RiverMan

Yea I like the Brunette best too Dean. Jed

Well actually it is your wife Cody and it was supposed to remain a secret!! Tell her the cats out of the bag. Yikes!! Jed

Hey thanks guys, I have a Canadian friend that is an artist, she does murals, billboards, stuff like that. Anyway, I asked her if she could do a gal in a bikini and somehow incorporate the company name. In two weeks she sent me this...I was quite impressed. Haven't named her yet Shawn...any suggestions? Here is another version for those who prefer "blondies" . Jed

I had this logo made for me about 6 months ago and haven't posted it yet for you guys to see, thought now was as good as time as any. My intention was to try and come up with a name that guys would remember and also something that would catch the average anglers eye. It's kind of a 1940's approach to sales..you know, like the pretty girls in the old calendars. Hope you like her! Jed

Jim, I am talking about the thickness from side to side, not from back to belly. I should have clarified this.....are you still telling me that this measurement is more than an inch? Jed

That's a wonderful looking bait, great job!! Jed

That's really cool! Congratulations Nathan. jed

Can someone tell me how thick the Hughes is...hard to tell from the picture. Thx. Jed

I like em, they're beautiful!! Jed

Been on this board since the day it started and this is the first string of disagreements I have personally read..it was bound to happen eventually. If you have not done so already, go to the United States Patent Office Website and do some searching. Here you will find that absolutely no idea out there today is new, every possible concept you can think of has a patent on it, it's quite amazing. You might also purchase Fishing Lure Collectibles, a wonderful book by Murphy and Edmisten with hundreds of color photos in it. Both of these sources will make it clear to you that many of our "modern lures" are actually not so contemporary at all. Spinner baits, old, buzzbaits, ancient, spinners of every shape, fossils, rubber baits, antique, jerk baits, crank baits, small, large, sinking, floating, frogs, ducks, insects, props, bucktails, eyes, weedless, they have all been patented for 75 years or more. There have been some very smart guys down in the basement, out in the shop, avoiding their wives and making lures forever. Most of the ideas guys patent today are very subtle changes from concepts that have in many cases been around for 50 or more years. The photo-finish baits I like to make, guys were doing 50 years or more ago...they drew the pattern, layed it on, and finished over it. I would never encourage someone to make a mold from a bait and then call it their own particularly if you are going to make money at it. But in reality, ALL of us, are making subtle changes to concepts that have been around before most of us were born. The new swimbaits are really cool but far from unique, large minnow shaped lures very similar to those made today that included jointed bodies and fins have been made for a hundred years or more. The fact that someone is now calling these lures "swim baits", making it from rubber (which is also been used for decades), and giving it his own paint-job, does not in my book make it a "unique concept". It is "his bait" yes, but it is not UNIQUE. Each of us puts his own personality into their work but in the end we are all making things that have been made by others long before us...well except for that new lure of mine that screams "here fishy, fishy, fishy". Jed

Those are very well done...great job! Jed

Here is the Hughes River Bait that was x-rayed, photo provided by Jim.

I'd be glad to post them for you, send away. tossmealine@yahoo.com That's interesting that the HR original has a neutral buoyancy to it. If a guy had a scale and knew the weight of all the components on the lure including the epoxy you could easily come up with baits that do the same thing everytime. Jed

I agree with you Marc.....I would also guess that they are made of cedar. Speaking from experience I can tell you it takes a bunch of lead to make a cedar lure glide. I have made many of cedar and ended up creating a slot and pouring lead into it...otherwise the bottom of the bait might have ended up looking like the x-ray pic. The HR Baits do have an amazing finish on them, I wonder what they use. I will say, however, that Devcon is very good as well and I have been very happy with it. The other day I took a lure and sank it underwater for a full 24 hours and it looks just the same as when it went under.........................................perfect. Jed

That's the first thing I thought when I saw the pic, "that thing is gonna sink like a rock". Each piece of lead does not look very large but the bait must still be very heavy. Yes it would be interesting to see a pic of the bait too and also how it sinks in the water...kerplunk! Jed

This x-ray photo of a Hughes River Bait is courtesy of Musky1 (Jim) and I am posting it for him. Thanks Jim for providing this for us, really cool!! Are those all weights? Also, why did they put screw eyes on the ends but not on the middle two hook hangers? Strange. Siscoe, sounds like you are not the biggest fan of Hughes but I mentioned the baits being "popular" from how they go on Ebay. Hughes River generally go for....40, 50, bucks, it's amazing. I have never seen one myself so I can't say....in fact have never seen a musky either altho my ex-wife did resemble one, lol. RM

I will resize and post it Jim if you would like me to. My email is: tossmealine@yahoo.com What is it about Hughes River Baits that makes them so popular? jed

Marc, You know I have experimented some with where I place the lead on my gliders and all seem to work ok. Most often I put lead in near the throat of the bait and then somewhere near the tail before the bait gets too thin. It seems that so long as the bait sinks horizontally the bait will also work well. jed

Hey beautiful job! I like the lipless divers and the blue torpedo at the bottom. Thanks for sharing the pic. Jed

Marc, Hey thanks for the info. It's funny what you mentioned about the mantas. You know zara spooks are round and "walk the dog" pefectly on top of the water, seems a sinking version of this same shape would do just as well sub-surface, it's odd isn't it. Thanks again. Jed

Very nice Marc! What is the small tail on the back for? I have read before why it was there but have forgotten. Also, are the gliders in the top photo round? It's hard to tell from the pic. Also, I'm curious as to what kind of a sink rate you set them at. I have never fished for muskies or used a "musky lure" but I set mine up to sink totally horizontal and I weight them just heavy enough to where they will sink with the lead and hooks in place. Additional weight from the epoxy is added on top of this. Jed

You know I thought about that Brett but thought it might give me problems with maintaining an equal depth on the belly of the lure. I will give it a try today tho and see what happens. Thank you for the advice! By the way, Dean was right, Poplar is a wonderful wood to work with, my favorite thus far. If any of you haven't tried it, give it a whirl, you will likely be "hooked". Jed

I have searched on duplicators in the past and mostly turned up stuff for lathes. Those that I felt would work for us were very expensive...pretty much cost prohibitive. Thank you. Jed

Thanks Joe, I do have a router but only had it long enough to know it's "mean", real "mean". For now think I will stay with the drill. Jed