Senkosam

The above lure shapes produce different actions - all that have proven themselves after catching hundreds of fish of different species and sizes. I have 10 more folders - each containing different lure shapes and actions per folder - that remind me that there are more possible lure actions / shapes that fish respond to - including fish over a pound. Fighting fish that pull drag is just another plus when it comes to the satisfaction of catching fish on what I create.

Here a just a few I've found provoke strikes for want of a better word why fish strike manmade objects at all:

Hope your condition improves. I've been lucky in the fish-all-day dept. minus a bit of carpal tunnel. Plus there are many waters in my area within 30 min. I have access to with my shallow-float boats. Same here plus I enjoy catching fish using different presentations and lure types. It's nice when large fish of different species are hooked on my creations and as satisfying as catching large bass after a good fight using low pound test line and small lures. Having made many lures and caught fish on them in my 74 years has taught me one thing: fish react aggressively or not and lures fish strike consistently are worth their weight over the millions of lures than don't. Lurecraft also dispels myths regarding lure color, shapes that don't look like nor move like anything in nature. Yet there are many unique lure actions that get bit by many species in the same water / on the same day.

Wish we had fish that size in any of the three waters I fish. Today I managed only 11" crappie. Last year at this time I caught 14" crappie. Still don't compare to crappie over a pound that I bet fought just like bass.

Here Here!

Very nice! I also fished bass tournaments and usually finished in the top 10 of the two clubs I fished with. The bass boat motor finally gave out and I couldn't find anyone near to repair it so I sold it and never tournament fished again. (Couldn't allow someone else to controll the trolling motor in the bow in someone else's boat)

Thanks for the definiton as it applies to lures. Doubt anyone on any forum has ever used much would understand (like me LOL) the application, though I do relate it to the heart's rhythm having had years of experience in echocardiography and diagnostic ultrasound.

I can't imagine catching a 2 lb crappie! What a beast when it comes to that species. I'm lucky to catch 14" crappie which is rare in the 3 local waters I fish that aren't over-fished/fish kept by the local bucket brigade. The other appreciations associated along with catching fishing are fish colorations and the scenery. All three were captured yesterday. When I've forgetten the camera in the past, it feels like crucial tackle was left back home. Documentation is absolutely a big part of why I fish.

Granted, monster fish can be a challenge and great fun to catch, but must they be monsters? Making lures with the sole purpose of targeting large fish is fine though I've found it more fun to catch numbers of fish - large and small - whenever I fish using smaller lures and slow presentations. Larger lures limit one to catching larger fish such as 1/2 oz skirted jigs & trailers that target bass over 1 lb. But I've caught 4 lb bass and 7 lb catfish on the same small lure, on the same day along with 40+ other fish of mixed species and sizes. All catches were a thrill associated with the instant anticipation produced from the light strike followed instantly by these consecutive question: what is it, will it stay hooked, how long the fight, etc.? As important to me as a lure maker and innovator is the lure design that caught the fish and any future fish - consistently. As I see it, lure winner-designs are defined by what is caught (species and size range) and how often - not how large. Of course large fish that don't break my 6# test line or light action rod are something to gloat over, but if all I caught were those fish in large numbers, where would be the challenge in that? These little guys and others like them never fail to produce a chuckle: The hybrid on the left BTW consisted of a double-dipped grub body attached to a curl tail that produces maximum flap. A label if there ever was one! The one on the right is from a mold design call Mo Magic - a straight thin tal. Both lure consistently can be relied on not matter the day fished. On the other hand, amazement followed when this 4lb fish attacked a cone tail innovation the week before in the same lake: All three fish gave me great pleasure along with the other 40 plus fish caught each day totaling over 70 fish. It equates to more thrill for the number of casts made - the great majority simply casting practice.

In fact correct me if I'm wrong: posts on this site are not concerned with soft-plastic design innovation/modification. No fishing site forums have members that show much or any interest no matter the hundreds of photos posted showing what is possible (minus being limited to the usual from commercial sources). Hard baits and all of the scientific jargon (way above my head) that relate to hard lure design thankfully don't apply to my creations. Sure, I can attach labels to the actions the lures produce, but fish don't have much of a vocabulary when it comes to labels. The lures either piss them off or don't. Good designs that do get put on the wall for future use are considered for future modification when that part of my brain awakens with, Why the H didn't I think of that sooner!!? In any case it's no wonder this site gets few posts when it comes to lure making and innovation. Lazy minds think alike - just like in politics: giving them a line they can easily accept and support blindly, regardling mass produced products/ simple assertions and lies and they will return daily en masse, with nothing new or interesting to offer or object to.

Dave, I forgot to ask you how the term used for heart rhythm applies to lure action. BTW, you write superbly!

Too bad most members don't refer to older posts. Ya never know what they might find interesting. hybrid soft plastics and method to make them Thanks for showing an interest.

I like the lures I make from injection molds far more than open pour though open pour lures have their uses. Injectors sold on Ebay vary in quality. Some are a bit more difficult when it comes to pushing the plunger, but I still do fine with the cheaper injectors in different sizes. For making a good quantity of lures in certain sizes and shapes, you can't beat injection. Just remember one thing about injection molds: some have to be heated when thin tails are wanted, meaning, make an injection, pull out the defective tailless lures and reinjecting. Thing about the soft plastics you make is making more than you'll ever use in a lifetime which is why I like attaching parts of some lures to others to make different designs such as this one: The tails are from an injection mold. The body is from a curl tail grub. Wacky rigged, it catches everything!

A friend gave me a bag of some spike-tail shad lures I knew I would never use so I removed the tails of two lures and attached them to a grub body minus its curl tail. When I checked out the action in a pail of water after the hybrid was wacky rigged like a Senko, I was amazed at the beautiful tail quiver on the drop. Twitching the line (rod tip) also added action to the tails I knew would get strikes from fish such as these: If the strike missed getting hooked the first time, the fish most times hit it again when cast to the spot the fish came off and then hooked.

Recently I thought, why not make the body of a soft plastic by dipping it in hot plastic right from the microwave. In murky water the lure will be more visible and maybe fish don't like chubby intruders in their space. Here are a few: This reminds me of a tadpole: The bulb tail lures shown above the curl tails were also made thicker and did well catching fish with an action that was completely different.

Plaster of Paris has done well for me.

Just can't help myself. I the weather is uncooperative, I'm down in the basement with the candle and soldering iron making new and unique designs. The challenge is finding new lure actions that incite the strike. When we fish various lures, hard or soft, we take note (or should) of a lure's actions we see beneath us in the water. Those that consistently catch fish may have actions that are obvious, some not so much. Take the Kut Tail Worm for example by Gary Yamamoto. Rigged on a light 1/32 oz jig with a #2 hook, the action is incredible as it whips from side to side mid-depth. The plastic he uses is unique, pretty much what he uses to make the Senko and the worm/stick is tapered from front to back. No other worm has that action nor can be used as a mid-depth jerk worm. The Kut Tail Worm: Sometimes a lure's fish-catching action is not obvious but still catches fish via it's shape/ size/ speed and type of retrieve (presentation). It doesn't take much for a lure to affect a fish's senses - especially fish that are irritable to begin with, but isn't that what makes fish strike - stimuli sensed by the lateral line, confirmed by sight and the ear as to a lure's vulnerability coupled with an annoying confusion (?) what that weird object is doing trespassing in its space? Better yet is when the lure turns on the school resulting in one fish after another. Modified lures that catch fish are proof that fish don't and can't think about what a lure might represent. Most important is that the lure evokes a temper tantrum resulting in an attack of the mysterious object - sometimes multiple attacks by the same fish. The nice thing about soft plastics is the infinite lure designs you and I can discover that catch fish - many that are far better than those sold. Here some that have done well since I posted last: The French Fry stick that hasn't been to successful (at least not for me), turned out to be valuable when cut into segments and attached to various tail shapes. The original: The Claw: Note: crappie, bass and perch Straight flat tail: Curl tail added: Joker tail with Fr Fry: So why the all-flat sided body? I've used Mr Twister Grubs for decades never once wondering why curl tail grub bodies were always round. Granted they caught fish, but since when were they the only shape? Course when you thing about it, many fish have flat sides and present larger profiles when seen laterally in the water. In any case, no more round grub shapes for me! (unless tail shape calls for it) Another hybrid design I call the Club Tail : Notice the almost clear tail and species : white perch, crappie and sunfish. You might wonder what kind of action from nothing more than a chubby mini-stick-no-tail. It waddles with rod tip twitches and catches everything! Reminds me of the waddle of the Zara Spook waddling back and forth on the surface except now subsurface. Remember one thing: the above lures each have unique actions and all catch fish in all likelihood due to action and shape. All are rigged on light ball head jigs 1/32, 1/24, 1/16 oz. and hook sizes to match lure body length such that the hook comes out half way or a bit less. 8# test braid line and light action - medium action rods are used. Can't delete these two photos from this spot.

I've added American Fishing Wire (AFW) Tooth Proof Stainless Steel Single Strand Leader Wire to small jig heads for around 10 years. The guard is a narrow loop attached to the base of the line tie by wrapping one side, bending the wire such that the rounded tip is just before the barb, bent just a bit and the other end completing the wrap in the other direction. The wire comes in many gages rated by pound test. I use the thinnest and it allows me to slowly work a fallen tree branch without getting hung up as well a lily pads. You might consider using the wire in your jig making process. A little goes a long way.

Most times I keep the temp below 300, stirring to see of the plastic can be injected and is free from inconsistent smoothness. I've seen the bubbling,, stir the plastic and reheat it and it usually disappears. But thanks for the tip.

I think I still have some and when I find it will add it to see if there's any difference. Even a slight yellow tinge in my clear baits is no big deal considering the fact that clear lures aren't colorless underwater.

Bought it. like it ! Question: I still have plastic in jugs at least 6 years old. Is it normal for some of it to yellow a bit before color is added after heating to 325 degrees? No problem if dye is added which covers it.

Use the boiled water method to straighten out warped bodies. Never knew it made them softer but will check that out. Thanks for the head up.

Melted plastic will always produce vapors - the higher the heat the more. Whether it causes serious chronic respiratory problems is dependent on how much is melted and how often. Producing a good amount of lures to sell seems to be a sure way of upping the odds of that happening. Ventilation is key meaning the use of a fan to ventilate fumes upward into a ceiling vent or horizontally as in my example. Like I said, I inhale second hand smoke from my pipe daily but not enough that I can't run up and down stairs a few times or jog 40 yards at a clip. If you can't do that without breathing difficulty, future lure making in quantity is in doubt. At most I only heat plastic 20 minutes in a 24 hour period and most times only a few times a week - if that. My melted plastic has no smell but will if I heat it beyond a certain temperature.

I heat plastic in the basement. If I plan on heating a lot to pour the same color plastic in different molds I open the window above and put a small fan facing outside. If the smell is a bit too much, I take that fan out and use are very large, circular floor fan directed toward the window. Never have found the need for a face mask. (Of course the wife bitches about my pipe smoke and I have to do it anyway at least 5 minutes every 30 minutes.) One thing I found extremely important was to NEVER overheat plastic and to accomplish that I heat 30-45 seconds at a time until injectable which is usually 300 degrees or less. Even once a good temperature is reached doesn't mean the plastic won't yellow especially when over 5 years old or crap plastic to begin with. I don't sell lures and don't have to worry about keeping stocked up on different designs in different colors. Besides, I use parts of plastic lures to make totally different lures fusing the parts together using a candle flame. Been doing that for over 10 years or more and happy knowing I can reproduce them at any time.