3/4 oz bouncers tho

[Kdog]

Mine has the size etched in the cavity, I did deepen the etching a bit to make the size more prominent.  My first mold was homemade and I used a ball nosed 3/32 punch to poke a dot in each side of the mold kinda like a raised eye, 1 dot on each side of the 1 oz, 2 dots on each side of the 2 oz, etc,, etc..

Lines are good, the dots are easy to see, easy to feel in low light and being on both sides of the head make it easy to find. Plus, if you are really creative you can color the dots for visibility.

I tried ink stamping but as the lead ages it gets darker and makes the ink blend in.

Alternately, you could powder coat each size a different color. I did this for a friend some time back 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1-1/2, 2 ouncers. He went with yellow, blue, green, red and purple for his biggest one.  I actually like his system.  Colors are much easier to see and makes selection a breeze.

Nothing fancy with the PC, heated the lead, actually uses a salt shaker to sprinkle the color on, rotated a few times to get color uniform the held it over the heat gun to get the gloss.  I told him it would be best to oven cure them but my oven is too small.

Another option to coloring would be sally hansens hard as nails nail polish. myriad of colors and you could do lots with one bottle. Not as durable as cured PC but pretty darn tough.

[Kasilofchrisn]

Good call on the powder paint.
I did some sinkers for a friend that way awhile back.
Get yourself a powder paint spray gun from Tj's tackle and paint each size a different color.
Watch his tutorial on painting bottom bouncers so you know how to do it. It's under how to tutorials.

http://tjstackle.com/

[walleyetracker85]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I will be ordering a new air sprayer today. I watched the video from tj's and have a couple questions. What size air compressor do I need? How much hotter do you have to heat bottom bouncers? Do you cure them hotter than like a jig also? Thanks for the help guys

[Kasilofchrisn]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I will be ordering a new air sprayer today. I watched the video from tj's and have a couple questions. What size air compressor do I need? How much hotter do you have to heat bottom bouncers? Do you cure them hotter than like a jig also? Thanks for the help guys

Any size compressor will work. It should have a moisture trap though.
I normally run mine at less than 1( one) psi. I have even heard some aquarium pumps put out enough air to run one.
Heat should be the same as for a jig. Anywhere in the 350*f range.

[Kdog]

Personally, I would probably heat them and dust with powder... Look at T'js video on plating spoons.

[walleyetracker85]

Thanks for the replies guys! I already ordered the air brush, so I might as well do it that way now

[ctom]

I love the sound of both feet making that resounding plop when somebody goes all in. lol

I've looked at those air brushes for powder and have come oh-so-close to ordering, then I remember what I look like after working with a litter glitter and hi lite powder in the plastic. lol