Search the Community

I have no idea what I did wrong but this thing just wants to spend One direction or the other. I no longer know for sure how much weight I put in the bottom but it was somewhere between two and four size three split shots, I think. It sinks nose first but hangs tail down out of water. Not really hoping to fix this one but any kind of inside of what I may have done wrong would be great. I did try adjusting the line tie. Not really hoping to fix this one but any kind of inside of what I may have done wrong would be great. I did try adjusting the line tie. Pictures for size and shape references.

I have been recently making wooden crankbaits and I discovered a new design on accident and its a fish magnet! I want to make a company that sells wooden crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, and maybe buzzbaits. Is this realistic if I can come up with an efficient way to produce them? Do you make a living on a lure business? Thanks

A guy I work with has been telling me about a crankbait he's had a ton of luck out of but has said he hasn't seen one like it in years so I told him to bring it to work. He brought it in and it's something I've never seen. Wondering if any of you may know what it is.

I am new to making wooden lures. I have gotten decent at shaping the baits. But every time I try to cut a lip slot I end up ruining the bait. I know a band saw is usually used to cut lip slots. But I was trying to find something that works but is cheaper, while I am still figuring out how to make baits.

I have made a crank bait out of Balsa that I like the action of. I have a template that I made of the side profile, but I can't make the crank bait body exactly the same from wood. Can you make molds of a crank bait body out of silicone and then make them out of resin. If so, how would I get the lip and weight into the crankbait? What silicone and resin would be best for it?

What is the best way to put weight in a crankbait without a lead pot?

Hi all, I am new to the site and hard bait building. Last year I started lure making but stuck to easier lures like bucktails, spinnerbaits and some other hair/fur type lures. This off season I have decided to try my hand at some deep and shallow crankbaits and some dive/rise jerkbaits. These are for personal use only, I may give the odd one to a friend but I have no intention of selling them. I have spent the last several months reading a lot of material, includign a lot on here, and trying to figure out my plan of attack and have finally come up with the following process. 1) I will be using primarily cedar, western red and eastern white. Both easily accessible and reasonably priced. At some point I may try some different types of wood but chose cedar as a start. 2) I will seal the bait with a couple dips in sanding sealer. Sand with fine paper after it dries. 3) Apply a coat of primer paint. 4) Paint the lures with acrylics. To start we will just be using brush on paints, we used to paint for a hobby so we have the paints and brushes etc. In the future we will look into an air brush. 5) Insert dive bib on crankbaits or dive tail in the jerkbaits. I will be using 5 or 6mm Lexan for my dive bibs, and I have dive tails from lure parts online. 6) Coat with a couple layers of ETEK as the clear coat. I will build a turner. I will be using primarily through wire construction, by cutting the lures down the centerline and glueing the two halves back together once the internals have been put in the correct places. I may build a couple with screw eyes just as test specimens. I have found the template for the Grandmas so as a starting point I was going to try some minnowbait style lures, thickness of baits will likely vary from the originals so I plan to modify my lip accordingly, I acknowledge this will be a trial and error process. As it will be with all crankbaits in determining the best bib shape, angle, size, line tie location etc. With all this said there are still a couple of factors I am racking my brain around and was hoping some of the builders here could provide some insight. Q1) Any recommendations on a decent primer paint to use. I am not sure I even need this, maybe a white base coat will be sufficient over the sealed bait. If I need primer specifically I would prefer a brush on or dip as I do not have the room to be spraying aerosol paint cans. Q2) What is the avg thickness or weight addition of the clear coat when using ETEK. I will likely do 2 layers, more if needed, and I know this will vary by bait size and builder but is there a general thickness I could use to try and estimate the weight I will be adding with the clear coat. Off the top of my head I was thinking around 3 mm additional thickness, on each side. In my view determining the weight addition by the epoxy, which on a 10-14" bait can be a few oz, is more important than the actual increase in dimensions. I figure the extra size can be overcome with a bigger bib, only time will tell with some trial and error. Q3) Has anyone ever discovered any type of relationship between bib and lure size, they are willing to share. For example the minnow baits I am attempting will be similar in shape to Jakes, Grandmas, Shallowraiders etc. However my bait width/thickness will vary from these, especially until I figure out the additinal thickness I add from the clear coat and paints. I intend to use similar weighting locations as the named baits do, I found the Grandma templates online, and I will adjust the bib size according to the lure width (potentially add more width on shallow divers and more width and possibly length on the deeper divers). I plan to use linear extrapolation to come up with the starting bib sizes. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I will post any findings I make as I embark on this adventure. Thanks Mark

Does anyone know where to get this mold to make crankbait belly weights with lead and wire? Or is there a video out there somewhere that shows directions on how to make one of these molds? I've tried making one out of RTV but the wire would not stay verticle in the mold when pouring in the lead. Any info on this would be great!.. I wish Do-it made this mold so I could just buy it and their wireform inserts for it..

Hello, Ok, So I've tried looking all over YOUTUBE and I cant seen to find anything on painting "SEE THROUGH" hardbaits. Does anybody have a link or some step by step instructions on how to do it? I really like see through hardbaits for CLEAR water but I want to paint my own now. I do have a set of Createx transparent paints but not sure how they work just yet. I will attach an image of a crank as in example of what I'm talking about. thank you in advance.

Can anyone tell me how companies like Rapala and Spro are making these paint jobs with such crazy detail? Are they using a computer? I have a customer who wants me to duplicate the Spro Fire Craw pattern and it’s crazy detailed! If this is a computerized wrap, how do I get into this?

Any one here have info on unpainted swimbait blanks? 1 or 2 joints.

I know I'm probably opening a can of worms here but I need advice on the best clear coat for finishing my baits after they've been painted. I want the paint job I put out to be an equal to what you find at the stores. This seems to be a big secret. I started out using water based paints, and 2 part epoxy as a finish. Then moved on to the different MCUs (DN, Garco, Diamond, etc..) and they just aren't like what you get from large scale manufacturers. What are they using?!? Is it a secret MCU receipe? Is it automotive finish? Oil paints? I've stayed away from oil paints and automotive finish for the health reasons but am open to ideas. Please help!!

I have been painting baits for a while now on a small scale using a Pasche Talon (gravity fed) with water based createx paints. I want to start painting lots of baits the same color patterns to sell them. I've noticed some videos online of people doing this and oftentimes the paint container is attached the the bottom of the airbrush. What is the best setup for this? I can definitely see the advantage of not having to constantly put drops of paint in the hopper. Any recommendations on equipment for somone wanting to go from a hobbyist to start painting large scale?