Firstly, thanks people, all this info is great. I've been around for a while as bamboochochacha or was it bullwinkleII? But I lost my account details. I'm also seen around the net as BullwinkleII or "120 things in 20 years" in case anyone thinks I'm plagiarizing myself This post simply represents where I'm at after picking everyones brains by reading and learning everything I could from here and a few other similar forums.
This is the finished printed lure.
The aim here is to make a quick to manufacture lure that I wont be scared to lose and so I can get in close to the snags. The aim is also to not have strangers point and laugh when setting up at the boat ramp , and to catch a few fish.
This method needs no real skill, I got my 67 year old mum to make one and she did it first time with only the instructions on my blog (just a more comprehensive version of this post) (I made the actual wooden carved lure blank, she just did the design and stuck it on. If I could ever get it away from her desk, I'm pretty sure her first ever lure would catch fish.
The final bone dry product was a little wrinkled, because I rushed between coats to get the howto completed for my blog, but the finish can be, of course, as good as you care to make it.
I started with a graphics program called the GIMP. Its free and available for download whatever operating system you use. Just search for "GIMP download". I wanted to keep the design simple to showcase the method rather than the final result in the howto, but there is no limit to how complicated the design could be.
I found it useful to start with a line running from top to bottom down the centre of the page.
The finished graphic is made by copying the one side, flipping it, and pasting it to match the original.
Print out the design. Allow around 30% larger than the length of the lure body you want to cover.
Cut the design into strips, and glue onto your lure body starting from the back, and overlapping by perhaps 2mm. Where the two ends meet fold the glued ends first one way then the other to crease them. Then trim as close as you can with scissors. No need to wait until its dry, in fact its best to do it when the glue is still wet so you can squash the join flat.
In a design with stripes its a good idea to cut your strips so that the cut is always through the middle of the stripe. The goal here is to keep it consistent. I haven't been as accurate as I could have been but it really doesn't matter, the end result always just seems to work out in spite of where I go wrong.
I tend to leave the eye strip last as they can cover mistakes.
Check the eyes before they are stuck. There a few ways to do the eyes. I've glued them on as cut out circles, Ive attached laser foil in the shape of eyes(from birthday cards and toothpast packaging) or even hand made eyes made to enable final last minute weight adjustment (http://120thingsin20...lures-eyes.html) but I dont think it matters that much. They always seem to work out ok.
The underside looks like this. Not the normal belly of a lure I agree. but I think it adds rather than annoys. But then I'm biased Actually I think it looks a bit like the belly of a shrimp or a moth or something. It looks natural. I've even traced around the seams in red pen to highlight them. That makes the lure look even more like a shrimp. I don't think fish care.
My final step before the clear coat is to go over any wacky looking bits with a dark marker pen. Rough as guts, just scribble over anything that looks like white paper, glue, or even wood. It wont matter, once the final coat of clear is on It will look ok.
I have a great deal of respect for those amazing people out there in forum land that paint incredible works of art, but sadly I'm not one of them/you. This technique isn't designed to approach their works of art, but rather to allow an artless crafter to make a lure in spite of my lack of natural talent
I then stick a toothpick into the rear hook hangpoint hole, and dip in a clear varnish. I don't have spray gear. Ill coat them 4 times or so with a light sanding between each. I can make one in about an hour from a lump of tree to being ready for hooks (plus a stack of drying time (I dry them by rotating them on a geared down 9 volt motor)
If you give it a crack I promise it will work better than you expected
Thanks again for all this amazing info.
if anyone does give it a go, can you let me know how it went
