KingKarl

Terry, fantastic job my man, you saved me doing a tute. hopefully Jake will place your tute in the files karl

Hi fellas, I was wondering if anyone has done this before that is use Glass Rattles for eyes on their lures? I was having a kip (snooz) the other day and it can to me as i was trying work out where to best place a G/rattle in my wooden lures and I worked out that the the head area is big and strong enough to take it across from side to side,as it also shakes from side to side in its swimming motion. Then as these things evolve, I wondered if there where glass rattles long enough to just stick out of each side of the head like a pair of eyes as i didn't want to putty up the holes then paint over them or place some stick on 3D's. So when I got up i made some enquires, got some measurments ( I needed 20mm) had a look in the cave (shed) and found some rattles in the said length and hey presto. I Drilled the holes, slid in the rattle, they stick out about 1mm either side and look pretty realistic. Im gunna add some paint to form the outer eye and to give it definition and I reckon It'll come up trumps. what do you think? best of all i think it serves two very good purposes in one. Karl

Terry, all you have to do is make or buy a hook that is at right angles to the shaft coming out of the drill and in the diameter you want your eyes to be. if you cant buy something already made, do want i did and make your own. By, getting a drill bit extention, welbing or by attaching a flat bit of 3mm steel, tapered at one end, where you drill a pilot hole and bang in a compression pin, the compression pins come in all sizes so I'm sure you'll have no problem in getting one to suit your needs. In the next couple of days I'll post a photo in the Homebrew sectiojn of this set up, its so simple, and if someone can tell me how to do a tutorial I'll right one up as well. Karl

HI BOB, good to see someone else venturing into some quality hangers, I use something simular, by buying 309 or 316 S/S mig wire in 1.6 and 1.2mm diameters this wire is perfect to turn an use as front middle and rear hook hangers. Depending on the biat there are going into I spin up 40mm long eye hangers by cutting a pcs that is 110mm long ,bending it in the middle to form a U shape then by using a pair of vice grips, I clamp it around my eye Diameter twisting tool (homemade, which is in the cordless drill) to get the shape, then clamp the two ends together with the said grips and twist away once twisted the 1.6mm then twists to a diameter of 2.7mm and the 1.2 twists to a diameter of around 1.8mm. I have two sizes one that is about 4mm internal and the other about 6mm internal which is perfect for my larger baits, Have a look at my photos on the "photo board". Personally i can spin up to about 100+ 40mm hangers in an hour, all straight and all perfectly the same. Now by having them all the same, allows me to pre drill my holes with a 2mm drill bit at a depth of 45mm long into the bum of my lure then inject that hole with epoxy via a canular needle right up to the end of the drilled hole before screwing my hanger in. With the long srewtail right up to center of the lure body I had a mate do a pull test with weight upto 150lbs straight pull without any problems. but your idea is worth merit Karl

Scrubbie, never a truer word spoken, my friend! its a pitty the folks in the northern hemisphere dont drink Bundy as we all now its goods own nector. As they say " put a worm in a glass of water and it'll live for ever, but put a worm in glass of bundy and the worm quickly dies! the moral is, drink bundy and you'll never have worm's. sounds good. so you're into making lures? you must be crazy like the rest of us nuts. welcome to the club karl

Hi scrubbie, good to see the Aussie connection getting bigger on this site :-D I reckon you'll have a ball karl ps: do you drink bundy????

Not a bad little time filler, reminds me of some serious bundy drinking down by the river the other night, come to think of it i cant remember all that much about it I got 55mtrs whats yours karl

Scoop10, a point from another angle is this! the more sharp angles or protrusion's you have sticking out of you bait, the more chance you have of getting a sharp cutting edge to sever you line in a fight with a fish!!!!!! my suggestion is "Keep it neat n tidy" it looks better and you avoid mishaps IMHO Karl

Brock, just by looking at your pic, if you draw a line from the tow point to the treble point you'll see that there is more lure on the lower side than the top side. i think there is a counter weight/ buoyancy issue. what would happen if you lowered the front pull point towards the lip (increase the axis) Karl

Hi fellas, in an effort to produce the perfect lure :idea: I'm always interested in how other people go about their business. over the years I've used two basic methods of attaching my lip (we call them bibs over here ) the first is as simple as drilling three 5mm holes into the bib area that is epoxied and slipped into the jaw cavity of my lures, I then get a 1.5mm drill and sink a hole through the bottom jaw up and into the top jaw were I epoxy a small S/steel pin this stops the bib from pulling out. The other way , which I use a lot more due to its better design is by cutting a 1.5mm groove into and along the lower jaw of my lures with my Dremal. I then have a some 1.6 MiG s/steel that is formed up to create the forward treble point and the lures pull point, this slips into the cavity ,along the lower bib, this is then epoxied into place. The 1.6 wire form extends outward from the lure where it pops through the bib to create the tow point for the lure( I'll go into more detail later how to do this once I work out how to put it into the tutorials forum/ section), which makes a great place to hold on to when painting the lure etc.. I've found that since I've use this method, I have even a greater amount of confidence in my lures and the overall strenght this type of connection makes. so how do you secure your bib's (lips) into your lures, and what do you use to do it? Karl

M8, love the GBP's go the Vincers and the 49ers but hey the cheese thing is coooool Karl

Hey Cheesehead, great name I'd like to know how you came up with it? I'm thinking of around 500 to 1000 5/16, 3D-gold with black pupil or the next size down, as It's worth getting that quantity in one hit (saves mail$$$$),but I'm keen to find out where you can get them from Karl

Once again I'm in need of your help, In Oz we're really restricted in the availability of great 3d eyes can anyone suggest a place to get them from, i particuarly like the eyes on the 4eyed jointed minnow i saw in the lure forum. karl

Fellas, can someone please tell me how to make the perfect Tow point hole in a 2mm lexon bib/lip? I've melted/ drilled but they end up looking like S&%#,and really make the whole lure look second rate, any suggestions Karl

Dear Colin, do I know you????? M8 ever tried to call during normal hours :idea: If you bothered to read the original post it was about eyes and how importand they are in peoples minds when it comes to lures and fish perception Da King Ps I'll call you to save you a few bucks ya cheap scate

Dragline, I use Wextern red cedar over here in OZ, and like the other guys I use water based paints finished off with an Auto Acrylic sealer comes up schmicko, but the I think the real work is done before you even apply any sealers, basecoats etc. make sure you get your timber as smoooth as possible but making sure the grain runs from ft to back then use 80grt, 120grt and then the finest sanding paper you can find I use 400grt. Once Ive sanded back I get some metho (white spirit) and clean up the blank. then stick the blank in the oven for 15min to heat up the body so to expell any air from within the wood. whilst the wood is still hot I seal it with a two pak marine sealer called Everdure from International , the first coat is a real thirst one so put plenty on your brush. once it's dry i sand it back with the 400grt and repeat the sealing another 2 times. I've found the this realy hardens the timber ,get rid of any air bubbles and leaves me with a super smooth surface to paint on hope this helps KArl

Bo, now what your doing just dosen't happen every day, I'd love to get a badger 150, as they are realy hard to get over here in Australia without paying a absolute fortune, over the past couple of years since I've been making lures i 've always ment to get a good brush, but as things go with kids and such. the money goes elsewhere. anyhow I've been using my old pair of plastic hobby brushes you pick up for 20odd bucks and I do intend to get a good brush one day maybe I'll have to wait till the kids leave home or I'll win Tatts who knows , besides Arn't Aussies and The USA+ Canada and such allies, this would surely strenghten Aussie/ US relations karl

Now that I've sorted out the attachment issues heres a little jig i welded up afew months age to Hold my lures so i can A/brush lay overs like scale patters etc. I've put a few extra arms on it for later on once I work out how to lower the stencils/patters or what ever. The lure as shown is held via the arm which clamps the wires tight, then you can swing over the mesh/scale etc on to the outer face,it hold fast so it wont smudge whilst you apply a couple of coats. once you paint one side you rotate the mesh right around and paint the other side. I'm now working on version 2, what do you think? any suggestions karl

After having a gander at some of the great dryers, it got me thinking of making my own, so after having a poke around the cave (shed) I had the ingredients to wack one up. After much thinking and wondering how to put it all together, I had a flash of brilliance and used my spit roaster as a housing unit with the lures rotating inside clear from dust etc once the lid is down. My spit is an old 88ltr Stainless steel LPG gas tank, whic I put on a stand with burners running through the middle(not in use here-get up to 700deg/F) so Ive hooked up a burner tube underneath via a 75mm gal tude, which keeps the temp around 20+ deg's perfect. what do you think? thanks Robby for helping me out with the pics karl

Hey lock45, over here in OZ we call them tacklebacks, and there are plenty of good ones out there beleive me. i use two main types (depending where I am and how deep I'm fishing and the lures I'm using). the first one is your basic extendable pool pole with a large cork screw on the end, simular to a totum tennis coil with the center end cut off, this unit simply follows your line (once you coil it on) down to your lure and you prod it off. the other is for big/small lures in deep water, it can be made from either a lenght of S/S rod (1''x6''long) or a lead filled bit of tube, with two pig tails welded to one side facing each other (our line is wound into the P/tails to guide the "tackleback" to your lure) at one end you need to weld a D shackle across the end to attach your cord and at the other end you weld another D shackle, but before you do weld it on you need to attach 6 or so lenght of 1/2" long linked chain on to the D. We make them different sizes (2each) so to get hooked up on the front ,middle or rear trebles. if the chain doesnt hook up to the lure the weight of the thing should knock it off the structure. Now you attach your cord to the other end and then wynd it on to a plastic hand reel, how much cord you put on, depends on the depth of the water you fish in, Ive got around 80ft of 1/8 nylon cord with a B/strain of 200pounds once I've sorted out how to put photos on this here board I'll put some on for you to look at. how do you use this is simple let it down you line and once it gets to the end , put tention on our lure, you jig and bob both up and down till you get the lure off, simple. they cost around twenty to fourty bucks to make pending on material so 2 or 3 lure and they've paid for themselves hope this helps, and as i said I'll post a photos asap karl

Hey lock45, over here in OZ we call them tacklebacks, and there are plenty of good ones out there beleive me. i use two main types (depending where I am and how deep I'm fishing and the lures I'm using). the first one is your basic extendable pool pole with a large cork screw on the end, simular to a totum tennis coil with the center end cut off, this unit simply follows your line (once you coil it on) down to your lure and you prod it off. the other is for big/small lures in deep water, it can be made from either a lenght of S/S rod (1''x6''long) or a lead filled bit of tube, with two pig tails welded to one side facing each other (our line is wound into the P/tails to guide the "tackleback" to your lure) at one end you need to weld a D shackle across the end to attach your cord and at the other end you weld another D shackle, but before you do weld it on you need to attach 6 or so lenght of 1/2" long linked chain on to the D. We make them different sizes (2each) so to get hooked up on the front middle or rear trebles. if the chain doesnt hook up to the lure the weight of the thing should knock it off the structure. Now you attach your cord to the other end and then wynd it on to a plastic hand reel, how much cord you put on, depends on the depth of the water you fish in, Ive got around 80ft of 1/8 nylon cord with a B/strain of 200pounds once I've sorted out how to put photos on this here board I'll put some on for you to look at. how do you use this is simple let it down you line and once it gets to the end , put tention out lure you jig and bob both up and down till you get the lure off, simple. they cost around twenty to fourty bucks to make pending on material so 2 or 3 lure and they've paid for themselves hope this helps, and as i said I'll post a photos asap karl

Fellas some good reponses, like the guy's here the same points come up time and time again. Over here we have some absolute huge fish with mouths like Texan ten gallon hats, I mean these fish (cod and barra) inhale their pray, Clamp'n'crush then swallow. While trout and our native will strike'n'stun (sounds like shock 'n'owe ) then come back and eat. So what difference does it make if your trolling for muskies or flippn for bass, are eyes that important then? as trolled baits dont get stunned they keep move'n? Karl

Evening Fellas, at least it is in OZ(21:36), I've been having an ongoing discussion with a fellow group of fishos and it centers around eyes on lures, the size (how big should they be?) color, style( the scared look) and position any thoughts? Karl

Fellas, I've noticed that a lot of people are making bass or walleye type crainks over in OZ the bass fishing scene is still very much in the start up stage as we don't have Large or Small mouth bass but we do have Estuary Perch(upto 60cm), Aussie Bass(upto 65+cm) and yellow belly upto 70+cm ) all are native fishing then we have our big fellas such as Murray Cod, Barra both can reach upto 1.5mts and then theres the trout. My question is this how do you go about making lure moulds from scratch ? and what materials do you use to do it we have a company that sells the kits but thats expensive as they say you can make 50+ 50or 60mm lures for trout, but the lures we use for Cod and barra can be as big as 180mm and dive upto 40ft, so this make the kits even more expensive. karl

Robby, I love that quote, I'd watch that movie just to hear and read it , the only part better in the movie was when Jane Kicked him in the aggots(ouchthat gotta hurt ). All the reply posts got me thinking :idea: and then it hit me, 1mm Pvc clear sheet is perfect for stenciles/ patterns for all the right reasons that others have mentioned. But the is one point not mentioned which makes it micky mouse, is that PVC is mouldable, you add some heat over a bare lure body and you can shape it to the body then it goes hard again. So if you draw the lure shape/ then cut out your pattern/ heat the pvc to the Lure and the rest is history. what do you think worth giving it a go Karl