First prototype

[Vodkaman]

For anyone interested, this is what my earliest prototypes looked like. They were not designed on CAD, I have just recently input onto CAD to see what I was up to back then. Somewhere hidden in this monster is the lure that I am looking for.

This is not it so don't waste your time.

Apart from the limited space in my tiny apartment and few hand tools, the materials I had were 3/4" balsa dowel, 1mm copper sheet and paper clips. Being Sweden, I could not find any lead sheet for ballast, and so used copper strips for the ballast and the lip, all held together with 5 min epoxy.

Tools were; a small tenon saw, box cutter knife, a lecky drill with a few bits, tin snips and a hammer. I had emery cloth but it created too much mess which annoyed my landlord and it was very cold outside.

From this simple prototype I learned a lot and even caught a few fish, mostly perch, but I did catch a VERY tasty sea trout.

At that time I had already started the search for the elusive hunting action that everyone was talking about. It was acknowledged that it was something that could not be deliberately built, but occurred accidentally, caused by minor faults and imperfections in the build. Some even believed that it was something to do with the brass through harness wire used by one particular top builder.

As you can see, I was experimenting with lip shapes. I went through a LOT of copper sheet. I did have some success and achieved some hunting action, but it was many years before I finally figured it out. It certainly wasn’t down to lip shape, what a relief!

Have a good laugh

Dave

[Vodkaman]

After the Sweden job, I landed a contract in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Home to one of the top lure designers on TU, LaPala. He lived further north and me being a contract worker, we never managed to put the time together to actually meet. Such a shame as I had so much to learn.

Again, the apartment gave me no scope for a workshop, once again I was confined to the kitchen table. BUT, the apartment complex did have a swimming pool. First light around 6am was the best time for prototype testing.

You need very thick skin for testing lures in a communal swimming pool. I remember two young ladies in full eye slit Islamic burqa dress. They stopped to ask me if I had caught anything. It would normally be totally unheard of them to talk to a western white guy, but I looked so funny and they could not resist the opportunity. We chatted for a few minutes, very interesting indeed.

Here is a video of one of my early hunting successes. I did not show a close-up of the lure as I thought that I was onto something BIG! – I was not

Dave

 

[Big Epp]

Love it!  It's nice to remember we were all beginners once.  Thanks for sharing!