Lance

All the reasons stated so far apply to me, however; the most compelling reason for me was to duplicate old lures from the 1930's 40's and 50's that my father left me when he passed away. Special gratification when I catch a bass on my own rendition of a paw paw minnow,river runt, or various other old lures my father used when he was a kid. I am sure my father's spirit is proud.

Can you tell us a little more about what materials you are using and how you are trying to go about it?

I agree with Bob

I am happy with the Eagle Claw laser sharp trebles that I use. I always try to be as cheap as I can be in my lure making (yes I am proud to be a cheap hooker) but I still want a decent hook. I feel the Eagle Claw laser sharp is a good compromise between value and quality. I understand what you mean about the short shank not giving much room to work with when tying trailers. However, I have also found that when I use longer shank hooks it increases the incidence of the hook becoming tangled on the line during the cast or as it sinks toward the bottom (we call that getting its foot in its mouth). This maybe in part due to the fact that I am making weight forward spinners not sure but anyway that's my two cents worth (which is asking a lot from a cheap hooker like me ). Keep on fishin!

Like so many other lures in fishing the in-line spinner is made to catch fishermen first and then the fish. If I had to bet it makes little difference to the fish one way or the other. The biggest difference in the two is you can probably cast an undressed spinner a little bit farther and easier because the dressed treble can create a little bit of wind resistance, especially if casting into the wind. That was always my biggest objection to a mepps in-line. They dress their trebles with sqirrel hair which seeems to make the smaller models a little hard to cast. That being said; do I dress most of my in-lines... yes I do, but I consider dressing the treble as part of the fun of it and it does make a prettier bait. I usually use bucktail. You may want to try this trick... take a hollow "panfish" size tube grub and cut the tip of the head of it off then slide it over the shank of your treble... wa la instant dressed treble!

I have used an inline spinner similiar to what you have described called a shyster. Very good inline however it always seemed to have a hook just a little on the small side. I make my own in line spinners now and I also put a bend in the wire where the line tie is. Actualy most of the time I make weight forward spinners with the wire bent at the line tie which more or less completely eliminates line twist. Even though by pure definition it is a weight forward spinner and not an in-line; it still serves the same purpose. I just start with a loop to hold the hook (dressed or plain); then I add my beads, clevis, and blade (I usually use a french blade); then I make a complete small loop in the wire about a quarter inch in front of the blade; add a bullet weight (the kind used for texas rig worm fishing) the loop in the wire serves to stop the bullet weight before it slides down to the blade; then about a quarter inch in front of the bullet weight I bend the wire at about a 60 degree angle then about a quarter inch up the wire I make a bend back towards the rear and wrap the wire back around the main shaft a couple times then cut the excess. I then paint the bullet weight with fingernail polish. When the polish is dry I put a piece of electrical tape on the wire where the front tip of the bullet weight is so as to hold the rear of the weight snug against the loop I made in the wire earlier also I put a piece of tape around the blade to keep it from sliding down the wire so as to keep it from touching the loop in the wire. I use devcon 2t on the weight being sure to get some on the rear portion of the weight where it contacts the loop in the wire. Then just hang it upside down by the hook and wait for it to dry. When the glue is dry remove the electrical tape and your done. The weight is afixed to the wire by the devcon 2t and the loop at the rear of the weight.

I can only relate to my own experience in this matter. I live on a 15000 acre impoundment which is 47 years old. It is relatively near the largest city in the state so it gets a huge amount of fishing presure and boat traffic. I have wondered at times how much lead is in the lake and I know it must be in the tons. The lake stills produces good fishing each year and the government has completed multiple studies of the fish in the lake to determine if the fish are safe to eat. The only pollution the government has determined that affects the consumability of the fish comes from an industrial plant that pollutes one of the feeder creeks. I would be willing to bet the gas and oil that leaks into the lake from power boats and jet skies pollutes the water much mroe than lead not to mention the overflowing septic tanks when it comes a good flood. Always has seemed strange to me that people often won't eat fish from this lake yet have no problem eating the "farm raised" talapia from China they buy at wally world. Fact of the matter is in my opinion until we get a grip on the exponential overpopulation of this nation the eventual ruining of the environment is inevitable. So I say no to the lead ban.

I thought I was the only one who did this in this way. That's a good idea about using a highlighter pen. Always learning something on this web site!

Well guess I'm going to be odd man out again but I use barrel swivels from Janns and they work adequately for me. They do not produce as many revolutions per minute as a ball bearing swivel true; but who cares, as long as the blade is turning and producing flash and moving water that is all I am concerned about. Remember water is much denser than air so blades spin much easier under water. O.K. now everybody get in line to throw things at me and call me a cheap hooker. Just giving an honest opinion (course I'm always keeping an open mind also)

I use cheap kids nylon paintbrushes I find at wally world in the art department. I think they come about 30 to a pack for $2.48 so I just use one and throw it away. I also wear tight fitting plastic gloves whenever I work with epoxy. Don't like the idea of it on my skin. The container warns that it may cause cancer in the state of california; I don't actually live in california but I have visited there so I don't take any chances.

As Al Pacino once said to Keanu Reeves in the movie The Devils Advocate;"I stand corrected"

I have convinced myself color makes very little difference; might be wrong but you can't convince me a fish turns down a chance to eat based on color. That being said I do tend to use lighter more translucent natural looking colors in clearer water and darker solid colors in more dingy water. I think the best color is confidence. Odd I should say that considering I can have long conversations with my fishing buddy over what color to make my next lure; fishermen have strange ways

I use camel hair paint brushes for base coats and then follow up with a sponge brush. Just be sure you have some sort of pallet to dab your sponge on first before applying to your lure; not quite as perfect results as when using a spray brush but a lot easier and cheaper. Check out the river runt I have in the gallery, I sponge painted it. Permanent markers can also be handy sometimes, I used them on the "sail shark" in the gallery also. I am going to get a spray brush one of these days I promise but till then I think the fish care more about how the lure acts in the water than how it looks.

Don't worry, she has been a fishing widow for the last several years and she still hangs around. Hum maybe if I stoped feeding her...

Well, you guys have convinced me, if it will make my wife leave me it's time for an airbrush!

I guess it is a lot like my mother told me many years ago... it takes all kinds of people to make the world go around. I love this web site and really enjoy reading what you guys have to say and admire the work you do but that being said I really am happy at the present time just keeping it simple and relatively cheap. I do not own an airbrush yet which I know is probably offensive to most of you guys but I simply can paint lures with a combination of camel hair brushes, sponge brushes, and permanent markers that will catch fish. I make topwaters, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, bladebaits, and plastic worms, all without the aid of an airbrush, melting pots, or molds. I live on a 15,000 acre lake so it makes it easy for me to test lures after I make them, I just walk out my back door and start casting. At this point I believe I am actually saving money on lures as opposed to buying them at the tackle shop. I use a combination of a coping saw, an off-brand electric dremel tool I found at ace harware, and sandpaper to cut my basswood lures. I make spinnerbaits by running wire through an egg sinker and then using devcon 2 ton epoxy to hold the wire in place, the hook will be free swinging instead of in a fixed position but I think that is actually an improovement vs store bought models. I make a blade biat similiar to a reef runner cicada by epoxying a #4 willow leaf blade to a 3/8 ounce finnese weight after I have drilled three holes in the blade in the correct positions for two hooks and a split ring/barrel swivel line tie. I make plastic worms with plaster of paris molds; are they works of art; no, would they sell at the bait shop; no, do they catch fish; yes. Hell I'm even so cheap I use egg sinkers I get at the local bait shop for 4 cents a piece on my texas rigs instead of the clasic bullet weights. The lake I fish has lots of rocks and I think the egg sinker shape actually comes through the rocks on bottom without getting hung up better than the bullet weight shape. Well I have had a good spring of fishing but now the weather is starting to get hot where I live so it's about time to start making lures again, haven't made any since winter and I am ready to get to it. Just saying you don't have to break the bank just to make some lures for your pesonal use. Ain't nothing like catching a fish on a lure you've made yourself, that's for sure!

I knew I was saving those things for some reason! Sounds like a good idea. I also use indiana spinner blades for lips. Just put in a screw (i usualy use a 1 1/16 inch screw) parallel to the lip leaving about a quarter inch or less exposed as desired. The bait can easily be tuned when complete by bending the exposed portion of the screw left or right as needed. Kind of an easy cheap way of doing it but it works good enough for a cheap hooker like me.

That is what I have been doing and it works good. Of course you can't control the weight to exact specs since you have to use whatever the weight you are employing actually weighs. Still in all it is the simplest, easy way; and I like simple and easy.

Thanks for the laughs! That is hillarious! You know they say that nothing is really funny if there is not some truth to it, so you must have hit the nail on the head! On the subject of cost I pride myself on being a cheap hooker. Luremaking like fishing itself is what you make it to be. To me that is one of the great things about it. I make lures that are functional fish catching lures for less money than store bought. Granted I already had some of the basics laying around the house to start with like a drill, a dremel tool, hammer, and coping saw, but even if you had to go out and buy those items it is not a huge expense. There are two major parts to consider when making a fishing lure... how it is going to function and how it is going to look. I put more importance on function, such as how well it casts, how true it runs, and how it acts similiar or different from the store bought models. While I want it to look good, looks I think catch fishermen more than the fish. Like I say if you want great looking lures like the ones posted here get yourself a good air brush and knock yourself out. I plan on getting one sometime soon myself, but it is not 100% critical to having fun making lures no more than buying a top of the line Triton bass boat is to having some fun fishing.

I also use snug fitting plastic disposable gloves when I work with epoxy. Most times I don't get any on my fingers but occasionally it will happen especially when you are turning by hand. Not completely necessary but just a good thing to do.