mark poulson

You might be able to salvage the lure by wrapping some fly tieing lead wire around the shank of the front treble. It may change the action, but it may move the center of gravity far enough down to dampen the instability.

Keep it simple. Just remember what Larry Nixon says, "My brain is the size of a pea". If I can do it, anyone can. And a friend of mine won a tournament with a 12 1/2lber he caught on an old, faded, beat up, bill-missing 10" swim bait that he threw shallow, and then just twitched, because it didn't swim worth beans. We sometimes make things harder than they need to be.

Can you epoxy over spar urethane?

Pardon a dumb question, but are they surface, or sub-surface floaters?

Benton's probably right. Soaking a piece of wood does let the sealer penetrate deeper, but it will take longer to get rid of the solvents/carrier. Now my opinions are those of a hobbiest, not a professional. I don't sell my lures, just make them for me and my friends, so I don't have to worry about customer satisfaction. So take them for what their worth, not as gospel. It seems to me that soaking a lure is a waste of time if you're going to clear coat it with epoxy. The epoxy is water proof, and, if it gets nicked while I'm fishing, I keep fishing anyway, and then hang the lure to dry and recoat or touchup the epoxy after I get home.

Don't know if this would work for tissue paper lures, but when a client asks me what a certain wood looks like with finish on it, I wipe it with paint thinner, and, while it's wet, it looks the same as when it's got a clear finish on it. For stone, I just spit on it. There's probably a neutral liquid/wetting agent you could put on your lure to see how it will look finished before you clear coat it, so you can still play with the paint scheme if you're not happy with the way it looks.

clemmy, Isn't that the stuff that makes Red Bull taste so awful?

Erik, You might try some flip flop paint green/gold over green/brown createx. I just did that to get a muted trout look, and it's similar to the Rookie's colors. I'll try to post a picture after I clear it so the colors show better.

Strip it and let it dry for a week in a warm place. Moisture can be wicked deep into wood, and not find it's way out until it's trapped and turns to vapor, which will lift the finish or cause the wood to swell and crack the finish. You could also try dipping it in alcohol and then letting it dry. Repeat several times. Alcohol draws moisture out of wood.

You might try making another of the same wood, wet it to raise the grain, don't sand it, dye it with an alcohol dye from a wood working or paint store, and then see what it looks like. Alcohol dyes are really vivid in their colors. You may choose to just clear coat it after that, depending on the dye you select. If you don't like it, you can sand it and redye it, or paint it. I don't sand to perfection before, or after, I seal my lures. Granted they're big, and mostly reaction baits, but the raised grain, if there's any left, just gives the paint a more 3D look, and the epoxy makes the surface smooth anyway. I actually have done it and had a friend ask me to leave the grain like that on a lure I was making for him. He said it was a different look that he thought would appeal to fish. He catches big fish, so maybe it's a good idea.

I think the capt. and jflures are right. I would clear coat it. That should make the colors come alive.

Happy birthday Sensei.

I don't fish for musky, or pike, or any really toothy fish, so I can only speak about the bass lures I make. I use pine for some gliders, but I use either 1 1/2" screw eyes, or twisted stainless steel wire, again 1 1/2". I use 5 minute epoxy to seat both. If I'm using poplar, a harder wood, I don't mind going to shorter screw eyes or twist wires. I like pine because it is light, but strong, and I can really have a low center of gravity which is important for gliders and walk the dog lures.

Nice stuff!

Man, what kind of rod do you use to throw that, a tuna stick?

I use Createx. I dob it on with the back of a drill bit, and then blow dry it by making circles around it as it dries, so I don't actually put the blast of air on the wet paint, until the paint has lost the wet look, and then I put the heat directly on it. It's slow, one eye at a time, but that's how I do it.

What I remember reading is some kind of polyurethane decking from Lowe's. Sorry, I don't remember the name.

Someone on this forum (sorry, I can't remember who, or I'd give him credit) recommended "T"ing your trebles to avoid hook rash. Bending the two hooks that rub out to parallel, so they don't rub against the sides of the lure. The person who recommended it said he did it for trolling lures, to prevent them from getting stuck by their own trebles while being trolled. I tried it on my swimbaits, and it works.

Ouch! That's gotta hurt. Especially your ego. Good thing you have a sense of humor. Glad it wasn't any more serious.

For me, the weight placement has to do with how the lure sinks when paused. I want it to sink horizontal, or with a slight head down, circling action, instead of diving head first.

I think MuskyGary is right. If there was ever a lure that would be easy to duplicate/knock off, that has to be it. With a good length of dowel, you could turn half a dozen blanks in a row in 30 minutes, and then fine tune one until it's right, and duplicate it on the rest. If you think hardwood dowels are too heavy, buy some clothes pole, or rip some pine to the overall dimension you want, plus a little for centering, and turn it round. then shape it. Could be a gold mine for you, based on what I've read from everyone here on how the original fishes.

John, Congratulations! Which lake was that caught from, and who was the angler?

Here's my first. Clothes pole dowel, rattle can paint. It was an attempt to duplicate my partner's 10" pupfish I broke. Sorry, I don't know how to post it larger.

I've found that the whole bait needs to be tested to really find out how it swims. I shape it, seal it, hinge it, and weight it, checking how it floats in a 5 gallon bucket of water in my garage. I use split shots to adjust the weight, both for quantity and location. I can pinch them onto the hooks to get both the weight and floatation right before I drill and epoxy them in. Then I go to a local pond and test it.