A-Mac

Has anyone actually tried contacting lucky craft about getting unpainted baits w/out hooks? I figure if you could get some pointers in bulk (not sure what bulk means to LC), you might be able to get a decent deal on them. If you figure that maybe you could get the LCs for 5 bucks apiece (which can add up fast if its bulk) it would save you all the trouble of tinkering w/ knock offs... plus, you can actually say it is a LC. I've tried janns baits, about 50% of the 78s work... after using suspend strips! I have yet to have the larger knockoff work. So if you add up all the time you spend giving it that awesome one of a kind paint work and clearing just to have a bait suck (or needs an ugly suspend strip slapped on it) I figure its worth the few more bucks of having the tried and true real deal. Hmmm... tried going to LCs website. I just got my computer and it says I need some "plug ins" installed. I'll see if I can contact them about such an order and relay back. BTW, I'm totally not bashing Predator Baits w/ this. I haven't used his lures. All the business I've had with him so far has been excellent and products have been good quality... especially for the price. As for janns, well... I got what I paid for.

Very nice! I like the fact that your still keeping it all original too! I got away from painting eyes on my lures quite a while back... quite agrivating when you "slip" and ruin a good bait... which makes your method excellent! (btw, predator baits those 3ds you sent me are awesome!).

I've always mixed e-tex by volume using syringes. I've had no problems yet.

Not sure how well this will work with dn, but I just dab my finger in the glitter and rub my fingers together over the lure while it turns. It's definately a mess and you waste glitter, but it looks nice and sticks well to the wet epoxy. Glitter is cheap so I don't worry about wasting a little to make it look right.

i got my board from menards about 4 months ago. i don't recall it breaking the bank either. It is also smooth on all sides.

hmmm... i can definately see where drilling a small guide hole would be beneficial... especially if you drill press it when the lure is still a block. Nice one, I'll keep that in mind.

The perfect size is the one that catches either the biggest fish or the most fish (whatever your wanting basically)! Most people don't understand swimbaits. I live in Indiana and a 15" bass will eat a 6.5" shad quite regularly. If they can get there mouth around it, they will eat it. People will think this is too big for a bass but then will go and throw a 12" worm and not think twice. Even fishing shows would be hard to sell such intricate lures. No matter what, the price on your lure will be compared to a lure mass manufactured in China. Everybody loves American made... until they see the price. Your lures are probably the best I've seen... definately the most discrete. The lobster is my fav! I will show my buds that one most times... ask them how much they'd pay for it... and then show them the thread describing all the effort. Not too many people would work for a buck an hour! Good thing we do this for fun I wish I could help more! Don't feel bad about not selling much... your work is very inspiring to everyone on this site!

I definately like the pvc board. Whoever came up with that idea is just brilliant! It seems to be more durable, doesn't chip, and is more consistant to sand then wood. Plus, you don't have to worry about wood densities being different within the lure (which really ticks u off after several hours of forming, painting, and clearing before you can even test it!) So yeah, I love the stuff. The only bad thing is... I miss the smell of cut cedar and oak.

Messing around and found a cool way to countersink eyes. You can make eye sockets using a screw/ nail (whatever is available), pliers, and a lighter. Pick out a nail with a head that is slightly larger than your eyes in diameter. Clamp the screw with the pliers heat it up with the lighter for about 15 seconds and basically brand the lure with the screw. I've found this works well with pvc decking. The nice thing is that both of your eye sockets are identical in size. You will have to do a little touching up with an exacto knife, but its a clean quick process and way easier than trying to carve a perfect circle into the bait (let alone just draw a perfect circle on a round lure!). The hard part is making sure your eye sockets are symetrical... not that most fisherman would catch that if they are slightly off... its just part of lure making to me. If someone has a better way I'm all ears too.

springer 78 jerkbait pointer knockoffs seem ok so far (jannsnetcraft). they aren't lucky crafts! so keep that in mind. You do have to tune them (which im sure all the lure guys on this site are capable of). You do have to add suspend dots (which isn't much different that tuning a rouge). once you get the right boyancy and left/right tuning, the bait casts and runs just like a lucky craft. they do have a loud rattle (unlike lucky craft which hardly rattles). plus, you have the benefit of actually having a real clear coat if you paint them!

that thing will mess up some smallies!

What about a 1 or 2 ot (not sure how the ot is suppose to be expressed), or just a big hook. Currently, when my treble is put on my swimbait two of the three hooks rest flush against the side of the lure and one sticks perpendicular protracting away from lure body. The way I picture a quad hook would have two flush against the body and two extending out off the bait. I figure that a bass has a higher percent chance of getting hooked on the more exposed hooks than those that are flush w/ the lure body... see where I'm going w/ this? and it just looks really freakin' cool which always matters the most:wink:

D:censored:. They would have be excellent on my swimbait too... Cheap strike king junk. Here's another question: I was wondering if they make a treble that has a weed guard on it? I'd like to be able to bring my baits over weed matts. I figure I could make one using some strengthened stainless wire... but that just doesn't seem as much fun to me:teef:

Very nice! Thats awesome action for such little room to perform the bait! Excellent song choice! Saw them in Chicago a couple weeks back.

if all else fails, try Mark Paulson's reverse concave hinge design. It would be a good test to see if it can bring a bait back from the dead.

before you start sanding away, i would strongly advise getting some silly putty and apply it to certain section of the lure. I did this with my first swimbait until I got the desired action. It doesn't take much most times to get the right hydrodynamics to make your bait dance. I would start by apply puddy to the head area. Maybe the top of the head section, or some around the opercular area. If you get any improvement with that, keep adding puddy until you begin to hinder the action. Then, continue to apply puddy (probably to the sides) of each section one at a time. It takes a while, but this is the easiest way to get the right hydrodynamics... unless you can utilize a Vodkaman equation after you see what you need to do, carve up a lure with similar shape to that of the original w/ silly puddy. btw, your through-wire hinge style is amazing! That looks like it took forever! I bet you could haul in a shark w/ that! Good Luck! Live2Fish~Fish2Live

I've seen this quad hook somewhere before... TaterHog maybe? Anywho, after I saw it I had to have them. Does anyone know who makes this? It looks like it would be a killer swimbait hook. Thanks! Live2Fish~Fish2Live

i definately have more respect for the guy. he earned it. I'm an ike fan myself. however, i always root for the federation guys to do well. I had the opportunity to meet up w/ some pros down south and get a vip pass to the weigh-in. 4th row in the best seats in the house! had to show up 2 hours early for them still! if your a bass fisherman, its the experience of a lifetime!

wow... thats crazy! i will also admit that i love my ps900. however, for pearl paints my badger 360 is better. any other createx paints that I've shot worked well though. for the price and the incredible detail, its a must for everyone.

I agree that lead should be banned in sinkers, but not in other lures that incase the metal. However, I also agree that Illinois has bigger things to worry about at the moment. I recently graduated from Purdue University in fisheries aquatic sciences. During the winter months, I pair up with other bass club guys and hit up lake newton, IL (power plant lake). On my last visit, I recieved a written warning for not having battery terminal covers! Thats right, the rubber things that cover up your battery posts. The CO (which is totally NOT the same as a dnr fish biologist) thought he was being nice by not giving the "Indiana Boy" a $150 ticket! He even made me test my fire extinguisher to prove it worked! To make a long story short, :bull:holes like this are reducing fishing license sales and participation (which is a huge problem). The guys next to us recieved a ticket and said that they were never coming back... one less fishing license sold in the future, less money for fisheries biologist. To sum it all up, I'm out of a job do to reductions in fishing license sales (which is also why license prices are on the rise). So next time anyone feels like bi:censored:'in about the DNR, ask yourself why your fishery is going to hell. If you have half the money necessary to do a propper management project (in any job!), you're gonna get a half :bull:job in return. So please keep that in mind before you feel like putting down the people that strive to make your fishing experience better. As for lead being banned, I feel that there are worse chemicals (heavy metals, pcbs, other organochlorides) to worry about, which are more acute in their side affects. However, lead has proven to cause several chronic issues environmentally. Just because 43 birds have been found dead from lead doesn't mean there weren't more. Lead causes several other neurological and reproductive damages. Quite honestly, the odds of someone finding a loon dead with a split shot down its throat is far less than that bird dieing of predation (due to it being more susceptible from being poisoned). So finding 43 dead birds is a huge issue, especially since birds are relatively short lived! People that eat birds and fish would bioaccumulate lead (and whatever else is in them) for years until the concentration is high enough to cause health issues (this is why fish don't typically die from mercury contamination). As a result, you get more cases of cancer and blood diseases. Does anyone know what Hevi-Shot (for duck hunting) is made from? They claim that it is heavier than lead.

when you think about snipping a spoke off your neighbors oldsmobile rims to use as swimbait hinge pins:halo:...come on, you know you want some chrome hardware to pimp your lure!

when your shooting snot rockets that have more grain and texture than plywood. when you have more needles and syringes laying around than a heroin addict. when your countertop is refinished with an involuntary clear coat when your calluses are made from hardened epoxy. when you save your beer pong solo cups to make into a sealer solution. when your girlfriend puts a flower patterned drape to block off your workspace to cover-up the maddness that lurks behind (and tells her friends its the laundry room!).

you aren't hooked quite yet Milia... JUST WAIT 'TIL YOU LAND A FISH ON THAT LURE! Then it's on! You'll soon learn half the fun is building crazy inventions to help you build lures. lure turners, lure makers, paint stencils, the list goes on and on! Pete is probably one of the most inovative people on this site when it comes to lure gizmos.

In order to save yourself a lot of time, you can use twisted stainless wire to make eye screws. Even a screw made only an inch long has more than enough strength (if your using epoxy). However, if you've got room to make them longer go for it. I haven't had any problems with doing this yet with my bluegills. I've had more issues with having strong enough split rings than having the bait come apart... which I suppose is a good thing in a bittersweet way;) just my Just thought of this, if your lure is a balsa bait I would stick with the through wire. If its any other wood, this method will work fine.