jerkbait

Hope I am not too late!

Fish them! I am not kidding I have some of the most awful looking fish catchingest baits you ever saw. One is a spinnerbait that has earned the actual name of Butt-Ugly. It is an unpainted head Bright chart skirt, red colorado, big orange plastic beads and a gold Mag willow. All on a chopped down small profile .031 form and a 1/2oz bullet mold. I mean it is ridiculous looking and we always slay on it in the early season in cold muddy water. I made the first one in the floor of my boat one day in a rain storm and it caught on with a couple locals after I waxed them real good. It has taken on a life of its own and no one will ever copy it! I had a guy out once that was down 5 keepers to nothing on a 15" length limit lake before he would even tie it on. I am a believer in ugly. I try to make some purty baits too for you artistic geniuses to see but when the going gets tough I go to the ugly stuff. Jerk!

Had a few tools left over from a previous hobby, namely a rounded end punch for ctting leather belts. Took a piece of 1/16 lexan that I ripped it to width, centered the punch and hit it with a hammer. It cut like butter and with a bare minimum of sanding it was done. I tried it in a vice and it was much smoother. Leather companies sell them in a lot of different profiles and widths. Cheap and clean. Jerk

Just went back to look! That is something I would do, make a bait with no tie. Still at 6 bucks I would run a screw in them for that. 3.50 flat shipping is a little stupid though.

ends today ebay #7130493232

I got some. I will get some picts to you and you can tell me who you want to paint them. Jerk

Those look great. If that is a first attempt, then you got natural talent. Thru wired stick baits are hard to get right. Great Job! Jerk!

Man great detail. I'd like to do a red-eye pattern with the shading on the scales. Real nice job. Jerk

Here is the lot of them. Made for wading and Yaking creek smallies. Shad and Chart mostle with a few topwaters. Basswood and balsa with screw eyes and a few epoxied hook hangers in the bunch. Thanks for the tips guys. Jerkbait

Can't wait to see the new paints APB. Especially since I hope to posess some. Loading up some picts of the whole group to the gallery. Take a look APB and we will do some trading. I need some input on YYZ paint patterns. I will send your shad out after I make Bates drool over it at the WV sport show next weekend. Another frosty day so I be buildin'. Jerk!

Thanks Lunge I have a bunch of Lexan for lips and stuff. I have the bag stuffed with swuare downspouts now but would like to make some clear dividers before next mont when the fun begins down at Cave Run, Ky. Jerk!

I knew it was only a matter of time. I go to the shop to paint up some blue shad bodies and APB makes the scene. Welcome! Jerk!

Well the trip to the creek got cancelled today when my buddies 4x4 F250 hit a tree on my road. The good news is that the St Croix rods are alright! Freezing rain and more to come. We hoped to get out infront of it but guess not Down to the shop to knock off the 00 AC since they get so hard to come by. Would love to send have you guys try out some of these southern musky lures up in real musky country. Jerk!

Well the Jigman finally registerd. There sure is some good ideas on here to "borrow" from. I am not worried bout Andrew, he can take up for himself for sure. Let these boys see the goodies. Jerk!

That is a biggun. I swam the 5"ers today and they were wide and wild. I got them to dive about 2' but plan on just keeping under the surface. I am showing them to some local creek muskies this weekend so I will let you know how the local girls like them. I just finished painting a 9" stick bait that is awaiting hooks. Will post pictures soon. Great looking mold, I gotta try that soon. Thanks for the excellant tutorial by the way Jerk!

After trying a lot of different things the plastic tubes stuck in a soft sided coolder worked best for me the one I use most has pockets on top for map and sides for leaders blades etc. Also has a shoulder strap and will aonform to the size of the contents. I like to stick a couple plastic boxes down in the ends also. Saw a thread on a woodworking site about making interlocking plywood sections. I thought that sheet acrylic would work and be clear as well. Will post a link if I can find it again. Jerk

I was very hesitant to tear my pot down and go ramming a bit thru it also till I saw how slick the guy's pot poured 3/4 oz heads. I just went up one step from the hole that was in it already. I also found that the height of the lead colum above in the pot really affects the flow. The weight above really pushes more lead into the spout. This increased head pressure will make it leak more too. I usually pour my big stuff first and then when the flow slows a little I bring out the little ball head and poney molds. I dont have any trouble pouring them as long as I keep the level low. You may try using alloy solder sold in bars at plumbing stores intead of wheel weights for adding tin to the mix. It doesnt have the junk in it and is reliable in its ratio of metals. Good Luck

Yeah Jigs is top-notch bait builer and real good fisheman. I offered the blue one below and was suprised that he said gizzard being famous for blue and all. Prolly figured to paint his own blue one! Got a swimmer series on the bench right now inspired by APB's work. I will bet some pictures up as soon as they swim. Jerk!

A yeah, there is a lot of that salt in all my baits. It is Poplar with oil and thinner for seal and 12 grams of lead between the hook and lip.That one is going to a real good striper fisherman from Ky who learned me a bunch! Did a mini version of the same bait. It is 1" and 5/16 oz.

Here is the Gizzard I have been working on. It is 4" and about 2 oz with 3/0 3X VMC hooks. Striper Look Out! Jerk!

Wm, Hey another Ky boy on here! Cool. I had a local bait shop talk me into increasing the spru hole size on my Lee pot and I was afraid of making it leak but did it anyway. It makes consistant pours on big musky spinners a lot easier. and actually leaks less because there is more room for small impurities to get thru. I drain my pot into an ingot mold from time to time just to standardize the alloy mix and when I do I take a oxy/actylene torch tip bent 90deg held with vice grips and really clean the hole as it pours. The problem may be something stuck to the end of the pluger too and if it is then you will have to drain the pot to get at it. Jerk

Travis is right on. How many of us on this board have been hooked on bait building trying to reproduce a design by Bagley. Their Killer B series had a short round lip with a near 45 deg angle. I am doing a kayak series of baits this winter and have been targeting 1-3' depth range with square lip. Once you get a body shape you like stay with one type of wood and vary the bills and added weights til you get what you want. Keep bills short and make sure the weight is very low for good performance in current. Send pictures when you get started. These guys are great and can help you tweek your design. Jerk

Here is a crank and a Spook fresh off the rack. The crank runs about 4-6' and the spook is a repaint of one that the creek fish knocked all the paint off in the last 2 years.[/img]

I really appreciate the feedback. Most of my stuff is big musky gliders and inlines. The excellant builders on this site encouraged me to try the cranks. Jaime, the swirl paint is a technique that I picked from a saltwater building site. You basically layer wet paint on and smear it with crumbled foil or saran wrap. More to come Jerk!

Here is the latest. Two have screw eyes and the blue one is split balsa with internal wire and weight. Mostly made for kayak fishing creek smallies. Jerk!