Nathan Posted July 8, 2005 Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 I'm curious if others have noticed the same that I Have...When you make a "Minor" mistake on a bait,it some times turns out too be my most productive lure...Let me explain.... I love jointed baits..I use a table top sander to shape most my baits.All shaping is done prior too cutting the joint.When I cut the lure in half for the joint,at times I see where the sides aren't shaped evenly..a minor defect,most wouldn't or couldn't even notice.I could easily fix the problem,but what the heck,this bait is for me.I complete the bait...and BAM..it's a fish catching machine.. Or,a minor flaw during the shaping of a diving bill...This bait is for me...I'll use it...a little extra tuning time is required,but the end result is a bait that fights to run straight,a little extra wiggle here or there in its struggle...Bam...another fish catching bait... I guess what I'm getting at is we strive for absolute perfection while building lures,we shoot ourselves in the foot doing so.It's these minor inperfections that puts "OUR" baits over the top. People comment too me all the time that I must have truck loads of my own baits too fish...not really...I keep my mistakes,and fish those baits. I won't sell a bait I make a mistake on...The main reason is if a client loves the bait,the chances of reproducing the same "mistake" is near impossible...Anyone else notice this?..Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBait Posted July 8, 2005 Report Share Posted July 8, 2005 I think that is what make handmade cranks so sought after. No 2 are alike and more of them percentage wise have special actions or characteristics that catch more fish. Comparing them to store bought mass produced cranks. I agree.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeter Posted July 9, 2005 Report Share Posted July 9, 2005 One of my guarded crankbaits is a blem. Now and then we all get a bait that is a treasure. We can't explain what makes it a treasure..... but it is. But customers thowing out money for high priced lures expect perfection. Can't say that I blame them either. This is why we don't sell some of these treasures and hang on to them. Their loss huh? Skeeter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted July 9, 2005 Report Share Posted July 9, 2005 Sure, a"goof" may make a bait swim differently and catch fish better. But the serendipity of a goof causing a better bait is rare. More often, the crank is trash can bound. Hey, I'm glad to see it happen on the rare occasion but I'd rather be good than lucky. It has a higher yield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladesandbaits Posted July 10, 2005 Report Share Posted July 10, 2005 Note: This reply only applies to when I am painting lures to accumilate for sale at trade shows or just to the clients i have stop by the shop to see what I have.LOL There is a guy up around lake Cherokee (morristown) that will take my "fowl ups" quicker than the #1"S He says the less than perfect ones catch the best for him. I wish I could convince my regular clients of this LOL.B&B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaime Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 none of the lures I make come out exactly as the one before. I used to get frustrated because of this but then i learned how to accept the differences and actually appreciate the outcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Well you guys are lucky ... I've never had a lure on which I maid a minor mistake .... Hum I'm not showing off .. It's just that I only make major mistakes .... As simple as that, the bait runs normally or it doesn't at all for me .... That's why I'm expecting a lot from my first mold attempt ... I'm tired of having to cry for my lost or broken lures (only for those which proved they work) Max God bless, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoRoller Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 Since I only paint (at the moment, changing soon) my experince is much the same as BNB. I was painting a set of lures the other day and my gun started acting up. The paint job came out nothing like I wanted it to but I said "what the heck, its for me to test the color combo". That bait is now so scratched up after 3 fishing trips it isn't funny! A definite fish catcher! Problem is I can't duplicate the effect I got from the brush acting up (I cleaned the brush! ). If painting for customers, they expect a "perfect" bait when we are finished. Sometimes perfect is too good, after all nothing in nature is perfect! Like Skeeter said, might be their loss! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaPala Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 YES & NO Nathan. In my quest to make my Seeker lure a better fish catching machine, I studied the older versions where some are what u call imperfections, those struggling ones that seem a little more erratic, hard to tune & "natural' swimming action. I started to tweak & change things a bit here and there. And the end result is my Arrow Seeker. It's got a new lip, new weighting configuration & slight tweaks to the overall balancing of the lure & I have a struggleing erratic lure. I learnt a few lessons in weighting along the way, & here's a hint: weighting as we always extol to be at the bottom 1/3 is not necessary the ultimate truth. Weight a lure to the verge of tipping over, design a lip to match & voila an erratic (hunting??) lure. SO this is a designed imperfect lure. Perfect every time. LOL if I'm making sense here. Here are links to the lures mentioned: Original Seeker, New erratic Arrow Seeker, Arrow Seeker with it's first catch (btw this pic shows the more conventional one without details carvings, painted but without top coat cause I was to eager to try it out ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpoRoller Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 LP, you bring up an interesting point concerning weighting. In digesting what you said, it makes some sense to me that if a lure wants (by design) to roll over but the retrieve forces it to stay upright then the action would erractic at times. That may be an area of exploration.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadlystreamer Posted July 13, 2005 Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 Yep Nathan, it happens all the time here tying streamers. When I tie one that I don't think is good, or feathers laying just right or head not to my liking, I hang it on a special line where I put my streamers to dry and that rear line is for my fishing pleasure. When I meet a fisherman on the stream, I have a clear plastic box just loaded with streamers and I give them away, I catch fish with my mistakes and hand them out all the time. There is nothing wrong with them, just not what I will hang on a card and sell. Heck I have customers that will scrape the paint off, they like them like that I guess. So yep!! Mistakes catch fish, even us fur and feather guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
