How to make artificial fishing bait for little to no $

Step 17 Other ideas

So there you are, now you can replicate your own fishing lures for very little money, using some common recycled materials. This is a very addictive and rewarding hobby. You can also mold your own designs and use other materials. This is not limited to lures; it could be used with many materials and molds. Wax may work as well. Next time you find all your lures are old and possibly torn up, before you go out and spend money on more at Wal-Mart, just look around your house and recycle some old ones to fish with!

Comments

[tlowe65]

try putting salt in the plastic mix. I used to mold my own stick baits and the salt changes the way the plastic floats and it also gives it flavor which will make the fish hold on a couple seconds longer before they spit it out.  table salt will work but bigger grains are better.

[clown96]

wow!! That is real cool i ahve been trying to find a way to make my own lures. Me and my father went to gander mnt. and spent like $70 only on lures.

[scubagal]

Wow. Way to go! What plastic were you referring to that can be colored with crayons? Also, and this is important.... Could you or ANYONE come up with a way to please help me figure out a way to take plastic bottles, mostly water bottles and either compress or melt them into small blocks or tubes that THE VERY POOR PEOPLE OF THE ISLAND I am moving to to help, could use to BUILD THINGS WITH? If you can, you will be helping thousands of hurting people. I will be moving there to do the same as the Honduran government could care less about their people. Thanks again.

[thumbs5]

Check out Mopti's ecological pavestones.

Go for it

[Viaticus]

There are some other instructables about melting plastic bottles...it's pretty toxic. Having firsthand experience with these materials, I'd urge you to find a better way to help the poor of Honduras. You're liable to risk their health and introduce a pollutant that doesn't already exist there. Good luck!

[profiteer]

I don't know about water bottles into blocks, but there's a cool instructable for making plastic wheels out of old plastic bags search "plastic smithing"

[unexplained_3]

The plastic I was coloring with crayons was a free sample from a medical plastics company. About the bottles, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it requires both heat and a high pressure for pop bottles to be formed.

[sharlston]

i should know my dad works for coca cola they start like thick little plastic tubes and they blow hot air and preesure into them and have a mold round it to expand it my dad went to work and made a plastic bottle but didnt use the mold and the plastic bottle was 4 metre long

[tlivin]

Great instructable. Have you painted any of the lures.

[unexplained_3]

No I put crayons in the plastic.

[OrionBlade]

another way to dye the plastic is with food dye. make sure it's not water based, but candy coloring, etc. - just look at the ingredients and check that the solvent is an oil or alcohol. I've used candy dyes in the past and they worked wonderfully for clear polyester resin and epoxy as well - the water based dyes will simply bead up and not integrate into the matrix so to speak. They took the red pill I guess ;-)

[unexplained_3]

cool, that idea crossed my mind, but I didn't know there was an oil based food dye. I have been using crayons in melted clear plastic, but the waxes and extra oils make the plastic softer and a little oily. Thanks a lot for the tip!!

[OrionBlade]

http://www.candylandcrafts.com/candycolor.htm

I'm pretty sure that's the stuff I used. Once in a while it came out a little cloudy with the amber colored polystyrene resin, but the red and blue were particularly gem-colored. Really nice, and doesn't bubble or cause the plastic to not harden.

Good luck! ;-)

[vangelion]

Just a little clarification: hardeners are used with epoxy resin and catalyst is used with polyester resin (the matrix of Bondo). The primary difference is that catalyst (usually MEKP, really nasty stuff) is just a promoter and only speeds up the process (a lot). Even without the catalyst, the polyester resin will eventually cure (maybe in a couple years depending on temperature). The same is not true with epoxy resins.

[unexplained_3]

huh, thats cool, i didn't know that. I really do learn something new every day. Thanks for clearing that up.

[lukethedog]

Hello, Quite possibly one of the best instructables I have read to date on this site. You came up with a real nice innovation using bondo and a plastic tray to create a mold. Nice job on the injector too. Broken pieces can be used to make a cast for a repair piece. You could make anything out of plastic once you create a mold. I had almost given up on this site as most of the instrucables and the comments have become just plain stupid and useless. But, you have given me hope !! Good work, great instructable !!!

[THERRMOS]

Cool information. Gonna have to give it a try.

[unexplained_3]

Thanks!