muskiemarc

Great looking bait, love that pattern. Marc

BobP: I read an article in last month's Musky Hunter magazine that dealt with this. The author was adding weight to the top of slammer/grandma style crankbaits to get more body roll out of them when twitching. Once a bait was weighted this way however it rendered it useless for trolling as it would not track straight. I personnally have not played around with this yet but I plan on trying it on some of my homemade Jakes and see what action I get out of them. Marc

Corey: I cut the lip out with a jig saw and finished it with a bench grinder and a file. Marc

Thanks guys JP the lip on this Jake was suppose to go on a Hooker style bait it's almost 3" wide and 4.5" long. I tried the lip on a Jake for the hell of it and was happy with the result. The bait does have a big wobble, sort of like the original Jake put with more body roll. It also handles speeds of 4-5 mph well. Marc

Hi guys, with what I learned from this site as well as JP's Out2llunge website I built a few 13" Jake/Grandma style crankbaits. I headed out to the Ottawa River on the 2 Oct. and trolled one of my baits. 30 minutes into my first run my reel was screaming and after a short battle I landed a fat 48" Musky. It's always nice to land one of these fish but hooking it on one of you're homemade baits is priceless! Here are the pics of the bait and the fish.

John: If you do a search for Hughes River you should find a post with an X-Ray of a Hughes River Glider. This x-ray gives you an idea of location and amount of lead used when using cedar. You definitly won't need as much lead with a hardwood just adjust the quantity of lead to get a slow, horizontal sinking bait. Here is a picture of a glider that I build with the info from that post. I'm happy with the way it turned out and the action. I'm still fairly new at this but this site and the guys here are really helpfull and have shortened my learning curve a great deal. Thanks All Marc

Fairly new to the hobby and have learned a great deal recently thanks to the guys that post here. Really appreciate the info sharing. I was just wondering what percentage of baits in your tackle box are your own creation and what % are store bought. Do you strive to get to the point where you are using your own baits 100%? I fish for pike and muskie. 100% of my bucktails and spinnerbaits , 70% of my jerkbaits and top waters, 20% of my cranks are homemade. Marc

Thanks for the info Jed. Guess I should start wearing my mask. Marc

CJ The action is the same as a regular buzz bait, just throws up more water. I actually prefer the counter rotating alum. blades over the plastics. Marc

Here is a picture of a couple of Musky sized buzz baits, 10 and 15", inspired by the old Blue Fox double Buzz. The larger bait is tied with peacock feathers, an 8" grub was threaded onto the wire shaft and uses two plastic quad blades. The smaller one was tied with bucktail and uses two counter rotating aluminum blades.

Very nice Nathan. Like a few people have said here if you trolled that bait long enough on waters such as Georgian Bay, St-Lawrence, Ottawa River or other trophy water of NW Ontario eventually a big musky would attempt to eat it. I have read and heard expert state that big Musky prefer to eat baits that are 20-25% of their size. That means that a 40 lbs musky prefers to target fish in the 8-10lbs range. We have all heard the stories of anglers fighting 5-10 bass, pike, walleye ect... only to have a big Musky come up and attack their catch. For these reasons I made a few baits in the 13-20" range to target muskies this year. Here is a picture of two of these baits that I made. I included a standard size musky lure in the picture fo size comparison. Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures of a monster musky caught on one of these later this year. Marc

Nice bait Trick Trout. Nice colour pattern. Seems like it would run really shallow with that lip angle, great for running over weed beds. I was thinking of making one about 10-12" for muskies. Marc

With that much lead I don't think that these baits would be made of maple as I was told and mentioned earlier. I would be more inclined to think that they would be made of cedar. As for the popularity of the Hughes River I think that it as alot to do with their finish. They have awsome finishes and the top coat is just like glass. They probably catch more fisherman then muskies because they are so pretty. Supply and demand drove the prices up. That being said I would never spend that kind of money for a bait. There are plenty of gliders out there that go for half the price and would be just as effective. Better yet build your own! Marc

Very nice baits and paint jobs Czar. Marc

RiverMan: There are some round gliders that work well without a tail, the origional Musky glider the Eddie bait is an example of this. However they often needed to be modified by adding lead to them to make them sink. I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned "sinking version". The gliders that I referred to earlier floated at rest. Another thing I should have mentioned earlier is that I add the lead at the head and tail of the bait as oppossed to the middle of the bait. Marc

Riverman: The lures in the top photo are round. As for the tail I think that they act as a stabilizer. I have used other round gliders from other lure manufacturers and they were harder to work and keep under the water. If you didn't work them just right they often rolled and popped out of the water. The Mantas are much more user friendly. As for the sink rate I do the exact same thing as you do. Horizontal and just enough lead to sink slowly. Marc

Here are more gliders that I build this winter. They are made of Maple, are slow sinking and have a nice gliding action.

Joe 32 Here is a picture of two mantas I made along with an origional Manta. I made them out of Maple and added lead to match the sink rate of the origional. I also increased the size so they are more like the Hang 10 from Manta. As for the action I was pleasently surprised. I can make these guys glide just like the origional.

Finally have open water on the shores of Lake Ontario here in Kingston. Took out the gliders that I made this winter for a test drive today and I am very happy with the results. They have a nice left/right glide to them. Now I have two wait another two months for the Musky season opener! Riverman: just picked up a digital camera. As soon as I learn how to use it and how to post pictures I'll add them here. Hopefully in a day or two. Marc

Musky1 I spoke with Stacy from Pro Tackle Musky Shop and he told me that the HR are made of Maple. I also heard that the Amma bama where made of basswood. I would also be interested in knowing what you find out when you X-Ray the Hughes River. As for the actual pattern I get mine from E-Bay. People selling them will often post pictures of the top and side views, just blow it up to the size you want and print. Cut them out and use them as templates. I have 10 gliders done. Phantoms, Mantas and HR types. Should have open water here in a few days so I can take them out for a test drive soon. Keep you posted on the results. Marc

Art Musky Mania as been bought out by Drifter Tackle Company, makers of the Believer lures. They are planning on producing 13" Believers and 13" Ernies! They should be available this fall. Marc

Jerkbait I have been making my own musky bucktails, spinnerbaits and leaders for a few years. In January I was lucky enough to attend a luremaking workshop in Toronto that was put on by Out2llunge. It inspired me to start making my own crankbaits and jerkbaits. I'm currently working on 10" Mantas and 6 and 8" Phantoms. I'm making them out of maple and I hope to get them to glide but I won't be able to test them till mid April. What type of wood did you use for your jerkbait? Marc

Jerkbait: Nice looking bait, I like the colour pattern. What kind of action does it have? Does it glide/walk the dog like an underwater zara spook? Marc

Hi Out2llunge: I also am experimenting with gliders. I'm currently working on 6" and 8"Phantoms and 10" Mantas. As for lead placement I'd go with option #2, more weight in the throat and less in the tail. What I am trying to achieve is a bait that sinks slowly and perfectly horizontal. Go to Lurebuilding 101 and check out the plans for the Divani glider, a lure that resembles the HR Shaker. It gives detailed intructions for the weight placement. I've been using maple for my baits. I've read on the Amma Bamma website that their baits are made of Lynn wood which is similar to basswood. What type of wood are you using for your gliders? Would cedar be a good substitute for basswood? Marc