diemai

..............but how deep will it penetrate(no matter whether dipping or smearing on) , as it cures pretty fast ? And if you don't get it cheap from the dollarstore , this method can be quite costly either , at least over here . greetz , Dieter

.......just bad , that this bill stuff occurs much too often , Mark . greetz , Dieter

............this is what this site is for , Vic , ....glad to hear that i was able to provide a little help and input ! Greetz , Dieter

Thanks a lot , Mark , ........only need an extension of leisure time to make some more ! greetz , Dieter

.......thanks , ......hope to be able providing some input and inspiration to the fellow lure carvers out there . Tight lines , diemai

Looks like nobody is able to share any experiences , .......obviously hardly any pike(and muskie)spoon casters like myself in here ! Anyway , ....just came across this one , .....to me really providing more confidence in the above mentioned lure model or at least in a spinning spoon action , ........not so much in obviously cheapo , shop-bought , wire leaders , ........I'd rather make my own , and they never failed this way . Tight lines , ....diemai

Guess that I simply lack practise with the casting reels , should really use them more often . I also have two ABU's and two or three low-profiles of different brands . One of these I have mounted to a short rod only using it for working little jigging spoons underneath the boat , .....more convinient to let down these lures compared to a spinning reel , .........and, .....no casting required ! Here is the latest video displaying the pond test of my latest "WeightShifter" prototype , ........this roughly 4 1/2" is gonna be the last one of this type , .....looks like it fully fulfills my needs , so I'm gonna make some more like this thru the coming weeks and have them all painted during coming winter . Thanks a lot everbody for your interest in my humble lure work , .......greetz , Dieter

Hi folks , ......quite boring at the pond yesterday , fishing was slow for just one more time , .......so I've made a little review of the lure , .......that little perch was the only fish of the day so far . Posted this lure in the gallery before , some more info to be found in there , too : http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/2692-curiosity/ Only made three or four such lures many years ago , ......but I can still think of only one , that I still have somewhere , painted in bright neon yellow . greetz , diemai

Hi there , folks , Early this , or even last year , I've purchased a few used 1 ounce "Hofschneider Red Eye Spoons" off US Ebay , ......by that time I had mounted new hooks(rear only) , splitrings and attachement swivels to them . http://mama.indstate.edu/users/eudyptes/fishing/fishing_pics/redeye.jpg Today I've made a couple of dozens of casts with one of them , .......fishing was once more dead slow due to unsuitable weather , ....so no catches occured . This spoon model must have some kind of catching appeal , since it has been around for so many decades in the USA and Canada , .......if it wasn't so, the lure would have vanished from the market pretty fast , ...... I'm sure ! Here in central Europe(Germany)this spoon model is rather unknown . But still I'm wondering about the swimming action of this lure , ......unlike the famous "Eppinger Daredevles" or the wellknown German "Effzett Spoon" it gets to spin around it's lengthwise axis very easy , also swims with it's reverse side downward just to only flutter up and down , .......not wobble along like the two previously mentioned spoon examples . Only on a very , very slow pace of retrieve it kinda cants from one side to the other and wobbles along without turning over or spin , ....but to me it's very hard to keep this slow pace , especially when the lure approaches shallower waters near the bank I'm standing on , .......could get to snag up quite easy at this stage . I'm not used to spoons having such an action like the "Red Eye Wiggler" or "Red Eye Spoon" , ...... can anybody out there give me some confidence in this lure , .......do you catch pike and muskie on them , ...and if so , ....how do you retrieve them ? Would be glad about any "Red Eye Spoon" experiences being shared in here , ........thanks a lot , .............greetz , diemai

@ CedarLakeMusky Thanks for posting these oldtime goodies , ...like them all . Sadly I can't provide any help naming their age , ....I don't even know all of their modell names . To access some collectors sites , check out this site , .....click "collector's links" on the left square : http://www.thehardbaitdatabase.com/Home_Page.html Another site , that you might sign in and post your lures to identify or to learn more , is www.lureandmore.com , an Australian site , ....but also covers lots and lots of lures from around the world . Greetz , diemai

@ Musky Glenn ..............guess , those old time ABU reels were more subject to cause backlashes compared to more modern reels ? Now you name it , ......I know about this "step forward" method , .....the anglers at the beaches of the Baltic Sea over here also do this , ....as I've seen on film(never fished the sea) . With their mighty 14 feet+ rods they need to cast their heavy bottom sinkers and bait(no lures)far beyond the breaking waves , talking 'bout at least 100 , .......better 125+ yards , I guess . They use huge spinning reels by the way . They'd even connect a thicker length of line (about 30 feet)to the end of the thinner main line , because the force of the cast would put too much strain on the lower portion of the main line and let it snap off . greetz , Dieter

@ mark poulson , @ littleriver The other way round with me , Mark and Vic , .......a matter of practice , ......with my first casting reel I used three or four line fillings , before I could work it out without backlashes , ....at least I was smart enough and used cheap monofilament for practising , ......easier to pick apart the bird's nests than braid , anyway ! Also has to do with length of the rod , I guess , ...the longer , the better the leverage to accelerate the lure to dart out . Casting rods are generally shorter compared to spinning rods , I guess , .........but looks like fashion changes . I have an old book from the early 1970's where spinning rods of 6 to 8 feet are recommended , ....nowadays somewhat longer rods are requested , I guess , ...at least for pike and zander . My spinning rods are 9 feet , a happy compromise in terms of working certain bait types with the rodtip pointing downward , good casting performance and also the use in my small collapsible boat . But there are also spinning rods of up to 11 or 12 feet available , ...... mainly used by seatrout anglers at the coast of the Baltic Sea , that need to cast their lures behind the breaking waves , ...but also some freshwater anglers use them from open shorelines . Still about 25 years ago casting gear was rather unknown to the wide majority of German anglers , ....only the saltwater anglers travelling up north to hunt for giant Norwegian cod and halibut were familar to the use of big casting reels then . But by that time big glide baits were introduced over here , .....to work these stiffish and short rods equipped with casting reels were required , hardly available at first , early enthusiasts like myself had to import them , ..........but within a few years the offerings in local tackle shops and mailorder shops increased year after year , by now you can get different kinds of casting reels and rods over here as well , ......but casting gear is never as popular over here like in the USA . Greetz , Dieter

@ wchilton A new aspect to me to hear , that the shooting out line of spinning reels helps the lure to fly straight , ........guess , that this only counts for such balanced minnow lures designed for long casting like f. e. the "XRap" , "MaxRap" and the one on your picture , too . Bigger lures with bigger lips cast better with casting gear , .......I've read this in local magazines and also experienced it by myself , ........I'm refering to 6" to 7" pike crankbaits like "Buchertail Depthraider" , "Cisco Kid" , "Grandma" , etc . , ........the bigger an offset lip also does it's share to foul the belly hook with the leader too often , .......with casting gear this does not happen that much ! With this two lures in my previous gallery link I've observed similar to you , .......I also cast them in an arc , ....at the beginning of their flight they'd still tumble a bit , but after having passed the highest peak of their trajectory , they straighten out and dart on tail first until impact , ......which surely lets them gain a couple of yards extra . I know too well about those hazardous birds , .......two years ago at the Hamburg city "Alster" lake on one Saturday morning during fall season I became a bit mad about not being able to cast that far anmyore , .......it really was time to spool on new line , as the spinning reel's spool wasn't filled properly anymore , ....I had cut off too much worn line through the season . I headed for a tackle shop located just a few 100 yards away from the city lake and had my reel refilled to the spools rim with 0,15mm Berkley braid , payed 16 Euros for it , ....I exactly remember . So happy about my purchase I got back to the lake , ........my casting spoons made at least 1/3 more of a distance now . But the happiness only did last for a few dozens of casts , as suddenly a few geese came flying in my way from the left hand side , only 10 feet above the water's surface , .....did not see them coming , they were just too fast . Well , one obviously caught my line , .........before I even figured out about what was happening 40 or 50 yards of my brandnew line plus my casting spoon were gone , ...happened within the blink of an eye ! But I did not see any goose come down , ....guess nothing happend to them . I will now wait to test my latest 4" prototype coming weekend , ...I have great expectations in this one to perform well , .......but I shall see . greetz , Dieter

@ wchilton I also consider the "MaxRap" to be the best performing distance casting minnow bait presently available ,..... bought three of them recently . Probably I should really take care to hone on my casting methods , as you've described , ....I must admit , that I haven't bothered a constant stance too much so far , ......and there must be something not quite straight about it , as even well-balanced and proven distance-casting baits(some homemade deep divers , Rapala DownDeepFatRaps , etc .) don't launch evenly well cast after cast . I'm using spinning gear to be able to cast a wider range of different lure types and weights from the bank , .....but I've read , that casting gear would be superior in terms of casting lipped baits , provided that their weight is heavy enough , .......the baits would fly more straight anf not foul with the leader too much due to getting to tumble in the air . Off course I also own a few casting rods , but don't use them too often . The line shooting off the casting reel's spool on a cast flies straight behind the lure , not offering too much air resistance , ....whereas with a spinning reel it is spiraling around the rim of the reel's spool causing more friction and also air resistance . But , as said before , I'm using spinning gear , as it is more versatile working different types of lures with just one rod , ........as a bank fisherman I cant't take multiple rods along . Also I'm aware about the diving bill offering some grade of air resistance as well , ....... it would become less , the more the bill points forward , though , ..........on some deep divers the bill even acts like some kinda rudder to provide guidance and stability on flight , so the lure darts out dead straight , .........the "DownDeepFatRap" is an excellent example for such unmatched casting performance . The lure on your picture is what in America you'd call a jerkbait , I guess , ..........the bigger weight in the tail is to generate the desired walking or sideward darting action working the lure along with little jerks or twitches . Of course it also enhances the casting performance , ...but do the moving smaller forward balls cuse the lure to sit level at rest ? I assume they won't , ......their purpose would rather be to generate some noise , I reckon . But nevertheless it's always interesting to see the interior of commercial baits , though obviously difficult to reproduce for the hobby lure carver . Thanks a lot for chiming in , .........greetz , Dieter

................but this is not the reason , why I'm making them , Vic , ......just out of pure entusiasm ! Thanks again , ......greetz , Dieter

Looks like I'm the only one not happy with that small lure ! Vic , I haven't considered about a trailer on the rear hook , great idea , thanks for pointing out , ......I know that such usually slows down the action a bit , maybe it would do the trick ? Glenn , I have made two PVC lures before , that sport internal bores to accommodate the shifting weights . These really cast better and further , but it was quite elaborate to make them . http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/8040-more-pvc-crankbaits/ Quite finacky job to furnish the belly slot for the internal wire form without breaking through into the internal ballast chamber , belly slot has to be kept very narrow in that way . Due to the curved bodies there actually are two lengthwise bores drilled under an angle to one another and meeting somewhere in center of the lure , so both bore entries also need to be plugged after having inserted the ballast . Cast them quite a lot so far, especially the silver one , .....but sadly never scored , ......in fact I almost lost it last fall to a very bad snag in the Hamburg "Alster" lake . I find these ones here with the Lexan core quite a lot easier to make . Ben , I hope , you're right , .....I'm into great expectations about that 4" minnow that I'm presently working on . Thanks for your interest , ...... greetz , Dieter

@ littleriver I haven't even thought about that yet , Vic , .......the balls are supposed to hang in the nose on retrieve , but due to the inner liners failure on this lure different options of balance do occur now . Certainly with differently positioned leadballs subtle differences in the swimming action would show up , ...but I'd have to check this more closely in the bath tub , .....at least doing that video I did not figure out about any differences , but surely they would be there . Gotta do such indoor video next week , would really be interesting to see , ........at least that little flaw would have a teaching effect this way ! Here is my latest test with two new models , done yesterday . The small one turned out rather disappointing , ...also did not position the line tie properly , still requires some more tinkering . But to my surprise the deep diver worked out pretty well(you know , my goal of design is furthest possible casting) , .......though it is not that hard to designing big lipped and far-casting deep divers EVEN WITHOUT shifting weights , ......the big lip always acts like a kinda guiding rudder on flight often letting the lure dart its way like an arrow , a little more voluminous rear body portion with sufficient ballast inside also does its share . Presently I'm still working on a 4" minnow shaped weightshifter , ...all in all I'm a bit dissapointed so far about the options of this design of a Lexan core with a PVC body , .........but maybe this 4" bait to be tested next weekend would change my mind . Thanks again for your interest , ...greetz , Dieter

Here is another one , folks : Very fond of these lures , ...thanks again , Vic ! Greetz , Dieter

Thanks once again , folks , .................forgot to mention , that for bending these "Bachteufel" versions in a vise , you'd need a little assisting tool , .....made at home in a minute ! This is a hardwood square dowel about 1/2" X 1/2" X 6" or for bigger and wider lures one of 1/2" X 1" X 6" . Work a wedge of 20° to 25° onto one of flat sides , ...but not a pointed one , .....still leaving a bit more than 1/10" of the endgrain's plane untouched . After having kinked your spoon for the first time in your vise , this tool comes in handy to furnish the other kinks , ....just fix your spoon blank into the vise vertically , .....the first bend standing above the vise's upper edge in required distance , .....now place the wedge plane of the dowel onto the top of the vise pointing it's end grain plane against the workpiece , ..........with a few hammer hits on the rear end of the dowel you'd now gently bend the new kink to required angle onto the spoon blank . To do the attachement holes use a center punch to mark hole locations prior to drilling , ......such an indent lets the drill bit find instant bite into the metal and pevents the bit from wandering . There also are versions of the "Bachteufel" , that do not have these angled kinks on the belly side but are bend to a halfround belly (pictured are original vintage ones made by the designer himself) : http://www.fischundf...el_lightbox.jpg These might probably be even easier to shape than the kinked ones , .......just take a strip of metal sheet , clamp it vertically together with the shaft portion of a matching drill bit ,..... in a way that the drill bit gets about to be located at the very upper edge of the vise clamp with it's thickest diameter , it would protrude over the vise for about half diameter this way . Now use a plastic hammer to beat the upper end of the metal strip around the horizontally clamped drill bit shaft to make up for an angled piece of a bit more than 90° . Bent this 90° closer together by hand or in the more opened vise , .......when boths ends of this "U" shape get close together , place your drill bit into the bottom halfround bend and fix in your vise again(drill bit horizontally , metal "U" vertically , .......gently tighten the vise ,...... always taking care that the drill bit would remain down in the halfround bottom bend , not sliding upward(this would result into a sharper radius or even a kink) . If you have achieved a good looking "U" shape this way , fix it at the upper edge of the vise again , metal strip 90° vertical , drill bit horizontal , ........the bit down in the "U" bend should sit in a way , that 1/4 of it's dia. still protrudes over the vise's upper edge , ........maybe even flush , if you want a deeper belly on your spoon . Now bend the two ends of your "U" strip apart , use a plastic hammer to beat them down onto the vise clamps on either side , .......this is to achieve a sharp kink at the start of the belly radius , ......the spoon's ends would be trimmed upward again later . Finally check , whether your spoonblank did not turn out somewhat sideward curved , ...if so , you can easily trim it by putting in in your vise with the opposing narrow sides of the spoon , pressing them into paralellity or using your platic hammer to gently beat them back . I always like to leave the intitial metal strip a bit longer than required , as I find it easier this way to trim the front and rear ends to desired length after havind bent the belly shape(with both versions) rather than bent the belly shape on a marked location on a pre-cut given length . Also if you wanna do a spoon with these head,-and tail tapers shown on picture above , I'd advise you to start out with a rectangular metal strip and furnish the sideward tapers AFTER having bent the belly kinks or radius , ....you can use metal saw and files or a powerful grinding wheel for the tapers . Finally smoothen out and break all edges and mark and drill attachement holes . Good luck , ...greetz , Dieter

So what do you have now , ....a "Jitterbug" with a front lip or a "Crazy Crawler"(Creeper) style bait with a set of wings ? With the first one the lip should sit at about 45° degrees , lie tie is integrated into the top of the lip , ........with the second bait all depends on the way that the wings are mounted and adjusted , .........I could sent you some pictures of "Creeper" instruction sheets in English by PM(smaller 650 pixel pics) or your private Email addy(original size pics) . Just drop me a line , ...greetz , diemai

..................I buy them on local fleamarkets , .....much better for the missus' nerves , I guess . They're pretty cheap , as obviously nobody likes to buy used spoons , ....private vendors are often happy to get rid of them at all just for some change . Look for ordinary stainless alloys , ...not this highly alloyed stainless steel spoons containing more of chrome , manganese and stuff , ...these are too hard to work down and are more expensive , anyway ! Geetz , Dieter

Hi , people , Shot this little clip this morning at the fishing club's pond , ......thought that I would share this little metal lure in here as well , ........it's just so easy to make , only few metal working skills and gear required . Not sure , whether different species but trout would also frequently take this lure , ......nevertheless I've caught a smallie pike on it last year as well . But in that angling magazine mentioned in the video they wrote , that the original 1940's/50's vintage spoon had a very good reputation back then to reliably catch trout in smaller creeks . For those interested , ......here is the magazine article , in which I came across this lure for the first time : http://www.raubfisch.de/454,765/ Thanks a lot for your interest in my humble lure work , ........cheers , diemai

Hi there , folks , Tested the second prototype this morning , ......sadly I kinda messed up when glueing the lexan core into the PVC body , .......too much glue inside of the acommodating groove caused the thin ridge on top of the liner groove of the lexan core to bend inward , ........thus squeezing the internal straw liner a bit leading to the final result , that the 7mm lead balls would often bind in about center of the liner and not slide back and forth properly anymore . I was not aware of this before , as with the first prototype the cal.177 leadballs did have a lot more space inside of even the thinner straw liner that I had fitted into that one , .........surely same thing had happened there as well , but due to the balls being a lot smaller than the liner's inner diameter it just was not noticeable ! Well , live and learn , .......I'm getting to even all the bugs out , I guess , ......this new lure also does not turn out an entire reject , I've only failed on the proper intended function again , .......undoubtely it might still catch fish this way , though ! Thanks a lot for your interest and patience , .......greetz , diemai

Interesting video , thanks for sharing . I have a DVD showing similar , issued by a German angling magazine , .......actually there are three lure manufacturers in total located in that southern Finnish town named Vääksy , ...apart from Rapala they make the famous "NilsMaster" lures there and also the brand "Turus Ukko" is produced there , .......the smallest company , ..... presently run by a sibling of old Laurii Rapala , ....he must have taken the company over from the designer of the "Turus Ukko" lures(muskie anglers may know hem , as I've seen them in muskie catalogs before , great lures for pike and muskie) . And there also is a great fishery museum in Vääksy , located in an old school building , .......looks like that lure production has become the bedrock of the wealth of that little town over there . greetz , diemai

A little update : This morning I have balanced my second prototype , equipped with a 8mm straw liner . The length is the same to the first one , but the belly is a bit deeper and also the tail end a bit higher , ........due to the higher , therefore less tapered tail end , I was able to lead the inner groove further down the tail end , which naturally allows the lead balls to roll further down as well , ....providing the center of gravity to also move down the tail further on a cast . I had at first tried to place seven leadballs 7mm dia. into the straw liner , but in the waterbucket I've found , that this was way too much , the lureblank hung almost vertically , only the nose tip and diving bill stuck out of the water's surface . I want the lure to have some buoancy left to pop off underwater obstacles reasonably fast , also I was concerned , whether the diving bill would catch up with the water to level the lure to correct position , once the retrieve commences . So I made a new straw liner containing only five 7mm leadballs and , ......voila , .......the swimming position came to look very promising ! With the weights down the tail the lure hangs quite a bit more tail down compared to the first prototype holding twelve cal.177 balls in a 6mm straw liner , ......when the balls slide into the nose , it also hangs more head down to enhance the diving performance . And one more important thing is , that the five 7mm balls fill up only about 2/5's of the entire liner's length , whereas the twelve cal.177 balls use a bit more than half of the 6mm straw's length , ...so the center of gravity switches over better and more pronounced with the fewer but bigger leadballs . Gonna glue this second prototype together tomorrow morning prior to lateshift and take it to fishing pond coming weekend for a test video again , ........I'm quite sure , that it would perform better than the first one . Thanks a lot for your interest , .......greetz , Dieter