Yake Bait

Too late to dye the wood as I have sealed it in epoxy to preserve the grain. I like the idea of translucent paint. I'm pretty sure that the fluorescent paints are somewhat translucent. The epoxy coat turned out really smooth and if I don't sand it before painting, I can probably wipe off anything I don't like.

Looking for some ideas to incorporate the maple birdseyes of this lure into the final color scheme. I'm thinking about some real simple color highlights, maybe a thin scale line along the side and be done with it. Any suggestions would be appreciated as I am afraid of messing this one up!

I bought a heat gun this weekend and used it very quickly with a quick "breath" on the surface and it makes for a super finish!!! You can see the tiny bubbles release when you quickly work the gun across the surface and the lure looks like a mirror. The heat gun works much better than a hair dryer. The key is to use as quickly as possible and do a once over the lure with the gun to release the air bubbles.

Here is the WI fish ID database including cisco... http://www.wiscfish.org/fishid/wFrmWisconsinFishList.aspx

I have a dumb question... Are fisheyes the bubbles that you sometimes get when coating a lure in epoxy?

This lure is the fifth one that I built with wire this winter, the first two were built with the loops exposed at the tail which I just gobbed some epoxy around while finishign the lure with D2T. The reason that I started playing with wire this year was after making a series of bucktails, I really enjoy making the loops. The "lead lock" idea was based on hiding the wire wraps on the tail of the lure as you mentioned. Your suggestion of pulling the wire back through is a good one if it weren't for the fact that the wire that I am using is for bucktails and extremely stiff to work with. I think that I might be able to do that with 0.051" if I can get my hands on some longer lengths. Also like the idea of using a longer drill bit. Appreciate the comments on the hook hangers. Not sure if you remember, the round nosed pliers wire bending photos that you sent me last year helped immensely in getting the hang of working with wire.

Depends on where your customer lives. Sucker, perch, walleye, cisco patterns are great for natural pattenrs and the sky is the limit with anythign that you want to get nutty with. On stained waters I like to have a lot of flash with scales (gold or silver) which works real well over dark perch bars.

I've made my share of lumpy finishes and here is what I have learned... First, have everything ready to go before you mix the epoxy. You really only have a few minutes to work with the epoxy before it starts to stiffen up so be ready to start painting as soon as you mix it. Second, mix thoroughly - I use the underside of a beer can and a tooth pick. Look for wavy lines in the epoxy which indicates that it is not fully mixed. make sure to work the toothpick up against the edges of the can so that you don't get into unmixed epoxy when you swipe up the last bit of it with your brush. What can happen is you end up with tacky spots. Third and this is the secret to a super great finish is to mix the epoxy, then thin it with a little acetone. This slows the cure enough to allow it to level. Don't add the acetone until after you mix it, I did that once and it seemed to affect the quality for some reason. Add just a little bit and it will look like a mirror. 4th - know when to leave it alone. As the bait turns I watch for spots that do not get full coverage and use the toothpick to touch up small spots. When the residual epoxy in the bottom of the can starts to get stiff and slow to level - the same applies to the bait and you will have trouble leveling it. You can apply heat to the bait to get the epoxy to flow and level but my experience is that you end up with bubbles and it looks crappy. Hope this helps...

Please feel free to use the idea, that is why I shared it. After drilling the through tunnel from nose to tail using a 1/8" bit, I switch to a 1/4" forstener bit then drill from the belly to the tunnel. If I had a lathe or a drill press with longer quill travel that is the way I would do it. Longer bits do not help since I have a 12" drill press and they become impossible to get into the work piece and chucked. On a different thread a great suggestion was offered by Hazmail where a nail is used to reference where your drill bit goes and then you place the pice on the nail and go right through it. I tried it but with an 8" lure I need the stability of a vice and have to get through it from both sides due to 3 1/4" quill travel. The next step is bending the drop loops shown in the photo. Thread the main wire through and the belly hooks hang off of it. You need to be able to make a tight loop on the internal side to get it to fit in the hole. If there is some interest, I will get some photos the next time I do this and put it up on a tutorial.

Did exactly the same thing on the last two. I plan to photocopy the template for future use on new lures. In the past I used the original template for stencil work, no more!!!

Thanks Tony. The wood is maple and it always breaks my heart to paint over that beautiful wood grain. I just finished coating this lure in 2T epoxy and is is turning as I type. Hoping to give it a test run sometime early this week weather permitting.

Haz & Sagatious, The pre cut and dril idea sounds like a good one. Twisting the wire will draw it dowin into the hole making it a non issue. Question with regards to filling the hole with lead, it is molten to lock the wire in place. The balance is epoxied to get a clean finish. Rofish - the first hole I drill is the main tunnel, followed by the hook eyes and recessed areas on the nose and tail. Because the baits are longer than the quill travel on my drill press, the drilling operation has to be done in a couple of steps. The key is to do a good job with alignment relative to the bit and once you have it, keep it clamped in the vice until you are ready to flip over and to the other side. I have to do the lead hole last because until the bait is assembled, I'm not sure where it needs to be to make the bait sit level in the water. In hindsight, I haven't done myself any favors making a different shape every time I build a glider because the lead placement cannot be pre-determined. After I test this one in progress as well as my Carp II lure, I have a good blueprints documented so that I can repeat without as much fooling around. Got the idea of documentation from my buddy who homebrews and takes extremely detailed notes about the process.