diemai

Hi there , It's me , the wizard ! Just came across right now , otherwise I would have chimed in earlier ! Looks like the Aussie lure style has gotten another fan outside of the fifth continent . I'm located in Germany , and since I came across these often unusual Australian lure patterns(at least for Americans and Europeans) , I've started to make my own versions , ......just to try them on local European species . I've found , that the lures meant for Australian species like yella(yellowbelly perch) and cod are pretty much suited for European perch , ......roughly these are the ones with more or less curved bodies and big deep diving lips . Some of the(commercial) Aussie deep divers are stated at 35 feet+ running depth ! Australian barra(barramundi) lures come a bit closer in shape to what non-Australian anglers are used to , .....they have a bit of a more elongated and straight body with a forward pointing lip or a lip underneath the chin , ........these are well-suited for European pike . I've first come across these lures on http://www.lureandmore.com/ , another Australian lure site , ..........they've also got a "homemade" section in there , where you might find some more valuable info on Aussie lure design and construction . I also own at least two of the lure models displayed on your pictures , ...first one is a "Poltergeist" and third one is a "Deception" , ...not so sure about the center one . I guess , that many Australian lure carvers are not going thru-wired with their lures , though some would surely do as well , .......but utilize glued-in so called twisted wire eyes and secure the lips with crosswise pins , as the omega clip line tie is attached to the lip of lexan or aluminium sheet solely . But thru-wire is also not a problem , ..I've tried both methods , though I'm assembling screw eyes , no twisted wire eyes . As far as for the ballast , .......due to the oversized deep diving lips the lures tend to swim head down at rest , ..not a problem though , as this enhances their diving performance , .......BUT , ...the casting distance is very poor this way , as the lip offers a lot of resistance in the air , especially when the lure gets to tumble on flight . But some ballast in the rear belly portion of the lure Body often works wonders , ....will let the lure sit about horizontal at rest , ...stabilize it's wiggle , and , ...most important IMO , will drastically enhance the casting performance , as the lure darts away tail first , the big lip even acting as some kinda rudder or airfoil stabilizing it's flight , .........to me , a little decrease of diving depth is gladly accepted this way . Due to the big lips guarding the belly hook these lures obviously do not snag up as much as other styles do , ...and often their wiggle and the throb in the rod tip on retrieve are second to none ! Regarding exotic timbers , ........you have to make your choice of material carefully , ......take into consideration , that you might not want to paint those lures at all , clearcoat only , as you might not want to waste the beautiful looks of a special woodgrain or so ? OK , .......no painting , no ballast as well , .....as you also do not want any ugly ballast holes disturbing the looks of the beautiful timber , too , ...still the lure has to be somewhat balanced and not sit too high or too low at rest , .......a lure of a less buoyant timber is more likely to tip over and blow out and one of a more buoyant timber might not go down sufficiently . So you have to be very planful about the lure style shape and materials , ........check out the one pictured as from 00:30 of the video , this lure is based on a Australian design as well(from a book picture of a "Kadaitcha" , not an accurate copy , though , ..but swims great) , .......the voluminous front portion carries the big aluminium lip still letting the lure swim level at rest , ....the pinned metal lip(only two tiny pin holes inside of the lure blank) also acts as some kinda ballast , though . The lure is unweighted , hookhangers are screw eyes , .......handcarved from American red cedar , swims and casts very nice and digs down to at least 18 feet . I'm not claiming that I had planned for this "Nudie"(Aussie term for unpainted timber lure)to turn out that perfect in it's action , but I had put some thought into it before getting my carving knives out . Cheers , diemai

Really swims a bit more smooth now , though I would have been satisfied with the first swimming pattern as well , ......but that's it about luremaking at home , we want them to exactly meet our own standards , demands and imaginations . Glad to hear , that you've manage to solved your problems , ......cheers , diemai

In addition to Dave's advice you might also try different tow eye locations by taping temporary tow eyes onto the lure(but test in a garden pond , bath tub or pool in case of failure of the tape bond). good luck , diemai

Not arround that much in here , rather in the hardbait topics , ...but I'm making spinners at times as well . At first , posting a pic of your lures not working might help a great deal for a diagnosis . Second thing is , ....I figure out , that you'd have problems with just similary cupped Colorado blades , and I reckon , that this may be the cause of your issues . I often had problems even getting deeply cupped commercial Colorado blades to spin , I think , that they are extraordinary sensitive to currents ant vortices in the water , ......sometimes the water pressure presses them towards the spinner shaft instead of Lifting them off . For example with French blades this problem does not occur , as they have a plane portion just below their clevis hole , where a bigger spacer bead or even a spacer disc can engage to lift the blade of the shaft and body right from the start(lure hanging in a vertical position) , so that the current catches up with the blade immediately . Not as easy to achieve with deeply cupped blades like Colorados , but try to rig them in a way , that the rear rim would not bind with the spinnerbody , or eventually attached bucktails , etc . , .....especially the rim of the rear spinnerbody portion must not touch the inner cupping at the rear end of the blade . I always find it essential to assemble spinnerblades in a way , that their rear would possibly stand off the rear portion of the spinnerbody , even if it's only for a little fraction of an inch , ......reference is an absolute vertical position of the spinner . To achieve this , size of clevis , bearing beads underneath the clevis and eventual spacer discs must match . One more thing , ..... even if your budget is short , you should invest in commercial spinnerparts like differently sized bearing beads of brass(the hollow ones are a lot cheaper than solids)and also clevises , maybe also colored plastic beads to add attraction , .......the most expensive parts of a spinner , the blades and the bodies , can be homemade , though . Here is a source , I can recommend : http://www.mooreslures.com/ And here are some vids about spinnermaking , that I had put out a longer time ago(though there are different methods making a spinnerbody , f. e. copperwire coiled around a nail , lead cast out aluminium tube or spent ammo casings of certain calibres) . Good luck , diemai

Hi , fellas , Finally I made it to test my two blanks above , and it seems , that I have failed on achieving a hunting action right on the spot , .........the bathtub is pretty much too short for an extensive test , so I'm gonna take them along to the fishing waters on next occassion , ......maybe a longer distance of retrieve would provide some more or even better insight ? At least the wiggle of the lures is OK , .......TU member "solarfall" had just commented on YouTube , that it might be about the cam on the lip , .....also that the tradional Finnish hunting lures were made from balsa , so a very buoyant material would be essential to achieve the hunting action , .......the abachewood , that I have used , is also quite buoyant , but still can't match balsa in that way ! Greetz , Dieter

Exactly the case over here in Germany , .,,,.strictly following the fishing restrictions C & R is illegal , .....if everybody would obey , we'd be left without any sufficient fish stocks entirely . Why do you think , that our few lurefishing pro's are most likely doing their videos and magazine picture essays in neighbour countries like f. e. the Netherlands(strictly C & R for pike) , ...they often won't say it straight , but if one looks closely , one would find out easily . This is why , compared to other countries , fishing in Germany is probably not suitable for a realistic comparison about the lifespan of a timber lure , ........they'd simply last longer over here , I guess ! Talking about skills , ........I guess , it's rather more about being content enough ! Cheers , Dieter

Thanks a lot for your elaborate explanations , Dave , ...great stuff ! cheers , Dieter

Me too , ........covered with pike bite marks and hook rashes and white primer shining through but still cast them every summer , ...had been lucky with this bunch of linseedoil-treated abachewood lures , I guess ? But over here in Germany we do not catch as many fish compared to other countries , I guess . cheers , diemai

@ A-Mac ...............thanks for sharing your experiences , ...not just the most encouraging , though ! @ Vodkaman ..............will do a video for sure , maybe in one week time , .....quite busy with work these days . Cheers , Dieter

Alright , ......gonna get back to topic ! This Finnish bait in the video above won't leave me alone , .....I'm wondering , whether it's the large circular lip enhancing or even causing a hunting action , ....out of my memory I've made a little sketch at yesterday's shift and today I've found the time to carve two lures of 4" and 5 1/2" approximately , ....just made the lips and wireforms and shot the pictures , ........now the blanks are soaking in propionate and awaiting a few more dippings coming week before they'd hit the bath tub for a first swim test . Really eager to find out , .........cheers , diemai

Many years ago I had carved my very first banana lure after a picture of a vintage timber "Lazy Ike" in a collectors book , ....only had the side view to work after , so I had to guess about how the lure would look when vieved from top or belly . Anyway , back then this particular lure spawned my fondness for banana lures , as it had produced a couple of overaverage sized pike within just a few sessions , ......and there were many more bananas to come to being under my carving knife ! Couple of months ago , ....I just could not help it , .......I had mailordered for a bigger used plastic "Lazy Ike" from US Ebay, was a good bargain , ...... ...obviously 20 years old or more , ........so now I could finally see , that my intial homemade version looked somewhat different to the original lure ! In a nutshell , .......you should not let such or similar concerns put you off , ......even if you might not be able to duplicate a bait in 1:1 scale this way , ....you might still create something entirely new and different , that still catches fish ! Cheers , diemai

.............and waters iced up , ........right ? Cheers , Dieter

Probably you're refering to two sketches that I had published at "M-T Lures" , .......anyway , if you're after banana lures , check out this older thread in here : http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/index.php?/topic/13043-new-banana-lure/page-1?hl= banana lures I'm a great fan of banana lures myself ! Someone in here(guess it was vodkaman Dave) has written some time ago , that Ebooks are a waste of money , ......everything , one needs to know , can be found on TU , ....and if it's not already there , far most questions will be answered ! Concerning lure ballast , ........I do it by trial and error , as I hand carve individual and different lure models , .......I'd seal and temporary topcoat the blanks(my propionate dippings serve the purpose very well)and stick on the lead chunks with insulation tape , ...checking about the swim level in a water bucket , better testing the action in the bath tub . This way I can alter the weight position and amount , until I'm satisfied , ...after drill holes and glue in the ballast . Note , that the action of the finished lure would later differ a bit to your trials , ...also it would be a tad less buoyant , as you would have drilled out buoyant material , added glue , paint and topcoat laquer . For a serial production of same lures , it might not be neccessary to do each single lure this way , ...but you need to be aware of differences from lure to lure , as timber is a natural material with different densities per each single piece ! For weights you can use any splitshots , sinkers , rolled up lead sheet strips , lead dowels(pencil lead) , airgun pellets , even buckshot or blackpowder gun leadballs , ......depending on the sizes you need and what is easily accessible to you . For a serial lure production you might also consider about making lead casting molds to achieve repeatative ballast sizes and weights , probably even with already cast in belly hook hangers ? good luck , diemai

Maybe not for the distances you're used to DownUnder , but for European terms yes Cheers , Dieter

..............a truly passionate fisherman ! Cheers , Dieter

Welcome to the tackleunderground , ......Ben had already told you , how to proceed , .....I'm gonna give you access to some templates you might probably be interested in , ...some of the sites are not in English , so you'd need to utilize a translator program , maybe ? http://wobblerbaujw.jimdo.com/schablonen#Schablonen Click on Terms like "Wobbler" , "Jerkbaits" and "Oberflächenköder" to access sketches , .....also by all means check out given links on bottom of page , some more interesting things to discover there . Here you can access templates for diving lips(Tauchschaufelschablonen) , ...on the right side there are fish templates for fotofinishes to download : http://www.mt-lures.de/download.html Some more templates for lureblanks and lips to be found in here : http://www.luremaking.com/catalogue/download_tips.htm You might also check out YouTube utilizing the search function with terms like "lurebuilding" or "luremaking" , .....you'd surely come across some fine instructional videos . happy carving , ...cheers , diemai

Here is a short close-up video of that lure "Satku 100mm" put out on the same YouTube channel : @ hazmail Pete , I think , that Mikko(solarfall) had mentíoned it somewhere before , that these saddle lips were made from propionate , .....I know , that they are somewhat softer and more flexible than lexan , I was given a few by a Finnish friend before . I know that "Ugly Duckling" works video , ....how come to think , that the girls were Romanian , ......I'm quite certain that these lures are made in Serbia and/or Croatia ? Cheers , Dieter

On YouTube is a link to their site, .......sadly in Finnish language only : http://www.vavvaappu.com/ Gotta utilize some kinda translator , ........the lure in the video seems to be the "Satku 100mm" , ..... http://www.vavvaappu.com/tuotteetvav.html ..................click on pictures to see different colors available , ....14 Euros excluding shipping(multiply by 1,3 to about convert into US Dollars) . Greetz , diemai

In this case it won't be a hunting action , but cheating ! Gonna try to carve sucha bait coming weekend shift to find out , ...I ever wanted to see , what's about these oversized , round lips . cheers , Dieter

Hi , folks , Just came across this video displaying the art of Finnish lurecrafting , .......check out the tank test at the end of the video , ...these Finnish minnows do sport a lovely hunting action IMO . I only wonder , whether the action is solely generated by the oversized circular diving bill plus the line tie position or these lures also have some kinda ballast embedded , ....at least the latter is not displayed in the video , maybe they also don't want to reveal all of their secrets , .....or the lures are really unweighted ??? If unweighted , I also wonder , whether these minnows are carved from balsa or a somewhat less buoyant timber , ...maybe abachewood , .......they seem to run at three feet or so , a bit too deep for an unweighted balsa blank , maybe ? Cheers , diemai

Participating in more forums than that becomes too much , I guess , ...still need leisure time for fishing and carving ! cheers , Dieter

I'd surely second to this statement , ...cheers , diemai

Thanks , Mark , ........interesting aspect , indeed , .........probably if one sees them just swimming after the lures without hitting them , ....then you'd know , it might be time to switch lures ! Greetz , Dieter

This is a German site dealing on luremaking , ...online for not sucha long time now , thus with few members still : http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fmt-lures.forumprofi.de%2Findex.php And a site for the Baltic states like Estonia, Lithunia , Latvia , Finland and also Russia : http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.striborg.ee%2Findex.php%3Fsid%3D4e61b5a87a675ff9c03465efc45621bb The Australian site www.lureandmore.com has already been mentioned by Dave , ......personally I really like it to "look over the fence" to check out different lure designs from other countries or continents , .......so much variety and different styles of lures , some well worthwile to try out for my own fishing ! Cheers , diemai