Thiko

I have looked into that briefly. I have seen that you recommend Azek but that is as far as I know not available over here in Europe. Are you aware of any Europeans on the forum who use pvc? I am sure there is a product out there somewhere that works. I assume most pvc blocks sink?

I can not find any minwax products over here. I might give a few other wood sealers a try. It sure looks a lot easier!

So far pike do not ruin my unpainted lures with 4-5 layers of the transparent varnish that I also use as a sealer. They do scratch the paint if I use the same varnish as top coat. I used rattle can paints, not water based paints so that is good. My fear with those wood sealers would be that it would be penetrated as soon as the topcoat + paint is scratched. Or do these wood sealers soak deep enough into the wood for a tooth mark to be no problem? Using a wood sealer seems easier than brushing on 4 layers of varnish! I have read a few of the pvc articles here and looked a bit for pvc products in our home depots. Found nothing. I think there is a German guy from this forum who uses pvc so it must be available. I'd be interested in a pvc product I can get here in Europe!

Thanks! I have a question about this wood sealer, does it work with toothy fish? What I mean is, does it work well when the topcoat gets damaged? The wood sealer looks like a very soft sealer or am I wrong? Or is that auto air sealer making the lure tougher regarding bite marks?

In the Dutch language wood from multiple species of pine can be sold under the same name, but it is very likely to be Scots Pine.

Thanks. I will try that.

There is lots of sealer/ top coat info here on the forum but I have tried to find info on what primers to use (or info about problems with primers) and not found anything. Maybe I searched wrong and this has been covered before. I use a varnish as a sealer. It is a varnish made specifically for use on wooden boats. I have tried to find the English name. It is spar urethane or something similar I think. The stuff is great for sealing. It doesn't crack and if applied thick enough (4-5 layers), it is completely protecting the wood from the water without any top coat needed. This sealer also does not crack easily. It is a little flexible, not rock solid. But I do have problems with painting over this sealer. I have painted some lures with rattle can paint. I have tried to paint directly on the sealer and after applying a primer (alkyd based primer for wood and metal). Paint directly on the sealer is no succes. After drying I can just wipe it off with my fingers. With a primer it is a little better. I can make a functional lure (the sealer underneath stays good) but the paint comes off too easy for my liking. I recently made lots of lures without paint. Just the sealer over the wood. They do very well and are very durable. No teeth marks in them even after catching big pike. I have also used rattle can painted ones but they have lots of teeth marks after one pike. I really like to have a sealer that is waterproofing the wood and does not crack easily (like some harder sealers do). I prefer a sealer that can stand a topcoat/paint failure. So I like the sealer I use. But I am interested if there is a primer out there that can stick better to this kind of sealer. Or if I apply the primer in a wrong way. I dry the sealer 48 hours before applying primer. Sand lightly before applying primer. I hope to make some of my fish catching lures also gallery worthy in the future . Thanks for any help.

I'll do that!

I have build a few good working glide baits with pine wood. I think the English name would be Scottish Pine. I'd take a wood that is not very soft (assuming you use the lure for fish with teeth), but definitely not very heavy. Light wood can take more ballast weight and if the ballast weight is placed low, you get much more stability compared to heavy wood with little ballast weight. I have made slots in the wood to glue stripes of lead as low as possible. This is the way to make the lure extra stable. And stability is for a glide bait the key to succes. All energy you put into the lure by pulling, must go into forward motion instead of in rolling over. Also very important is to make them sink precisely horizontally. So you need to test them individually, with ballast weight duc taped on the blank, all hooks attached and the leader tied on. Don't forget the leader especially if it is a heavy fluorcarbon/steel leader! If these lures do not sink horizontally, they do not glide very well. Making a glide bait is mostly a matter of patience regarding finding the correct amount and position of the ballast weight for each and every blank you make. Every piece of wood will need a slightly different amount of lead to sink horizontally. The only really difficult step is, if you drill holes for the ballast weight, you have to be exactly in the centre or the lure will never go straight. But I avoid that step!

Hi, Maybe you can take a look at the Salmo slider? The smallest sizes are 5cm, 7cm and 10 cm. That is 2, 3 and 4 Inches I believe. I have seen either the 5 or the 7cm. The action was looking good to me and the lure was very stable in the water. It can be fished fast. I thought about building one myself. The slider is a bit between walk the dog and glide bait. A very short lure is never going to glide very far. The larger size Salmo slider is really good for pike. I have that one in the tackle box and it is very good.

Hi lure builders, I am Thijs from the Netherlands. I lurked around on this forum for a while and decided to join. I already learned a lot here by reading and hope to learn even more by joining! I think it is a great community of lure builders here. I started building crankbaits and jerkbaits for pike and smaller lures for zander and perch only a few months ago, so there is still plenty to learn. I fish mostly for zander, perch and pike. I have found lots of good info on this forum for making lures that work for these species. It was especially helpfull to see some American style lures you can not find in stores over here! They work wonders for waters with lots of fishing pressure! That is it. I have some deep diving cranks to finish! See you around here, Thijs