mark poulson

Here's my bass version. They're both 7", plus another 2" for the triple trout tail. They're floaters, and don't roll, even if I burn them. Beginner's luck. Man, it's great to have a kid at home who knows how to do this stuff! I'm never letting her leave!

Oops. I'll try again. My daughter is now here to help me.

Well, I finally got a picture of my lure. I had to recoat it. My brilliant idea of coating the joint faces with 5 minute, and then putting the lure together and coating the rest, wasn't so brilliant. The 5 minute started peeling, so I pulled it off, repainted the joints with pearl silver, and recoated the whole thing with Envirotex, using the separated joint technique I saw here last week. It worked like a charm. Anyway, here's my weapon. I am still grinning like a newlywed. C:Documents and SettingsMarkLocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.IE5OPHA6TRW

FishThanks, No offense taken. Sorry about your identity theft deal. That stinks. I was thinking that if I were to try to bend those heavy gauge hooks I would have to use either a vise or visegrips. How do you do it?

Jed, Those conditions are rare. I don't like cold weather fishing. Last year, we launched our Feb. club tourney in 19 degree weather, and I wound up with frost bite on two fingers. Man, they hurt when it gets cold now, so I try to avoid cold like the plague. But I had made a commitment to help, so I was there. And since I was there, I figured I might as well fish. Sick, I know. )

As a Jewish carpenter, I have a confession to make. I can only walk on water that's below 32 degrees. )

I can see that for trolling lures Ting the hooks makes sense. I've never trolled for bass or stripers, so it never occured to me. I am now more edumacated. Thanks. I stand corrected. I use 3/0 hooks on my swimbaits. I've never tried bending them. In fact, I use Owner 2X trebles so the bass, and especially the stripers, can't bend them. The Owner hooks are short shank, so I can fit three on a 6" glider without them fouling, and they're sticky sharp. But they do tend to stick in the wood bait sometimes if it lands wrong on a cast. Maybe Ting them would prevent this. I always put extra epoxy on the hook swing faces to fight hook rash. Do you ever bend hooks that big?

Nathan, What a kick! The rain was driving, and the wind was howling, but I yelled "Yes" so loud, two guys in a Ranger stopped to check out my fish. I was grinning from ear to ear. I was working the AC Castaic tournment that Sunday for Mike Iljin as his weighmaster, and he posted that I caught a fish on my own hand carved swimbait on WesternBass.com's southern forum. Now I've got all my "friends" calling me to get one! Man, it's he!! to be popular. LOL

Maybe it was a seafood delivery truck.

One of my wives wrote it! I'm still trying to get that dagger out of my back. )

If you use the rubberband method in Fishthanks photos, you won't need to bend the hooks because they won't swing when you troll them anyway. Hook rash is a fact of life on cast baits, because the dangling, clanging hooks are part of the lure's attraction. An extra coat of clear is a good idea. I carry a bottle of sparkle nail polish in the boat, both to touch up hook rash, and to keep up my sharp personal appearance! )

Dumb Yank question. Isn't Montreal Detroit adjacent? I mean, can't you just drive across the border and buy what you need? Works the other way for prescription drugs.

Actually, when water goes below 32 degrees, it gets less dense, but it gets really hard!

I've never been to Clear Lake. My buddy who fishes with me on weekends has fished it, and so has our club pres. They both rave, and say it has to be fished before I die. Like Mexico. If I drive all the way up there, it will be to fish, not observe, and I'll need the $200 buy in money for gas. I'm cheap!

338muskie, When I'm routing, I stop the bit before any end that might chip, like a lip slot, so it can't grab the end and ruin the piece. Then I hand shape that remaining part with a sanding block. Quick, safe, and not tear out risk.

Phil, I don't make musky baits, so all I can talk about it LM bass and striper lures. A glider is a top water bait that is worked like a spook, but with longer pauses between strokes, so the bait can actually glide to the side after each stroke. The length of the glide is a function of how light and how long the bait is. A jerk bait is a sub surface bait. It is worked the same as a spook, also, but it is not worked on the surface. Typically, I work it with a more erratic cadence, since it is seen better by the fish than a top water lure. A spook-type bait is a top water that, more or less, turns on itself or pivots as it's jerked, rather than gliding. It is worked faster than a glider, in a constant motion that is sometimes paused when you pass over structure, or an area you think has fish. At least, that's how I categorize them, and how I fish them.

I would stick with the start on paper method if it works.

I can't find it on the gallery. Help!

Lockjaw, That thing swims and looks great. How much did that lure weigh, and how long was it?

fourbizzle, It was a great event. Genius concept. I won't go up to Clear Lake for the next one, but I'll sure do it again if it's local. Were you a VTO, or whatever they called us? I rode with Kyle Grover and had a great time. Cold or no, it was a blast. Mark

Double round over bits are very common. Just go to a woodworking store, or site online. Piloted carbide bits are the way to go. Shape your lure, sand it smooth on the edge, and set the bit so you keep a little of the smooth to ride the pilot on. I prefer 1/4 round bits, so I can use the actual lure for the pattern, instead of having to attach a pattern. But if you're into production, the pattern and 1/2 round bit could be the way to go.

For gliders, weight them so they float horizontal with the front 1/3+- out of the water. Make the bait, seal it, install the hook hangers and eye tie, put on the split rings and hooks, and then float it in a bucket of water. Add weight until it floats right. Generally speaking, add the weight toward the tail for a glider, and toward the middle just past the mid point for a walking bait. 6" gliders with less weight, so 1/2 of the front is out of the water, will also walk the dog really well. Making a 9" walk will kill you in five minutes. Good luck.

I think (dangerous, I know) that the water moving past the sides of the swimbait creates the movement, as the water hitting the joints deflects, like a sail, and makes the water swirl as it passes the bait. The pieces are pulled to one side or the other, and once the bait starts to move, the water forces each piece back the other way. A vicious cycle, kind of. I also have a BBZ1 floater, and have caught a lot of fish on it. It shines in the spawn and post spawn, when the bass are most aggressive or have their feed bag on. I can't burn it as fast as a triple trout, so I don't throw it as a reaction bait in the wind. I'll post a picture as soon as I can. I did find out that coating the faces of the joints separately from the main body is a bad idea. The epoxy peeled off the joint faces. I'm going to dig the hinge pins out, re coat the pieces completely using the coat hanger trick posted here earlier today, and then, when it's reassembled, I'll photo it and post it, if I can. Pete, I am not making these to sell, but it is a very compelling hobby. I used to make my own shakey heads, and paint them, but this is way more addicting. And fun. RM, If it's any consolation, last Friday I was a voluteer observer at the first Heavyweight Bass Classic, put on by Ron Cervanka, John Barron, and Ken Huddleston (the swimbait guy) at Lake Casitas in Ojai, CA. One angler and one observer per boat, 50 boats, $200 buy in, $10,000 winner take all for biggest fish. Almost all of the best big fish guys from California, North and South, were there. At safe light launch, it was 40+degrees, 20mph winds, and light rain. That developed during the day to 40- degrees, 35-30mph winds, driving rain and hail. I was never so happy for 2:45 second flight weighin to come! Seven+ hours standing in the back of the boat, watching someone else fish in lousy weather, and a tough bite (Floridas don't like cold fronts) was miserable. My angler caught eight fish, fished hard all day, and had a 10+ follower on a swimbait early, but his biggest was 3.71lbs. The winner was Don Osborne, from NoCal, throwing a 12" Castaic swimbait. He stuck a 10.5lb beauty. He said he caught it on his first cast, third crank of the reel. He also said he'd called the lake and found out that they were planting 12" trout. No one else threw a 12" bait. Sharp guy. Anyway, it was cold, but not snowing. My friend was an angler and was the leader in the hot seat for 45 minutes with a 7+lb jig fish, until Don weighed in. He said at one point his boat was white with hail. That's cold enough for me.

Hand held routers with piloted bits are much safer than router table, which are just small shapers. At least, with your hands on the router, you fingers are up and out of the way. I've seen shaper throw materials 50' in a shop. Router tables, while smaller, can still throw a piece of wood back into you with penetrating force. Read spear or arrow. As was stated earlier, ALWAYS feed against the rotation of the bit, so the cutter is coming toward the work, or you will have the work snatched out of your hand and hurled somewhere you don't want it to go. And always use sharp bit. Nothing is more dangerous than a dull tool.

Great idea! I'm definately going to try that.