diemai

DONE ! Though Murphy did not quite leave me alone on the final run again:( , I am now done with my first swimbait attempt and I like it ! Haven't yet field-tested it , since I like to have the topcoats cured for a few days before exposal to water . The hinge pins now sit very tight in their bores , had to push them in with quite a force under constant turning , but I did not have to drill the bores free from epoxy , not too much had entered whilst topcoating a few layers of epoxy and two-component clear gloss . But still the little pieces of electricity cable insulation securig the pins are fixed with a drop of superglue . After I had glued in the bristle fins with two-component glue , I have found some spots in their fitting grooves been uncovered with glue , so I decided to have some of my two-component clear paint flown into those gaps to seal off the entire bond properly:wink: . So well , after I had applied a good share of that clear paint with a brush and laid the sections aside to dry , Murphy joined the game to have me find the wet paint "climbing" upward inbetween the bristles ! As I noticed this , instantly it came to my mind , that decades ago in school I had heard about a physical effect like this , but it was too late , the bristles got partly stuck to one another ! The dorsal fin got affected more , the tail fin only has some bristles at its bottom bonded half length , I am hoping , that it won't affect the swimming action too much , can't wait to test the lure coming week ! Finally I would like to thank all the guys involved here on TU for their support and assistance , my special gratitude goes to mark poulson:worship: ! This was definately not my one and only swimbait , a new idea is already on my mind(smaller bait with different hinges)..............! Thanks all:worship: , greetz , Dieter

I just like these baits ! Greetz , diemai

Allright , here are the other two lures ! I know , that I can never match the premium class A paintjobs to be seen here on TU , but I really enjoy making these lures , and sometimes I also catch fish on them , luckily:) ! Greetz , Dieter

Hi , folks Whilst I am still working on the metal flake finish of two of my new "banana" lures , I have just today completed the other four baits . They are rattle canned and brush painted(with modelmaking enamels) , but I haven't yet field-tested them . Nevertheless they all worked fine during my bathtube tests for weighting them , still unpainted . Only the one in pink with a blue head runs a little too moderate for my taste , I guess , this is because its body cross section is partly rather flat , so it is unable to "roll" as much as the other baits:? ! Anyway , I am still going to wait a few days more to cast them for first , I just want the topcoats to cure a bit more . Greetz , Dieter

I use the larger "Dremel" coarse sanding drum to furnish the round backs and bellies of my wooden lures , just freehand and after eye-balling . When the rough shaping is done that way , I'd sand smooth with a sandpaper file . "Dremel" router bits are not much suited for body shaping freehand , most likely they tend to "pull" into the wood , leaving blemishes in it . Only use round and oval bits to shape cupped head planes on poppers or diving lures ! Greetz , diemai

There are also a lot of links listed at Lure Fishing UK , on the start page click on "links" and you're there ! Greetz , diemai

I'd say , that you are a "master of the spray can" , very pretty jobs , made with patience and passion ! Greetz , diemai

@ carpholeo Your mackerel is a pretty lot better than the one , that my wife fried yesterday , at least not as smelly ! Great lure , indeed ! But like you , I doubt its functionality in wood , the ridge between pin and the end of the section is just too narrow for me to trust , it may tear out under tension , even in hardwood . greetz , diemai

@ Spike-A-Pike Ordering stuff from Welcome to Moore's Lures for a few times , I could always deduct the US federal excise tax from my bill , no problems about it . OK , Canada is not overseas , but it is also an entirely different nation , so the US ministry of finance should not collect the tax either in this case , one should ask the seller before buying . greetz , diemai

In the early 1990's after the "Iron Curtain" had fallen I bought some Russian made spoons on a fleamarket , they were cheap and looked nice being sprayed in fancy colors . I fished them quite a while , as usual close at bottom , tossing 'em over shells , rocks and gravel . One day I opened up my stowaway only to find most of my lures in there covered with a rusty , brown sediment ! The Russian spoons were of steel , those days I didn't even know about lures of ordinary steel , thought , that such should be impossible:huh: ! The hard fishing had damaged the paint,-and nickel coats of those spoons , so they started to corrode instantly . Nowadays I'd rather take a magnet with me buying strange , unknown metal lures on fleamarkets , if they stick , hands off ! I would never again put such in my tackle box ! Good Luck , diemai

@ twells The bait looks very nice already , but to make things easier , I would have made the separation cuts prior to putting the body to shape(still in the stage of a flat wood board) . For one separation I'd employ alltogether four perfectly aligned sawcuts leading down from back , belly and either flank , leaving a ridge in the center of body to still hold it together , until all outer shaping is done . Also a lipslot and a slot for the tailfin I'd cut at this stage prior to shaping . I haven't quite done this on my first swimbait as well , shown in my thread "swimbait , very first attempt" , but only because the shape of my bait is kept quite simple , the flanks are rather flat and no details carved in , so I could handle the transitions from section to section just by eyeballing , but I think , when making a more detailed lure like yours , I would go with that method described above . Its quite tricky now to fix your lure for accurate sawcuts , you also might put blemishes into its finished shape . But at least now I know , how a gizzard looks like , don't have them in Europe , but looks much like our native bream , only that one gets twice as big . greetz , diemai

@ mangeboy79 Cool video , cool lure:) ! Never knew , that one can get such a nice "walk-the-dog" action out of a bait , that is unweighted ! I guess , it's the heavy oakwood and tapered body providing that action , the stickbait balances itself , so to speak . I learned during my apprenticeship as a toolmaker about 30 years ago , that one should never wear long sleeves , when working on rotating machinery parts(also no bangles:wink:) , these might catch up and lead to serious injuries ! Greetz , diemai

Hi , folks Here are some pics showing how I put on the first layer of the metal flake finish , that I mentioned in my previous post here . Before this I have primed the lures as usual and sprayed on a silver base color , so it seems , that already with the first process a good coverage has been achieved , but I am sure , that I might have to apply a second layer . When the epoxy coat , on which I sprinkled the metal flakes , has dried after one day , I'd shake off all loose glitter particles , so some gaps might still show up , and I'd have to repeat . After I'd put on some more coats of epoxy to render the surface more smooth , so that I can spray on some contrasting colors on the belly . I might as well put on metal flakes again , also in different colors . I guess , I'm gonna do this on the backs of the lures , and only spray the bellies ! To sprinkle on the flakes , I put a slightly kinked clean piece of paper underneath to gather all particles falling aside , the kink acts like a kind of funnel to pour the flakes back into their container:wink: . Greetz , Dieter

@ summitlures As I stated before , it is only a matter of the weight required , also to prevent a lipped bait(of any kind) from tipping over , but too much weight at a wrong location might also minor or even spoil the lures action . But when a lipped bait tends to lay on its side on retrieve , you might also try to shave the lip first , or alter the position of the tow eye . At least this would be your only option , after weighting trial and error should fail . If you would supply a pic of that lure , maybe I(and other members) could give you more detailed advice:huh: ? greetz , diemai

@ summitlures If you don't care about the outer look of your bait , you surely could ! But , as I mentioned previously , the amount of weight would be the problem , or you don't mind to stick a couple of layers of such lead tape over one another to your lure ? Don't know which kind of lead tape is available in the US , over here in Germany we can only get(hardly) "Suspendots" and "Suspenstrips" by "STORM" , and these are surely not suitable to entirely balance a larger lure , but only to achieve subtle changes in lure action . To obtain heavier stick-on weights as the "STORM" products , I have simply evened up some roofing lead sheet of 1 mm thickness(possibly not too tarnished) and stuck it onto double sided tape(the kind used for laying carpets) , this way I can cut out those weight strips just with scissors , peel off the second protective foil from the tape and stick the lead onto my lure . Most likely this kind of tape sticks like hell , and won't come off in the water easily . Maybe , there is even thicker roofing lead around(never came across such here) , in this case one could still go heavier by this method , but using shears for cutting ! Greetz , diemai

@ Spike-A-Pike I understand , that those "Keeper" hooks and ordinary worm hooks are too weak for your purposes . I know those "Octopus Faultless" hooks , used them in small sizes for eel , pike and zander(walleye) , rigging dead baitfish . There are some more strong VMC saltwater hooks available in that certain catalog , model 9730PS(halibut) and model 9754PS(has little longer shank). Though these European model codes may differ to the American ones , there should still be the same hooks available . After the catalog pics the above mentioned hooks have a closed straight eye , still little larger than the eye on the "octopus faultless" , feature a straight shaft and are obviously not reversed . The 9730PS(halibut) is also flattened and said to be forged , "PS" stands for "Permasteel" . Due to the bigger hook eyes it might be easier to rig your homemade screw lock and splitring . To let hookpoint always ride upright , I have put one or two splitshots onto the hookshank , but my spinners those days were smaller , I doubt , wether such would be possible with musky size lures . Greetz , Dieter

@ Spike-A-Pike Did you come across these VMC hooks in the USA ? They are supposed to rig plastic tubing onto them for saltwater fishing in the Baltic and North Atlantic coast off Norway(check pic of readily made lures) , and are also quite strong with an open eye . Maybe you could rig a grub onto them as well , probably secured with some superglue ? They have them in smaller sizes as well ! The catalog is from HAKUMA ihr Spezialist f

@ rofish It's true , the most elaborate one , that I ever made:yes: , but I guess , it is part of the intention of such swimbaits to be looking as realistic as possible , and since my my first rattle can job failed , I just had to proceed this way , since I don't intend to use an airbrush . On ordinary crankbaits or topwater lures I might not do it , but I must admit , that I came to like this paint style , so maybe in future a little less lures made but painted thorougly...........!?!? I made those hinges after mark poulsons describtions , since I do not have any experience with swimbaits , this is my first:yes: ! But I saw many lures rigged this way , have already also seen descriptions , but I don't remember any mentioning washers at your suggested locations . Though your concerns are truly considerable , I'll risk it to go without washers at first , and if it is only to learn more about swimbaits . If the finish should get spoiled by that certain abrasion , caused by the constant movements of the hinges , I could always disassemble the lure without any problem(Thanks to Mark )and re-coat . In this case I would off course rig washers , but I really want to see first , wether such would really happen and in which extend ? It would be too late now to put 0,5 mm washers anyway , would have had to consider about it when cutting the hinge slots , but , if neccessary , I could make such washers also only 0,1 mm or maybe even only 0,05 mm thick ! Provided , that I get sufficient brass or even SST foil at my work , some times I see such on the scrabyard , but so far I never bothered about it:huh: ! Greetz , Dieter

@ summitlures Dropshot weights have a kind of line clip , do you mean to utilize that one to fix the weights outside of body to the the hookeyes to save the work of elaborate balancing and embedding weights into your lure ? If it should be so , I tell you , that it would be worth a try , but in my opinion it does not look too well and , more important , bigger weights near the hook might decrease amounts of hook-ups of striking fish . I don't have experience about such exterior weights rigged onto swimbaits , but I have already tuned crankbaits by winding solder wire or roofing lead-strips around the hookshanks , but these only provide a little , subtle weight to bigger lures , on smaller lures though , these could make up for the difference of a sinking , floating or suspending lure . But they might as well minor or even spoil the lures action , it is all subject to trial and error ! Sorry , can't talk about basswood , I know the term , but as far as I am concerned , we do not have it in Europe , at least I don't know a translation for it(if there even is one ?) . Proper weighting does not only depend on the kind of wood you use , but also on the size of your lure , just for example:wink: : A 5" bait of more buoyant wood would probably require the same amount of weight as a 7" lookalike of heavier wood to let both lures sink at same speed , but that does not neccessarely mean , that this certain weight provides enough balance on the larger lure to get it to swim properly ! A certain amount of "keelweight" is essential to counterbalance the swinging movements of a swimbait and hinder it to swim on its side . But as said before , there's a lot of trial and error about it . good success , diemai

@ summitlures Don't know about the exact design , that you'd probably have in mind , but I'd rather say , that it would not work out , since maybe only smaller leadshot would fit into those hinge bores at bottom of lure . Even if you would use a less buoyant kind of wood , a certain amount of weight at the belly of lure would still be essential to balance the lure to a proper swimming action , at least if its heigth is more than its width(cross-section of body) . But it really also depends on the design in general . Greetz , diemai

I don't know , wether you intend to render your in-lines weedless with this single hook(with added screw lock and hookpoint hidden into grub)or you just want to add attraction to them . I have tried the first version as well many years ago with wide gap worm hooks , that had a sort of "needles" fixed onto the hookeyes (to poke on the grub) . Haven't fished these a lot those days and later disassembled them again , I just don't believe in good hook-up possibilities of such a lure , since the hook might probably rotate on retrieve , unless weighted on the shank , for the hookpoint always to ride upright . I have tried this "weighted hook" rig as well , but fish were very reluctant at that time as well , don't remember to have caught on either model . You may laugh at me , but I don't like metal ,-or wood lures with attached plastics too much , because of storing problems , since the plastics might affect paint or decal foil on those lures and all ends up into a sticky kinda jelly ! Still use them ocassionally , but I'd always put a plastic bag over the grubs or take them off for separate storage . If you only want to add attraction to your spinners , why not snipping off the third hook pronge(the one soldered on) , possibly grind the remaining wire end flush down to the hookshank . This way you can now poke on your grub easily and fix the now double hook to your spinner with a splitring . greetz , Dieter