jamie

well I was done with the first ever swimbait and was e-texing the last coat and then it happened, I dropped it on the sawdust infested floor.I tried to wipe it up, the more I wiped the more my blood pressure went up. So I did what any other lure maker in my shoes would do got made throwed it away and started over. Here is todays start. I still need to sand some more and trim the joints back so they wont rub. This was a dry fit to see if the pins were true. If you look you cansee the beads I was talking about in a past post. I just wish I had some smaller beads so my hinge hole wasnt so big. It was all I had when I was making musky spinners. This bait will be crappie colored when I finish.

The bulldog series of baits came out with a 15" 16ozer. Im going to have to get one just to shock the bass fisherman , I like playing mind games with those guys.

I have had baits blow up and the wire form saved me when musky fishing, I wouldnt think about screw eyes in balsa for muskies

yankee there is a lot of factors in making cranks. Type of wood balsa and a few other softwoods need through wire cedar poplar wood like that you can get away with screw eyes but I dont like to use them with cranks. The number one reason for me is you cant tune screw eyes like you can with wire and cranks do need to be tuned from time to time.

Hazmail I would love to have a 5 minute shopping spree in your shop LOL......... No Im serious.

Mark Its the opposite when musky fishing the longer the rod the easier on your back it is. The rod takes the load makes all day fishing easier. You can really tell the difference when fishing a short rod throwing 2 to 12oz baits, ouch!!!!

Ive also been working on a beefed up version of jr hopkins style bait for muskies and all I have to say is jr hopkins is the master because I messed up three baits trying. Hats off to you Mr. Hopkins.

diemai the bait looks great. Im following right behind you on making my first swimbait and I hope mine looks as good as yours.

Mark I even use the okuma rods for some musky baits works great for throwing spinners and twitch baits

:worship:Hazmail you are the master. I would have never thought of that one. I always like buiding tools and jigs in the shop and I welcome all tips for making life a little easier.

The baits look great!

thanks for the input on not smearing it has always been in the back of my mind. Now I know, and I might try it now. Do you have to heat set it or just add the top coat.

Mark is right routers are a very dangerous tool, saftey is #1 when useing them. In my opinion the router is the most dangerous tool in the lure building shop. Small pieces of wood , and your fingers, around the high speed bits takes some serious saftey precautions. The blades are not the only thing dangerous things about a router, bait can be slung across the room at high speeds if not held in place properly. Smaller the bait the more dangerous it is. So always have respect for this and all tools in your shop.

The only thing I think with the mailing labels is if you use etex you might want to hit it with a shot of the spray etex first before useing two part. In my mind when the wet etex is being brushed on you might smear the print a little and if you use the spray can type first it wouldnt have a chance to smear. Ive never used print finishes before but its always next thing on my list, you know how that goes.

I picked up some full sheets instead of the small labels and you can print the whole pic at one time.I picked them up at work about three months ago but never used them on a bait yet, dont know why. I like the pics you have,they would make some killer salt water patterns

Took the bait for a swim before painting and swims great.I dont know if the beads helped but it sure didnt hurt it.

Kelly I thought of useing this idea in the past but never got around to it. Back I my short rod building days I seen these finish mixers in my rod building books. I thought it was agood idea but never tried it.

Mark the joint im talking about still has the freedom of movement left to right and also still has a little play up and down. The only thing is it seems to take out the binding of the bait on the up and down side of it. I tried looking at it both ways but without the beads the joints seemed like the bait may at times get in a bind like a leader does on occasions to the front of your muske baits on a cast, you musky guys know what im saying. Time will tell when I get time and finishthe bait. I was just trying to make a better more reliable joint for swimming.

Im sorry ive should of said the hinge pin runs through thetop of the bait then through the bead then the screw eye then through the middle of the bait then through your screw eye then through the bead and out the bottom of your bait. And I know I just made it more confuseing sorry.

I finally started working on my first swimbait after 15 years or so of making lures. I never made one because I was scared of the wear of the clear in the hinge. this might be a good idea or the worst Im no expert on swimbaits , but what if you place a bead like you use in inline spinners above the screw eye on the top hinge and place a bead on the bottom of the screw eye on the bottom hinge.I wish my camera was working so I can show you what im taking about but the bait so far moves freely and smooth. There hardly any play up or down like you would if you didnt have the beads. It seems there is no binding and moves freely with no effort.I dont know how it will swim, because i havnt sealed the bait ive only just dry fitted the bait. What are your ideas on this idea, good or bad?

My season going good considering all the rain and flooding. Moving alot of fish and old dad here even managed to pick up a few here and there. Any day musky fishing a good day on the water, its even better when your kids are with you to do it.

Bruce I was fishing in the PMTT down at cave run a couple years ago and watched what a small net will do for you. I was fishing back in Warix on a weed bed and a this dude came trolling by me and then he hooked up.After a short battle he had what looked like a 43" 44" incher in the net. The only thing was the fish was hanging half way out of the net. I couldnt believe my eyes this guy was fishing for twenty five thousand dollars or so and had a walleye net. On the radio I hear need a judge in warixs, then it happened the fish jumped out of the net. I felt bad for those guys but what were they thinking. My mouth was watering just looking at that fish and it was gone faster than it appeared. Im guilty of small nets also because I fish alot from a 14 ' boat in wv in the many small rivers and creeks, but my net is deep. When fishing the big water in the big boat the big net comes out. Space in a small boat is very hard to come by so if space is big problem go deep,

The fin saver bags are nice but nothing beats a wide hoop and a deep bag. Those fish start to split there fins when the space gets a little tight in the bag. Go deep.

Mark I hate to tell you "where is the pic"

Mr J Step one and two are the steps most anglers skip when they first start musky fishing. There is nothing worse than a musky rolled up in the net with all those hooks and teeth. I always preach leave them in the water, even though muskies look tough they are very fragile fish. Take the hooks out and take a quick photo back in the water fast as you can.Down here in the south when temps rise I dont even take them out of the net, I roll them out and help stablize the fish in the water until the fish is ready to swim on there own. So in a nut shell congrads on the catch, and bigger congrads on thinking of the fish first and not the glory of your pic of your fish with the lure.