Robbie Roberson Posted September 16, 2013 Report Share Posted September 16, 2013 (edited) Hi guys and gals, I am new here. I have fished all my life and just turned 58 and feel the need to take advantage of some of these quality custom hand made wood baits that are being offered all over the country. There is something about buying and admiring these great works of art that amaze me. I just love them.......such skills are needed to do these baits, I don't think you realize what you are really doing each time you make one and get it to the public. I have made about 6 balsa baits in my life and loved doing it and actually caught fish on a couple of them. Not really in to that at this time. Within the last few years, my wife and I have been fighting her cancer and we have won ! She is cancer free for over a year now. Long post short......I lost interest in everything....and I mean everything except God and her and my kids, grandkids. Now that she is ok, I am buying some of these custom baits off of ebay when I can catch one reasonable and they are signed. My reason for posting is to ask for 2 things. 1. Please sign your baits under the clear coat, this way if someone like me does not use them, then they might be around 75 years from now and your name will be on them. If you can't sign them, put a mark that will be recognized someday. 2. Please give me some names of some custom makers on here that sign their baits so I can maybe contact them to see some. And if you know of some sellers/makers on ebay or internet, I would appreciate their names or web sites if this is ok. I don't want to cut in front of anyone or compete for them, just doing this for fun and to keep my mind clear right now. Thank you much. :-) Robbie Edited September 16, 2013 by Robbie Roberson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted September 17, 2013 Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 Take a look through the hard bait gallery. Are you more interested in custom handmade lures because that will further narrow the list some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie Roberson Posted September 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 Travis, yes, I am looking for custom handmade wood baits. Balsa is good or any of the woods they use will be fine. I also prefer circuit board bills but the clear plastic will be ok too. I am not sure when I can post a pic of some of my baits for examples but when I figure this out I can post a pic or two. My favorites are crankbaits or non-top but occasionally I find some of these I like too. The old flat side style is one of my favorites. Thanks for any help. Robbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleriver Posted September 17, 2013 Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 Welcome to TU I have been thinking about this for some time myself. How could we use the site to link builders with buyers. Many here just make their baits for their own use, while others it is a career. Both I think might be open to selling a few if an opportunity presented itself. Still that leaves the question of how to best put potential buyers with sellers? I think Travis's idea is a good one. One could contact the maker directly with a PM once you see something you like. But I would caution no means no. Another idea would be to place an ad in the classified section of this site. One could present pictures of the types of bait your interested in and makers could contact you this way. Always nice to see a fellow Tennessean, welcome to TU and happy fishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie Roberson Posted September 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 (edited) LittleRiver, I found this place by accident. I am still buying crankbaits on ebay but getting harder to find them. I did a search here and found a few for sale in 2011 but they were $25 each from Japan, no signed. They hand mades are well worth that, but I want a more personal bait signed by the maker. And I can not pay $25 often.......but have been close a few times. I prefer to spend $10-15 on a signed bait if I can find them. I recently found some foil baits on ebay that were awsome. The workmanship is what I like best. And you can tell when a maker makes each bait personal and when they just crank them out with an assembly line type proccess. I do understand that lots of makers have to make a living making baits, they have to be "fast and good" at making quantities of great baits. I wish some of these custom makers would post some of their wood baits on the for sale forum if it is allowed. Robbie Edited September 17, 2013 by Robbie Roberson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted September 17, 2013 Report Share Posted September 17, 2013 Lots of guys will sell baits but price can be an issue if you are looking for handcrafted complete baits (not that they can't be found). Most refrain from trying to peddle the baits on the site as many find it annoying. Some will work out deals with you...for example I noticed you made knives at some point I am sure a trade for stuff you might have left over would interest some (knife scales for example). I think easiest way is just to PM someone if you find a bait you like. The gallery is nice but for me ends up being a lot I just skim over. It doesn't take too long and you know whose stuff you want to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie Roberson Posted September 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2013 Travis, thanks for your advice. I will be looking on here for some handmade cranks. I'm certain there are a lot of talented makers on here. Robbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
