Big Epp

Those look great! Might have to try a scaled down one for bass...

Thanks for all the feedback! This is what I'm working on. Of course, I went out of recommendations by messing with multiple variables, but that's part of the fun for me sometimes. I made three to start, one is cedar, one is basswood, and one is pine. The painted one has a good enough action, so I'm starting painting it. The cedar one doesn't have any weight in it yet, and the other one needs more tinkering. I typically float test them in a clear plastic container to see how they sit in the water, test them in a bathtub, and then take them to a pond. I'll keep tinkering and eventually post pictures of some finished baits. I'm not trying to copy anything necessarily, just make a jerkbait. I hadn't thought to float some others and see how they sit in the water. Great ideas!

Hello! I'm working on my first jerkbait (think Rapala Husky Jerk). It's approximately 4 1/2" long, 5/8 thick, and 3/4" tall. I'm wondering if anyone has a tip or general rule for weight placement. I looked online at a bunch of unpainted blanks for ideas, and it seems most have the weight in roughly the front half of the bait, though some have another weight back in the tail. Any thoughts are appreciated!

Love it! It's nice to remember we were all beginners once. Thanks for sharing!

Question, if I were to thin some spar urethane with mineral spirits and put it in a jar for dipping, how long do you think it would keep? Also, I saw a guy who finishes stuff with epoxy then adds a coat of spar urethane over the epoxy. He said without it the epoxy will yellow. Has anyone else had this problem? I'm using E-Tex.

My folks own a cabin on Clearwater Lake, about an hour south of Kenora. Closest town is Emo. I haven't been up there in about 9 years, and making lures has definitely gotten me itching to get up to some northwoods water! Years ago there was a guy who made and sold his own muskie lures. The drop-off in from of their cabin was one of his favorite spots to come and test his new baits. I remember snorkeling behind there and having a muskie swim up from behind me, about 3 feet underneath me and just cruise on by. It was a very large fish, and that close it seemed HUGE. I live down in Illinois, where our state fish is the Bluegill. After spending summers up in Ontario as a kid it's always bothered me that our state fish would be bait for the fish up there! Once I come up with a pattern I like a cut a couple blanks the next step is figuring out where to put the weight and how much weight to use. I just go by trial an error, though I'm sure there's a cleaner way to go about it. After it floats right in a bucket of water I'll test it out on "real" water to make sure it swims. There's not much more frustrating than spending the time to finish a bait and having is swim like a tire...

I have used Doug Fir a bit, and would certainly echo what has already been said. The negative is the very different hardness between growth rings, one positive is a very appealing grain pattern if you wanted to do an unpainted bait. Doug Fir has some really nice, distinct grain.

Not sure what's local to you, but I got some foil at aldi that seems very thin. They sell 75ft of heavy foil or 100ft of the thinner stuff. Might be worth checking out.

I just made a heat box (drying box?). I might do an "Instructible" on it, but it's pretty simple. Line a box with foil, cut a hole a little smaller than the diameter of a shop light, cover the edges of the hole with heat duct tape, run wires across the box, hang baits, turn on light, wait, wait, wait... The incandescent bulb heats the inside of the box causing paint, epoxy, ect. to dry faster. Thoughts?

When I first saw this post I thought, "must not have mixed long enough, I've read about this before." Then I went and mixed up some Etex and coated some baits...this morning when I checked them they are all tacky, so I thoroughly read this thread and am VERY grateful. Thanks all for the tips!

I love the idea of a hidden ballast. Natural baits look so nice, especially if there's an interesting grain pattern, so having a way to hide the lead while adding visual appeal is really clever.

@Rbertalotto A lot of predatory fish strike at the head of the bait. You can get away with a single tail hook on little stuff, but I've missed fish even on little lures with no belly hook. Additionally, the belly hook can provide a source of ballast to help keep the lure floating upright. My thoughts at least.

I am using the deck material. I don't remember what brand, but I ripped the deck boards down and then cut off the surface with a bandsaw. Come to think of it, I didn't have any trouble with the table saw or bandsaw, but the narrow blade of the scroll saw and the narrow blade of my coping saw both get stuck. I have also melted it on a lathe, which is really frustrating!

I have had this problem too, even with hand saws. It's been pretty interesting trying to work the blade out once it gets welded in.

I really enjoy turning lures on a lathe! It's neat watching the blank take shape as you use the different tools on it, very relaxing.

I'm looking forward to seeing the footage! I definitely agree with your assessment for the through-wire, especially with a wood like Balsa. I'm trying them out of pvc, basswood, poplar, and cedar. I'm making these in different sizes, from 1"-4.5." The smaller ones will definitely have some sort of through-wire, but the larger ones I'll just use twist eyes. It looks like the buoyancy of balsa really helps give your baits a great action!

Loved the video (though I watched with the volume off (multi-tasking?))! Those little lures have great action! I just started working on a similar lure:

Anyone have experience 3D printing plastic molds?

This is really neat! I'm excited to try it.

I like where this is going. The ponds around here get so choked up with algae and weeds in the summer I had to stop using my lures and switch to plastics just to keep the weeds off.