Legendary Lures

Thanks for the compliments! The fieldtest went as expected for a prototype. It goes back to the bench for more work. I was too anxious to show it off and should have waited until I tested. Oh well, such is life. The lure is too bouyant. Although it sits in the water in fish position, on edge not its side, it won't dive. Rather than tear up this one, I made a couple more. The new ones are from 3/4" wood rather than 5/4". I increased the lead in one and doubled that amount in the other. The plan is less wood and more lead. I'm also going to try a smaller lip. The lips I'm using are purchased from Moore's Lures and are Lexan. I sure wish there was a formula for determining lip size for a given length, width and weight. I hope to test the new ones tomorrow. They'll be white since I'm satisfied with the walleye paint pattern. If they work out, I'll have my pattern and plan to make more. I've already had several requests from people who'd like one for themselves.

I used clear white pine. I like it because it is much tougher than balsa or basswood. The grain can present challenges, sometimes, though. The eyes are from the floral department of a craft store. I painted the eye sockets with glow paint before epoxying the marbles in.

Just wanted to show off my newest lure. Overall length of this handcarved wooden lure is 10 1/2 inches and it weighs 2 ounces. The badge is in the picture to give you an idea of this lure's size. The badge is 1 inch in diameter. The eyes are glass and glow in the dark. Hooks are 3/0. The dorsal and tail fins are handcut and formed aluminum. The tail is jointed. The scales and pectorial fins are hand carved, although they don't show up very well in this picture. I can't wait until Saturday, when i FINALLY get a chance to fieldtest. Comments welcome.

Similar to Nathan, except I put the rattles into the head, through the holes drilled for eyes.

Drill from each end and meet someplace in the middle. That way, the ends are centered and neat. Any mistakes are hidden inside the lure.

There's some on eBay this week. Search for seller = "spookman".

A picture would have saved lots of typing, but maybe I can make this understandable, so here we go: Change your point of view. Instead of thinking about your through wire running from nose to tail and wondering "How do I handle the belly loop?". Think: start at the belly loop's hole. The belly hole will eventually contain the weight and the loop for the belly hook. The wire is bent in half with a "U" shaped bend. One hole is drilled at an angle from the belly hole to the nose. The other hole is drilled from the belly hole to the tail. If you could see through the body from the side, the two holes for the wire would form a flattened vee. Make a couple little tools by epoxying a short piece of wire into the end of a couple short pieces of dowel rod. Diameter of the dowel doesn't matter. It's just a handle. The diameter of the wire does matter. It needs to be just a little larger than the through wire. Before pouring the lead into the belly hole, insert your new tools into the wire holes. Pour the lead. Let it cool slightly. Pull the tools out. Paint and clear coat the lure. You should be able to work your through wire through the belly weight and out the holes. You'll have to work both sides at once, in a rocking fashion. Using a longer wire makes it easier to twist your loops, later. Slide a cup washer over the ends of the wire (if you want a nice finished look). Twist your nose and tail loops. Attach hooks with split rings and you're ready to go fishing. Alternatively, you could insert the wire before pouring the lead. A wire brush in your Dremel will quickly and cleanly remove the paint and clear coat from your wire loops. I would recommend doing it this way. Some paint and clear coat will work its way along the wire and make a better seal. By installing the wire after the lure is painted, water will work in, swell the wood and make the paint crack and peal off. Oh yeah, don't forget to show us a picture of your efforts.

Here's some little fishjigs. I made the mold froma blank Do-it frame.

Check out www.smoothon.com Their Featherlite might be what you're looking for.

I've been fishing all of my life, mostly with my Grandpap. I tied some of my first flies in 1974 after answering an ad about how to "fill your mail box with cash." So much for that! I was on my own and just barely making it, at least on good days. Getting an Original Floating Rapala was a special treat and required saving up for a few weeks. After marveling at one of them, I thought, "I can make these." After several attempts and only producing the world's best non-wiggling lures and a few excellent lures that would spin, I quit for a while. My dad got me a Dremel lathe as a gift around 1980. Poppers and jointed lures were better than my earlier attempts. Been at it ever since and still learning. Here's a now and then picture. The red one is a balsa lure that I made in 1975. The silver one was completed just last week.

Thought y'all might enjoy a picture of the flies from the recent Fly Swap. It wasn't the largest swap ever, but some very nice handmade flies changed hands. Thanks to all who participated. Your package should be arriving later this week.

I've wondered about that before, too. Here's what I decided: So the fisherman can see the lure better. Old wooden Len Hartman musky plugs float when resting, with the butt of the plug out of the water. The lips are galvanized steel and are heavy. Anyway, there's a "target" painted on the top of the lure, just in front of the butt. This makes it easier to see where the lure was cast in low light situations.

I use (not so small) cotter pins for hook hangers and line tie on my Billie Musky Lure. I drill the holes and prime the lure body, including the insides of the holes. A washer slips onto the cotter pin before it is inserted. Once in place, the cotter pin is opened about half way. Using pliers, I bend the last 1/4 inch or so of each leg to 90 degrees. Then I press the ends into the wood with an arbor press. They are NEVER coming out! I make sure to get as much white paint on, in and over the pins as possible. The holes are actually clogged with paint. This takes several coats and a few days of drying time. Once all that is dry and cured, I apply the decorative paints and clear coats. Next to last step is to attach the hooks with slipt rings. Last step: go musky fishing!

A drill press is very handy for making lures, no doubt about it. I've made some jigs to mount on my drill press' table. These jigs are made from scraps of 2 x 6 lumber. One has a 45 degree vee cut in it. Another has various sizes of coneshaped holes. Just lay the lure in the vee to drill belly hook holes. Stand the lure in the cone holes to drill the nose and tail. Search around for "electrician's drill bits". These bits come in just about about any size you might want. The small diameter bits are at least 6 inches long. They get longer as the diameter increases. Here's the rub: the small diameter ones are very flexible. They's follow the wood's grain and you'll be luck to have them come out where you want them to. I went back to drilling from each end and trying to meet up somewhere inside the lure. I only make one through-wire lure because of the amount of scrap I seem to make.

Here's my Rainbow Trout pattern: 1. Make lure body, pre-drill the holes and undercoat it. 2. Brush paint it yellow. 3. Sides are pink, brushed on. 4. Using a stencil made from a plastic coated playing card, spray paint the head green. 5. Spray the back green. 6. Use a toothpick to make the black dots and red gills. 7. Insert eyes. 8. Clear coat, twice. 9. Assemble the lure. 10 Go fishing! It may not be a true to life RBT, but the fish seem to like it.

Since the registration deadline for the Fly Swap is only a few days away, I wanted to move this message back up. Follow the link to see all the details and particulars. It would be nice if we had a few more participants.... http://home.att.net/~carvercomp/fels.html

Carl's email is the kind that we all love to get. Hearing about someone's fishing success is what keeps me going. Having fished a couple of Canadian lakes myself, I can relate to what he said about "sight fishing". Thanks for sharing and good luck!

Thanks for all the nice comments! Even the "cute" one is appreciated. My wife thinks they look "cartoony", too. Here's a little foam bluegill that I cranked out this evening. One of the things that I've been enjoying about making these is the instant gratification. From concept to completion is about 45 minutes. I don't know how they fish. the field test will most likely be this weekend, so, stay tuned... It's been said, "Show your local fish something different." I don't think mine have seen these before. I haven't tried coating this foam, but I will say that if I squeeze two pieces of this foam together with some glue, it seems to compress a little. This suggested that the glue goes in a little. I've been using a superglue called Bondini. It doesn't melt this foam at all. I've given some scrap of foam the "bathroom sink test". It foams right on top of the water. I dried it off with a towel and only the outside was wet. I couldn't wring out any water. Here's an idea for twister tails for mold masters: Rather than coating this foam , how about trying a plastic lid from a coffee or peanut can? It is very easy to cut with scissors or a utility knive. It's thinner than this foam. It has a nice smooth surface, so mold material shouldn't stick too it.

I guess these are Hybrid Lures. They're swim jigs wearing foam fish suits. Fun to make.

Deadline to register is August 30, 2003. Fee is only $5.00, which is to cover return postage and packaging. Still room for more flytyers. Get all the details at: http://home.att.net/~carvercomp/fels.html

About two years ago, I walked into a tackle shop in Alliance, Ohio. There was an older gentleman showing off a couple antiques that he just acquired. One of them was an Alliance Mfg. Wiggly Wiggler, MIB! It was made around 1910-1930. Although he didn't know me, he trusted me to examine it. When I returned home, I made up a couple of them. I had been curious about how this lure may have acted in the water. Any guesses how this lure acts? (Besides the obvious, which is: the spinner blade makes the spring rotate.)

Let's try a Fly Swap. Visit: http://home.att.net/~carvercomp/fels.html to read the rules. This set of rules has already been tried and they worked out very well. They are straight forward and easy to follow. I put plenty of time in for registration and to get your "traders" tied. This is a great way to try each others' flies and to build your collection.

Thanks for the compliments, it's not my original creation. I pulled a book off my bookshelf called "Flies for Bass and Panfish" by Dick Stewart and Farrow Allen. ISBN0-936644-11-7 It's a nice picture book. I don't know if it is still available. Anyway, I copied one called "Woolfolk Minnow". NE Ohio has been having a very wet summer. The all time rainfall record for July was broken this year with almost 13 inches! Here's a picture of the ramp where I USED to fish.

I sat down and tied up a few flies this past weekend. The hook is a 1/0 widegap. The body is balsa wrapped with quilting thread. Hand painted, which was really kinda fun, then dipped in spar urethane. Thought you folks might enjoy seeing them before they go in my tacklebox. Comments, yea or nay, appreciated.

I played around with decals a while back. I made one that covered the entire side. It had scales, a fin, logo and date. These are extremely thin (and a pain to apply) but the results are satisfactory. The front edge was covered by the handpainted gill. The other edges weren't all that noticable. Decal paper can be bought at www.micromark.com or a hobby shop that handles RC cars or airplanes. You run it through a laser printer.