jigginpig

How do you program them? Can you import artwork?

I look at them as a focal point for a bass to fixate on, located at center mass of the bait. Nothing more witch-crafty than that. Bass are real smart as far as fish go, but they are still a fish. I like naturalistic paint schemes, but I also like paint that exaggerates certain key features. I had a bait I caught a lot of fish on that was just solid white, no eyes, and one big black dot about the size of a dime on each side. I caught a lot of fish with it, but I found it so aesthetically objectionable that I painted over it. Same with the all white/red head baits, they still work as good as ever, I just hate to look at them. Isn't that silly? So my take? Put big dots on baits that look cartoony, and small ones on realistic baits. SS

It's a Slammer copy!

Depends on the bait I'm building. I almost always do minnows as two piece bodies, so I can do weight transfer systems in them. You can also even hollow out balsa (saturated with super glue) to do a real lively rattling topwater. Slots are best on the "old school" style baits that look sorta primitive.

Yeah, Mickey is good at what he does. People seriously pay $300 for a Pat's Perch? Jesus. It is a broomstick. Make it yourself people!!!

Well, kidneys are made out of meat, and they go for a pretty penny. A bait is worth exactly what people are willing to pay for it. That Pat's Perch bait, man, people pay through the nose for that thing. A lot of you guys could make a bait like that with if you were drunk. Yeah, fish eat it. But like I always say, fish eat whatever it is you get wet, not what is in your bag.

BobP, they are like dowels you epoxy into holes drilled in soft wood. You still use regular screw eyes with them. The idea is that they hold better, but to me I like the fact that they provide an additional barrier to moisture intrusion at stress points. I think of them that way. I have used them, but don't feel at a big disadvantage if I don't have any on hand. I like the through wire method myself, I guess it just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I usually crank with 8, 10, or 12 pound line, and I think most any method of hardware installation will suffice with that type of pressure. If I was fishing salt or exotic freshwater fish I would not even consider screw eyes.

Yeah, it sucks. I lost my first decent minnowbait a while back, and I was whacking fish good with it at the time. I have a real good plug-knocker, but sometimes for whatever reason you can't get them back. I pretty much hate to lose any wooden bait, weather I built it or not. Meaning old Poe's, Bagley's, Ralapala's, etc. I guess I am superstitious about them, they seem to have voodoo in them. Plastic baits hurt a lot less, they seem to be more even in performance. I hate to bust off any bait that fish chew, but I would ever so much rather bust off a plastic plug than a wooden one. It is funny, but I don't hardly mind to bust off a Megabass or a Lucky Craft or whatever. They all seem very, very close in performance to each other, like clones. So even though it is expensive to bust them off, I feel confident I can get another one that will be extremely similar.

Thanks mate. I do fly by the seat of my pants, and make stuff up as I go depending on what sorta mood I am in. Maybe that is why the idea of multiple brushes jives with me.

Hey Clemmy, do you use any sort of quick-disconnect apparatus or some sort of air distribution block with the multi-brush setup? I would love to have a multi-brush setup to facilitate speedy work. (No changing colors or whatever) SS

I'm thinking about all this stuff myself. I concentrated on the building side of luremaking for the last few years, figuring painting would be easier, so I would focus on the hard stuff first. I'm getting to the point that I am usually happy with what I carve, so I need to focus on learning how to paint now. I am using an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS with the big cup and a .3mm nozzle. I never have any issues with coverage. What I DO have issues with is tiny details I try to add, but I am open to the possibility that I can chalk that up to operator error. I will say that I never fill that silly cup up with paint. I prefer to dip and hang white base coats, rather than spray them. So the cup seems superfluous to me. I mix paint in little plastic cough syrup type cups, and add more if and when I need it. I want to get a brush with a smaller nozzle just to add little hints of color here and there or to add fine detail. My hands shake a lot, I don't know why they just always have, and I think it might be a little easier to add the detail with a brush purpose-made for the application. Still, I would have to agree with the idea that a .3mm tip is probably the best overall compromise between coverage and detail for someone painting small items like fishing lures. Great topic, I am glad it came up when it did. SS

I sorta like the idea of a clone-bait that is "detuned" a little in comparison to the bait it is attempting to replicate. I subscribe to the notion that part of the "hot bait" phenomena is that the fish can sorta get hip to a certain combination of flash and sound. No clue if this holds true for inland oceans such as Lake Erie.

It is tricky, but it can be done. The secret is to topcoat the lure with something other than Ranch Dressing. Seriously though, epoxy is pretty tough. You need to bang it up PLENTY to get down to whatever is underneath it. I guess it could happen, but it has never happened to me. Gorgeous bait there jwfflipper! Baits like that are what made me interesting in building lures in the first place!!

Beautiful! Painting it will be nice too, no need to prime. Looks like you managed to avoid getting many bubbles. You are very talented. Cheers! SS

Lip size (and to a lesser extent shape), lip angle, the location of the tow point in relation to the lip, the amount of ballast, and the location of ballast are all factors. Building large batches of baits allows you to isolate these factors by playing with them and keeping notes. In other words, trial and error, with an unfortunate emphasis on error. Most folks don't get it perfect right out of the gate, I would say you are doing very well. Symmetrical profile is important too. You may be able to adjust a small amount by "tuning" the line tie to one side or another, but starting with a bait that has bilateral symmetry is very useful. It looks like the bottom alewife type bait has a little more meat on one side than the other. It will take water a longer time to go over the big side than the little side, so the bait will tend to blow out towards the smaller side. Try establishing a LOT of construction lines on your bait when you are carving, and get a contour gauge if yo don't already have one. That looks like maple... Is it? Maple is somewhat denser than other woods used for bait building, and because of that you can't ballast it as aggressively. I also think dropping the tow point towards the bill could help.

http://www.saltybugger.com/wood lure bodies.htm http://www.woodenluremaking.com/WoodenLureKits.html http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/wooden-bodies-blocks/ http://www.pebblelures.com/category-s/1820.htm http://www.impactlures.com/products/wood-lure-blanks