Big Epp

Looks great! I had never thought of putting the wire harness in the back. Clever idea!

... ... If anyone needs a tester* in northern Illinois you just let me know! *said tester is not a professional and has absolutely no social media presence outside a YouTube channel with 2 subscribers. Said tested is also has a very poor quality camera and cannot guarantee any good photographs of the successful use of your lure. Said tester has 4 sons who are very energetic and enthusiastic about fishing, but not particularly focused (especially the 2 month old).

I like @Hillbilly voodoo's idea!

What a great resource! Sounds like you found a really valuable connection. Another good resource is local school shop teachers. They are most likely interested in some sort of fundraising, and working with an actual customer for an actual product is great "real-world" experience for the students. The shop at my school has a laser and a CNC router. Different schools are going to have different programs and equipment, and different teachers are going to have different attitudes and priorities, but it's worth a shot!

Hey Don, I don't have a ton of experience with most of what you listed, but I think some people use epoxy to clear coat jig heads, or clear nail polish. I use epoxy (Envirotex Lite) or Oil Modified Urethane to clear coat wooden or PVC lures.

@Travis, I really like the idea of doing multiples and moving the lot from step to step. It's been mentioned in other discussions as well. It just makes sense to go from one station to another. I'm trying to set up stations to handle maybe 12 baits at a time. I don't think I'll ever shift to mass production, but I like the idea of doing lots. I think my favorite step in the process is clear coating. It really makes the baits pop once they get a good glossy clear coat. It's nice to see the time and effort come together in the finished product.

Exactly, which is part of the challenge. Figuring out a charge rate that makes it worth my time and also still sellable. Maybe if could get Kevin Van Dam to use one of my baits...

I'm going the same route as @exx1976. I haven't sent in my paperwork yet, but I'll keep the whole thing above board. It stinks to pay the piper, but like you said I'll just build it into my prices. The challenge for me is making a quality bait efficiently enough to make the price worth my time/effort and acceptable to a customer. If I'm just making some for myself and my friends it doesn't matter if it takes me 7 hours to get it right, but for a seller 7 hours x $10/hr is $70, which looks steep for a 2 1/2" crankbait... The next thing I need to do to help figure out the actual cost is time myself making different lures and see what the actual investment in time is.

I'll follow up with you all on this, but I was in the shop cutting out a glide bait and the shop teacher asked me for a design challenge... he wants to use the x-carve to cut out some lures! He has a round bit and is eager to try out some features he hasn't used yet. Here's the plan so far: I'll send him one of my templates. He'll then design a program to cut two halves of it simultaneously, adding in lots of detail for scales, fins, gill plates, etc., and cutting out the lip slot. We'll also make a program to cut the inside, making a path for a wire form and ballast weight, maybe even some internal rattles. While we're at it we may also do a program to cut out the lips. I am super pumped about this!

This is something I've been thinking about as well. I've seen a bunch of files for 3D printing on thingverse, but haven't looked into this much. The shop here in the school where I work has an X-Carve.

@JD_mudbug It's always tempting to compare... I just bought an airbrush the other day. When I went back and bought a hose the gal at the counter asked me what I paint. We talked a bit about making lures when she asked me if airbrushing is easy (I've not tried it yet). I told her, "well, the guys on YouTube make it look easy." I think accepting the process of learning through mistakes is critical! The booklet that came with the airbrush I got specifically says to be prepared to make lots of mistakes. It's all part of the journey. I've been very impressed with some of the work I've seen on this site, and hope to learn and practice my way to such high quality pieces.

5lb smallmouth is pretty good! I've only caught one that big, and it was up in Canada. No idea what the answer is to your question, but that's a nice fish

First lure I ever made was with my grandpa. I still have it too! It's a little bass-o-reno style plug. He showed me how to do the shaping and sanding and then he painted it black, installed hardware, and gave me the finished product. I once caught around 20 pike (small ones) in one go with it. They were hitting the surface like crazy, and the only way I could get it to work how they liked it was to wrap the wire leader around the front hook. Kind of weird, but it's what they were after. I have since retired the lure and have it hanging up in my shop. My most successful lure I made so far is a small popper. I made it with a kid at the school I work at. The ballast weight is a 3/8" steel hex nut. I put a picture of it on here a while ago, but it's got a cream and brown color pattern with gills. The day of the picture I caught 9 bass and a bullfrog, with the biggest bass being 21 inches (which for around here is pretty big).

So much good info already! Check out this video for a solid looking through-wire method. I think it lines up with what @eastman03 is talking about: A bandsaw is super helpful! I was able to pick one up on Craigslist for $20. They don't typically go that cheap, but don't think you can't find one if you look long enough. As for making and cutting lips, what thicknesses and materials do you all prefer? I know there's going to be a difference from a bass bait to a muskie bait. What thickness polycarbonate can be cut with snips?

Hey all, I'm hoping to start selling some of my lures. I just opened a shop on Etsy, but thought I'd reach out for some tips from some of you who have more experience with this... What sort of things have you found to be helpful when selling baits?

Alright, alright, so sometimes I'm afraid of what I'm not familiar with... Thanks for all the reassurance, now I can turn off the nightlight

I'm working on some jointed baits, and got to thinking, what style of joint do you prefer? What do you think is strongest? I usually do a double twist wire. Also considering through-wire construction for strength, what style joint would you use for heavy hitters like muskie?

I'm going to try and use some of this to reinforce the neck on a mouse lure I'm working on. It's a little thinner than I'd like, so I'm hoping the steel reinforced epoxy will strengthen it up. I used a through-wire for the mouse, but I'll use the epoxy to fill remaining holes and keep everything together. Reading the warnings and fine print it looks like that stuff is pretty caustic. I've never used it before, but am a bit hesitant.