# Lure making.



## Gary

Just started dabbling in wood lure making and would like to start a conversation about it.


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## Gary

Not really sure what I am doing so far but I am winging it and hope yall can give me some hints. This is my first try and it came as a kit. (In other words, the lure was allready turned.) Not that it would be a problem for me to turn my own, I can do that if I had a lathe in my 3rd floor apartment. h:. 

I'm not very artistic. I can't draw a straight line, or a circle if my life depended on it. And when it comes to painting? I might hit the broad side of a barn if I'm lucky. 

For this popper and the others I used some paint I had left over from my RC Car days. It's made by Pactra and it's a lacquer in a rattle can. There are litterly hundreds of colors and it dries fast.

For the clear coat I used Rust-Oleum lacquer in a rattle can and added some glitter from Wallyworld while the clear coat was drying. 

I need more practice. lol


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## Gary

Next is a little Crankbait kit that came from Janns Netcraft. Itll be too light for saltwater, but it's practice anyway.


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## Gary

Ok, this one is hand carved from balsa and I decided to go for the injured Mullet look. This pic was taken after the first of several soon to be clear coats.

I started with a block of balsa left over from one of my RC Plane kits and drilled a 1/4" through it. I added six .177 pellets from my pellet gun as a rattle thing and added a 3/16 oz belly weight in it. I also added 1/4" hardwood dowel to the front and back plugging the 1/4" hole and to add something strong for the front and rear. The front for the line and the rear for the hook. I won't be using a bellyhook on this one.


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## Bobby

I think Bill is the resident lure maker. Only thing I would be worried about is the hook and the eye. I think I would want a wire that runs the lengthen of the lure and connected the eye and the hook together.


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## Tortuga

What are ya trying to do, Gary...SCARE the fish to death !!! (J/K) :rotfl:

Looks like you're really interested...so the results will be good....

Kinda wonder about the balsa for body...sure light enough to float...but a good chomp by a 30" spec might nip it in half.. I'm up to my arse in cedar that Stumpy laid on me. If you wanna give some of that a try. .lemme know and I'll get some to you...

Keep strokin'....some of my first pens would give you a laughing fit....:rotfl:

edit...Bill is a true artist with that spray can paint.. See if he won't give ya a lesson...


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## bill

Good starts. I would seal the lures first. It makes painting easy (for me anyways)

On small freshwater fish, using the screw eye is ok. I drill them out with just a smaller bit, then when I insert the eye add a drop of super glue (or epoxy). It will hold stronger than your line. If saltwater or larger fish is the target, then you must drill all the way and use wire. Janes Netcraft has everything you need. Sign up for the emails and you will get specials a couple times a week.

Paint them how you like.

When you put on the final clear coat, it's best to use devcon or I like envirotex lite. Mirror coat is another but costs a little more.
A little goes a long ways. You will need to get a drying rack or at a min hang to dry and just keep a close eye on it as the coating will drip, just rotate it to get a smooth even finish. This is important not just for looks but how the lure will sit/float/action. All three of these will make a hard glass like finish.

Practice practice practice (get a log book and write down what works/fails)

Hard baits are a lot of fun!

Glitter, less is better


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## bill

Oh, get you some different metal files to get a shape, then sand to your finish


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## johnmyjohn

Nice start. On those small lures I would recomend useing wells for your hook screws, makes a good sound when you work it. And one of my biggest problems is I always need half of the floatation I plan for. I've gotten in and out of lure making over the years but my friends and my sons end up with all of them. I've never used a lathe so I don't have input on that. But I will tell you there is big satisfaction when you catch a fish on one you build. Good luck to you.


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## richg99

Yea, please keep this thread going....Rich


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## Gary

Bobby said:


> I think Bill is the resident lure maker. Only thing I would be worried about is the hook and the eye. I think I would want a wire that runs the lengthen of the lure and connected the eye and the hook together.


Theres a trick we use in RC Planes in critical areas like controll surfaces that are most likely to fail during high stress manuvers especially when using balsa. Depending on the size of the threaded fastener, we either pre drill and tap for over the 3-20/4/40 size and coat the hole with very thin CA, retap and coat again. The thin CA strenghtens the surrounding area and works fine. How it handles a 30" Trout or 28" Red, I dont know yet.

Ill take that risk over making too heavy of a lure and it's easy to test. The little crankbait's screweyes handled 12 lb. Trilene XL.


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## Gary

bill said:


> Good starts. I would seal the lures first. It makes painting easy (for me anyways)
> 
> On small freshwater fish, using the screw eye is ok. I drill them out with just a smaller bit, then when I insert the eye add a drop of super glue (or epoxy). It will hold stronger than your line. If saltwater or larger fish is the target, then you must drill all the way and use wire. Janes Netcraft has everything you need. Sign up for the emails and you will get specials a couple times a week.
> 
> Paint them how you like.
> 
> When you put on the final clear coat, it's best to use devcon or I like envirotex lite. Mirror coat is another but costs a little more.
> A little goes a long ways. You will need to get a drying rack or at a min hang to dry and just keep a close eye on it as the coating will drip, just rotate it to get a smooth even finish. This is important not just for looks but how the lure will sit/float/action. All three of these will make a hard glass like finish.
> 
> Practice practice practice (get a log book and write down what works/fails)
> 
> Hard baits are a lot of fun!
> 
> Glitter, less is better


I learned the hard way and tried primer my first on my first lure. 3 days later it was still wet.


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## bill

Gary said:


> Theres a trick we use in RC Planes in critical areas like controll surfaces that are most likely to fail during high stress manuvers especially when using balsa. *Depending on the size of the threaded fastener, we either pre drill and tap for over the 3-20/4/40 size and coat the hole with very thin CA, retap and coat again. The thin CA strenghtens the surrounding area and works fine. * How it handles a 30" Trout or 28" Red, I dont know yet.
> 
> Ill take that risk over making too heavy of a lure and it's easy to test. The little crankbait's screweyes handled 12 lb. Trilene XL.


plus the final clear coat (envirotex lite ect) will add even more strength to the screws

One note, once you have the final clear coat on, STOP. Don't even think of touching CA on there anyplace LOL


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## johnmyjohn

Good info being shared. What started me on lures was my extra wood I had from carving things, and the fact I love to fish and anything that has to do with fishing helped a little also. If you want a stronger wood to work with but is light like balsa try gum. It is one of the main types the wood duck decoy carvers use. The wood I have in stock came from southern Louisiana and is chain saw cut in blocks. I am not by no means an expert on wood but I found this wood to be very good for carving, takes to sand paper well and most important the screws hold fast to it.


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## Gary

After thinking about it Bobby and Bill, I think your right about the through wire insted of screw eyes. In fact I know your right! I didn't think about what would happen after catching _several _fish and how it could/would wallow out the threads in the wood. A fish doesnt pull on a straight longtitudial axis along the bait, but rather in 3D. I hate to lose the fish of a lifetime because of threaded fasteners when wire is so cheap.

Glad I started this thread! :work:

Where else can you learn this stuff?


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## Gary

A couple of links that I hope may be helpfull.

Drilling the through hole.






Theres another one I saw on how to bend the through hole wire, but can't seem to find it now. Argggh!


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## Gary

Ok, this wasn't was I was looking for but could be usefull.

http://tacklemaking.com/default.php?pageID=100


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## bill

the ending is great


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## EndTuition

If Bill won't post up his work, I'll do it for him.
These lures, as a set, brought $300 to the 2009 POINT auction.


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## EndTuition

Here is another one GalvBay made for Larry Dalhburg. This was before the hardware was added.


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## Gary

Got some new goodies to play with. :bounce:


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## vt_fish02

Check out Amistad Tackle. They have a DVD for DIY painting with an air brush.


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## Blackhawk78418

I just started turning my own topwaters. Been ALOT of trial and error but I finally got one ready to test in the morning.


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## Tortuga

Blackhawk78418 said:


> I just started turning my own topwaters. Been ALOT of trial and error but I finally got one ready to test in the morning.


Well...ya gotta post up some pix to join the club..LOL.. Preferably mebbe a pix of what you made....and another one of what you caught with it..

Dang !!!!..Thought I wuz having another one of my 'funny spells'..till I finally realized this was on a year old thread.. Thought I wuz having a serious case of 'deja vu' :rotfl:


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