Anyone pouring their own soft plastics?

[senkosam]

Very impressive ! Like the name frankenbait. Kind of a moniker for my inspired creations.
I also have 4 of the molds that produced your pearl lures.

I used to think that ordering soft plastic making supplies was not economical so why bother, but then it occurred to me after a while the advantages and the economy:
1. infinite choice of colors and color combinations
2. more components for frankenbaits (as in the example using a Mann worm tail and a molded grub body)
3. s/h for a few bags of lures is very expensive depending how often I get the urge to buy some. Now I can make a few or many, try new designs and repour those that caught fish.
4. I can copy some lures in plaster, though I recently discovered a super fine mold making substance
5. Never having to worry about a source running out, *a lure being discontinued, color not in stock, delays in shipping, etc. makes it worthwhile
examples:
*Uncle Josh pork frog in #1 and #11 sizes:

this trailer:

(at at least my claws don't rip like the original when I mix salt water plastic with regular firm)
another trailer:

6. most important is discovering lure designs never seen before that catch fish better than most lures made I've used.
examples of originals:

(one of the best!)

Mr Twister curl tail cut off the grub and reattached:

a claw from a craw bait added to a grub body:

they WORK!
joining grub bodies after the curl tails removed and then wacky or regular rigging them:

Clear plastic:

(note the sparkle on the clear stick. I use a soft plastic glue on a surface of the soft plastic lure and roll it in glitter.)

Equally important than the above reasons is finding unique lure actions that catch fish of ALL species. At first you think, no way, until it works and then you see why when watching the lure's unique subtle action profile in the water.

opinion: believing a lure matches a forage is simply adding a name via an imagined correlation to an animal - an unnecessary step IMO. I'd rather keep is simple by design,
IE. cone tail, claw tail, tapered tips mini stick, spike tail and my
spoon minnow (original was discovered stirring hot plastic with a spoon, leaving a thin film for a tail and dipping the body in the plastic 4x after using a razor to shape it; shiny floor tile now used); the super thin tail quivers when the lure is stationary.

 

[onthewater102]

I'm trying to find a plastic formula that's more durable. The chatter trailers are fantastic for generating hits, but the plastic I have is lousy at surviving them. I know I need to add a hardener to it, and the sections are actually quite hefty (not like the swimbait boot tails) so I think once I figure out how to toughen it up I should be set.

That's sort of why I got into it in the first place. Fishing in the winter with Keitechs you end up with a bag full of tailless plastics courtesy of the yellow perch, having the ability to melt them down and reform 6 useless bodies into 3 or 4 useful baits rather than pay $1 +/- ea per bait in a new package just made sense. I'll never recover my cost on molds at this point, but as you said, I don't have to worry about running low on a favorite color or size and not being able to source them without paying 3x the cost of the baits in shipping or spending hundreds at a time buying in bulk.

No matter how bad an attempt at creating a color pattern ends up enough black dye and blue flake turns any disaster into something useful.

 

[senkosam]

https://www.pouryourownworms.com/M-F-Original-Floating-Plastic-in-order-soft-to-hard_c93.htm

This page shows various plastic firmness choices. Salt water plastic may be too firm which is why I add it to regular grade or maybe not.
M-F Inc. plastic mixes easy and has the least odor of any brand I've used after being heated to 280 degrees. Hotter not necessary.

M-F Salt Water Plastic is a formulation for a stronger, tougher and more durable material. Excellent for shrimp tails, salt water worms and all salt water soft plastic lures.