RiverMan

FT, Yes, you can make your topwater out of any shape you want. I just sent you to 101 so that you see how the lures are weighted. You will find that if you use a very heavy wood hardly any weight is needed at all to get a topwater at the right level in the water. Weagles have no weight at all. With lighter woods you have two options for weighting them. 1. weight them just like you do a glider only with less weight 2. a whole bunch of weight toward to back of the bait (an inch or two forward of the very back) so that it sits at a 45 degree angle in the water like a spook (zara spook). I have found several lures shapes by looking at pictures of salt-water fish, you might try this too. My Turmoil glider came from a pic of saltwater fish. _____________________________________________________________ Andrew, Actually the bait on my video I would consider more of a "darting" bait than a big glider, glad you like the action. If you want a bait to glide, make your lures round instead of flat. Also make them a little on the heavy side, the extra weight helps carry them forward. My 16" gliders will glide.....like 3-5 feet in each direction, it's beautiful to watch a chunk of wood do this, magical even. If you think about baits that really glide like the Manta....note the shape, mostly round. Once a bait gets 8" or larger it becomes quite lethargic and just kind of "lumbers" along...in my opinion. If you keep a bait in the 7" and shorter range you can make them dart, hesitate, dart, swim, stop, lookout!!! jed v.

I apologize Westy if we are "hijacking" your thread...maybe the info discussed here will prove helpful to you too. jed v.

http://www.lurebuilding.nl/indexeng.html Jed V.

Jerry and I talked about this exact process a couple years back and I have always thought TU should feature baits for sale. It seems to me that the site supporting the store fronts would be paid in some form rather than rely upon "donations". Just like any other store front whether it be a newspaper, the radio, or ebay, you pay those that are listing your items. This could be a monthly/yearly fee to have a certain storefront size and/or a percentage of all sales fee that would go to TU. I would think Jerry would have to charge some kind of baseline fee for having a storefront and then decide if a percentage of sales is appropriate. Keep in mind too that you may see merchants interested in having a store front in this forum that have no interest whatsoever in lure building. Some kind of "boundaries" will need to be set up prior to this process....for example can I sell camping gear, my guide service, car parts? Jed V.

Westy, I should have mentioned that there isn't any reason why the basswood shouldn't work. I only mentioned the hardwoods because they are another option for you. I build some of my baits out of very hard wood and some out of very soft wood depending on the action that I am looking for. Generally light woods will provide you with more action but sometimes less action is what you want. I know it's a hassle but it doesn't hurt to buy a few different woods and experiment some, it's fun. In the long run it will make you a much better builder too. If you are still having trouble post a pic of the lure and I will try to provide more help. Jed V.

I was just looking at a site that I visit often that's centered around salmon and steelhead fishing here in my home state of Oregon. The video clip was posted by a guide and I thought you guys would like to see it. The clip is rated "G" and safe for everyone! Lots of guys out here run jet pumps which allow them to run in very shallow water which is the case in this clip. Here is the link, enjoy! http://snappy.fish.washington.edu/movies/grant.wmv jed v.

Several things might cause this: 1. Lure shape-you don't want anything too tall from back to belly and the back of the bait must taper. 2. Lure thickness- 3. Lure length....a six inch lure is actually quite small and gentle taps are probably all that is necessary to get this lure to react properly. 4. How its weighted...this is the tricky part and took me 2 years to figure out. 5. If you switched to a hardwood like hard maple, honduras mahogany, or eastern cedar, you will see the action change considerably. With a hard wood the weight is much more evenly dispersed whereas with a wood like Basswood it is concentrated where the lead is at. Enjoy the experimentation, it's the best part! I love seeing if I can get a lure to swim!! Jed V.

Hey that is a great looking lure. I like how you continued the scale pattern off the foil and on to the back, great job! jed v.

Merry Christmas to all the guys on TU, my favorite place to visit on the internet!! :-D :grin: :oops: Jed V.

On smaller baits like this I have found that three coats of Rustoleum Shellac are more than adequate for protecting the paint. More important is that many of these smaller lures will not run correctly if coated with something thick like Devcon..............what do I know, I build musky lures. jed v.

Do not thin the createx paint and spray at 40 PSI. jed

Didn't work for me. Jed V.

Etex will cause paint problems for me when: 1. I use Auto Air 2. Or taxidermy paints....forget the brand name I tried right now; Last time I used the Auto Air I ran a hair dryer of it in an attempt to "cure" the paint. I then let the lure sit for a solid week and the etex still tweaked with the paint. If you stick with regular createx and etex you will have no probs but with what you are doing this might not be the best option. You could hit all of them with some spray on Rustoleum Lacquer, let dry, then etex. The lacquer dries really quickly and is easy to apply. jed v.

There are a number of products out there that guys use other than Envirotex. I have been told that the clear coat Hughes River uses is about the best but noone knows for sure what it is. I suspect it's some type of automotive clear or a gymnasium floor protectant of some kind. There are others that use NuLustre, haven't tried it but I have heard it is good. There are also some variations of Envirotex....EX88, I tried it but it cured too quickly for me. There are guys that have a "better" clear coat but they aren't telling anyone about it. RM

Get rid of the poplar and go to cedar or maple. Dip your baits in bullseye shellac and let dry. I haven't tried the sanding sealer that Woodieb8 recommends but do know lots of folks use it. jed v.

http://www.jingleshells.com/

Have you checked with Moores lures? They have a great selection! jed v.

Make sure the ink is entirely dry. Then if you wait 5-10 minutes after you mix the clear coat before applying it the ink will not smudge. I haven't tried the gel-coat pens yet......I like that idea. jed v.

Great, keep an eye on the needle tip too, clean it off as necessary. Be very careful with the needle tip while cleaning, if you damage it at all the needle will no longer function correctly. You may find that you can turn the pressure down with some colors or turn it up a tad with others. Also watch the paint pattern as I mentioned to you. If you are seeing large pieces of paint on the paper towel you either have too low of pressure, too thick of paint, or the tip has paint on it. jed v.

I have had the same problems with my Iwata and Paasche too......my guess is that it's not the brush. If you are interested write me an email and I will phone you to see if we can clear up your problems. Here all day today, fishing tomorrow. Jed V. tossmealine@yahoo.com

Do a search on the topic online and you will find all kinds of info. jed v.

Yep, what Husky said. Something like this: http://photobucket.com/albums/c48/RiverMan1/?action=view&current=suckerleftside.jpg jed

You know, I have tried taking pics of my baits with a digital camera and they are ok but nearly all of what I do now including the images on my web page were done with a scanner. Just lay the bait on the scanner, leave the lid open and lay a background over the top of it. I buy my background material at a scrapbooking store. You can get backgrounds of rocks, sand, and anything else you want. It's very hard to beat a scanner in my opinion. Here is a 16" sucker pattern I painted last night and layed on the scanner. www.photobucket.com/albums/c48/RiverMan1/?action=view&current=sucker.jpg jed v.

For what it is worth, I tried the sandpaper in the tube idea...didn't work for me. jed

I agree on the hooks, maybe a placement something like this: www.photobucket.com/albums/c48/RiverMan1/?action=view&current=duckbait.jpg jed v.