JBlaze

Hey Pete, that gnat is a nice touch. Would that be considered fishing with live bait? John

Hope I did this right, don't want another warning. My First Jerks. They are in the gallery but this only shows the pic with no text. http://www.tackleunderground.com/photos/file.php?n=4320&w=l

Just read the rules, Sorry guys. John

Tater Hog, I don't know you but I admire your works and paint jobs, I also appreciate what you have shared here on TU with all of us including your humor and candid comments. You are an inspiration to all of the wanna-bes myself included. You have proved that hard work and dedication to your craft will take you where you want to go. Congratulations you deserve it. John Blazier

Those look great. Very Ingenious. John

I tried it on balsa and wasn't to happy with the results. If I can find it, I will post a pic. John

EAST TN 9

First Balsawood Jerks, I was fairly happy with the way these turned out until I turned then into supending baits. I never realized just how much weight it took to get the balsa to stay down. I used between 10.8 grams and 12 .4 grams of lead per bait and had to cut elongated slots in the bellys to get it in. From the top and sides they look fine. Looking at the belly, Uggggggggggggggggly ! I don't think the fish will mind but I do. Will do a better job next time.

Thanks again Mark. I think I may have Hi-Jacked this thread. Sorry guys that was not what I meant to do. John

Maybe this was it Home Page

Thanks Mark, I wish you well with you business venture should you decide to go that route. I would like someday to do this for a living but I would have to get much faster at making lures than I am now. It is a good clean hobby and stress reliever. You are right, the wood is Balsa. I saw the post by JRHopkins and really liked his hinging method. I also like because of the simplicity, the idea of using twist wires and a hinge pin but there is not much wood here to work with. Like you, I seal my balsa with the wood hardner but I am afraid the hinge pin might pull through under load. I was thinking about a single hinge for the last section but only because it is so small. Thanks to you I now have another reason to make it a single. Thanks for the tip. John

Mark, I too wish to say thanks for sharing your learning experiences with the rest of us. I too have learned a lot from TU especially about crankbait making, I very recently made my first 6 suspending jerkbaits and am in the process of trying to make my first jointed swimbait. I am following these threads closely. I have one carved split and cut into sections. It is 4inches long and will be a little longer with joints installed. Should I use soft stainless wire for the hinges or tempered spring stainless wire. Between work and having my first grandson to play with, I will be a while getting this thing finished but I will post pics when I get it done.

First attempt!! That is awesome and the paint scheme looks great. I hope my first swimbait willl look that good. John

Hope these post, as you can see, the Hagens Wire Former makes very consistent and uniform bends.

Yes it will, you will need the Heavy Wire Adapter Kit. I have been using a Hagens for a few years now. It does an excellent and very consistent job on the .051 wire. I will post a pic of one of my buzzbaits this afternoon when I get home from work. John

I too have also been playing with pic in post #5 might be a good one for foiling.

oops, sorry. I misunderstood your post. I am sure there are plenty of guru's on here that could make these for you. John

not hard to do, insert small drill bit inside coils of screw lock then place your screw lock with bit in the slot where your weed guard would normally go. close mold and pour. hope this helps John

Wish I could help, I am very interested in what you are doing, but I have never tried making a swim bait. So hopefully I will learn as you do. Good luck with this project. And don't be discouraged if the first one doesn't perform the way you want it to. With the knowledge you gain from the first and each subsequent lure, every lure you make will look and perform a little better than its predecessor. Thanks for starting this project.

Nice shape, I am looking forward to seeing you progress with this lure. Please keep us posted. John

Good post Cadman. We should all take every precaution to avoid lead exposure, absorbtion and or ingestion. The latex gloves is a really good tip.

Hope this works. The other imbedded pic was to small to ses detail.

make em weeedless