justwannafish Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Has anyone ever made a bird lure? I saw an old thread by OHBlake that said he was trying to make a duckling lure. Blake had a picture of the duckling he was working on but I don't know what became of that. I think it would be cool to land a nice muskie on a top water bird lure. Who am I fooling, I think it would be cool to land a nice muskie on any lure. Any pictures of bird lures out there? I saw a web site for Thornwood Lures but I don't think he's in business any longer. I would love to build a lure like one of his. He had some beautiful birds. Now that college football season is over I think I will clean up the shop and start making lures again. If I manage to create something that resembles a bird I'll post it. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 (edited) @ justwannafish Many years ago during my early days of making wooden lures , I have seen a picture of sucha lure in an American musky tackle catalog . So I was curious about how such lure would act in the water and tried to make a knock-off , carved outta pinewood . If my memory serves me right , the original lure was from a company called "Gopher Baits" . Anyway , that lure turned out a little heavy with all the added hardware and hangs quite deep in the water at rest , only the very back and neck/head would stick out . The paddle wheels I have made out of aluminium square tubing , both of them turn free on the center axis . The lure only provides a reasonable , though not very perfect action at medium retrieve speed , and only with the rod tip pointing upward . Retrieved too slow , the wheels would not spin , on a fast pace the lure would overturn . Anyway , it was a great experience for me building it , so not in vain entirely . Years after having built that lure , an original lure like in that previously mentioned catalog got to my hands , it is made of hollow plastic material and plated with some stuff like silk . I couldn't find it anymore for pictures now , sorry , but I remember that it even performed worse than my knock-off , it would start to capsize and spin instantly on retrieve . I have later somehow fixed a keelweight to it , it swam upright than , but the paddle wheels still wouldn't spin . All this happened years ago , since I gave up upon such type of lures with paddle wheels , very tricky stuff ! But one might rig sucha duckling somehow with spinnerblades as well ! Forgot to mention , the lure is 3 2/5" long , from tip of pick and tail ! Greetz:yay: , diemai Edited January 8, 2009 by diemai text addition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dramone Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 maybe this vid helps: http://www.lurebuilding.nl/prijsvraag/mgosenhuis.wmv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justwannafish Posted January 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 Thanks for the replies. Diemai, great pics. One of the things I was wondering about was keeping it upright most of the lure out of water. I'll be spening a lot of time at the bath tub making this thing work. Dramone, thanks for the vid. Not exactly what I had envisioned but now I think I'll try that, too. I was thinking about just using a couple small spinner blades to mimic the feet movement but I was concerned they would interfere with the hooks. Diemai's paddles and the feet on your video have me thinking I'll try something like that. I have to admit until I saw the end of the video I kept hoping a huge muskie was going to jump out of the water and take that lure down. After seeing these ducklings and Thornwood's lures I'm sure what I make will look like a second grader's art project. If I don't completely humiliate myself with my creation I'll post a pic of what I make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 @ dramone This "Ugly Duckling" is cool , really great design ! I like the paddle feet of wood , really help to retain the ducks buoancy . Also the outer shape with head down and tail up hits the sight of a fleeing duckling a lot better and obviously is also a lot more stable in swimming performance . Makes me think about trying once more................! Thanks for posting ! greetz ,diemai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbduc Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 @ dramoneThis "Ugly Duckling" is cool , really great design ! I like the paddle feet of wood , really help to retain the ducks buoancy . Also the outer shape with head down and tail up hits the sight of a fleeing duckling a lot better and obviously is also a lot more stable in swimming performance . Makes me think about trying once more................! Thanks for posting ! greetz ,diemai I think that you've hit it right on the head with a slight change in the ducks posture. Head down and trying to make it to any cover available. Great work on the little quaker Diemai. Keep going with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 I just modified a double blade buzz bait, putting more buoyant yellow foam over the head, and painting the blades black. Swims great, but it hasn't gotten bit (yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
