draper11

No longer speaking on my knowledge of what one company does, you really have to be able to tell if a bait is tuned or not when using it. I don't care what kind of plug you have, if that thing isn't running right, it is junk. Every time I fish with someone in the back of the boat who is cranking along with me, I pay attention to what their bait is doing as well as my own- especially when I am catching them and they aren't. Sometimes I tell them what is wrong, , depending on who they are. A lot of folks just take one out of the package and sling it until they loose it without noticing its action, components, etc., which is a big mistake. But the fewer people that know those things the better some of us might be, so I better be quiet .

I am not sure if this is the one you are talking about or not, but Stanford lures has such pictures on its website of such a testing tank (roughly 5'x 5' and 3' deep). That was not truely indicative of the tuning their baits get. ALL baits they sell are tuned in a large in-ground pool by one of the two partners in the company using a standard rod & reel and line tied to the split ring (no snap). I can say that some shallow round and square billed baits can be tuned very, very accurately in that indoor metal tank, but deeper diving baits would vary from perfectly tuned to somewhat close. You really have to have a longer cast and be able to speed up the retrieve to test those baits. That tank is used mainly when initially testing countless prototypes (for instance testing 20 different pull points and lip angles on the same bait), quickly tuning baits for special shipments to pros that need the baits next day, etc. All lures do go in that metal tank after they are completely built to verify that they float. Any that sink are held back. That picture is not indicative of the tuning the baits receive, it was only a photo-op with the web designer to illustrate that the baits are tuned. Running baits through that thing is cool when no other machinery or fans are on. You can hear those baits rattling across the whole room (just the hooks and split rings vibrating against the wood), and there is a lot of noise when they hit something like the metal posts or grate on the bottom.

This is my first post on this site, I have really enjoyed looking around on here since I found this place recently. This is one of my favorite sites on the net do to its subject matter- building fishing lures, a subject which really touches my heart. I have been around lure making my entire life and have family members that have started companies specializing in making crankbaits (Stanford Lures), spinnerbaits (Ledgebuster), dipping dyes (Spike-It), plastics, and have tinkered in everything from jigging spoons, hair jigs, to deer trail timers, cameras, scents, you name it. I grew up with my dad making lures for various situations rather than going to Wal-Mart to buy them. Partly because of just being poor, but mostly because of artistic reasons and the feeling that comes from fooling a fish with a creation of your own. Nothing tops that feeling. I found that out very early on as I was creating bream baits and later making crude bass poppers on the back porch with some whittling knives, sand paper, and every lure component I could find on baits in tackle boxes in a 5 mile radius... (I'm still only partially sorry about ruining those antique plugs by taking out the screw eyes and hooks and making some of the ugliest baits ever back in the early days- those things worked!) Stanford Lures does cut their bodies with a cutting machine, but they do not have any type of computerized machine that regulates cutting size. That picture of the website of is of me several years ago making sure that all of the baits fell within a tolerance of a couple thousandths of inch. Then you have to consistently cut your lips at the proper angle and depth, place the lips in just the correct amount, place your belly weight precisely, etc., etc. The final thing that Stanford Lures does is hand-tune every bait in a swimming pool located near Lake Oliver in Columbus. They used to tune them in the metal tank in the picture five or six years ago, but tuning them in the pool gets them exact. This is not computerized mass labor. Some companies pay much more attention to these details than others. Some companies don't, but use hype to still sell them for premium prices. I know some companies baits are worth every penny they ask for them. I know other companies that pay mass lure builders $4 a lure for them to package them under their label, put on fancy hooks, and sell them for that magical $15 price... Blackjack is right about Lee Sisson. He's a great guy in a business where they can be hard to find at times. Its a tough, yet rewarding world out there in the big-time lure making industry. Tough due to extreme competition (ranging from the big corporations to friends and even family members that might see a promising idea and try to make it a little better), a weak US fishing retail market (unfortunately, many fishing retailers don't survive more than a few years and some will go out of business owing your company money), heavy capital investment on the front end that takes a while to recoup, working with hazardous materials (imagine inhaling cedar dust and paint fumes all day while handling lead), you get the picture. The rewarding parts are the friendships you make with customers, suppliers, and fellow luremakers, the ability to talk fishing all the time, and those letters you get from folks with pictures showing that big fish they caught last week. For you custom bait fanatics, custom baits with specific actions, colors, and weightings sometimes don't survive in a world where retailers are trying to sell to the average fisherman. While I use stock baits 95% of the time, sometimes I use crankbaits that sink like a rock, have drastic actions, or have colors that nobody would ever touch. Some companies can only get by providing more mainstream offerings even though it might have a ton of different bait styles or collaberations with pros that never make it to the shelf until enough interest is shown. Sorry to ramble, but this is my first post so take it easy on me. Nothing beats making your own baits and catching fish on them. Glad to find such a great site.