diemai

Don't think so , Mark , .......and how about the hook-up rate with smaller trebles ? I've learned about pike lures(in particular casting spoons, though) , that the distance between the single treble points should be about as wide as the width of the lure , not smaller , .........and that's what they are on my prototype . The amount of line between rod tip and lure is something , that I haven't taken into consideration yet , ...thanks for pointing out , .......but one thing , I must say , is that spinning gear is not the best for casting longer and heavier crankbaits , .......they get to tumble and spin around easier and also the trebles are more likely to catch up with the line or leader . A casting rod and reel might do better with such lures , .......but still I'm using a spinning rod as it is more versatile . Most likely fishing from the bank , I can only take one rod along and this spinning rod in the video handles 1/4 ounce small trout spoons , 3/4 ounce leadheads rigged with plastic shads and also 1 3/4 ounce crank, -or glidebaits , .........and I do not have to bother about windy conditions , which are a pain in the butt for casting gear and ligther lures IMO . Gonna see , what the next prototype with 7mm lead ball weights would do , ........thanks anyway , Mark , ....greetz , Dieter

Hi there , folks , .............the latest update on my recent lure experiments : Not quite satisfied with the casting performance that these cal.177 lead pellets do generate , .......I had expected a bit more of a better casting performance . But as said in the video , .......I'm already working on another model of about same length , but sporting a bit more voluminous body , ......this one has an 8mm straw inside to be filled with 7mm leadballs . This way more weight can be concentrated in a shorter portion of the straw liner(namely the rear part) , which should enhance the casting performance . Guess , I'd have that one glued together for another test next weekend . I know that this design is bound to function , .....last year I've made two other , smaller PVC lures with shifting internal weights(weights slide inside of internal lengthwise bores) , and these really cast pretty well , much better than comparably sized "ordinary" lures . http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/8040-more-pvc-crankbaits/ Thanks for your interest , .......greetz , Dieter

...............a Jitterbug is yet easier to make , ...also the lip is cheaper to buy compared to a set of Creeper wings . I prefer the aluminium Jitterbug lips over the ones of stainless steel , ..the latter may generate a tad richer sound , but they render the lure too much nose-heavy , so that sometimes the force of retrieve would not even lift it up properly . greetz , Dieter

Don't need one , ......you can make them at home just using hand tools : http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/2487-crawler/ http://www.mooreslures.com/ carries those wings as well , ......check out PDF page 32 of the downloadable catalog , ........though I don't know , how much a "Crazy Crawler" is over there in the US , ......but these store-bought creeper wings make up for muskie and pike lures , ......a "Crazy Crawler" may be a bit undersized in this case , I guess ? @ Nathan I have some written Creeper building instructions somewhere(in English) , also explaining how to make the wings(with soldered on metal tubes as hinges) and details about their correct assembly and tuning . Unfortunately I'm unable to publish these as I've promised not to do(don't have a scanner , anyway , need to shoot pictures) , .......but PM's are not public , are they ? One thing's for sure , ...the lure blanks have to be made of very buoyant timber , yet strong enough to keep the mounting screws(hookhangers should be thru-wired for muskie) , minimum 4 1/2" to 5" length and mnimum 1 1/4" thickest dia to be able to carry those heavy wings plus other hardware(maybe even also hookspreaders) and still retain their intended action . Greetz , Dieter

@ littleriver VIc , ...I haven't had the swimming action on my mind , ...not yet , but the casting performance alone ,........by next week I should be able to launch another one with those bigger weights inside . @ baitern Check out more PVC topics in here , it would provide more info and sources , ......can't tell any sources , 'cause I'm located in Germany . It is not PVC pipe , but some kinda hard foam , also known as PVC decking or trim board , .......a major manufacturer in the US is this one : http://www.azek.com/ My own stuff is refrigerator insulation material sold in scrap pieces by a guy on a German site , .......this material is well suited for smaller to medium sized crankbaits and multiple jointed swimbaits , ...extremely buoyant(different densities available , I suppose) , works down very easy and has the advantage of not being vulnerable to water sepage like timber does . Greetz , Dieter

Thanks again , folks , ..........a little update , .......got myself some XXL straws at a Hamburg Euro(Dollar)-store today , these are 8mm in diameter ! Still have some 250 rounds slingshot ammo down the workshop , ,.......7mm lead balls from a local Hamburg gun store , .......these match perfectly . Guess that with these I can construct such lures even more effective in terms of further casting , as more weight can be concentrated in the rear of a lurebody with those bigger balls , ..........only have to make the lexan core about 2mm wider as with this first prototype , therefore make nose and tail a little less tapered , ...but it's gonna be OK , I reckon . ..........to be continued , ............greetz , Dieter

Thanks a lot for your kind words , folks , ..........me myself I'm eager to find out about the diving depth and especially casting performance of that lure , ......but as said before , ....gotta wait for the weekend , gonna glue the parts together this morning before going to lateshift . From a physical standpoint it would have been of more advantage to assemble less but bigger lead balls , ...this way it would be possible to better concentrate the internal ballast closer to the nose and especially closer to the rear end , which is more important to enhance the casting performance . But this would lead into having to shape the bait more voluminous , especially at the tail end , and it also takes a planful proccesss about determining the thickness of the PVC body tapers fore and aft at the level of either end of the internal ballast groove inside of the Lexan core , .......you do not want to become too thin there . So I guess , that I may still use . 22cal pellets instead of these .177cal , ...but not go any larger with the ballast balls . Problem is , that these .22cal round pellets are very hard to find , did some googling in the internet , ....the greatest German manufacturer for airgun ammo has quit on making them , ......only a Spanish firm still produces and offers them , as it seems . Still have a few hundred , though , ...I should just quit on shooting them with my slingshots ! Another problems is , that I did not have a matching straw at hand for .22cal , .......next time I'm going to Hamburg , I'd visit MacDonald or BurgerKing to loot some of their straws there , ...those are bigger in diameter , if my memory serves me right , ........but I would also look around local shops , straws don't cost a fortune ! Also I still have some round curtain weight chunks of lead , approx . 5 x 10 mm in size , ....these may be used as well , but only for deep divers with big lips , that cause the lures nose to dig down under a steeper angle , so that these cylindrical weights would still slide down the lure's nose reliably , as they provide a lot more friction to the straw liner compared to round balls . Vic , this is my hobby routing machine , ......I have an older model , though , but basically it's the one . Quite nice for wood and plastic materials , also aluminium is still possible , ...but all with moderate depth settings and feeds , as the motor is not that powerful , ...having an overheating safety switch , it would stop on overload , and one would have to unplug and wait for a minute or two . I've been using it for about 15 years now , might not want to miss it : http://www.haushaltw.../detail552.html I have a machine vise mounted on the table , ........this machine is just fine for shaping different headplanes onto lathe-turned plugs , cutting accurately angular lipslots , planing down lureblanks to required thickness , furnishing accurate separation cuts on multi-sectioned lures , working on aluminium casting molds , .... etc ........so glad , that I have it , ........not suited for mass production , though , ...but just fine for tinkering . Here are similar router bits to the one , that I've used(the cylindrical ones) : http://www.conrad.de...FB.EPS_1000.jpg But I also have heaps of industrial router bits similar to the ones on picture below , gathered from the scrapyard of my work , ........some of these are still perfect , just rejects due to little flaws , ...one plant of the company I'm working for , also makes these: http://de.wikipedia....20080404134340 I can only use them up to 13mm dia. otherwise they won't fit into the chuck of the motor. Thanks again , folks , ...greetz , Dieter

Hi there , folks , Just made a little video this morning displaying my latest lure design . Some of you guys and gals out there might have seen my previous weightshifter lures made from timber turned down on a lathe , .....now I took it to the next level . The working effort just did not become less , but this lure made of artificial material has the advantage of not being vulnerable to water sepage , provided that the glue would seal off all parts properly , ...so a careful glueing proccees is in order . I'm still a bit concerned whether the lexan core with the mounted hook hangers would hold up well against strong fish , ........but on the other hand the epoxy glue would surely add a great deal to the lure's stability later . Gonna test that prototype for it's casting perfprmance coming weekend , .......hope that the working week would come to pass in a breeze ! Any question or critics welcome , ............thanks for your interest , ....greetz , diemai

Interesting concept , ....thanks for sharing your progress ! Good luck furthermore , .....cheers , diemai

@ lurebaz ..........one more thing , .........check out this UK site : http://www.lurefishinguk.com/ There are extensive link lists accessible on the front page , .....fishing related stuff from the UK , Europe , America and worldwide , ........you may find something suitable in there as well . Cheers , diemai

If you don't wanna wait for overseas orders and/or face hazzles with local customs , try this one , ......located in the Netherlands . http://www.lureparts...m734cdru894g3c0 Basically the same stuff like you can get in the USA , but naturally more expensive , as they do import from overseas and need to make their profit . My frequent bulk orders(every one or two years to fill up my stocks) I place at http://www.mooreslures.com/ as well , .......but if I need lure stuff urgent and on a short term , I'd go for the Dutchies . BTW : I can really recommend their 100packs of extra strong stainless split rings ! One more thing , .......the large component suppliers in the US and Canada often have fixed freight rates overseas , not matter what weight or sum ordered , ...... no other option offered than airmail , which I consider to be quite costly and in addition to local VAT and import taxes eating up the advantage of lower prices . At "MooresLures" you can also chose surface shipping and charges are fixed accordingly to total weight and/or monetary order amount , also his prices are often lower than at the large competitors . Disadvantage of surface shipping is the long delivery time to Europe , which may vary between four weeks and three months(my experiences having placed several orders thru the years) , ......but it only costs about half the price of air shipment . You can also ring up Dick Moore for any information concerning freight rates and any lure compoments , ......he's a nice guy to talk to , aways helpful , ........just a lot better than talking to a phone agent at one of the large companies , .....Dick surely knows , what he's talking about , ......he would even also try to get items for his customers not listed in his catalog(he once obtained some meaty 2 ounce spoon blanks for me) . Hope this helps , mate , .......enjoy yourself in here , ...cheers from Germany , diemai

@ pat28 Thanks a lot for your extensive reply , ....so I think , I'm gonna give it a shot on birch , ......at the fishing pond they downed some trees a while ago , some thicker branches still stacked up there so I could cut off some pieces . I'm absolutely with you about the personality of timber plugs , though I've switched to PVC decking as my main luremaking material for a few years now , ....at least for smaller and medium sized crankbaits and swimbaits . But for bigger baits timber is my first choice , one can chose between different species providing different grades of buoancy and density , .........big plugs of PVC would have to be overloaded with ballast , as the material is so much buoyant . Thanks again , ......cheers , Dieter

Good luck with your oncoming lureprojects , ........any experiences with birch in terms of water sepage or cracking up after having been exposed to moisture ? I've read , that it would not be that well suited for outdoor use , .....made a slingshot out of a birch branch fork the other day ,....... found it so convinient to carve , so I'm thinking to pick a few branches from the woods for carving lures from it as well . greetz , diemai

You may still eat expired foodstuff , Mark , ......a few more walks to the toilet and you're OK again , ......but no such cure for expired epoxy , .......been there , done that , .......both options ! cheers , Dieter

I do not use a rotisserie , ...no space for it down the workshop . But I'm lucky to have a local supplier offering two different types of epoxy resin with multiple different hardeners to each resin , ....so this way one can take a good control over processing and curing times , also the features of the epoxy mix(in terms to use for topcoating or laminating , etc.) . I'm always purchasing the speed hardener to the resin , this provides a processing time of about 20 min , before the topcoat turns into jelly making it impossible to brush on anymore . With one mixture I can coat 4-7 lures this way(depending on size) , .......I just hang them in a rack to dry , switching them over from head to tail a few times within the first 30-40 min after having put on the epoxy , so no dripping occurs , .......after this little period of time the laquer is sufficiently firm not to flow anymore(provided correct component relations when mixing) . Naturally the single coats don't come out as thick as if made with a slow curing epoxy mixture drying in a rotisserie , simply one can apply more laquer per square inch when using a rotisserie , .......I'm always brushing on three coats entirely , .....but I'm OK this way . For those interested ,..... this local supplier is selling all kinds of resins , mainly for constructing laminated boat hulls and other parts , etc. , .......many German lure carvers purchase their stuff from this shop , as I know from a local site , ........should have similar over there in the US as well . http://www.bootsservice-behnke.de/ Greetz , diemai

I'm turning these topwater plugs down from abache wood , quite commonly available in European lumberyards , .......but seems to be hard to find in the US(there has been a little discussion about it in here before) . I'm also using broomsticks of an unknown tropical wood sometimes , a higher buoancy is essential for these plugs , .....but still not quite as high as balsa wood . Not too familar with red cedar , but I just received a piece from a friend from Tennessee , .....also familiar to American pinewood , ...guess , both timbers are suitable , provided that they are the less denser kind , thus buoyant enough . About the "Lucky13" and the "Bass Oreno" , ...as a rule of thumb , ......at rest on the surface about 1/3 to 2/5 of their body volume should still stick out of the water , refering to a fully painted lure rigged with all hardware . The "Whirligig" hangs a bit deeper due to a more tapered body and more metal parts . For some reason these plugs come to to float up about level automatically without any trimming nor added ballast , .......provided that the tails are not tapered too pronounced and keeping about relations between dia. and body length . I have put up a video some time ago displaying how to make "Lucky13's" from round timber dowels without the use of a lathe , ........the bigger ones of local pinewood shown there did not perform too well , they simply came to hang too deep , that dowel was just too dense , ..........the others of previously mentioned broomsticks are perfect , ......see the final picture in the video , that is about the way they should float up for the optimum of popping and wiggling action , .......yet just a tad deeper is just fine too , improves the diving depth a bit ! I have found out very early in my luremaking career that putting any ballast into the bellies of such oldtime plugs with integrated diving planes somewhere on their heads does not do any good , but only slow down their wiggle . I had tried to improve the diving depth to such plugs by adding ballast , but the outcome was disappointing , .......the plug dug down a tad deeper , but the typical kinda lazy wiggle drastically decreased . These slant or cupped head portions simply do not generate the same leverage around the toweye like an added diving bill of plastic or metal does on a minnow type hardbait , .......thus such plugs can't handle any added ballast as much , .......the integrated diving plane even centered to the body simply can't evolve enough force to move belly weights either . good luck , Dieter

............Vic , .....it's not that I do not like the other ones , .....I have already fished one or two thoroughly(but fish are reluctant these days) , ...it's only that I just was so much amazed about this particular model ! greetz , Dieter

Well , ........ALMOST in place , ...it would still move towards the angler , but just a very little bit , .........on a flick or little jerk from the wrist the angled and cupped nose would cause the lure to dart downward for one or two lengths , ..... ..and when the line gets slack again the buoyant tail portion would let the lure dart back to the surface tail first , ......most likely AWAY from the angler or to the sides , ....never straight up or even towards the angler(this is why it remains at one spot for a longer period of time compared to other topwater plugs) . If you want an even better stationary topwater action to tease a located fish to strike(or just an assumed one on a likely holding spot) , go for this one , ........but it's not that versatile in it's action , ....just pops the surface right on the spot : http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/2691-curiosity/ http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/2692-curiosity/ Also made some different versions of the "Bass Oreno" , ...these do not dive as deep since they are more buoyant , also do not wiggle quite as lively due to the more voluminous tail end , ........BUT.... they do generate more noise , commotion and bubbles when flicked on the surface : http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/2562-cuptails/ http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/gallery/image/2563-cuptails/ Thanks a lot for your interest , ........tight lines , Dieter

@ mark poulson Mark , actually I have only bought one lure there , a "Rapala MaxRap17" , ....looks like these are the real deal for bank fishing for pike in shallower waters , ....these "MaxRaps" just cast unbelievable far , .......my wife only got herself some disc sinkers and a bigger bubble float for her own stationary fishing . What I really came there for was a new chair for fishing , ....need something special and most comfortable for my sore bones , ...so I went to test all of their chairs before making a choice , .......these so-called carp chairs are just a lot more convinient , sturdy and versatile compared to the odd collapsible chairs from supermarket sales , ....but certainly they cost multiple times more . Also got myself a new fishing vest , my old one was already slowly decaying on my body ! For such bigger items it's well worth the 45 miles ride from home , they simpy have the biggest choice and prices around , ......on special sales events the folks even come from approx. 200 miles vicinity , as one can tell by their car license plates on the parking lot . @ garyo1954 Glad to hear that you've fetched a well preserved issue , .......looks like you're very fond of that book ! I surely can imagine someone to be thumbing thru time and time again , ...just so many great oldtime lures to discover and possibly make own versions of these , .......been there , done that ! Hope you're coming up with some practical solutions for your "Chippewa" now , ..the seed is sown ! Greetz , Dieter

Hi , folks , I was bored at the pond last Sunday , ......air pressure was too low and water's surface dead calm , ..........so I've thought about making a little review of these homemade old-time style plugs , ......all made more than a decade ago and proven catchers for me : Guess , that many of the more seasoned fishermen in here might be familiar to these kinda plugs(maybe except the "Whirligig") , but I'm just thinking , that probably the younger folks , having grown up with high end Japanese lures and all kinds of plastic creatures , might not know and are really missing out the opportunities of those great fishing plugs of yesteryear . Greetz , diemai