eastman03

I was just working on my second run of lures (same as the blue one in the pic), and instead of pouring the lead directly into the lure, I attempted to make a wood block mold, and pour the lead into my mold. That made little cylinders of lead which I could just place into the holes that i drilled into the wood at the same time I epoxied the slot and wire in. So it saved me a step and a lot of screwing around. Hopefully it works out. I really need to get become more meticulous in the small things like prep and taping for easy clean up. Some of those youtubers make it look so easy.

Honestly, I'm very very green at this bait making thing too! Just got into it last winter, have been doing tons of reading, (this forum is the best!). Produced a few baits last winter, 2 of witch made it into the tackle box even and have caught some big pike (no muskies quite yet). I was just out working in the shop yesterday and today evenings, and every time i want to try something, it leaves me with more questions, good thing there is you tube (paul adams, solar baits, marling baits lots of good help in their videos). This thread has got me curious about the wood hardener also. I only picked spar urethane because it seemed available and easy to use. Also, on bigger baits like the 12" ones I'm making, I'm not too concerned with a bit of added weight. I suppose if you are working with small bass baits and balsa any weight could change the action. I honestly don't even know what brand that hardener is? As far as primer, I haven't done much research on it either. I picked some primer spray paint when I started experimenting with lures. Seems to work well. Nothing special, not sure if it's right or wrong. http://www.krylon.com/products/colormaster-primer/

I build musky crank baits out of cedar. After shaping I will soak the baits in Minwax spar urethane for a few minutes, then after curing (and gluing in the wire and lead) I prime the lure, then coat with one or two layers of envirotex. Then I paint, and then more envirotex. Not sure if I'm doing it right either, but that seems to work for me. There sure does seem to be lots of different opinions on sealing lures, it's tough weeding through all the information. As far as wire through, as a hardcore musky guy, I prefer it, but there are lots of good baits out there that have screw in eyes. That is a huge debate also in the lure building community also haha.

Yes!! Nice fish. Thanks for the feedback everyone. I figured it would be ok. As long as the hook hangers are not hanging out too much. I hope to have a pig like that on the end of my line next year!! Went out to LOTW this last sunday, late late muskies. Caught two, nothing that big!

Just looking for some input too see if I'm using the right wire. Building 12" wire through deep diving musky crankbaits. The wire is aircraft gauge stainless steel wire but it seems really malleable. Like I'm worried about its overall strength, of the eyes will bend too easy. It is .051 gauge. The wire I used last year was some sort of music wire. Super springy, impossible to work with. Let me know what you think. Maybe it's just the right stuff.

So this is a long overdue update. I haven't really touched any lure building stuff all summer, too busy actually fishing. It was a great season. This last trip out (nov 26), on lake of the woods we trolled the blue lure in the picture above, and another copper/orange one like it, and I caught my FIRST FISH on my own lures!!!!!! It was so cold we didn't even get any pics, just a bit of go pro footage. Three pike from 36-39", lost something else that was probably a muskie. I couldn't be happier, what a cool feeling. Now that we are in the middle of a snow storm, it's time to put the boat away and get out the band saw! lol

So I gave painting a second try tonight. I really need to be more careful to not bump or touch the bait. Couple spots where i scratched the paint off. Oh well, live and learn. Overall it went well, need to try a different mesh. This one I used for the first two baits has a nice pattern, but is metal, so it also kinda scratches the paint. Cut some stencils out of a sheet of plastic. They worked pretty good, for the gills and the fin. Need to figure out how to make the fin not quite as solid, just one solid colour. Put some blue in there, but that didn't do much lol. Will keep trying, overall I'm very happy with it! Hope the muskies are too. Also recieved some eyes from Lisa and Ed's eyes, and they look awesome! Will add to the overall look for sure.

Found some SS304 wire from Fastenall. Should work well. Finally found a creek that was flowing with a few feet of water. The two bigger lures seemed to work quite well! They tracked a bit to the left, but I'm sure I can adjust them and get them to hunt straight. The two flat sided cranks did not run at all. It looks like they need more weight or something. They just flop on their side and float up. This was without hooks on, so before I do anything drastic, i'll put the hardware on and see if they run. Then add weights to the hooks and see if that helps!

Appreciate the tips like crazy. Was able to get rid of the fish eye and apply another coat of the etex with some success. I still need to find a better place to do it as the shop was kinda cold, and there was some dust that got into the finish. Good thing for the most part its not the final layer. Still waiting for the stupid ice to melt so I can go and try them out haha. Side note - what kinda wire should I be using in the bait. I got some .051 music wire for my baits. I didn't do much research, but I see this might break down? This is the exact wire I got. Might have to look for some SS wire by the sounds of it. Let me know if this is a huge mistake thanks.

So went and checked out how the lures were doing after applying the first cost of envirotex. Not good. I guess beginners luck because I did a test lure earlier and it was fine. All of the lures had some sort of fish eye where it had run to a thick spot. And there were more bubbles than the very first time. Shoot. Patience will prevail. I've read darn near every form topic on this lol. Still requires some trial and error on my behalf. Question. How thick do you apply? I mixed for two min. The let sit for ten. Then applied. The thicker one seemed to work better. Also appeared like there were more bubbles towards the last bait. So I ended up sanding these down (left the painted one right out, figured id experiment with the unpainted ones first), and re applied epoxy which is on the turner right now. I figured maybe my turning rack was a bit off level? the fish eyes were all on one side. Who knows. I tried one thick, and one thinner. After babysitting them for an hour, bubbles appear ok. I breathed on them every so often to make sure they dissipated. Then leaning in for a closer look, the other one hit my hat. FFFF lol. Lightly brushed it smooth. ***note to self, don't screw around with the baits. Let time do the curing. I also turned up the temp in the shop a bit, maybe the cold weather slowed the curing down alot?

Well there's a first time for everything. Tried out the airbrush after setting up and it worked great. Took lots of time to clean it after because I hear that's the bugged concern. Anyway this was just a free handed trial, went pretty well! Can't wait to keep going. Get a few more colours and plan a better design. Still need to put some etex on it and see how it runs.

I did some experimenting with the baits, weighing them with all the hardware and comparing them to the weights of other baits that I like similar size. And also tested them in water after smashing open some ice in the ditch haha. They floated on their side like I thought so ballast was required for sure. (PS I would kill for a xray shot of some of those musky lures, but I'm not going to be the one to band saw in half a 50-100$ lure!) So I added some weight as appropriate, not sure how the lure will run yet as we are still waiting for some open water to give it a test. I melted some lead in a big spoon that I used to make catfish weights with and poured it into holes drilled in the baits. That worked quite well actually. Epoxied those holes full, another sand and some primer. So I have three baits at the moment that are ready for open water test. At the moment I'm shopping for a airbrush. I bought a REAL cheap Princess auto brush (actually a beaver 200) which I know is going to be a complete letdown/failure/frustration. But at the moment it will do to play with. Hopefully getting a Badger patriot or something for fathers day?! A guy can hope. (PS Vodkaman, i left this screen open and my wife sat down at the computer and saw your tag line under your comments, brilliant. Too funny!) Anyway, that's where my progress has gotten me. I can stop posting updates if this is getting redundant. So I was bored today and made my first small batch of envirotex lite. Tried it out over the primer of one of the lures I made. Great looking stuff. My lure turner works great too. Might have laid it on a bit thick as i couldn't get some of the microbubbles out. Oh well, good test. See how it looks tomorrow. There are a million videos and forum topics on Envirotex help, need to read more of them.

Yea I've been reading up on ballast weights and I've come to the conclusion that I will most likely have to do some experimenting to get these to run nicely. Not even sure what I'm looking for action wise, just straight trolling. Thanks for the advice!

Well, here's where I sit now. The two baits are primed and ready to be tested which is nice because the ice is starting to come out here I'm Manitoba. The other bait I filled in the slot and it was aweful. Should be ok in long run but I gotta figure something better to do. And the third pic is a very primitive lure turner, still in concept stage.

Again, thanks for all the ideas. I ended up mixing some epoxy up in a plastic bag with the tip cut out so I could squirt it into wherever I needed. Cheap easy solution, awesome. Also, cut thin strips of the cedar and wedged them into the slot as well. Totally made it easier to sand, and less epoxy. This forum is a great resource! So I was working on a new one on saturday. Basically a perch bait design. About 12 inches of wood, with a 4 inch bill. If this bad boy runs true, should smash bottom in 30 feet of water. We use these regularly in the fall around LOTW with great success. Now if I can make them and not have to spend 100$ that would be even better. Just working on jimmy rigging a lure turner together and I can get into airbrushing. I suppose a test run will be in order first. I'm not sure if I will need lead, or if crankbaits even run straight. Any of you guys have trouble building cranks and getting them to run true?

Great videos that Paul Adams has. I think some sort of bag like that would work. Thanks guys. I will put some wood in there also.

Really appreciate the ideas guys. I had trouble finding any type of epoxy that wasn't quick set like the gorilla glue epoxy. I tried it on a practice slot I cut in the wood and just like the Bondo i tried in the slot, it was a bit to thick to really pour into the slot. I think I need to break down and buy a better epoxy for filling the gap like West system? Next bait I attempt will be a drilled through for the wire, which I haven't tried yet. As for water sealing the bait, I have spar urethane and will dip it in when I make all my cuts/holes. Haven't got to the paint or epoxy stage yet. Would really love to just get an air brush and start playing around with that. Any suggestions there? Here's my progress. Just need to keep trying and hone my skills. Every time I go work on it I find I leave with more questions. This is the very first lure with bondo (the pink stuff) filling in the slot. Did pretty good actually, if I can find a bit better way of getting it in there. Strong and sandable at least. Sealed. Ready for test run for now. This is lure #2 with the epoxy I attempted to fill the slot in, and stopped about 1/4 the way done. I used regular gorilla glue to hold in the bill. Seemed to work very well. I'm looking at getting a disposable syringe to pump the epoxy into the slot. That would be ideal.

Ok, so here's where I'm at. On the first bait I made, I gorilla glued the lip and the wire harness into the slot. Wow, that stuff expands in such a small space. Bit of a mess indeed. So after cleaning that up, I attempted to use bondo to finish filling the slot. What a mess. I was expecting it to be a bit more liquid? I don't think I was able to get it into all the cracks and crevices. Hopefully this provides enough strength and fill, and hopefully I can make it look like a nice piece of wood again. Yikes. Might try something else next time. So, on the second bait that I was working on, it's already going much better. I drew a center line, made my slot before I sanded it down (much easier to hit center also). Got some thicker makrolon (3/16") for a larger bill. And glued that in. I did not glue in the wire harness yet. Also, this wire harness was formed much nicer. Practice helps a lot. Any tips as to where to go from here? My next bait will be wire thru (not slotted). Maybe I'll attempt to fill this second bait's slot with epoxy. Thanks guys

Interesting guys, I like all the feedback. I purchased some carbody filler to fill in the slot, I will do it without any added weight or anything to see what the end result will be. If it needs buoyancy or weight, I will add after. This bait will kinda be an experiment for myself. I'm curious about those hook hangers that you guys twisted. Do you have a picture of it at all? My next bait I will try drilling through or doing hook hangers.

Awesome advice guys. I really appreciate it all! As far as filling slot with the wire, I will probably just try some epoxy then. Seems easier and better that way. And yes, I put it in a vise really light to hold it, big mistake. Never do that. I still have lots of sanding to do so I should be able to get rid of that. My next bait I will try drilling holes and slotting first for sure. That way you could line everything up around the existing center line. Vodkaman - I have no experience with the screw in hardware, and frankly it terrifies me. I want these lures to be crushed by a 50+ in muskie, I suppose screw hardware could withstand that? I'm just not sure. Also a concern for a trolling crankbait is the lack of ability to bend the hook hangers to tune the bait. All in all, I will keep posting updates and doing lots of reading on the site to gain knowledge. I haven't even looked into painting it yet, so that should be fun. Thanks guys.

Hey guys. Long time reader, long time musky fisherman, but just getting into this lure building thing. I've read and watch countless forums and youtube videos in an attempt to learn from other guys' trials and errors. I just have a few questions (for starters). I'm attempting to copy a custom X crankbait and I cut a slot in the bottom to accept the wire harness. This was very tricky, and the result was not perfect. Is the best tool for this job a table saw? Hard to control the depth overall, and to get the exact center (which I ended up missing), or is there a better tool to use that I'm not thinking about? Also, to glue in the wire harness I was going to use gorilla glue, but what would fill in the gap made by the cut (but also strengthen the wood and bond it together)? Any advice or pointers are much welcome!