Waht did you cast today?

sometimes i think the eyes matter as much as the color of the bait you use.
other times meh, but i think it depends on the head basically matching the bait color when the eyes don't matter.
 
We jig for walleyes in the Lower Detroit River and Western Basin of Lake Erie. Raw unpainted lead jigs tipped with twister tail, plastic bait, or live minnow does the trick. The paint and eyes are more to catch the fisherman than the fish. A particularly deadly jig set up is the "Wonderful Wyandotte Worm". Just a leadhead jig of 3/8-3/4oz. tipped with a medium brown 3-4" rubber worm. (add a stinger hook if they are hitting light)

We have fished commercial painted and eyed jigs vs. the home made raw lead and see no advantage whatsoever to painting or eyeing them. Presentation is the key. We need the weight to keep tight lines in the current. The alternative to jigging is handlining or trolling with planer board in the big lake.
 
Rick H said:
We jig for walleyes in the Lower Detroit River and Western Basin of Lake Erie. Raw unpainted lead jigs tipped with twister tail, plastic bait, or live minnow does the trick. The paint and eyes are more to catch the fisherman than the fish. A particularly deadly jig set up is the "Wonderful Wyandotte Worm". Just a leadhead jig of 3/8-3/4oz. tipped with a medium brown 3-4" rubber worm. (add a stinger hook if they are hitting light)

We have fished commercial painted and eyed jigs vs. the home made raw lead and see no advantage whatsoever to painting or eyeing them. Presentation is the key. We need the weight to keep tight lines in the current. The alternative to jigging is handlining or trolling with planer board in the big lake.
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I do hand lining on the Mississippi in April, water conditions permitting. It can be incredibly effective. Not many people do it.
I don't sell jigs so I am not trying to catch fishermen. My rationale is their prey species have eyes, often large in comparison to the size of their bodies. Then there are the false eye spots often on or near the tails of fish to misdirect the attack of a predator. So.......
Perhaps eyes on lures do not help, I doubt that they hurt anything.
I have much the same problem with lure color. Does color make much difference? Try to conduct an experiment by using different colors among fishing partners in a boat. By the time one angler has caught two fish on one color compared to zero for his partner(s), everyone is tying on the same color. Yet there are so many variables. Speed of retrieve, cadence, lure weight, sensitivity of rod and line.
Then there is angler ability. Is it experience, is it concentration, the subtle ability to notice nuance?
 
about 500 H+G 39 RN no pictures cause do not know how to post and mold is a little pitty so the Bullets have a frost look
 
~350 .433 MP 180gr HP BLL
~450 .359 MP 115gr TC BLL
Gas checked 40 Lee .431 200gr RF but having issues with the PB gas checks.
 
I threw more back today than I kept. I was trying to cast some 9mm 147gr TC from a Lee 2 cavity mold. One of the molds I gave up on because the sprue plate was coming loose. Now that I've added a set screw my problems are over! Not....

Kept getting wrinkles on middle of the nose. Or voids in the base. Or poorly filled out bands. I had cleaned it with a toothbrush and dawn. Then Carb cleaner. Did it again, same result. Same way I've cleaned my other molds.

Started at 700 and ran all the way up to 750+. It was slightly better hot. But the Pro Lee-Ksalot was really giving me fits. I noticed, no matter how hot I got they never frosted. I think maybe I was fiddling with the leaking pot so much I just wasn't casting fast enough. I've got maybe 100 sort of usable bullets. They'll look fine after powder coating.:)

I pulled the valve stem out of the pot and cleaned everything out. Then I chucked the valve stem up in the drill and lapped into the nozzle. Then I Lee Mented the mold. Then I cleaned it again. Got to do something since I have no clue what the problem is.

Oh, same batch of alloy I cast the 5,000 .38's with.
 
Mould too cold, not the alloy. I can frost a wheelweight bullet so it looks sandblasted with the alloy at 650 degrees.

I cast .350 round balls last night, tried them in the SMR and seems loose even with .020" patches. Cast .360" round balls tonight after tuning up the used mould, bore is .361", had to lap my brass short starter so it fit the balls better and didn't smush them so badly. Sucka's get imprinted the patch weave now! Too tight though, methinks. Went down to .018" and then .012" twill weave cotton ticking and I think the .012" will be enough. Next outing will be with both the .018" and .012" patches cut at the muzzle and the .360" balls. I've been searching for a .355" mould but getting a custom bag mould cut is about the only option I'm finding and I don't want to fool with a bag mould if I can help it. If it comes to that I'll just make a mould with a 9mm ball nose end mill.
 
Planned doing a bit of casting on Mon/Tues, high for both days were in the mid 20's. Being my casting takes place out in the garage next to the open door, opted to give it pass. Although, I do have some molds for ice cubes, would that count?
 
Ian said:
I wanted to post a photo of the short-started and pulled balls last night but was too tired. They're pear shaped with waffle print engraves.
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Have you ever been able to catch a fired ball? I've always wondered if they looked like round nose wadcutters in gelatin.
 
On Sunday I cast about 350 Lyman 452460 for a couple 1911's. They are pc-ed, need to get them sized. OD green seems right for the 1911? hc18flyer
 
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