kajay920

I must be spending too much time on my eyes then... I drill a 3/16" or 1/4" hole about 1/16" deep, depending on the size of the lure. I then put a background color of fingernail polish, usually white silver or gold. I then use a small dowel and place a drop of the retina color. Once the retina color shrinks out I try to add another drop to mound it up a little. I then place a drop of 5 minute epoxy in the eye socket and place on the dryer to rotate. I will occasionally outline the eye with a contrasting color if it dose not stand out well. The D2T seals the whole thing down and seems to keep the 5 minute epoxy from yellowing. Time will tell.

I used to drill a hole about 1/8" deep while it was still in block form. I got tired of that because I either had to stop and re-drill as I was shaping or I would over drill and one hole would be too deep. Now I just use a set of inside calipers to mark where the the holes are to be drilled. This way I can also drill at the proper angle to the head. A hole square to the body does not always work right. Just a little eyeball alignment and a couple of pinches on the calipers and I have reference points to set my drill bit into.

I tried a bait with a flip up hook based on a Sebile lure I saw a couple of years ago. I used the groove in the tail idea mentioned above and the hook has a bend in the shaft that holds it in alignment. There is a pin epoxied in to hold the hook from pivoting too far down. The hook seems to be weedless but the deep diving bib I put on this one catches ALL of the weeds. I think if it were made into a top water system it would work pretty well. With a frog body there would be plenty of space to add two hooks. There is a picture of it in my gallery. Forgive the no paint skills on this one. It was the early days.

May your lures run true and slam many fish for 2014!

We had some holes in the ice earlier this month. I tossed it a few times. The hardwood being more dense casts very well and has a fairly quick sink. The metal bill makes it go nose down and looks real good. It has a gentle wiggle as long as you keep it moving. The sealer and topcoat have to be spot on because all of the end grain and glue joints will blow quick I'm sure.

I've started making a few lures out of different species of wood it takes a lot of time but has a unique effect. Here is a basic one of stacked maple and walnut with a hickory belly.