Casting fishing accessories.

[BrutalAB]

Last year i got into snagging and bought a few bank sinker molds made by do-it. Found them easy enough to cast with, though there were adjustments.

But, it started an itch and last week while i was in the baitshop i noticed how cheap they were able to sell their store cast roadrunners and others. Bouhht a ponyhead (road runner style) mold and a regular minnow head mold.

Went to pay for it and the cashier asked me if i had ever casted jigs told her my experience with boolits and bank sinkers and said "it cant be that diiferent right?"

She corrected me.

And amongst the wealth of information she told me was this game changing bit:

The indentions on the sides of the molds are for bringing the mold up to temp.
Fill them up a few times and let it sit.
Suddenly a light went off in my head.
My buckshot mold is similar in style and i hate casting it takes forever to get it up to temp by throwing.

Got to try out the technique yesterday and got well over 10x the shot i was able to cast in a session from before when i would get frustrated and tired of all the rejects.

Also got to run the jig molds. Cant say im an expert at them yet: took me 4 hours to cast about 150, but that did involve switching from my lee 420 to my propane set up due to the wind blowing so hard it was cooling everything making things overly difficult. At least thats my theory.



The experience has left me with many questions though:

Why does everything fishing related advise that one should use "pure lead or as close as possible) because "it makes the casting process easier" or something along those lines.
This runs counter to everything i know and have experienced. Adding a bit of tin makes it much easier to get good fillout. Adding a bit of antimony will make it so that well timed smacks will knock off the sprue before i even drop from the mold.


Why does virtually all fishing molds use the nut cracker style hinge?
My guess is to allow clearance to place hooks and whatnot. But dang those handles get hot fast.

And by far the most annoying: why is there no sprue cutter?
Expletives deleted! So much wasted alloy that has to get hand touching cold before it can be added back to the pot! So much extra work post casting using side cutters to seperate!
At this point i think i would be faster with a 1 cavity mold with a sprue cutter than my 5 and 7 cavity molds.





Tldr: casting jigs taught me things to bring over to boolit casting and made me appreciate our molds more.

[Drm50]

I made and sold fishing tackle for 30+ years. I folded in 1992 but still have all my stuff except for commercial jig tying machine. The top quality molds are Do-It brand. They have replaceable wood handles. They recommend you use pure lead so detail on molds will fill out, like barbs on small jigs.
On really small stuff when metal hits the hook it can ruin the pour. Tin can be added to help flow and fill out details. I’ve poured Buzz baits out of pure tin because they transmit sound better than lead. You learn early to stay away from the family type molds. By profession grade, black handle.
They are harder for beginners to pour because they don’t realize it’s not just a melt “lead” mold.
It’s the difference of a precision bullet mold and a plier type mold from 1800s.Attachment 281151

[Burnt Fingers]

Nutcracker hinge is all about the money. Much less expensive to make and you need to have room to get the hooks and such placed.

Sprue plate again, all about the money. Fishing molds for the most part are sand cast. To have a sprue plate you would need to machine the top of the mold.

I've cast a couple thousand pounds of jig heads and lures. If your handles are getting hot then your pour might be too hot. That or get a second mold.

I've never wanted a sprue plate on a lure mold. Do-It molds are under $40 for the most part. Your suggestions would at least double that price. Since I've got more Do-it molds than bullet molds....and I have a LOT of bullet molds I have a vested interest in keeping the costs down.

Most everything I've cast for fishing has been with pure lead. Only on a couple I have needed to add a bit of tin. No one really cares if a lure isn't quite perfect. The only time I've added tin has been when it's needed to get the lure/jig to pour properly.

The 1/16th ounce BAT jig is one of the hardest things I've ever had to work with. Pretty small with two inserts and both of them in the neck of the jig. Getting those collars to fill out was crazy hard, even with added tin.

I use these https://barlowstackle.com/Gate-Cutter-575-P2681/ to cut the sprues off. I grab the sprue and use a twisting motion to get a nice clean cut. Pure lead is really easy to work with in that manner.

[popper]

Or you can get the 5$ wire cutter. Same thing but cheaper. Haven't been to Barlows since I got tying thread.

[quilbilly]

For my fishing tackle business I have been casting jigs and occasionally sinkers for over 40 years. Maybe my answers will help.
Pure lead always works but ALMOST any lead will also work. There have been batches of scrap that I have found wouldn't cast worth a darn on anything that had any details to fill in the mold. I have had the most trouble with wheel weight lead which has varied to the extreme in pour ability. Adding tin always helps if you are pouring jigs with eye details and scale patterns.
You are right about the hinges. There are many styles and thicknesses of hook wire and those hinges can help you adjust to the hook you choose. Yes the handles do get hot so if you do a lot of pouring, you will either make a longer wood handle or add insulation (i.e. duct tape)
Sprue cutters are expensive. In most of my molds, the jig sprews twist right off or require a wire cutter. Live with it. What can I say!
I started casting fishing lures 20 years before casting boolits so I already knew what the best lead looked and felt like. It made making boolits and making my own alloy easy.
Welcome to the "hook and boolit club".

[Mk42gunner]

I never cast any of the small jigs or sinkers, but I have cast a truck load of 6-12 oz bank sinkers mainly for snagging spoonbill.

Removing the sprue is easy. If it is still hot, you can grab it with either pliers or a gloved hand and twist it off. If it has totally cooled, you may need to resort to some sort of nipper.

I used what ever questionable lead I had that wouldn't cast decent boolits. I didn't care what the sinkers looked like; they were destined to get lost in the river anyway. Although when I went to using 130 lb line, the losses cut way down.

Still kind of hurts to loose that much lead at one time though.

I haven't went for a few years, my snagging buddy moved away and I'd rather eat crappie or bluegill than spoonbill.

Robert

[Winger Ed.]

I got a few do-it molds in the 90s when a store was closing.
They work fine for me.

I figure they recommend pure Lead since the listed weight will be right, and pure Lead
will be less sensitive to the correct heat between when it works OK, but you don't get the 'finning' like you can with a too hot alloy.

[LEADHOPPER]

I just warm my fishing molds up on a hot plate just like my bullet molds. By the time the lead is up to temp the mold is ready to go. Depending on what I'm pouring I'll usually use a pair of needle nose pliers to add the hooks and what not to the molds.

[BrutalAB]

Thanks all for the help. I kind of had a feeling it was about cost.
I think im gonna make some extended handles for mine to deal with the heat.

My bank sinkers are 5 oz and yeah it sucks to loose 3 to 5 pounds of lead in one night. But dont want to think what it would cost if i was buying them. I prefer paddle over crappie for eating. But crappie fishing reminds me of spring breaks as a kid with brother, dad and grandfather. Might try some 8 oz or heavier now. Dangit this is gonna turn into a mold collection like my boolits.


Leadhopper, how do you place the hook when not using needle nose pliers?

[LEADHOPPER]

BrutalAB, if I'm doing bass jigs or umbrella rigs I just place them with my meat paws. Hooks and wire for those are big enough that I don't have to worry about touching the mold.

Can't get away with that when I'm casting pyramid sinkers and my trolling sinkers.

[CoolHandMoss]

Have you looked into making wood lures any? There is a guy on youtube, marking sits, that does videos about that. A lead pot helps add weight to a wood bodied bait easily. I've never done it but it looks really fun.

[Burnt Fingers]

I made and sold fishing tackle for 30+ years. I folded in 1992 but still have all my stuff except for commercial jig tying machine. The top quality molds are Do-It brand. They have replaceable wood handles. They recommend you use pure lead so detail on molds will fill out, like barbs on small jigs.
On really small stuff when metal hits the hook it can ruin the pour. Tin can be added to help flow and fill out details. I’ve poured Buzz baits out of pure tin because they transmit sound better than lead. You learn early to stay away from the family type molds. By profession grade, black handle.
They are harder for beginners to pour because they don’t realize it’s not just a melt “lead” mold.
It’s the difference of a precision bullet mold and a plier type mold from 1800s.Attachment 281151

All Do-It mold come with black handles now.

They quit color coding the handles around a decade ago.

[Fishman]

BrutalAB, if I'm doing bass jigs or umbrella rigs I just place them with my meat paws. Hooks and wire for those are big enough that I don't have to worry about touching the mold.

Can't get away with that when I'm casting pyramid sinkers and my trolling sinkers.

Where do you get your materials for making umbrella rigs and what mold do you use? I'd like to make my own as well, since the ready-made versions are sooo expensive.

[Winger Ed.]

Where do you get your materials for making umbrella rigs and what mold do you use? .

I get my fishing & lure making stuff from Jann's NetCraft.
They may not have everything, but there isn't much they don't stock and have always been great to deal with.

[Drm50]

I haven’t bought a new mold since 1992. The black handle pro series had smaller vents and spruces. I’ve bough several at sales, owners said they didn’t pour well. Using pure lead they would have been okay. Junk with a lot of zinc will hit hook and cool instantly, ruining the pour. If you think imperfect jigs and lures don’t mean much, you have never had much experience selling to the public. I’ve had guys complain on eyes on 1/100th oz jigs on #12 hooks. I use the seconds myself.
It don’t make any difference but tell that to the paying customer.
I’ve got a couple dozen counterfeit Do-It molds that were cast in sandbox out of scrap cast aluminum.

[Fishman]

I get my fishing & lure making stuff from Jann's NetCraft.
They may not have everything, but there isn't much they don't stock and have always been great to deal with.

They have quite a bit of relevant things. Thanks!