diemai

Hi , folks , Some years ago a friend lend me a strange little American topwater lure and I made a few knock-offs for myself , ..........gave one away recently and up to this year's predator's season the remaining two lures on the first picture where dumped into my basements storage boxes for years . But now I've fished them quite a bit these days , .......had a few missed strikes of pike on them and I'm fully convinced and pretty much amazed about their ability to be cast and worked through pad fields and even trough waterweed already breaking through the surface , .........all with only few times snagging up pads or catching loose weed strunks on the surface . Now I'm bound to do some more lures of this kind , but my own designs for this time ,..... but all utilizing the same principle , ........at rest they would hang about 30° to 45° tail down and be able to be tossed over the pads with the hook still pointing upward , ..........even if only little action can be generated with rodtip manipulation , the ondulating skirt obviously does it's share to attract fish . To get some more of noise out of such lures , I designed and carved this "PoppingPadFrog" yesterday , .......it will be also trimmed to hang tail down with it's face indention still remaining above the water's surface . The long-shanked spinnerbait trailerhook will be cast into it's accommodating groove with epoxy glue , ....also the line tie screw eye will be epoxied . After having the lighter abachi wood sealed , a belly weight will be set in at the right location to achieve the desired swimming position and a nice casting performance , ............the so-called "quick skirt" also does it's share to enhance real far casts , as it folds back around the lure body to create a truly streamlined "projectile" , ...........when in the water , the skirt rather acts a little like a jellyfish ,..... pulsating on the slightest moves of the lurebody ! This "PoppingPadFrog" blank dimensions are about 28 X 25 X 67 millimetres(W x H x L) excluding the little round extension for the skirt , .........just thought to post this blank design in here to probably provide some input to fellow carvers and also possibly get some hints for improvement , if neccessary , ...........so well , ...... all questions and comments welcome ! greetz , diemai

For convinience I most likely use screw eyes , ......but whilst writing a lurebuilding essay in a German angling magazine years ago I've once utilized such eyes as well , as lure screweyes are not generally available in Germany . Before publishing thís method , I had to test it , off course , ...........assembled one with approx. 1" shaft length into the end of a piece of broomstick , throroughly applied my epoxy glue into the bore(eye's shaft should sit flush to be able to be twisted in)and on the shaft and carefully twisted in the eye , so that the wet glue would reach every single spot . After three days of curing time(my glue reaches highest bonding power after 72 hrs.) I made a pull test by clamping the broomstick piece into a vice real firm , used a piece of cord and my fishing scales and pulled on the eye linear(paralell to the the eye's shank) , ..............at 23 kilograms pull(around 50lbs) the cord snapped , .....due to the sudden release the scales spoiled as well , .........but the eye of 1,0 mm stainless welding wire did not move a bit ! Under fishing conditions the pull directon on the eye's shaft would most likely not be linear , but under a certain angle more or less , ..........thus the eye would even handle more pull weight ! greetz , Dieter

@ RayburnGuy ..............up to you , Ben , .........but I see your point , .........if you'd be very happy with that material and don't have a steady supplying source , .........that'll surely be a great pain in the butt for the lure carver . greetz , Dieter

@ RayburnGuy Ben , ........abachi has a weight somewhere between between balsa and pinewood , ......like balsa there are softer and harder densities to be found , ............the harder quality is also heavier in weight , off course . Also similar to balsa the softer and lighter abachi does not have any visible grain layers and is of a light color , ......whereas the more dense and heavier stuff is a tad darker and has hardly visible grain marks . Both of these hold epoxied screw eyes very well , I"ve tossed out pike of 30" + without any issues , .......but I can't tell about glued-in twisted wire eyes , ........though I'm certain , that no failures would occur as well , if processed properly . On Saturday I'm going to the lumberyard in a neighbor town to get some more abachi boards 28 X 80 mm or similar , ........my own stock down the workshop is almost through . Gonna try to find both densities , ......the ligther stuff for topwater lures and the denser kind for crankbaits , ..........if you're still interested , just PM your mail adress to me and I'll send you some samples enough to carve a couple of lures ,........ won't charge you anything ! greetz , Dieter

Did some googling as well , .........obviously common only in Europe , .......US and Canadian sauna builders use local timbers , as far , as I could figure out . There is an European company "Finnleo" obviously having distributers in the US , but as it seems , they only sell complete sauna kits and custom-build saunas , no single timber boards available on their site , ..........Ben , ....probably call in there whether they might be able or even willing to supply some left over scrap pieces ? greetz , diemai

@ esox2525 I own quite a few books about luremaking(Finnish , ...can't understand a word , but nice pictures in there , ....English , American , German issue of a Swedish book ) , and I can truly say , that websites like TU are a better source for information(and less costly ). Some books are fine , some are not(at least for a more experienced guy) , ...but most likely all provide nice input on different carving patterns or picture material , .........through the years I've tested quite a few and some of these turned out to be real good catchers . Some of my books are already several decades old , ...since materials and working methods have changed a bit , they're not quite up-to-date anymore .......but still they are a very nice read for the lure building enthusiast IMO . Put up some pictures , ......hopefully the writings and titles would be visible , so you'd be able to do some googling , .........still have some more books about lurefishing/lurecollecting and a lure encyclopedia as well , ...did not picture these . Some of these books("The Art of Lurefishing", "The Book of Lures") only contain single chapters about luremaking , ....but nevertheless they've helped me quite a bit many years ago . The "Canadian Guide to Luremaking" can be downloaded as well at http://www.luremaking.com/ Feel free to ask further questions , ........cheers , diemai

..............real strange , Mark , .........I can access my gallery uploads this way(below avatar) , ....just tested it ! Actually I have never used this function , always went via my profile , ...........probably this little detour might work for you , too ? good luck , Dieter

Haven't been in for a couple of days , ..........I saw all of my gallery contents vanished as well(if I go on my own profile "my gallery", saying that I had no albums uploaded or something like that) , ....made me feel quite mad about it ,................ but now I see , that it's all back again , .....probably had to do with site maintainance ??? greetz , Dieter

I've seen some on British Ebay the other day , ..........looks like that vendor is permanently listing some in there : http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=lure+blanks&_sacat=See-All-Categories greetz , diemai PS : Just checked out US Ebay , ...even more listed there : http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=lure+blanks&_sacat=See-All-Categories

@ sportsfisher If I want to temporay attach a bib for testing and tuning the lure and it does not sit snugly in it's slot , I'd either apply some tape onto the portion of the bib sitting inside of the bib slot or I'd utilize one or two toothpicks as wedges to fix the bib , ........just crack off the toothpick after it's point sits in place . good luck , diemai

Dave , ...these things work different to a swimbait , I guess , .........the spoon part just oughta wiggle to toss the trailing sections into the snake move , .........made a smaller and more cupped spoon at first , that one did not work well , ....almost no action at all . greetz , Dieter

Thanks a lot , fellas ! @ mark poulson I had already made experiments with thicker steel sheet back in 2009 in terms of constructing the first "All Metal" model , ...........I've found , that this spoon shape would not wobble as strong when being made thicker , thus more heavy , ...this 1 millimetre thick version works best , has the strongest wiggle possible . Only fell into the water two times so far whilst fishing , ...not bad for a carrer lasting for more than 20 years now , ..........once I lost balance in attempt to recover a float from an overhanging bush and sank down the bottom of an old harbor basin(I was heavily dressed , as it happened in cold October) , ........got myself out real quick by pushing and accelerating myself off the bottom at 10 feet with my two legs , so I virtually darted ashore again , ........it was too damn cold ! Second time I was walking the bank of the Elbe-Lübeck canal and stepped into a rat hole and got stuck into it with one leg , thus lost balance and fell into the canal , .......but it was during summer this time , so not as bad ! Guess , that filming from any platforms and pontoons , ....no matter which size ,..... won't be that dangerous ! @ Vodkaman Probably the easiest way would be to attach a little sinker , lighter in weight than the lure , to the connecting snap between main line and wire leader . As you said , it would be quite a challenge to design a spoon with any sort of diving device(though there are some commercial ones around) . And still , ...not all spoon shapes or designs are able to track any kind of trailers without loosing too much of their wiggle or even not work at all , most of them can't take a trailer ! I've found out about this spoon shape still being able to toss a trailer as with the initial spoon protoptype of this shape I had accidentally hooked a littered condom floating in a Hamburg city canal , ......I saw that the spoon was still wiggling well with this little attachement doing a nice "snake" move" , so the idea of these multi-sectioned spoons slowly came into being . @ rofish Certainly an attached plastic worm or grub would work very well(if even a condom does ) , .....haven't yet tried it , because I have a kinda affinity against plastic lures , especially when attached to other lure types, ...........guess that during my early fishing years I've had too many sticky messes in my tackle boxes ! @ Mattlures I usually do not sell any lures , because of all the work involved can't be paid with money IMO . But I'd gladly swap for other homemades made by fellow lure tinkerers . greetz , Dieter

Great tune , Mark , ....thanks for posting ! greetz , Dieter

Hi , folks , Some of you might have seen my first jointed spoon model in here : Made a few of these more than 1 1/2 years ago , ........had only thrown them for a few times since then , as I did not take so many boat trips since and these jointed lures are too precious to me to be used fishing from the bank(easy snagging with the three trebles , I guess) , .....a lot of work involved cutting out and shaping all of those metal parts, .......no catches occured so far ! So I've thought about a solution on a jointed spoon model that would be easier and faster to build than the "All Metal" lure in the video linked above , ...........so I finally came up with this one , which I tested this afternoon : The first metal section is basically the same in shape and cupping like on the earlier model , .........the major difference are the four trailing sections being made of PVC hardfoam this time , not metal . Only took me well about 45 min. to turn out the sections on my lathe , grind and sand the flanks flat(the final cross-section is somewhat oval) and drill the center bores for the connecting wireforms , .......with some more routine I'd surely get faster with it as well ! Left the four sections in one piece at first , ...still connected by some material left inbetween the single sections , ...it's much easier this way to sand the parts flat and round off all edges so far , ......separated them afterwards to furnish the bores , ........drilled from either side of each section to meet in center , .........just to assure a centered hole exit on all section ends . The buoyant tail sections of this new swimmerspoon prototype seemingly make up for a different swimming pattern compared to the first "All Metal" lure , ...........in my opinion it has an attractive appeal on the drop with the leveled and rocking first spoon section and the PVC tail trailing behind it , .......guess , the first model could never act as attractive on the drop ! Fishing this new protoptype in a pause-and-retrieve manner would be essential to maintain desired swimming depth , as it rises towards the surface pretty fast , ....but I guess , that this should not be the problem , ..........I've found , that the "All Metal" lures rise up quite fast as well , ........but could never descend again as appealing as this new one with it's buoyant tail sections . The metal head section will still be equipped with two bead eyes(like a "Red Eye" spoon) , either be plain polished or annealed to a dark blue/purple color , .........the PVC sections will be painted and topcoated the "usual" hardbait way . First tried the design with a smaller first metal section of a bit more pronounced cupping(wanted a possibly smaller lure) , ....but that one did not work at all , this smaller spoon section simply could not generate enough motion and power to have enough force to track the trailing segments into a "snake" course , it simply would not wiggle at all , just rise up straightaway , .............so I came up with this proven larger and more moderately cupped first spoon section ! greetz , diemai

Thanks , Mark , , ................back then during my youth I could never imagine what my apprenticeship in the metal industry would be good for some day ! greetz , Dieter

Welcome to TU , ..........check out "YouTube" as well , ...lots of videos about luremaking to be found in there , utilize the search function ! Here is one of the best , ........making a Finnish minnow : Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjmefnZ13YQ Part 2 :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPIwwO2qrpM&feature=related Good luck , diemai Welcome to TU , ..........check out "YouTube" as well , ...lots of videos about luremaking to be found in there , utilize the search function ! Here is one of the best , ........making a Finnish minnow : Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjmefnZ13YQ Part 2 :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPIwwO2qrpM&feature=related Good luck , diemai

@ mark poulson , @ sambennett , ......................thanks , guys , .........glad if I could provide some input and inspiration , ..........not many people do their own spoons , ..............but I like it ! Mark , ....I ought to use the edge of the plastic hammer's face just to put all the impact energy on one little spot on the blank ,....... that's what all this hammer work is about , ....also with the ballpeen hammer , off course ! One more thing : If you intend to assemble some kinda facetted or glow beads or even rattlers like on these "Pikulator" spoons of mine , ..........never drill the holes prior to the cupping work ,........ that one would come in a lot harder then or even become impossible to be done properly(haven't even tried it this way before) . Just pre-drill the holes with about 1,5mm , .........the wire attachement holes would later remain that very diameter , anyway(I'm using 1,0mm wire to fix the beads/rattlers) , .....the holes for beads/rattlers are extended to approbiate diameter AFTER the cupping is completed , ..........the small 1,5mm holes will not disturb the cutting work . Can also be problematic to drill bigger holes into sheet material , .......go step by step switching to constantly larger drill bit diameters and reduce feed and rounds per minute of the drill with increasing bit diameter, ........but a real PITA to place a 1/2" hole through thin sheet metal this way , .......best is to use a special conical drill bit especially designed for drilling through sheet material , anyway , ..................that one should run very slow and rather "peels" it's way through the sheet , constantly increasing hole diameter with the downward feed due to it's conical shape , .........the fixed depth setting limiter of the drillpress would always provide the same hole diameter workpiece for workpiece . greetz , Dieter

@ mark poulson Mark , ...I just saw , that picture #1 and #2 switched around for some reason , ...the picture #2 with paper cut-outs(glued onto 1,5mm aluminium sheet to create marking templates)is supposed to be #1 , ....the first other one showing the marking with a marker needle is supposed to be #2 , .....................otherwise all pictures are in a correct line-up viewed from left to right , top to bottom . cheers , Dieter

Mark , I've re-copied my pictures from that site and now put them up in here , ........have a close look at the step-by-steps , .........you'll see the tools being used as well . Did not take the pictures of the final finishing process , ......guess , it would have been too much in here ,....... it's just the initial shaping . When making a spoon , ......first pre-assemble the hardware and test the first one before you make more of one size and shape or even paint/decorate it , ..........you might have to re-shape the cupping , .......especially with soft copper sheet there is always the danger of making it too deep getting carried away with the ballpeen hammer ! That plastic hammer of yours should be fine , ........for a ballpeen hammer you'd need one with a half-ball head , smoothely polished not to cause indents or blemishes , about 3/4" head diameter for average spoons . greetz , Dieter

For those , that would register on this German site , the contents of this link would become visible , .....some years ago I had described spoonmaking in there , ....heaps a nd heaps of step-by-step pictures visible there . http://buse.alfahosting.org/V1/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=131&func=view&id=3073&catid=29 greetz , diemai

Mark , .......at first I'd beat the readily shaped still flat blanks into a homemade beating template of hardwood , in which I've previously made and indention a bit deeper than the spoons cupped shape but same outline like the blank , .......a small halfround handchisel and a "Dremel" oval bit can be used for making the indention , fixing the hardwoodboard on your workbench's edge with carpenter clamps , ............ the hardwood wood should be not too thin , as it may crack up later , 1" is fine for small and medium sized spoons . Hold the spoon on one end flush into your indention of the wooden beating template and hit the other(deeper)end with a plastic hammer , so you achieve the intial cupping of the metal blank , ...........for the cupping to become more pronounced , switch over to a small ballpeen hammer . Now you've done the basic cupping of the spoon blank , it will still be very rough in surface and uneven in shape , ............to become more smooth and achieve an even cupping , utilize a steel plate or a small anvil , hold your blank by the forward end under an angle onto the steelplate/anvil and hit the other side with the ballpeen hammer , always that very spot , where the spoon blank toouches with the steel surface , ..........a change of the holding angle is the control of the grade of cupping , ...........but you'd need quite a few beats and also some practice . Try making the blank evenly cupped on either side of the rear , you can determine about symetry when putting it on the steelplate and eyeball down the plate . When you're done with the rear cupping , you would have to furnish the little "S"-shape(viewed from the side)by bending the foreward spoon end upward a bit , ...........you do this by holding the spoon by it's rear , putting it on the steelplate under a pointed angle and gently hit the front end a bit behind the front tip , ....off course the cupped side downward on the plate . Now eyeball down your spoon to check , whether it became twisted within , ........if so , put the front end into a vise , not clambed tightly , just lose is OK not to squeeze back it's cupped shape . The spoon should point exactly 90° upward , now take two small wood dowels , hammer handles , pieces of broomstick , etc , ......place the over your spoon on either side and hold both together with your two hands , ...........now you can utilize these as a lever to gently twist the spoon back so that front and rear would become perfectly aligned and level , ......you can eyeball against the edge of the vise clambs to check , .......finally you can put the blank on the steel plate again for eyeballing . Now you can mark the hole positions from the underside , utilizing a permanent marker pen , ....make sure , that the remaining ridge on either end of the spoon would not become too thin not to tear out under strain(particular important when using soft copper sheet). Use a 90° centerpunch to tip the hole markings , so the drill bit finds proper grip instantly later , ........start drilling small , maybe 2,0mm dia , .......you can slowly increase hole dia. until you're satisfied with the thickness of the remaining edges , ....too thin and they can tear out , ....too thick and you'd have troubles sliding over the splitrings later . To finish the spoons outside , I'd brush them with rotating brushes in my lathe motor(a drill would either work) , for brass and copper material use soft brass bristled brushes , for stainless tell start with steel bristles , ..........afterwards corse and fine polish them with textile polishing wheels and polishing paste . Note : Above described shaping method counts for softer copper and brass sheet 1,0mm to 2,0mm , ..........stainless steel of same thickness requires one extra working step , before beating the basic shape into the wooden beating template , .......this is because this material is so rigid and tough , you won't achieve the crosswise cupping sufficiently with the previously described process alone . This is why you must mark a lengthwise felt pen center line onto you steel blank , clamp the blank into a vise(possibly with plane clamps , not serrated ones) so that the center line would come to sit right onto the edge of the forward clamp of the vise , also take a round steel dowel with a smooth surface , preferably hardened and place it in the vise as well , so that it would sit behind the spoon with its biggest diameter also aligned and parallel to the spoons centerline and vise clamps edge , ..........tigthen the vise real tight and beat the half of the spoon that sticks out around the dowel with your plastic hammer , ............after switch around and do the same with the other half . Steel dowel dia. should be roughly around 1" for small spoons and 1 1/2" for medium and large ones , ........if crosswise cupping becomes too pronounced this way , it is not that important , as you can gently decrease it again on the steelplate with your plastic hammer . But this only counts for stainless steel ! Greetz , Dieter

Thanks a lot , Jed , ..........in fact I've got the impression , that over here spoon fishing is considered as old-fashioned and non-successful, ........at least this is , what I sometimes read in angling magazines and on the websites , ...........the US bass rigs like Carolina , - ,Texas , -and Whacky rig ,...... also drop shot rigs ,....... have become the latest craze over here through the last years , ........also those high-end Japanese hardbaits , ..........nobody talks about spoons anymore , ......though some models have been successfully around for many decades already . Well , good for me , that I like fishing spoons , ..........local fish would be less familiar and suspicious , .....especially on my annealed dark-colored stainless spoons , as commercial spoons are most likely bright colored and/or shiny polished . Got myself a couple of American spoons on Ebay recently , ........I count a great deal on the "Eppinger" line , .........but also got some "Red Eye Wigglers" and "Locos" , can't easily obtain all of these over here . Thanks , ....greetz , Dieter