diemai

@ Munkin It's pretty clean , just gotta mind your steps:huh: ! Greetz , diemai

@ zisoua At first , welcome to TU cadman hit it right , that fish body is cast from lead . I have a lure with exactly the same body style , but with a different blade . It was sold by one of the bigger German tackle companies , but I guess , that they have imported it from a manufacturer in the Far East , like many other tackle companies worldwide do , so same or similar lurestyles are around in different places of the world . Hardly any of these companies still manufacture by themselves , only have their name print on their stuff . Greetz , diemai

@ hazmail Pete , you always make me laugh sitting at the screen , good sense of humour , lol:lol: ! Or should you be serious ? ! ? Greetz:yay: , Dieter

@ MINESAPINT Check this , hope , that it is readable ! Toweyes placed a little fraction above the center , and nothing should go wrong , too high above the center and the lure would overturn . Greetz , diemai

@ Jeep May be true , that your preserver has not entered the holes due to their small diameter:? ! The wood inside could also have been cracked before , you never can be 100% sure , since it is a natural product . I have had similar problems many years ago with jerks of local pinewood , soaking them into turpentine/linseedoil for some days . Pretty soon after the final topcoats and first fishing all the four of 'em evolved crackles , that went down right into the wood body , I guess , that the resin inside the pinewood reacted somehow with my preserver lotion ? Nowadays I only use this method on abachewood exclusively:yes: . good luck , Dieter

So sorry about that mess , Jeep , Murphy's obviously got you as well:( ! Check my thread "swimbait , very first attempt" , page 3 , I have described there , how I did it on my first swimbait . And I guess , that it was Snax , that advised someone in another thread , that I read recently , to thoroughly glue plastic tubing , taken from "Q-tips" ear cleaning sticks , into the hinge bores to seal them off . good luck , Dieter

@ MINESAPINT Very true , everyone has an own opinion upon which kinda lures are best for certain species , so you can't really go wrong with your plans about building an assortment of different lures:yes: . It may take several sessions or even seasons to find out about your own "sure fire weapon" for local waters(been there , done that , at least for pike lures) , but like you said , trying to imitate the natural forage of your targeted species is the best way to start out ! good success furthermore , diemai

@ MINESAPINT So obviously I was mistaken about the small lip , that you have posted at first , sorry once again:worship: ! But as I wrote before , not a great problem to shave bigger lips ! And a comparison test between the two different lures in that cattle trough would surely etch in your mind , in terms of a learning process:yes: . Concerning "all these patterns" , are you refering to diving bills or to the topwater lures in your other thread ? great to see you proceed , Dieter

".....I'm a major animal lover and a vegetarian !" Hey lady , millions of pork chop chewers can't be wrong , lol:p:p ! great article , Pete:yay: greetz , Dieter

@ keram Really like your "vintage " style of baits , truly ! And your local fish surely would as well:roll: ! keep on carvin', diemai

@ MINESAPINT I know your problem too well ! Though I live in a 18.000 citizens town I always have to go to Hamburg or other towns in 25 miles vicinity for my stuff . For SSt wire check welding supplies , mailorder tackle ,- or component shops carry special luremaking wire(a fraction more rigid , I'd say) as well in a bigger choice , but yet more expensive . Over here I can get spooled welding wire 0.8 mm dia , and 1.0 mm and 1.5 mm in rods of 1 metre length . For the majority of lures the 1.0 mm dia. is OK , the thinner one only for smaller lures , the thicker one for lures of 1 foot+ and huge bucktail spinners . greetz , Dieter

@ MINESAPINT I won't put wooden or plastic topwater lures into same category as dry flies , but off course all of these work on the surface , they do not run below(or maybe at least a fraction , if you want to be tolerant with the term !) . The topwater lures separate into still different terms for lures with different actions , but all have in common to be retrieved on the surface . As there are : -poppers (generate popping sounds on short jerks and twitches) -stickbaits(streamline,-or cigar-shaped , tailweighted lures , on rythmic , constant twitches they "walk-the-dog" , meaning they come back in in a zig-zag course on the surface). -crawlers(have a wide cupped nose-plate of metal , causing the lure to come back with a gurgling , "plopp-plopp-plopp" sound on a steady retrieve) . -creepers(similar action pattern like crawlers , but have two hinged metal wings on either side) . propbaits(cigar,-or streamline-shaped , have propellers fore and aft or only on one end , steady retrieve or twitching) . globe-lures(cigar-shaped , have a rotating front section , a wide propeller blade is screwed onto the rear end of front portion to let it spin on a steady retrieve). tallywhackers(fish,-or streamline-shaped , have a rotating tailsection , driven by a single , larger , potruding flap that is similarly shaped like one half of a buzzblade , also steady retrieve required) . flaptails(a lure , that has a swivelled , thicker kinda spinnerblade on the tail , that moves to either direction on a slow retrieve , if it starts to spin , you're going too fast . Often has some metal or screws on its rear for the blade to hit on for added noise) . chuggers(rather looking like a popper , but has also sligthly different mouth designs for different actions , some of 'em pop on a jerk and also dive up to 1 1/2 feet down , my favourite of these is the "Heddon Lucky 13" , an extremly good pike lure for shallow water) . OK , this little list-up may be not perfect , but I hope , that it would provide some info for you ! greetz , Dieter

@ MINESAPINT I won't add to the working procedure , all has been said already previously , but I'd strictly recommend the use of a lighter type of wood for topwater lures , at first it provides better action for the purpose , second you have better possibilities for adding ballast weights , hence alter or even improve the action of the lure . I most likely turn my topwater plugs from abachewood , available over here in boards of 20 and 25mm thickness , at different heights . It is light , somewhat between pine and balsa , easy to work with , but yet holds screw eyes well , if you epoxy them . It is used to furnish the seatbenches of those Finnish steambaths called "Sauna" , thus this wood is also known as "Sauna-boards" over here . As far , as I'm concerned , famous Finnish manufacturers like "Turus Ukko" and "Nils Master" use it for their wooden crankbaits as well . greetz , Dieter

@ MINESAPINT I have to apologize for not having gone into deeper details about describing about the lip size in my previous post . When talking about the width of the lip potruding max. 1/10" over the greatest with of lurebody , I simply assumed and took for granted , that you would know about most common lip SHAPES:huh: ! Most likely the lips of such a crankbait style narrow towards their base(the end glued into body) , the outer end is wider and most likely furnished halfround , straight or pointed . I am really sorry for that lack of explanation . I think , that your lure , as it it is now , might wobble too strong or even overturn. Maybe even it won't wobble at all , but dive down straight . The lip has got a too large surface and insufficient shape now in my opinion , to find out better , you need to test your lure in a bath tub or small pond . In case , one of the issues above should occur , it would be quite easy to shave the lip a bit , first taper it towards its base equally on either side , test for action and , if not satisfied , round off the outer end , possibly shorten it a bit as well . You don't have to remove lip again for this operation , you may do the coarse shaping carefully on a sanding disc or grinding wheel , after fix the lip only in a vise(take care not to accidentally hit or bend the body , lip might break of or get damaged) , a little filing takes care of the rest . Been there , done that ! But first test:yay: !!!!!!! On your next lures you might as well place the lip just a fraction further towards tail and locate line tie a bit lower , maybe even just under the chin . Every little thing altered will cause differences in lure action and behaviour . I have enclosed some book pictures on lip shapes . Thoug these lips shown there are deep diving lips with the line ties attached right onto them , they still indicate , how a lip should be shaped , it is obvious , that all are somewhat narrower at their base . Diving lips on your style of shallower diving lures are usually smaller than on deep divers , also the toweye is not placed straight on them , but somewhere at the nose of lure . Again , I am sorry about this little misunderstanding , that may cause you a little extra work , but as you also said , "all part of the learning curve" . Remember to always test after every change:yes: , Dieter