ravenlures Posted August 6, 2022 Report Share Posted August 6, 2022 Need some help on jointing a musky bait. I plan on making 8" Northern type fish and want it to be jointed. Will be made from cedar 5/8" thick. I am thinking of using .092 SS eyes 2" long epoxide in or some type of pin set up, not sure which to go. Any information would be greatly appeached. Thanks Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsouth Posted August 6, 2022 Report Share Posted August 6, 2022 I personally don't fish Muskies but from what everyone talks about wire thru is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_mudbug Posted August 6, 2022 Report Share Posted August 6, 2022 Wire through is the way to go. I would go with twisted wire eyes and epoxy before .092 screws on musky baits. The force on a lure of a musky or pike thrashing in the net is brutal. You may not notice a screw eye opening up. Once the eye starts to open, it will fail in short order. It could fail on the next fish. If you do use the .092 screws, I would countersink a cup-shaped divot for the bottom of the screw eye to sit in. When the cup is filled with epoxy, the base of the screw eye will be embedded in epoxy and reduce the chance of the screw eye opening up. I have used gate hardware screws which are over .125" and noticed one had started to open up on a 38" pike. The first pike on that lure put it out of action. You put a lot of effort into making a lure to have it fail on one fish. Wire-through is easy once you make a few baits. If you are making a hinge with 2 screws coming out of the back of the front section and 2 slots plus pin in the back half, have the screw eye gap spots facing opposite directions. If one of the screws eyes start to open to the side, the force of the pull will be be against the solid side of the other screw eye. I have had that happen. Unfortunately, it was a snapping turtle and not a fish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted August 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2022 McMaster Carr has different size SS wire I could go with .062 to .100 and mess with one size wire. thanks, I will start twisting some wire and just epoxy into some scrap cedar. Thanks Wayne 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_mudbug Posted August 7, 2022 Report Share Posted August 7, 2022 (edited) .062 is strong enough. Wire thicker than .062 is hard to twist. I use .062 on large baits 2+ oz and .051 on smaller baits. .040 on typical bass size baits. I would consider going thicker than .062 when the lure is going to be over 6 oz. I sometimes have used a combo of .062 on the line tie and single screw joints and .051 for hook connections and 2 parallel screw and pin joints. I have only used Malin and US Wire stainless safety lock wire / aircraft lock wire. If you are buying wire twisting pliers, don't waste money on the 6" inch ones. They are too flimsy to twist .051 and up. Get 9" pliers or larger. Edited August 7, 2022 by JD_mudbug missing info 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted August 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2022 Thanks Mudbug Just wondering if I should when twisting wire should I twist them together and epoxy them last or should I make up a pin set up with a SS tube and some sort of stops through the wires. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_mudbug Posted August 7, 2022 Report Share Posted August 7, 2022 (edited) Do you mean twisting the wire so one of the twists will have a space in it held open by the tube so you can cross-pin the twist-eye screw? I have never done that. I think I would just do wire-through at that point. It would be probably easier. When I do twist wire eyes, I twist the wire around a nail/rod in a vice. Cut the screw to length. Cutting the twisted part with mini-bolt cutters usually causes the end to flare wider than the rest of the twists so I file the flared part to keep the diameter the same and give it a bit of a point. Filing takes a minute or 2 but I don't like making the pilot hole bigger than necessary. I drill my pilot hole just big enough for the screw to fit. I then drill a small cup maybe an 1/8th inch deep with the end of a bigger drill bit to set the base of the eye in. I often do this by hand with just a drill bit so I don't go too deep with the cup. The screw eye will twist in with left handed twisting. I do a dry test fit to check length and back it out with right hand twisting. Then, I put epoxy in the hole with scrap wire, cheap syringe if I have one, or baggie with the corner cut off. I then coat the twisted part of the screw with epoxy and screw in by hand or using pliers. Wipe away the excess with a paper towel. Your final clear coat will also give a bit more strength as that will cover the base of the screw eye too. When I do wire-through, I use drop wires with loops on each end for hook eyes so the main wire will pass through the drop wire. Sometimes, I will use a barrel swivel in the same way instead of a drop wire. Jim Edited August 7, 2022 by JD_mudbug typo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted August 8, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2022 I will make some up on scrap wood first Waqyne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrybait Posted August 8, 2022 Report Share Posted August 8, 2022 I use twisted eyes the more often than screw eyes and I believe they are much more secure. When I epoxy them into the hole, I first drill a vent hole to intersect the twisted wire hole. After mixing D2T I use the mixing stick to drip epoxy into the hole until it comes out the vent hole. Then I hold my finger over the vent hole as I "scew" the twisted wire eye into it. That way I feel sure that I have 100% wood, epoxy, and twisted wire contact. Barry 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted August 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2022 barrybait Remember me from the Musky show a few years back . Still at it but just older Joe my grandson gave me a great grandson. All doing fine here. Thanks' for the advice starting to go back to Cedar lures. Raven Lures Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
