Musky Lure Questions

[uncross]

I stopped by a local outfitter store today while traveling to a work location and noticed some musky crank baits that I had never seen before. They had what appeared to be Newman written down the back of them. I asked the guy if they were made local and he said no, they come from Penn. I do some woodworking have tinkered with some lures in the past, so I examined the lure over and could could see where the lure had been weighted. The diving bill had the wire coming up through it, but the hooks appeared to be on screw eyes and not through wire. I asked the guy what the bait was made of and he said balsa. I tried finding some info on these online but not much out there. They appear to be similar to a tuff shad. they look similar to these, These are Baker Baits. They are made from cedar, which makes me wonder if the newman ones are also.

How do you do the line ties like this?

Are they twisted and epoxied in? If not thur wire then how does this hold up to muskies.

I would like to learn to make my own cranks for my use, I am not trying to steal or expsose any lure making secrets, If this is one, I would be asking the same questions if I was purchasing one of these.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Vodkaman]

The picture that you posted did not appear. Have another go. I tried a few searches using your information, but had no idea if I was viewing the correct information. Try posting a link, to show us.

When the shop owner told you balsa, this may be just an assumption and not necessarily fact. I would think a balsa musky lure with screw eyes would be an unnecessary risk, but there is no doubt that heavier balsas can hold a screw eye.

There is quite a lot of information about screw eyes, twisted eyes and through wiring on this site, so you should be able to find what you are looking for. No secrets here

Dave

[uncross]

The picture that you posted did not appear. Have another go. I tried a few searches using your information, but had no idea if I was viewing the correct information. Try posting a link, to show us. When the shop owner told you balsa, this may be just an assumption and not necessarily fact. I would think a balsa musky lure with screw eyes would be an unnecessary risk, but there is no doubt that heavier balsas can hold a screw eye. There is quite a lot of information about screw eyes, twisted eyes and through wiring on this site, so you should be able to find what you are looking for. No secrets here Dave

Thanks, I could not find any of the Newman baits online. Here is the closest thing I could find. http://s2.postimage.org/r7htwl35v/IMG_3327.jpg. I did some searches on here but could not find exactly what I was talking about. The bait appears to have screw eyes in the tail and belly for hooks, not thru wire, harness style. The lip has the wire going through it and into a hole drilled under the lip. My question is how are they securing it in, if it is not wired all the way through. I would think this would be a lot easier to do for me if I can figure it out, than doing the whole thru wire process of cutting the blank in half and putting the wire in, glue it back together ect... Thanks <BR><BR>I am also reading through hundreds of post on this site <A href="http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=25">http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=25</A> to try to find out Edited August 3, 2011 by uncross

[Vodkaman]

I agree, looking at the different thicknesses between the belly eye and the wire form, the belly is a screw eye.

The problem is that if you drill in the direction of the wire form, you will obviously hit the screw eye, leaving insufficient length for a good anchor. I try to have at least 25mm (1”) glued length of twisted wire within the body, always longer if possible.

In the pic, I show how I would drill for the wire, with the belly eye in its current position. But there is no reason why the belly eye cannot be screwed in at an angle, leaving more room, but I guess straight in is stronger.

At the angle that I have drawn, I would probably have to cut a notch in the root of the lip to make room for the wire. Both the lip and the wire would have to be epoxied in, for a strong bond. If the lip comes loose, the wire anchor will be compromised, so the lip needs to be scored and small holes drilled to help the epoxy do its job.

Do a search on haywire and barrel, for types of wire twist, a lot has been written on the subject recently.

This is not a great construction, I would rather through wire than mess about with this, especially as you are dealing with powerful muskies.

Dave

[woodieb8]

most are cedar. heres what we do for our minnee mee/woodies.

insert wire thru lip. . body blank. drilled thru. the wire goes completly thru the lure.

on tuff shads when they were wood and others the concept is.

wire thru lip to belly /ballast. that wire is held from lead belly ballast. then they use screws thru the lead belly ballast and into the tail end.

we prefer 0.62 wire thru..

hope this helps you out.

[Jwags]

I stopped by a local outfitter store today while traveling to a work location and noticed some musky crank baits that I had never seen before. They had what appeared to be Newman written down the back of them. I asked the guy if they were made local and he said no, they come from Penn. I do some woodworking have tinkered with some lures in the past, so I examined the lure over and could could see where the lure had been weighted. The diving bill had the wire coming up through it, but the hooks appeared to be on screw eyes and not through wire. I asked the guy what the bait was made of and he said balsa. I tried finding some info on these online but not much out there. They appear to be similar to a tuff shad. they look similar to these, These are Baker Baits. They are made from cedar, which makes me wonder if the newman ones are also.

How do you do the line ties like this?

Are they twisted and epoxied in? If not thur wire then how does this hold up to muskies.

I would like to learn to make my own cranks for my use, I am not trying to steal or expsose any lure making secrets, If this is one, I would be asking the same questions if I was purchasing one of these.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Zach and I build our musky baits in much the same way. I use 1.5" .092" screw eyes for the hook hangers and line ties on shallow diving lures. On deep running lures, like the one pictured, I run my wire back into the bait about 2" and epoxy it and the lip in place. Depending on the lure, I may also anchor the diving lip in with two .062" stainless pins.

jeremy

Edited August 3, 2011 by Jwags

[uncross]

Zach and I build our musky baits in much the same way. I use 1.5" .092" screw eyes for the hook hangers and line ties on shallow diving lures. On deep running lures, like the one pictured, I run my wire back into the bait about 2" and epoxy it and the lip in place. Depending on the lure, I may also anchor the diving lip in with two .062" stainless pins.

jeremy

Thanks, the diving lips on these were anchored with pins. Do you twist the wire or anything, or does the epoxy just keep it from pulling out?

I also found these videos from the other site... http://www.youtube.com/user/gthem1#p/a/u/2/LsRDGgXnWbU and http://www.youtube.com/user/gthem1#p/a/u/1/hJSdUvPqeTA

This process looks pretty easy also, if I could figure out how to make one of those boring rods.

[Jwags]

Thanks, the diving lips on these were anchored with pins. Do you twist the wire or anything, or does the epoxy just keep it from pulling out?

I also found these videos from the other site... http://www.youtube.com/user/gthem1#p/a/u/2/LsRDGgXnWbU and http://www.youtube.com/user/gthem1#p/a/u/1/hJSdUvPqeTA

This process looks pretty easy also, if I could figure out how to make one of those boring rods.

I do twist the wire so the epoxy has more to hold onto but I'm not sure that's necessary. Ever try to knock out a lip that's been installed properly with just epoxy? I've pounded on some with a hammer just to see what they can take- they won't move! Adding the wire in the lip that is also epoxied in will hold even better. In my opinion, lips that are pinned are extremely durable but probably not necessary (I still do it anyway). Most musky lures are built WAY overkill. That being said, it's obviously better (IMO) to build lures to be extra durable so you have less to worry about.

jeremy