diemai

@ Milia B Guess , it's not due to being English , but the cause lies in the fishing methods practised ! In America , also in Scandinavia , anglers go more for lures , in England they traditionally use bait on stationary rods , in Germany they fish both methods to about an equal share , though in both countries lurefishing becomes more and more popular . Anyway , what I wanna say is , that a lureangler is far less prone to loose his rod , since he is always holding it in his hands all of the time(unless he had stuck his hands in a grease pot before:yes:) . Stationary rods laying on rod rests are easily pulled away by biggger fish , one only has to forget or fail to open the bail of the utilized spinning reels used or miss activating the freespool function of so-called baitrunner reels . But even if you have done it all correctly , when willing to set the hook , you must also not forget to close the bail again or de-activate the freespool , when a fish is pulling down line , otherwise you'll end up with backlash and a missed bite ! In that way you're darn right , Milia , it can be difficult from time to time:yes: ! PS: This "closed bail affair" seem to happen very often , I lost one rod to it , a second I fortunately got back , but through the years I've also found already three rods(either floating up or pulled them out being hooked on my lure) , that obviously departed from their owner that very same way . greetz , diemai:yay:

@ BobP Uuuhhhh , s..t , that sounds pretty bad:( ! I hate sucha situation fishing for things in the water and not getting them back , never lost a rod that way though , but a landing net and some sinking handmade lures as well ! really pity you , greetz , diemai:yay:

@ Jeep Great video , thanks for making and providing ! As you said , this happened through Easter , so I am sure , that this attact is the final act of the spawning session . Female pike , always being larger than the males , are wellknown to eat their partners after the spawning act . And this event usually takes place around this time of year in central Europe , just two weeks ago I have vieved spawning pike stuck under some overhanging grass in a pond in my hometown , the female about 36" and the male about 18" . He was still alive , since they were obviously still flirting ! Some years ago in March , as I passed by , I have seen a large tailfin of a pike sticking out of a small ditch connected to another pond in my hometown . As I approached to see more , I saw a big pike dashing away through that small ditch having a smaller one , approx. 16" crosswise between her jaws , just like a dog's bone ! She was also the about 35" size ! But also one ocassionally hears about "common " cannibalism amongst pike , but this is only , if there is no other sufficient source of forage for the entire pike population in particular waters . So they use one stone to kill two birds , they get rid of competitors and fill their bellies at same time ! PS : For above reasons shortly after the spawning season lures in a pike color design are always recommended . greetz , Dieter:yay:

@ Coley Though for myself I don't like a mass production of one and the same bait(much prefer carving different models) , I 100% agree to your idea , would make things a lot easier for those interested:yes: ! greetz , diemai

@ sinyo You wrote somewhere before , that you want your lure to go down to the bottom , so check this out(If you haven't done it before ?) : http://www.tackleunderground.com/forum/hard-baits/15318-about-balsa.html Look for post #5 . This is the lip/line tie configuration to achieve deeper diving lures , but you need to put more weight as I did there(that one turned out very buoyant , thus doesn't run too deep) , also you could make the lip longer an/or pointing more forward . Just mean to show the general construction , you still need to tinker about your own designs:yes: ! good luck , diemai:yay:

@ CA Delta Still have to take some picture sequences and then , worst of all , have to write all down and try to submit it somehow ! Will proceed coming week , since I am busy fishing through Easter , when I'm coming home in the evening , I'm too tired to go down the workshop:huh: ! greetz , Dieter:yay:

@ sinyo A picture of your lure would really help ! In general I have made the experience , that weight in the tail(belly side) of a minnow-shaped lure minors the wobble or even kills it entirely . On such lures the weight most likely is located between lip and belly hook hanger and/or shortly behind , but this is only a rule of thumb , surely there are always exceptions to the rule ! greetz , diemai:yay:

@ hazmail Great stuff , Pete ! Unbelieveable to me , that the lexan holds up that much ! But a 0,8 mm pin is rather thin , I wouldn'd go less than 1,5 mm brass , better 2,0 mm . The best pin material would be stainless steel wire , but such pin would be difficult to lock in place . greetz , Dieter:yay:

@ jamie OK , exactly , ........an "S" shaped swimming motion , that's it ! ..........But I guess , that probably we might get a little more and more off topic with our discussion:? ? But if I think over it properly ,.........if I had made these lure models , which are rather flat-bodied , of a little more dense kinda wood , they would not have required as much ballast to let them sink(or just float up in case of "Rolf's Wiggler)) the same manner as they do now ! As a result their bellies would swing sideward a little more on a constant pull , thus that "S"-pattern would become wider from peak to peak of the wave . But on the other hand , .......if the ballast would be too small , the lure might just lay on its side on a pull and not swing back for the "S" pattern anymore , one needs to find a happy compromise . greetz , diemai:yay:

@ ddl Really can't answer your questions , but check this : The Hard Bait Database There are some collectors links on that site , probably you could find some info in there ? good luck , diemai:yay:

@ jamie Surely there such baits around , I have built some simple ones as well , if these should have the action , that you are refering to : They swim in a kinda "wave" pattern on a straight retrieve , same time swinging the belly left/right . I fish them in a "pull-and-pause" manner , when pulling them , I can feel quite a shake in the rodtip , as the lures are edging left/right . Uploaded them in the gallery a longer time ago , they are named "PacMan" and "Rolf's Wiggler" , maybe you have seen them there before ? greetz , diemai:yay:

@ jamie Your buddy must be a blessed luremaker , since the target is difficult to achieve to have the lure swim well just by shape and design . I have suggested in a previous post in here , to use less buoyant wood , but I won't like to go without a little "balancing option" by ballast . If the lure already sinks without any weight added , I would only have the choice between , maybe , suspending and/or sinking like a brick ! What I actually wanna say is , that if your design and shape of that heavy wood lure would fail somehow , you won't have much possibilities anymore to save your bait from the trashcan . I think , that it really takes skills and experience , what your buddy is doin' . greetz , diemai:yay:

@ robalo01 Seems , that all of us have hijacked your thread a bit....., but as it seems , you can't get something for nothing ! You need to invest money for material and/or work to reach your goals . To save money , you could try finding material from scrap(aluminium sheet , metall tubing , old ballbearings to gather the BB , etc. , etc. .....), but then you need to invest time to look around and work to shape your material to your demands . OK , your idea about employing nutshells is cheap , but these are not the best suited materials to amplify and transmit sound , since they do not have a hard surface like metal , glass and some kinda plastics . For your demands I thing cheeseheads method about the Xmas lights is the best . good luck , diemai:yay:

I build rattles of brass tubing and steel balls and set them into crosswise bores through wooden lureblanks ,....no soldering required to close them . greetz , diemai:yay:

@ FishBooger I have already read in two or three publications , that many anglers consider wood lures(crankbaits) to have a better action than plastic ones , but I really can't judge over it to be true or not ! Might also be a constant repetetion of a formerly coined statement ? greetz , diemai:yay:

@ jamie Yes , that's what I meant ,...sorry about using wrong terminology:huh: ! @ robalo01 Guess , that you're right about your theory , your suggestion about adjusting the position of the ballast is seemingly same thing that I stated in one of my previous posts in this thread about putting a share of the entire ballast into the back of the lure . greetz , diemai:yay:

@ Swede OK , thanks for info ! greetz , diemai:)

@ Swede I understood that ,.....I was just wondering , whether it would be identical with the lengthwise center of gravity:? ! But thanks a lot for providing that info about that "X" point , something , that I need to bear in mind ! greetz , diemai:yay: