littleriver

I have tried the rasp but prefer the carving knife myself. You may have to try a few methods before finding what works for you.

Works great on balsa too. I carve all my baits with the knife. Though, it might not be the material you wish to start with. Really easy to remove to much material. But with a little practice it won't be long.carving is my favorite part of the process. The knife is fast and can be carried with you anywhere. I have small plastic container which I caryy my knife, a few project blanks and a small piece of 150 grit sand paper. Now I can literally work anywhere. Hope you enjoy carving with your new knife. Vic

I started with and use the method described by Lincoya in the member submitted tutorials section of forums. It pretty much lays out how to carve a rounded bait. It takes practice, patience, time, steady hand and a sharp carving knife make it much easier. But with Gene's guide you can do it.

I started with and use the method described by Lincoya in the member submitted tutorials section of forums. It pretty much lays out how to carve a rounded bait. It takes practice, patience, time, steady hand and a sharp carving knife make it much easier. But with Gene's guide you can do it.

LoL ..................Now that is a tough nut to crack. And she turned so easy before.................Your really close..............Maybe just a litte more weight to rear or bit more uniform drag on the nose . I hope the lure gods smile on you soon. I know your pain.

Sounds like you found it. Glad to hear it MuskyGlenn.

Not sure how much help it will be but simple to do. I would attempt to tune just like a crankbait. Sounds like somthing is out of alignment and the line tie may be able to adjust to a working condition. If not you may be stuck . But maybe not so bad. You could really work that baby deep under cover. Ie boatdocks

Have you tried adjusting line tie? Have you tried adjusting line tie?

Would not recommend it if you want to keep paint on bait.

Sure Musky Glenn I'll take a swing. Why not? I see a bait that wants to come to the surface and spin while walking a shorter distance on the twitch. Littleriver

Mark That is an interesting idea. I would think hollowing out the middle of the bait from the rear would have the least impact on action. Just drill the the bait out from the rear leaving a void in the middle . Start small and keep increasing the bit till the desired effect is achieved.

Gene, Sorry to say, I would be one of those people. I completely missed your last post and I am on here almost everyday. Vic

Like CLM said, mix is critical. I had much trouble with my mix when I first started. My lures were hit and mis on drying or tacky forever. A trick i learned was to use an old two part mixing syringe like this http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&oe=UTF-8&q=devcon+two+ton&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=7335561619048047322&sa=X&ei=UqzGT7HGCIyq8ATe642cBg&ved=0CG0Q8gIwAw#ps-sellers Any brand will do. Simply empty the syringe and clean with alcohol. Pulling the push rod out the first time is a bit tough but a screw driver works for me. Put the cap on and fill with the etex. Then reinstall push. The first time is a bit messy but with time it gets easier to refill. Now you have an accurate way to measure your two part epoxy every time. Works for one bait or ten. I mix for at least five minutes. I turn my baits for 5 hours and do not touch for 10 hours for good measure. And no fishing for 3 days is a good idea like CLM said. Devcon 2 ton is much faster process due to the shorter drying time. It can usually be found at small hardware stores in my area. The biggies like lowes do not carry it but Ace does. Also some mom and pops hardwares carry it. I think they must target these smaller stores here at least. Good Luck..... Vic

Probably a lot of people never look at the bottom of the page. A posting in the hard bait forum may get some hits. I would be interested Gene depending on timing of swap.

Mark Sound Advice from an experienced builder. Thank you! The factory bait I was copying is about 40 years old and is missing the bib. Definitely will build the weight into the next one instead hanging from a hook. Usually work these sort of bugs out with a swim before paint but was feeling confident with this one. Why is it always the ones you don't check. Lesson there for me somewhere. Snowman I built a number of my first baits without ballast. Most swam ok but weren't exactly great with speed. That is where Mark's advice really pays off. I guess that's what seperates the men from the boys. Still got some growing to do myself on this front. I like trying to make pigs fly myself. Bassguy Sounds like you have a very good build method for your baits to never need a tune. I always swim my baits myself. I am averaging one out of six need no tuning on a good day. Thought you gentlemen might get a kick out of this................ My first hand carved hand painted crankbait. Made this a little over a year ago. Let me count the mistakes. And NO it did not swim! At least not till I bent the line tie down on the bib.

Snowman I can see how a feather trailer would slow the action enough to bring a border line bait back under control. Some use curly tail grubs to do this as well. Like the tail streamer on a kite. Something to keep in mind and try first next time. Thanks. The first one of these blowout baits I made i kept trimming the bib till nothing was left before I realized the bib itself was not the problem but its placement in relation to the center gravity was. Even with a very very short bib this bait would lay on it's side after a couple of wobbles This bait was in bad shape. I put all the ballast just below bib on this one for reasons unknown to me now. Turns out a really bad idea.

Here is one way to turn a reject into fish catcher. Recently made a bait that I thought was going to be just great . Spent a lot of extra time painting and finishing so it would be perfect. This was going in my tackle box. Finally the big day comes to try it out. Run skip and jump to the water edge anxiously tie on my new bait . Pitch her into the water. And.................BLOWOUT.................. Thats ok... so I try again and again and the same thing keeps happening over and over . So I think maybe I can tweek the eye a bit . Tweek her this way and that only to have her blowout this way and that........... Oh the pain ................Well after a few sleepless nights wondering how I can salvage this bait and what could possibly be wrong with her. I finally decide the ballast is too far forward in the bait. Making the center of gravity too close to the bill . When this happens, incase you do not know, the bill easily overpowers the bait and you have blowout city from every conceivable angle. This is my second blowout bait due to this condition in my short lure making career. I am sure there will be others. After diagnosing the problem, I came up with this solution. I took my modified bait to the local proving ground(the duck pond) for a test run this eave. To my surprise and everyone else there just after just a few casts, I had something big on the other end of my line. As the fish broke, everyone was looking my direction. After a couple minutes of this, I finally lured the fish shore. A four pound something duck pond behemoth largemouth. She was hooked by both sets of trebles and too my surprise the modified treble was harder to unhook than the normal one. Sadly no camera to substantiate my story; only my word as a fisherman.