RiverMan

Beautiful..........that's how it's supposed to be done.

Great job! The cranks are really good!

I think Sinbad provided you with some good advice. I built my own web site but it took me probably a week of tweaking to figure out the software and to be perfectly honest I still know very little about the business of HTML. I use microsoft frontpage to build my page but I think this software is pretty outdated now..........is that right Sinbad? One thing I really like about having control of my own site though is that I can change it at any time. Jed V.

Joe, Getting back to your question, you can build a topwater lure out of a variety of woods but I prefer one that is quite light. If you choose something too heavy it becomes difficult to weight it properly and add clear coat without the lure sitting too low in the water column. I build my topwater which I call "Dr. Deth" out of either basswood or western red cedar. My bait is somewhat similar in shape to the LP. After telling you this though, there are some very good topwater lures that use no weight at all and are made from hard woods with very little clear coat. Beware though that not all lure shapes will walk properly without adding weight. Round lures like spooks, jackpot, weagle, etc., will generally walk without additional weight while shapes like my bait won't walk at all without proper weighting. You just have to experiment for yourself and see what happens. Hope I didn't confuse you. Topwater lures although very cool can be a bit tricky so be patient. Good luck. Jed V.

Just move the hook forward and see what happens. If it rolls too much, add a couple of additional weights to the bottom with a smaller bit making sure you keep the lead low. If it sinks a bit faster that's fine. Jed

Snow here, cold miserable. The steelhead fishing sure was good today though, wow! Nice looking cranks Mavrick.

Woodie=George........sorry. RM

Yes, Rustoleum Lacquer, comes in a rattle can, you can buy it at any hardware store in the paint section. Put on about three coats allowing 15 minutes or so between coats. Have fun. RM

Yep, what George said.

yep, what george said.....

No question........gravity feed.

You can paint anywhere with createx.........for a long time I painted with no mask at all and never noticed a bit of effects from it.......twitch, twitch, step drag, step drag. Honestly, the only thing I wear now is a cotton mask because I would agree there could be some long term damage from the stuff even though they say it's "non-toxic". I would paint where you are the most comfortable. Worry more about clear coat, it's the dangerous stuff!! RM

That is cool, I'm surprised they still feel it's necessary to test every single lure. Sure wish I had a testing tank in my shop!! RM

I just spent the last 45 minutes reading everyone's post, really cool! It's great to see such a good cross-section of folks from around the world! Wow! Well, I am 45, live in eastern Oregon, and make my living as a fisheries habitat biologist. I have spent my entire life fishing for salmon, steelhead, and various other species. Like many others, I started tying flies but also dabbled with building floats for a period of time. I think I have been on TU about as long as anyone here and to this day I still enjoy it! I also enjoy helping people here but will be the first to admit that much of what I have learned over the years was shared with me by others with more experience. I will also admit that there is much more for me to learn and I am always looking for something "new". I still can't consistently cut a square slot for a crank bait bill to save my life, lol. About four years ago I started Bikini Bait Company (still have the day job) and began selling custom made musky gliders. The business has been very successful and despite building hundreds of lures each year I still very much enjoy it. Thank you to all of those that have helped me over the years. kind regards, Jed V.

They will all work for you striper but each will behave a bit differently. I would suggest you build one from a light wood and one from a heavy and see which you like the action from the best. RM

Looks great.......be sure to get a good clear coat on it, the weather will eat it up! RM

If the clear coat is applied properly there is no reason why the paint should be coming off. RM

I do the same as jim. You can buy some tiny brushes in the dental section of any store in the same place you buy dental floss and they work to clean some parts of the brush. I rinse with hot water between every color and run hot water through it before I quit. I also carefully remove the needle and clean between colors as needed and after each use. The tiny nozzle tip I clean again with water and one of those tiny brushes I mentioned above. I don't use any kind of cleaner on it other than water and have painted hundreds of lures with this brush. The key is to never let it get dirty. I do all this over the kitchen sink so be careful you don't drop the tiny nozzle or any other parts down the drain! I put a towel over the drain to prevent this from happening. This is important, learn what your airbrush sounds like. When it's working correctly it will be a shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sound....when it has some kind of clog it will sound like shkkkkkkkkkkkk.....it's just slightly different but it sounds "scratchy"........if this happens, pour out the paint, run hot water through it and listen to the brush. Look down into the paint hopper. Is there paint stuck on the needle? Does it sound ok? If not, pull the needle out, clean it off, put it back, try again. If it still sounds wrong, the problem is in the tiny nozzle. Be very careful re-inserting the needle, dont' force it!! If it won't go, wiggle the trigger gently and keep pushing. Go easy. If you bend that tiny tip on the needle you will be buying another one. RM

There's only one........Iwata Eclipse HP-CS RM

Same problem here, it's not good at covering things. Use a white primer first and then only use the white as needed. RM

Make sure the surface is REALLY CLEAN before applying with primer then paint. Allow the paint to dry in a warm room for 24-48 hours. Some will probably tell you this is excessive but in my opinion it's the only way you can be sure the paint has fully cured. Now apply the devcon and you should be fine. Actually if you are repainting rattle traps I wouldn't use Devcon, it's too thick. Just use spray on lacquer by Rustoleum...3 coats. RM

That's what I was thinking too.....when you look at the amount of wood laying around the router after just one lure it seems like that would be a wholelottasanding with a set-up like this. Seems like it would be a great set-up for those doing balsa baits though. I would still like to experiment with one to see how it goes. RM

Hey lunge, buy one and tell me if it works on musky lures would ya? lol. RM