diemai

@ pizza Glad to have given you some input with my pics posted:) . Here are some different ones , though not homemade ,thought that they might still provide some more inspiration for you . I have used a squared paper sheet as background , so you can determine about the lure's sizes , each square is 5mm , so five squares almost make up for one inch . Pic 01 shows the smallest "Rapala Original" , the smallest "Nils Master Invincible"(rigged way too large hooks) , the smallest(?????) "Helin's Flatfish" , and an unknown German vintage lure(suppose from the 70's , from the German company "Cormoran" , since the term "corRmo" is molded into it). The latter two lures are of plastic , the first two of balsawood . Pic 02 shows a tiny one-hook lure , I suppose , that it is the smallest version of the "Salmo Hornet" , made by a Polish company . I believe that the one looking like a huge wasp is also made by "Salmo" , since the lip is just the same like on the "Hornet" The third crank is a Finnish homemade , I think . Got it from a Finnish friend . All lures are made of balsa , obviously(also foam possible , they are very light , definately no plastic !) . Pic 03 sports two "Rapala Fat Rap's"(I'm not quite sure about the model name) , smallest available , made of balsa , my own two tiny lures , and still a little smaller lure , made of plastic by the German company "Exori" . This one is a sinker , quite heavy for its size compared to a balsa lure . If you should need more pics of certain of these lures from different perspectives , just tell me , I'll post them here:wink: . Finally I'd like to make up a theory about the position of a single treble on such tiny lures : Like Vodkaman said , I am also convinced , that a tail-mounted hook would be of disadvantage , it would let the light lure swim tail-down at rest , thus minimizing the wobble(found this out on many other cranks , tailweight is not good for wobble , only for casting distance) . If your design is of light material(balsa) , and has a pronounced "big belly" shape , you might still have enough room for a balance weight in the belly , so you probably could still rig the hook on the very end of tail . If the lure is not that voluminous , it would always be better to rig the hook more towards the belly of it . The tiny "Salmo" lure still has its single treble on the tail end , because the weight and size of its lip counterbalances the weight of the hook , so the lure would probably till lay level(just theory , haven't used it yet) , with a small lip under the chin this might not work out . Well , these are just thoughts of mine , don't claim them to be proven true , but that's what discussions are all about:wink: ! Good luck and success , diemai

You say it , Vodkaman , very interesting topwaters ! I suppose , that they skim over the surface , causing a wake . @ smartbassu , you have created an unique design , did you also but weights into the tail portion , so that the lures might maybe swim "walk-the-dog"-style ? Keep on carving , diemai

@ Vodkaman I hear your concerns about that kinked aluminium lip . I got this design from a Swedish book about crankbait making , that came out in German language a couple of years ago . The author Hans Nordin seems to be quite famous in Sweden , he even has his own TV shows about fishing over there . He stated in that book , that after some thousands of pike he never had failures with his lures made like that , and I really have the impression , that he knows , what he is talking about ! Nevertheless , I see point in your statement about getting snagged up , I just don't hope for it , but in one way you made me eager to find out , wether this construction would withstand this abuse as well:wink: !

Here are some pics of two lures of the "Mann's" line(one a special edition of a German angling magazine) . These sport a loose line tie , only secured by a splitring . When I got the first one of these , I've first thought , that they forgot to glue in the tow eye , for I haven't seen such a rig before:huh: ! But it works fine , the lures always track true , I suppose , that the folks at "Mann's" must have used the most rigid SS wire , so that the eye won't deform under higher tension . I haven't tried to employ this rig on my homemades yet , for some reason I don't trust on it . Not in terms of its stability to hold a bigger fish , but I just think , that the lip angle and symmetry have to be extraordinary accurate for it to perform well , only a mold-made lure can provide these features for 100% ! Also considered about cutting the tow eye from sheet metal , maybe 1mm thick brass or SS sheet . It should be in a rough "T"-shape , but the edges of the two bars of that "T" have to be filed to a half-round shape where they engage into the bottom of the groove at underside of lip . This is essential for proper function , so that the eye could swing left/right without binding , just like it does on those "Mann's" wire eyelets . Just thought , this might be of interrest here:wink: ! Greetz , diemai

@ Vodkaman You are right to say , that the kink in the aluminium lip of my lure is a weak point , and it would certainly have the tendency of straightening out under tension . As I wrote , I expected the lure to be out of tune , too , but this did not happen . I thing , that the rod , with it's "springy "features , feathers down a lot of the pull strength of a fish , so not the full force of it has to be managed by the lures hardware and lips . I have some American musky videos , I noticed , that the guys shown there , just crank in even the biggest fish , they use quite strong , rigid and stiffish rods and a thick line . OK , I haven't ever fished for musky before , but it seems to me , that over here in Europe we employ lighter tackle even for the biggest pike , and we also don't crank in the fish like in the video , would not be possible with the lighter rods and line , anyway . So we have to play the fish for quite a while , to get it tired and weak , so that we can land it . Because of this playing not so much tension would be put onto the lure , that's what I mean to tell ! For this American way the lures have to be stronger made , I see to that ! A friend of a friend recently caught a 5 feet 4" catfish(silure) in Spain on one of my lures made the same way , like the one pictured below(but with 2mm thick aluminium lip) , no problems occured with the lips , the lure was not even thru-wired , but rigged with sort of cotter pins as hookhangers . Greetz , diemai

It is a beautiful , natural material , I wouldn't paint it , only apply a tough , glossy topcoat ! BTW : many years ago , at the beginning of my luremaking carreer , I once tested a clearcoated(to prevent lure to soak water prior to final painting) teakwood lure in a canal , pulled it right along the bank , to see how it would swim . Suddenly a nice perch inhaled the crank , I could clearly view this , it is not always the color , but the action:wink: ! Greetings , diemai

@ jamie Don't be too disappointed ! If your Mouse-Bait can fool a small bass , it would surely fool a big musky one day as well , just hold on:wink: ! Greetz , diemai

@ Tacklejunky Here are the smallest crankbaits , that I've ever made , about 12 years ago or so , at the beginning of my luremaking carreer . The two tiny ones are 31mm(without tow eye) in length , the larger one is 42mm(25,4mm equals 1") made them those days of a kind of light tropical wood , but still they don't float up . The larger lure has a long-shanked hook run through a slot in its body , also glued in some thin , flexible wire to render the crank weedless , just wanted to try this those days , had absolutely no idea about luremaking back then ! Painted them those days with model making enamels by brushing . Such small lures don't cast well at all , to overcome this problem , in Germany we utilize some special casting weights named "Sbirulino"(they are of Italian origin) , widely available over here and most likely used in so-called "Put-And-Take" trout ponds . These weights can be obtained in various sink rates , also floating and some even to be filled with water , they require the use of a 12 feet minimum sensitive spinning rod , because the leader behind the weight must be at least 4 1/2 to 6 feet long , not to spook the fish . With a shorter rod the casting would be headache ! With the "Sbirulino" you can fish any small lures , that are too light to cast them far out , preferably small cranks and in-line spinners , but also small plastics or even wet flies, many use them as well with worms , maggots and trout paste . Greetz , diemai

@ Tacklejunky Congrats for that big bass , very nice fish , indeed:)! I like your idea about tuning that lure with a second eye . @benton B and @ BobP , I made some detail pics of a lure , that I already posted into the gallery . They show , how I rig the tow eye onto metal lips on my crankbaits . In this case the eye is made of 1,5mm dia. SS welding wire , the lip is of 1,5mm aluminium(25,4mm equals 1") . On that lure I caught my personal best pike so far some years ago , it scratched 47" . After having boated that fish after a hard 12min(approx.) fight , I really expected the bait to have gotten out of tune , so I made a few test casts , to my surprise it tracked true as right from the start , also the fit of eye was as before;)! To fix those tow eyes , I would drill two holes through the bill , exactly of wire diameter , take a piece of wire and grind a sharp point on either end(helps a lot to insert into holes) . Then I bend it into "U"-shape , the two shanks should have slightly different lengths(also makes it easier to insert). Now I enter the longer shank into one hole , since the hole is of same dia. as wire , I need to gently hammer the shank through the lip , for this operation I would lay the lip flush onto the two clamps of a slightly opened vise . Then I'd also enter the second shank and carefully hammer onto the "U"-bend eye to put the eyelet into proper fit location . This way I have achieved the possibly tightest fit without glue ! To secure eye I now fix the eye tightly into the vise(shanks upward) , lip flush against top of vise and bend the shanks sideward as shown . Then cut off and hammer the tag ends as flush as possible against bottom side of lip . I guess , with smaller lures and plastic lips one has to use thinner wire , maybe 1,0mm dia. , also there would be the danger of cracking up the lip , when employing previously described method , but when the wire is rigid enough , I don't think , that it would be neccessary to guide tag ends back through the lip . In fact this would probably hardly be possible with a rigid sort of wire . Greetz , diemai

@ Boskabouter The video isn't that bad , also not the action of your plug . I like it ! I noticed , how the visible color of your unpainted lure changed , as it dug down in the coffee-stained water , but still reflecting the sunlight , it looked kinda impressive to me ! How about just putting on some decal eyes and clear coating it:teef:? good success,diemai

@ Tacklejunky Yeah , now as you say it , guess I've seen such mesh before on TV in a documentary film about building up Germany's biggest model railroad , located in an old warehouse in the harbor of Hamburg . Next time , I drop by a model shop , I'm gonna check for it , and thank you very much about the hints on preparing it for spraying . Greetz , diemai

Strongly thru-wired as they come , they would even catch the biggest of all pike ! Nice lures , one by one well done ! tight lines , diemai

@ Tacklejunky Man , you're pretty fast with new lures , and all of your work is so well explained and pictured , I like it:)! It's a pretty little thing , that you have created here , well done ! But what I like most is the idea about employing metal mesh for the scales . I looked at the pic , thinking "where are the pegs , heck , did he somehow glue it.....!" , the next second I browsed through the text , and "BINGO" ! I find it great to think about such , little unusual(to me)things , though I don't know , for which purpose such metal mesh is used for(apart from spraying lures:)) . To me it is just a very smart idea , hats off ! Good success , diemai