diemai

I'm just working on some as well(just two out of 1 1/2 dozen pictured) , .......I ALWAYS start to lead the wire through the lip bending the line tie , then I'd procceed bending the ENTIRE wire form to shape and glue the lip and wire form in together , as they are now connected . With a dry assembly I can even determine about the ballast now , at least when using PVC as lure material , ....... not wood . I would find it too complicated leading the wire through a fixed lip and still even do the wire harness afterwards . good luck , diemai

@ fatfingers OK , ...I see , .......thanks for putting things right ! I have found , that especially on lathe-turned knock-offs of simple vintage lures(for example "Lucky 13" ," Bass Oreno" , "Rush Tango" , "Creek Chub Darter" , etc. , etc.)sporting integrated diving planes on their head portions any extra ballast most likely won't do any good . Many years ago I've started out to copy some of these designs and in order to try to get them down a bit deeper than the usual approx. two feet(apart from the "Rush Tango" , which runs quite a bit deeper) I've added some ballast to their bellies only to see , that this does slow down their typical lazy wiggle even more . That was ONE part of my learning curve without any access to such videos or even a lot of informative literature ! greetz , diemai

fatfingers , thanks for your hints on the belt sander , gonna tell Hubert about it as well ,.......just about adding ballast weight , ....this PVC stuff that Hubert and me are using(we're getting it from the same source) , is pretty buoyant ,.....you can compare it to very light balsa wood . It is that light , that it would not be too practical to make larger and more voluminous divers out of it , .......you would just have to put too much ballast , thus probably spoiling the action . Look at these two blanks , that I've just carved out of that PVC these days , they're quite small and still I had to put some weight , as I want them to hang deeper on the surface(pencil marks are approx. waterline) . The smaller "Aussie"-style lure should dive possibly deep(and still rise off bottom fast enough) and the curved minnow requires some keel ballast not to turn over , I suppose . Both lures flipped over to proper swimming position even without any lead ballast , alone the thick internal wire forms , hooks and the lips obviously provide sufficient weight , .......but as said before , this stuff is just very light . Greetz , diemai

Thanks a lot folks , ....very glad if we could provide some help and input ! greetz , diemai

Thanks a lot for your kind words , buddies , .......glad , that you also liked the second part , .....and Hubert surely will be , too . Thanks , ......greetz , Dieter

Thanks a lot , mates , ........actually my wife's granted me a visit in Northern Germany's biggest tackleshop , lucky to have gotten there at all , as the snow gods had mercy on us ! greetz , Dieter

Hi , folks , Just a couple of hours ago my good friend Hubert has put out the second part of his instructional crankbait making video , but this time with German AND English subtitles ! I'm sure that you guys gonna like it , ......thanks a lot for your work , Hubert ! greetz , diemai

mark poulson uses bike spokes as pins for his swimbait joints , ......I've made a couple of large inline spinners before with a wire shaft of 1,5 mm welding wire , ......if I remember right , I have utilized the largest clevises available at My link for these , but I guess , that most spokes are still somewhat thicker(the bore diameters of the clevises are stated in the catalog , if my memory serves me right) ? Probably you need to make your own clevises ,...... a bit finacky , but it should work out. good luck , diemai

Merry Xmas , folks , Took a chance on making this video today during the Xmas vacation , ....always so short of time during "usual" days . I've already uploaded pictures of all of these lure into the gallery in here , ....namely on December 7th , ....so now the interested user can also see them swimming . greetz , diemai

Sorry , mate , ......this is German , ......in the Netherlands they say "Vrolijk Kerstfeest" . Have yourself a Merry Chrismas , too ! greetz , diemai

Xmas greetings from snowy old Europe to everybody in here , ...have yourself a nice time all ! Merry Xmas , ......greetz , diemai

Mark , can't you hire a belly boat for the tournament on a short run , ......using that , you'd already be half way in the water , .....the rain won't be a dig deal anymore ! Good luck , my friend , ........greetz , Dieter

Hallo , Hubert , Da bist du mir ja zuvorgekommen , .......wollte dir eigentlich heute abend berichten , wie dein Video angekommen ist , ....aber jetzt hast du dich ja schon selbst 'drum gekümmert ! Ehrlich gesagt , finde ich das Übersetzungsprogramm ziehmlich furchtbar , .......kenne das aus Briefen meiner englischen Verwandten an meine Mutter und Tante , die auch kaum Englisch verstehen , ........Ich glaube , das man mit der Volkshochschule besser bedient ist ! Aber schön , das du hier bist ! in english : Hello , Hubert , You've been anticipating on me , ........I've intended to tell you about reactions on your video tonight , ......but now you've taken care about that all by yourself ! To be honest , .......I find that translation program quite awful , ....used to such by letters from my English relatives to my mother and aunt , they hardly understand English as well , ......guess , that evening schools would do a better job ! But nice to have you here ! @ mark poulson Mark , what you are telling me is just one more proof to me , that the global climate is definately changing , .......just hearing from some Australian buddies , that they've got extreme rainfalls in parts of the continent , ...not like something , that they're used to ! .......and surely I'm gonna take a couple of bites from that roasted goose for you , ....with increased pleasure ! greetz , Dieter

Thanks a lot for your kind words , folks , .......gonna pass them on to my buddy Hubert ! @ Vodkaman In fact I did not know about such simple gillplate/eye marker template before as well , ........live and learn ! @ mark poulson .........obviously one more time that you've missed something out , my friend , .......he glues in some flat pieces of roofing lead sheet(most likely 1 mm thick) into the belly slot together with the wire harness , .......I do this on my PVC cranks as well , ...... filling up the ENTIRE slot with the wire form and lead sheed would render the PVC lureblank still barely floating ,..... off course depending on the body shape , ............I suppose , that this lure in the video would still sport a quicker rise to bounce off bottom obstacles , as he did not place as much lead . Really looking forward to the Xmas vacations , Mark , .......I can really use a few days off , ......but as for warmth , ...that won't come true ,..... we've had some heavy snowfalls again yesterday and tonight it's getting pretty cold , ......winter came too early this year , all waters iced up for 2 weeks now , fishing season ended even before time , ....during past years I could still cast my lures during the Chrismas vacation . Thanks for your Xmas wishes , .....through with anyway , but gotta take care of (if you've ever tried a German roasted Xmas goose) Have yourself a great vacation , too , Mark ! @ Rayburn Guy Ben , .....I knew , that there would be folks in here to appreciate it ! @ Yardape Dito , .......and have yourself a nice Xmas , too ! @ shaners Glad , if I could provide some help ! greetz , Dieter

Hi , folks , My good web-buddy Hubert from southwest Germany has just put out an instructional video on making a deep diving crankbait from PVC hardfoam , ....and with his kind permission I'd also like to share on TU , probably it could still provide some input or even help , ..... especially to the newbie's in here . Off course the subtitles are in German , but alone by the pictures far most of the working proccesses are understandable , ........still if any questions should occur , I'd gladly answer these ! Hubert has stated his latest video to be part 1 , ...so I guess , that he's still planning on a second part dealing on painting and topcoating , ....if so , I'd surely link it in here as well ! You might as well check out more of his homemade lures on his "YouTube" channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/deranglerundmehr ............or even visit his homepage , some more pictured luremaking instructions to be found in there : http://www.deranglerundmehr.de/ greetz , diemai