Pouring plastics

[Pooch]

I have a lot of "store bought" plastics and love fishing them. I also pour a lot of my own plastics and they catch a lot of fish.

That said, my complaint against pouring my own is that my home poured are not as elastic as some store bought plastics. They will tear more easily and I get a lot more bite tear offs of the back half of my home poured worms.

The base material I'm using is:
MF Super soft plastic
LureCraft Super soft plastic

Both really pour nice and make great looking baits, but they are fragile.

Are there any other options available that are very soft, but still stretch like a rubber band?

I have one particular brand of soft store bought minnow imitators that are tough as nails and can be stretched three or four times their original length without breaking. Fish hit them and hang on then come back and hit them again. You can feel a short strike and the bait stretch then the fish lets go then come back and nail the bait hard the second time. It's a hoot to fish them and picture in your mind what is happening "down there"!

Thanks in advance.

Pooch

[Bill Krejca]

Yeah, I am familiar with the plastic which you describe. I am not aware of folks home pouring it, but could be. I'm guessing that it requires more sophisticated equipment than for regular pours. I believe manufacturers selling lures made from it share that the stuff is 3-4 times the cost of the regular plastic. I imagine you are aware of the "toughener" which can be added to the regular plastic to make it more sturdy, the trade-off being that action/softness is compromised to a degree. It might be fun to buy some of the super stretch lures and melting them down just to see what happens when pouring them. I'd suggest, tho, to first research to ascertain that the fumes are not toxic, nor flammable/explosive!!!!!! Let us know, if you do. My understanding is that the stretch stuff cannot be stored with regular plastic bait, as deterioration of the baits will occur.

Bill

[Canga~]

a little late to the part here, but don't try to melt down the zman stuff, its NOT plastisol, some other type of proprietary compound that only they use (they pour the elazatech baits for a couple other companies.

I haven't tried it myself but MF manufacturing makes one called easy stretch, that can be used in the microwave like any other plastisol, but you might want to try a medium plastic instead of super soft, the softer the plastic the less durability there will be, no matter the brand. I use bait plastics 212 myself and its some great stuff, and much cheaper than MF or lurecraft (both are GREAT plastics too)