diemai

These are some real , real killer lures:) ! At first I must say , that I did not have the idea about making the mold for these approx. 60mm(25,4mm = 1") long jigging spoons , but a friend of mine , he also published it in a German angling magazine years ago. On occasion of a date at his dentist he had the ingenious idea about using this special putty , that dentists use to make negative prints of someones jaws(needed to make braces or false teeth , etc.) to make a superbe lure . The putty is supposed to cure in someones mouth quick , therefore no heat or any other means are neccessary to achieve the hardening . So he got himself some of this stuff , and in a small box he made a negative print of a freshly caught , small minnow , by working it half way into the putty . After curing he applied some fluid(sorry , don't remember , what it was)onto the mold-half and minnow to prevent binding and furnished the second half of the mold with some fresh putty . There were no registration pins in the two mold-halves , he just made the surface of the first half uneven with his fingertips , so they would only fit together in one way , just like a jigsaw puzzle . The sprue hole and the slots for the wireharness he cut out later with a sharp knife . Since my wife loves vertical jigging under the boat , I asked him to borrow the mold for some time and I cast a couple of dozens of those blanks , to my surprise the mold resisted the heat quite well . I used a special lead alloy , that is quite rigid , won't bend and won't tarnish , sadly the blanks require some clean-up work before painting . Pictured are some different finishes , that I put onto these lures , beside some normally painted ones are some in a metal flake finish and also in a glow-in-the-dark color , always shown together with a blank lure . These lures have already caught all species of local predatory fish except the big European catfish(silure) , don't have them that much here up north . Got pike and zander(walleye) of over 32" , perch of over 16" , and even asp and eel on them , on one lucky day all the 5 species together in one session .

These are some real , real killer lures:) ! At first I must say , that I did not have the idea about making the mold for these approx. 60mm(25,4mm = 1") long jigging spoons , but a friend of mine , he also published it in a German angling magazine years ago. On occasion of a date at his dentist he had the ingenious idea about using this special putty , that dentists use to make negative prints of someones jaws(needed to make braces or false teeth , etc.) to make a superbe lure . The putty is supposed to cure in someones mouth quick , therefore no heat or any other means are neccessary to achieve the hardening . So he got himself some of this stuff , and in a small box he made a negative print of a freshly caught , small minnow , by working it half way into the putty . After curing he applied some fluid(sorry , don't remember , what it was)onto the mold-half and minnow to prevent binding and furnished the second half of the mold with some fresh putty . There were no registration pins in the two mold-halves , he just made the surface of the first half uneven with his fingertips , so they would only fit together in one way , just like a jigsaw puzzle . The sprue hole and the slots for the wireharness he cut out later with a sharp knife . Since my wife loves vertical jigging under the boat , I asked him to borrow the mold for some time and I cast a couple of dozens of those blanks , to my surprise the mold resisted the heat quite well . I used a special lead alloy , that is quite rigid , won't bend and won't tarnish , sadly the blanks require some clean-up work before painting . Pictured are some different finishes , that I put onto these lures , beside some normally painted ones are some in a metal flake finish and also in a glow-in-the-dark color , always shown together with a blank lure . These lures have already caught all species of local predatory fish except the big European catfish(silure) , don't have them that much here up north . Got pike and zander(walleye) of over 32" , perch of over 16" , and even asp and eel on them , on one lucky day all the 5 species together in one session .

These are some real , real killer lures:) ! At first I must say , that I did not have the idea about making the mold for these approx. 60mm(25,4mm = 1") long jigging spoons , but a friend of mine , he also published it in a German angling magazine years ago. On occasion of a date at his dentist he had the ingenious idea about using this special putty , that dentists use to make negative prints of someones jaws(needed to make braces or false teeth , etc.) to make a superbe lure . The putty is supposed to cure in someones mouth quick , therefore no heat or any other means are neccessary to achieve the hardening . So he got himself some of this stuff , and in a small box he made a negative print of a freshly caught , small minnow , by working it half way into the putty . After curing he applied some fluid(sorry , don't remember , what it was)onto the mold-half and minnow to prevent binding and furnished the second half of the mold with some fresh putty . There were no registration pins in the two mold-halves , he just made the surface of the first half uneven with his fingertips , so they would only fit together in one way , just like a jigsaw puzzle . The sprue hole and the slots for the wireharness he cut out later with a sharp knife . Since my wife loves vertical jigging under the boat , I asked him to borrow the mold for some time and I cast a couple of dozens of those blanks , to my surprise the mold resisted the heat quite well . I used a special lead alloy , that is quite rigid , won't bend and won't tarnish , sadly the blanks require some clean-up work before painting . Pictured are some different finishes , that I put onto these lures , beside some normally painted ones are some in a metal flake finish and also in a glow-in-the-dark color , always shown together with a blank lure . These lures have already caught all species of local predatory fish except the big European catfish(silure) , don't have them that much here up north . Got pike and zander(walleye) of over 32" , perch of over 16" , and even asp and eel on them , on one lucky day all the 5 species together in one session .

One of my latest designs , after having tested the first prototype of this model called "Runt" last year , I decided to make some more , also for friends . I did not fish it that much , also haven't caught on it(2007 season was rather slow over here , anyway) , but its gliding action just convinced me to do so . It is a sinking glider jerkbait , 6" long , the blank of beechwood(old table,-and stool-legs from scrap) I turned down on my lathe , the plane flanks and the top of the head I furnished with a coarse sanding disc , the fine grade shaping I made with a "Dremel"(sanding drum) and off course with sandpaper. Weights are placed in the belly fore and aft to let the "Runt" sink in a horizontal position .

One of my latest designs , after having tested the first prototype of this model called "Runt" last year , I decided to make some more , also for friends . I did not fish it that much , also haven't caught on it(2007 season was rather slow over here , anyway) , but its gliding action just convinced me to do so . It is a sinking glider jerkbait , 6" long , the blank of beechwood(old table,-and stool-legs from scrap) I turned down on my lathe , the plane flanks and the top of the head I furnished with a coarse sanding disc , the fine grade shaping I made with a "Dremel"(sanding drum) and off course with sandpaper. Weights are placed in the belly fore and aft to let the "Runt" sink in a horizontal position .

Two of my first , early topwater baits , made more than 10 years ago , carved from round and light pinewood dowels , the bigger one is about 4 1/2" in length . After having had some good success on perch with common popper-style lures , I thought about this head design , that would still provide enough noise and commotion on the surface , even when the water is relatively choppy , because there are most likely more or less strong northwestern winds coming in from the Nortsea coast in my area . I furnished the head design by fixing the dowel blank under an angle in a vise , fixed on my drillpress(has a crosswise moveable table), and cut down the hollow shape with a router bit of approx. 1" diameter . After the scooped-out lip was completed , I carved the tail portion to shape , this way the blemishes on the wood from the vise vanish . On short jerks these lures splash and throw a considerable amount of water forward , about 1 foot far(bigger model) and therefore still draw attention of perch and pike in rough water , when other topwater baits don't anymore , had good action on such lure models;) .

Two of my first , early topwater baits , made more than 10 years ago , carved from round and light pinewood dowels , the bigger one is about 4 1/2" in length . After having had some good success on perch with common popper-style lures , I thought about this head design , that would still provide enough noise and commotion on the surface , even when the water is relatively choppy , because there are most likely more or less strong northwestern winds coming in from the Nortsea coast in my area . I furnished the head design by fixing the dowel blank under an angle in a vise , fixed on my drillpress(has a crosswise moveable table), and cut down the hollow shape with a router bit of approx. 1" diameter . After the scooped-out lip was completed , I carved the tail portion to shape , this way the blemishes on the wood from the vise vanish . On short jerks these lures splash and throw a considerable amount of water forward , about 1 foot far(bigger model) and therefore still draw attention of perch and pike in rough water , when other topwater baits don't anymore , had good action on such lure models;) .

Some medium-sized crankbaits made a couple of years ago . After having cut out the identical blanks from abachewood I decided to assemble various lip-styles , just to see the differences , that the lure-actions would have . I learned quite a bit about crankbait action by this effort , I can only suggest such experiments to any newcomer to crankbait-making as well to get a hold on the "physics" of a bait;) . And best is , that my experiments are also honoured by the local pike:) !

Some medium-sized crankbaits made a couple of years ago . After having cut out the identical blanks from abachewood I decided to assemble various lip-styles , just to see the differences , that the lure-actions would have . I learned quite a bit about crankbait action by this effort , I can only suggest such experiments to any newcomer to crankbait-making as well to get a hold on the "physics" of a bait;) . And best is , that my experiments are also honoured by the local pike:) !

Some medium-sized crankbaits made a couple of years ago . After having cut out the identical blanks from abachewood I decided to assemble various lip-styles , just to see the differences , that the lure-actions would have . I learned quite a bit about crankbait action by this effort , I can only suggest such experiments to any newcomer to crankbait-making as well to get a hold on the "physics" of a bait;) . And best is , that my experiments are also honoured by the local pike:) !

These are some experimental lures , that I made in winter 2006/2007 . I took over the head-design of the old "Bass Oreno" , a time-tested great lure , but I didn't taper the tail , instead I furnished the tail portion with a deep cupping , similar to the mouth of a popper lure , but yet a little deeper . These lures have about the same action like the "Bass Oreno" , only they don't dive quite as deep and also their "frequency of wiggle" is just a bit more sluggish . But the cupped tail causes these lures to go down with a loud popping noise , also generates an "explosion" of air-bubbles on the surface , when the lure is sligthly jerked to dive . The lure with the diving lip is an own design called "Cuptail Diver" , it swims head-down at rest and has the same popping and bubbling features like the "Cuptail Oreno" , but digs down to approx. 8 feet , so is literally a surface,-and a diving lure in one bait . During first testing of it I had a follow of a bigger pike on it , but she turned away again , when she saw me standing on that platform at the bank . The smaller "Cuptail Oreno", approx. 2" long , produced some perch already , occasionally these love surface action .

These are some experimental lures , that I made in winter 2006/2007 . I took over the head-design of the old "Bass Oreno" , a time-tested great lure , but I didn't taper the tail , instead I furnished the tail portion with a deep cupping , similar to the mouth of a popper lure , but yet a little deeper . These lures have about the same action like the "Bass Oreno" , only they don't dive quite as deep and also their "frequency of wiggle" is just a bit more sluggish . But the cupped tail causes these lures to go down with a loud popping noise , also generates an "explosion" of air-bubbles on the surface , when the lure is sligthly jerked to dive . The lure with the diving lip is an own design called "Cuptail Diver" , it swims head-down at rest and has the same popping and bubbling features like the "Cuptail Oreno" , but digs down to approx. 8 feet , so is literally a surface,-and a diving lure in one bait . During first testing of it I had a follow of a bigger pike on it , but she turned away again , when she saw me standing on that platform at the bank . The smaller "Cuptail Oreno", approx. 2" long , produced some perch already , occasionally these love surface action .

These are some experimental lures , that I made in winter 2006/2007 . I took over the head-design of the old "Bass Oreno" , a time-tested great lure , but I didn't taper the tail , instead I furnished the tail portion with a deep cupping , similar to the mouth of a popper lure , but yet a little deeper . These lures have about the same action like the "Bass Oreno" , only they don't dive quite as deep and also their "frequency of wiggle" is just a bit more sluggish . But the cupped tail causes these lures to go down with a loud popping noise , also generates an "explosion" of air-bubbles on the surface , when the lure is sligthly jerked to dive . The lure with the diving lip is an own design called "Cuptail Diver" , it swims head-down at rest and has the same popping and bubbling features like the "Cuptail Oreno" , but digs down to approx. 8 feet , so is literally a surface,-and a diving lure in one bait . During first testing of it I had a follow of a bigger pike on it , but she turned away again , when she saw me standing on that platform at the bank . The smaller "Cuptail Oreno", approx. 2" long , produced some perch already , occasionally these love surface action .

This is a design from a Swedish luremaker , that was already published to the local lure-carver community over there during the 1970's . A few years ago a translation of a Swedish book exclusively dealing on crankbait-making came out in Germany , the only one available on that subject so far , and this lure is to be found in there . A fairly simple design , carved from a round pinewood dowel , the homemade diving lip of 2mm aluminium sheet is secured with three small brass screws . The two lures have a little trim-weight for stable running in their bellies , they are 6" long and go down 4 to 6 feet with this , rather small , lip .

This is a design from a Swedish luremaker , that was already published to the local lure-carver community over there during the 1970's . A few years ago a translation of a Swedish book exclusively dealing on crankbait-making came out in Germany , the only one available on that subject so far , and this lure is to be found in there . A fairly simple design , carved from a round pinewood dowel , the homemade diving lip of 2mm aluminium sheet is secured with three small brass screws . The two lures have a little trim-weight for stable running in their bellies , they are 6" long and go down 4 to 6 feet with this , rather small , lip .