uncustered

After trolling here for a couple of months, I must admit I'm intimidated to post my first creations. I used a balsa blank that was close to the shape I wanted and the hand shaped the lure. On the craw, I used sanding sealer first, painted then coated. Building that I really learned the challenges of centering the weight and hook eyes. On the second, I shaped after dipping in the sandable sealer, then coated with rod epoxy, then I did my drilling etc. What a huge difference in working the holes. I really recommend this as it made the balsa much more stable for drilling. I'll use Devon 2t for the final coat. They weigh around .35 oz. Can't wait for the thaw to test them! Whatchayall think?

I have been depressed about our federal government for many years... oh well, back to making baits. Fishing keeps my sanity.....

Here's the irs take. 10% of sales price... ouch... Pay with form 720...... http://www.irs.gov/publications/p510/ch05.html#en_US_2013_publink1000117228

I think it's a cross between making the lures attractive to fisherman and "matching the hatch"... Do they work? Heck yes.

I build rods so I have a bunch of flex coat. I've heard many complain about it yellowing, but I've got a Loomis 1448 I built back in 2001 with flex coat and it hasn't yellowed.....

Folks, I put several pics in my gallery of Missouri craw pattern that I DID NOT PAINT. They were put there to show my frustration with trying to recreate a named pattern, but finding so many completely different variations. Unless the pic has "tommy" in its title. I did not paint it. Just didn't want to take credit for someone else's work. Did a demon craw last night and will post when I get home.

Wow,...this can be as addictive as rod building... Painting cranks is fun and frustrating (especially when your 68% color deficient ) Here's my light green craw prior to coating: This effort has created as many questions as it did lures... 1. I am looking to do a "missouri craw" pattern, I have searched the web and it seems it's impossible to find 2 lures that claim to be "missouri craw" that are the same color. When someone asks for a specific color / pattern, where do you go to find the original,,, say wiggle wart missouri craw? I tried searching that and still came up with several different colors..... 2. How do you know in advance what effect the epoxy will have on tone/tint? It seems some colors I think will darken, lighten, and some I think will lighten up, get darker??? 3. I'm using a badger 150. It seems my paint (even reduced) is a larger droplet... Am I not putting enough paint on? I heat set each color/ coat... 4. lastly, how long do you let the paint (i'm using mainly createx) dry before coating? Thanks and tight lines....

I'm going to post a pic soon...

Sorry guys.... Between that horrible four letter word we have to endure to have fun tickets to go fishing and working on a craw pattern I have failed in what makes these boards work.... Feed back.... With massive help from my non visually challenged bride, we found a close match to demon. I'll post pics this evening.....

Well, got my wood shaped, lip selected and waiting to get started tomorrow!!!

I'm making baits with circuit board lips. Where are you getting the blank circuit board? Thanks!!

Exact answer I needed. I'm really glad I found this site. Y'all cut my learning curve to a little bend.......

Hey talented ones!!! Gonna start making the whole enchilada. Starting with balsa, looking to make a thin 4-5' diver (loosely based on the WEC Mutt). When I go to the crank bait parts stores they show the circuit board lips with dimensions like 7/8 x 3/4. What do these dimensions represent? How do you determine the width of the narrow end? THANKS!!!!! Custer

Awesome answer!! I'll try tomorrow and post results!! Thanks!!

Hey folks, great site, great responses....incredible talent.... I've been off and on building lures (I'm bi-fishual, Salt and Fresh) for several years now and have been airbrushing for 2-3 months now. The Rapala demon color has put $$$ in the boat several times, but I'm limited to the rapala lures that it comes on. I want to be able to use that color on other shapes/bodies. I've tried just about everything, visited 2 different craft and one professional artists stores and none could get me started making this color. Any help is appreciated. Thanks Custer