How Do You Do It?

[JRammit]

Soft bait guy, just made 1st hard bait (posted in gallery).... Making custom soft bait molds is alot of work, but once its done you can make baits over and over... But... After carving, drilling, weighting, sanding, sealing, painting and finishing ONE bait.... Im afraid to use it!!!... How do you do it????

[Vodkaman]

Yes, Building hard baits is a totally different mentality to soft baits, it is a labor of love, affection and pride. I am not of course speaking of me personally, as I consider it an ongoing challenge to design a presentable bait that can be manufactured in the minimum time. I would probably be more suited to the soft bait arena.

 

My build time from start to first dip, if I build ten at a time, is around 20 minutes per bait for a crank and about 90 minutes for a 4 piece swimbait. My baits are not for selling, I rarely fish and I do not paint. For me, it is all about testing and learning, this is my hobby as an engineer. However, the baits do catch fish.

 

Dave

[jonister]

I have the same problem! Dont worry though, after about 20 casts it gets easier and you start to worry less and less. Especially after you get good at it and the time to make a lure gets shorter, i still have lures though that i wont throw on anything less that 30 pound braid, just be ready to go swimming  Vodkaman, how can you make lures but rarely fish? i have the problem of making lures when i could be out fishing

[BobP]

Just like plastic baits, crankbaits are fishing tools.  If you aren't prepared to throw them where bass live, no matter how much that Japanese bait costs or how long it took you to build that custom bait, you aren't using them to their full capability and so shame on you.  To soften the disappointment of losing a bait, I build mine in small batches of 3-5 baits.  After you build a few hundred baits, a loss becomes less heart wrenching!

[Vodkaman]

The red signature text at the bottom of my post is the truth for me at least. I had never fished lures until 2007 when I was in Sweden. I had to fish close to a sunken tree to catch anything and I was losing hand-fulls of spinners every evening after work. Lures in Sweden are very expensive, but the biggest problem was that I was unable to get to a store until the following weekend.

I figured; I am an engineer, I can do this. So I bought some brass plate, peen hammer, soldering iron, snips and all the other bits and set to - it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be.

At this time I was introduced to TU by a friend in the office at Volvo. I then changed over to wood, as it was a bit easier to work with. More money spent. The problem was that my accommodation was a very small apartment, but I managed.

TU members could only tell me to read and build and learn by trial and error. No one could answer my question, 'How does it work'. It then became my mission to figure it all out. I made a lot of progress, but I am still learning. Still a lot to be figured out.

Dave

[JRammit]

i have the problem of making lures when i could be out fishing

Im right there with ya!... Vodkaman is right, "labor of love"!... Never thought i could love anything more than fishing!

Made my 1st one a topwater, easier to get back if i lose it... I didnt time myself on the build, but the whole process took me a day n a half.. Im sure i could make 3 or 4 at a time instead of 1, that would make me less nervous to cast it...

[Skeeter]

I started making my own baits because I was tired of spending my money on commercial and so called "custom" garbage. Except for a few small shallow crankbaits, I throw my own baits or baits that I have re-done (Poes and Bagley) exclusively. They just plain work. Nothing in my bag is stock. So for me, it is not a hard thing to do. A really good plug knocker also helps me hang on to the lures that I make.

 

Skeeter

[Vodkaman]

I remember the first lure that I was happy with. Got to the bank, ready to hit some trout and perch. First cast, the bail arm flipped, the line snapped and that baby sailed the air like you would not believe. I very nearly snapped my rod and threw it in the river, but managed to resist.

 

Dave

[mark poulson]

Soft bait guy, just made 1st hard bait (posted in gallery).... Making custom soft bait molds is alot of work, but once its done you can make baits over and over... But... After carving, drilling, weighting, sanding, sealing, painting and finishing ONE bait.... Im afraid to use it!!!... How do you do it????

 

When you catch your first fish on a lure you made, you'll understand.

[barrybait]

It gets to be about building a bait that works, and the sooner it gets destroyed the better!  When you walk in my shop I want to point at that lure hanging and say "Look at that lure, took me 12 hrs to make and it didn't last four months.  Wacked 'em thou.  They destroyed it!  And it was coated with 2 Ton Epoxy!  Didn't matter who threw it either, fish couldn't stand it.........".  Have fun making.

Barry

[jonister]

The red signature text at the bottom of my post is the truth for me at least. I had never fished lures until 2007 when I was in Sweden. I had to fish close to a sunken tree to catch anything and I was losing hand-fulls of spinners every evening after work. Lures in Sweden are very expensive, but the biggest problem was that I was unable to get to a store until the following weekend.

I figured; I am an engineer, I can do this. So I bought some brass plate, peen hammer, soldering iron, snips and all the other bits and set to - it wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be.

At this time I was introduced to TU by a friend in the office at Volvo. I then changed over to wood, as it was a bit easier to work with. More money spent. The problem was that my accommodation was a very small apartment, but I managed.

TU members could only tell me to read and build and learn by trial and error. No one could answer my question, 'How does it work'. It then became my mission to figure it all out. I made a lot of progress, but I am still learning. Still a lot to be figured out.

Dave

 I totally understand! i was just pullin' your leg. You still make better lures than me ​. I did the same exact thing on my first ever salmon spinner and lost it in deep water .

[imagine_studios]

Necessity allows me to throw a lure I've made, or, it will once the ice is off the lake.  I've only tested so far, but time is getting near.  Musky lures are in the $20- $30 range each, which is ridiculous to drag around on the bottom of the lake looking for a nice snag to steal it.  I have no choice, it's either make my own, or not go Musky fishing...  it's still going to be tough though.

[Ichthus]

invest in a nice lure knocker. 15$ that'll save your piece of hard work from getting lost forever on a sunken log.

[RayburnGuy]

invest in a nice lure knocker. 15$ that'll save your piece of hard work from getting lost forever on a sunken log.

 

I agree 100%. A good lure knocker will pay for itself many times over in just the first year if you do much fishing at all.

 

Ben

[JRammit]

Lure knocker it is!... Ive been making custom soft baits for a year now and raiding the dollar bin at walmart for cranks, poppers and spinners... My goal is to replace my WHOLE tackle box with customs... This was my first post on the hard bait page and i already see some farmilliar faces, maybe by next year ill make it to the wire bait page too!

[crankbaits]

The first one is the toughest to lose,It gets easier after that.

 

When you catch your first fish on a lure you made, you'll understand.

Mark hit the nail right on the head with that statement.Build them,fish them,lose them

and then build some more.

[RayburnGuy]

Don't think of it as "what if I lose the first bait that I toiled over for so many hours". Be positive. Think about how excited your going to be when you catch your first fish on something you made with your own two hands. After all, when you get right down to it all it amounts to is some wood, glue, paint, hardware and a little effort on your part. If you remembered to take notes you can go build yourself another one.

 

Ben

[Jaw]

I had the same thought when I built my first crank and you know what happened I lost it on the first cast after I had tested it in my pond trying to bang it off of all the stump piles I know are there go figure. The next one though caught a fish on the second cast and justified my addiction to tackle tinkering. I go into it knowing I'm going to lose one from time to time and it's really not that bad once you get into building. That's the part that's the most rewarding to me knowing if every tackle manufacturer shut down I could still produce effective tackle from fly tying, wire baits, soft plastics, and cranks. I'm not the best by far and still have tons to learn but I could be self sufficient if needed

[Vodkaman]

That would make an interesting competition:

 

The only allowed materials are; rod, reel, line, hooks and wire and published list of allowed hand tools, no lead allowed (this is a 'green' competition).

 

No livebait, worms etc allowed. The competitor has to first construct a lure from available materials around the bank. The rules would determine if man-made materials were allowed or not, I would say not.

 

Dave

[Ichthus]

Dave

That sounds like a great new twist to Major League Fishing. lol

[Vodkaman]

Ha! just imagine the pro's set loose with a carving knife. Could make a good pro-am thing.

 

Dave

[osutodd]

Since I started making lures, it's not nearly as painful to lose a lure anymore, even if it's one I built myself. Homebuilt lures cost less, and losing one is an opportunity to sit down an make more. I have done jigs, spinnerbaits, and buzz baits for a long time, and have so many I couldn't possibly use them all in 10 years. Started painting hard baits last year, so now I can start over stocking those too.

[FrogAddict]

I spent a ton of time building a wake bait 2 winters ago. It was my first balsa build. The first time I threw it A 4 pounder bit it and when I got her next to my kayak, she snapped my line. I sat there for 10 minutes and was sad. I then tied on another crank, casted it out and it just kept goin.... I must have tied the worlds worst knot and it was a sinker.

As Mark said, when they hit something you created, it's all worth it!! But it's even more satisfying to give a lure away and find out that your friend caught tons of fish with it!

X2 on the plug knocker as well.

[JRammit]

That would make an interesting competition:

The only allowed materials are; rod, reel, line, hooks and wire and published list of allowed hand tools, no lead allowed (this is a 'green' competition).

No livebait, worms etc allowed. The competitor has to first construct a lure from available materials around the bank. The rules would determine if man-made materials were allowed or not, I would say not.

Dave

Sounds like an episode of Survivor Man

[JRammit]

Since i posted this thread, ive constructed 5 failures.. 2 crank baits and 3 topwaters, all with their own unique problems.. I hung them up over my desk on my "wall of shame" (ha ha!) for motivational purposes... I imagine thats just as bad as losing a successful build in the water... But yet, im still building!... #6 is ready for clear coat as we speak, and "testing" next weekend.... I get it now, just another reason to keep building!