mark poulson

Very nicely done.

This reads like "Batman, the early years". You have been a clever person a long time!

Davie, I thought I answered you two days ago. Man, it must be the anesthetic. For me, at least, the hardest part is figuring out what I want to do. In this case, I had already solved all the mechanical problems with the first ones I made, and they were just scaled down versions of some bigger lures that I've been making for a while. So the whole process was just mechanical. Shaping, sanding, weighting, finishing. I use a bandsaw, tablesaw, drill press, oscillating belt sander, and screw eyes, 1/4" lead wire, brush-on crazy glue, and a hole punch/aluminum can/ball bearing rattle system, and it goes really fast. On these lures I don't sweat the details. That's why I use sharpies for the gills and mouth details. I don't think a bass can tell the difference when it's gliding side to side so quickly, so it cuts way down on the time I would normally spend carving. Of course, now that I've said that, I'll probably have to carve one, just to prove to myself there's no difference.

John, I wasn't the only one. My buddy fished another tournament there two weeks ago, and won with 11+lbs. His kicker fish, a 4+, came on a Huddleson 8" ROF 12 trout. He said he ony had 8lbs until he got his kicker. It was big fish for the tournament. The guys who won with 19lbs had three over 5lbs., and two dinks.

Thanks Bob. I don't think the bass can tell if the red's bleeding, but it does look cool.

Chatterbaits use exactly the same hole configuration and duolock snap, and I've never had one come unbuttoned yet. Of course, the chatterbait blade is free swinging, so the fish don't have the same leverage as with a metal spoon. My biggest fish on one was a 7lb largemouth that went completely under the boat and jumped on the other side. It was during a night tournament, and my partner almost had a heart attack. I fish them on 50lb braid, so the strain is all on the rod and the snap, and, so far, I haven't had any problems. My partner took some down to Lake Baccarrac in Mexico, and he said he had some fish that opened the snap down there. Of course, his best five one day went 49+lbs! I check the snaps all the time, just in case.

John, I didn't get bit on it today. I had a limit of 8 1/2lbs, but couldn't get a kicker. Tough bite, at least for me. The guys who won it had 19lbs, and they ran the banks throwing reaction all morning. 6 hour tournament, launched at 5:45, first flight weigh in was 11:45. We got off the lake just in time. The temps climbed to the high 90s by the time the weigh in was over.

It is PVC. Ask you local lumber yard if they can get it for you. I don't worry about paint failures any more. Funny thing is, Createx paint, and all T shirt paints, are waterproof after they've been heat set, so the top coat is to protect the paint from scratching, and the PVC, with a rattle can primer, holds the paint really well. The tails are made from Krystal Flash, a fly tying material. It comes in a really wide variety of colors, is very reflective, and pulses a little, but not as much as a feather. It really flashes in the water. I used the tip from the color video that 68 King Fisher posted to add red to my avacado green to get a green pumpkin as the base color on the back and sholders. Amazing what actually knowing what you're doing can do for your paint mixing skills! I'm going out chasing the bass tomorrow, and I'll have this one tied on. Fingers crossed.

Very interesting! I love the deep cupping. Let us know how it swims. How about a yellow perch paint job?

Great looking lures! Definitely a candidate for "the sincerest form of flattery".

76gator, Trout will "tail" at the surface when they're just cruising along, following the shoreline, or sunning. They also hang just below the surface and feed on insects as they land on the water. And they will bust shad at the surface, just like bass or stripers. But they will literally jump out of the water and skid across the surface when a big predator, like a bass, has chased them up to the top. I've seen them actually run themselves aground to get away from bass. That's what makes surface gliders, like Jeep's, so effective. It looks like either an actively feeding trout, or one that's in distress and trying to escape. Either way, it's the dinner gong for big bass, and will bring them up from 30' depths in clear water. The bass sometimes comes up so fast it can launch itself out of the water and miss the lure completely, or just slap it to stun it on the way by, so it's important not to stop the retrieve until you feel the fish actually pull on the lure. Then set the hook. It is an exciting hit, when it happens. Like a turbo toilet flush.

Nice paint scheme and paint job.

I have used the cast and retrieve, letting it fall to the level of the bait fish. I did have the hook/wire tangle once in a while, but it's not bad at all. The lake I fish have really rocky, snaggy bottoms, so I don't let it fall all the way down. Too precious to take a chance like that. The threadfin shad have moved back into the coves, and are starting to come up to the upper part of the water column, so now's the time the DinnerBell should shine. I'll use the aluminum template like you said to make a template for the prism tape. Thanks for the advice.

They both look great. Let your imagination guide you. It's not wrong if the fish eat it. I try to stick to local prey fish for guidance as to size, shape, and color schemes, and lean to bright white and chartruese for off colored water. That's about the only "genius" info I have to share. It looks like you've already got the rest.