u63405

thanks guys for the responses. lurehead, great lookin' lure. looks exaclty like the dbaits. Skeeter, I wanted to try and replicate the 2 5/8" black shad. as a matter of fact, i've already cut out the pattern on basswood and have even added about a 1/2oz of weight. I didn't want to go any further until I could get the correct patterns (side view, top view, weight, etc). blackjack, I appreciate it if you would send me that pdf file to my email address at u63405@earthlink.net Thanks again gents for your help! I'm really excited about continuing this project the right way. Any other info that you can provide me with will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Skeeter. I figured I might have to do that but wanted to see if anyone has made them. Gary Dee baits were featured in the Jan. 2004 BASSMASTER under the "Six Best Baits, You don't know about". They looked pretty interesting and I wanted to try my hand in making one.

Triton Mike, I purchased all of the materials and followed your instructions as you outlined in your "Doodads" article, and let me say I had lots of fun creating my own doodads and they look GREAT! I was astounded at how simple the process was. Doodads really make the lures stand out. Thanks for a GREAT ARticle and for sharing your expertise.

I'm interested in doing a replica of a Gary Dee Bait, specifically the tiny d shad. Wondering if anyone has made this before and if they could provide me with some specs (i.e., lure design, weight, size, etc.)

Chip, Any other scales that you would recommend without the hefty price tag?

Chip, Dude, your tutorials ROCK! You make it look so simple. I hope to be just as good as you, someday.

I recently completed a 3" bait (posted in the gallery) which I applied two coats of devcon 2-ton. I used basswood and inserted weights in the belly and on the tail section. Prior to adding the tail weight and the two coats of devcon, the bait would float with about 3/4 of the lure body in the water and it would dive no more than a foot. I re-did the lure, adding additional weight to the tail section and applying two coat of devcon (not to mention the foil). I filled up my kitchen sink to see how the lure would float and it sank like a rock. My question is, is there anyway to measure the weight of devcon, so that when figuring out the total weight you can include the devcon weight in your calculations?

Excellent craftsmanship!!!

Tally, checkout this link http://www.rivercitylures.50megs.com/make/how2/aaa/how2lure.htm AlamOso does a great job of explaining and showing how to appply, paint, and top coat a foiled lure.

Very Cool!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Excellent idea and equally excellent looking lure!

I use devcon myself and what i do is on a piece of aluminum foil i make two identical circles and squeeze out equal amounts of hardner and the other stuff. this will help in achieving and equal mix.

thanks Skeeter!

I went out this past weekend to a near by lake and found a Salmo RR Lure(made in poland), close to the bank, in the frozen water. The top coat has several cracks but ultimately it is in excellent condition. my quesiton to anyone is, can i sand the top coat and reapply with a coat of devcon? seems that the lure has some kind of printed covering for the lure details(i.e, eyes, scales, gills). any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

very impressive!

boatnik13, i totally agree with you on the "get a better deal" idea. as for dixieart versus in2art, i think they both have good pricing and a good selection. dixieart has a wider selection of airbrushes and paints as opposed to in2art which has a few. I guess it just a matter of personal preference and pricing of course.

very true blackjack. what i was trying to achieve with the four pieces of foil was a seamless look. i would apply a piece of foil to the top and bottom of the lure and then attach the sides. i would then use a pen to hide the seams even further. seemed to work but you're correct, this gives the foil an even greater chance to seperate. i figured the devcon would hold things together. i did another lure the same way but first applied the sides and then the top and botttom. it came out pretty good except you could see the seams and it was a plastic lure.

i agree with everyone here that the paasche VL airbrush is great. i not only use it to paint lures but i also do some airbrush art. you could also checkout dixieart.com. they have all sorts of airburshes, paintes, and accessories.

first of all I would like to say thanks for the responses. after sanding and shaping the lure I use bulleyes 123 to seal the wood. (by the way, i use basswood when carving my lures). after the sealer has dried, i apply the foil and epoxy the lip. spray the lure with createx and when dried I use devcon 2 ton as the clearcoat (i only use one coat). I let that cure for almost a week before I tested it out in the water. when i returned from testing the lure, i discovered at the rear of the lure looked liked something had penetrated the clearcoat, right about where the hooks would come in contact with the lure. I let it be figuring that I could repair the damage with mabye a little epoxy. The next day I took a closer look and discovered that on the opposite side of the lure closer to the head, the foil had seperated (i use four pieces of foil. one piece for every side of the luere) and you could see the white wood sealer. i should mention that at the time i tested the lure it was about 38 degrees outdoors.

thanks woodenfeather. hey by the way, i was viewing some of your foiled lure and they're pretty awesome. How did go about putting the small scale texture on the foil?

after weeks of carving, sanding, foiling, painting, clearcoating, waiting and finally testing in the water.....my hard work has gone to the dumps. seems that one of the hook points penetrated the clearcoat and now the bait has swelled with the penetrating water.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ALL!!!

Joe, great idea man. I cut a plastic handle in half then i epoxied a piece of sand paper to both ends. works great. thanks.

both ideas sound pretty good. thanks for the advice.