pope953

Great info Mark, thank you. I am curious, as I have no real way of knowing my exact weight when I put it in the lure. I just have a lead melting pot and some lead. I take my dremel tool and make a place and pour the lead in. How is a better way to measure out, and be more accurate with my weight? Also, are there any good scales that I could buy that would help me with measuring everything out?

At first I didn't, but whenI got closer weight wise I installed hooks with split rings and it gave it the right amount to pull it down and lay on it's belly.

Thank you for the info smallmouthaholic. I may have to look into getting a small wood lathe at some point if I continue to do that. It is a fun hobby that I enjoy, and I'm sure the satisfactory of catching a fish on a lure you make is unreal! Where is the best place to get wood blanks? I have just been using scrap wood that I get at work. I'm not even sure what type of wood that it is. I want to say it's pine but I'm not sure.

Definitely going to try to consistency with the next one. I would like it to glide more rather than walk I guess. I took the one I have been working on to a pond this morning and it walks pretty well. Takes a little effort to get it going but once you get it going it does well. With the next one I will definitely keep it more level in the water. Just for curiosity sake, would it be simpler to try and perfect one without a rattle and then move on to adding a rattle and then perfecting it? Or is it best to just start and do it the way you want to do it? This is all new to me, and I'm just trying to figure out the proper steps toward building one, if it's better to start easy and then progress, or start with what you want and roll with perfecting it?

I have heard one time, and I'm unsure if it is accurate or not, hopefully someone can tell me. The more horizontal the lure sits the wider it will glide, and the more vertical the tighter the walk will be? Also, not having to be perfectly symmetrical is a good thing! I know it is highly unable to get it perfectly symmetrical by hand sanding so that's good knowing it doesn't have to be because I was worried it needed to be.

Thank you for all the response so far. Lot of great information. I have very seriously considered getting a small wood lathe to get to size a little quicker. Everything has all been hand sanded so far. Cut out on a scroll saw to get the shape and then sanded by hand, so I'm sure its not perfectly symmetrical unfortunately. I placed one more weight in it earlier and it gave it what it needed to lay on the belly, but it is terrible tail weighted and isn't sitting quite vertically but it doesn't lack much. I may just use this one as a prototype to learn with and keep tweaking on this one. The next one I make will definitely use some of the techniques I have learned from you all. Such good information and I'm glad I joined the site. Travis, that picture helps a ton. I have googled the Lunker Punker several times to look at the shape to try and help with the shape of my lure. But I haven't seen that picture before, that is a great find as far as the weighting is concerned. Thank you so much. Is there a way to post videos to the site? Or can I upload one to YouTube and put it on here?

Thank you for the feedback, I will try moving the hook hanger forward on my next one. I am going to continue weighting this one to see if I can get it to float right and learn from this one. If it helps at all on details, this lure is more of a Lunker Punker sized lure. It's right around 6 inches long and about 1-1 1/4 inches in width. Trying to make a bigger style walking bait, due to the size bait we have in some of the lakes in the area. I have about 3-4 bodies made currently, they are all similar shape and size.

Hi everyone, new member here. I've looked around and searched the forums with no luck yet, so I figured I would make a post and say hi as well as ask a couple of questions. I've tried my hand at making a couple of lures before with little success unfortunately, but with this one I believe I am a little closer. I've tried swimbaits, wake baits and my newest, which I feel should be a little simpler, is a top water walking bait. The problem I am having is when I put it in the water it sits at about the position I want it, with the butt down slightly, but when I let it go it rolls on its side. I've added more weight to the bottom to help pull it down and hopefully sit right, but it keeps rolling over. I'm hoping that someone has some insight for me at what I need to do to help. Also, I need to add that I took a chunk out of the back on the top, towards the rear and put in a ball bearing in a sleeve for a rattle. It sounds phenomenal, but I wonder if that is part of the rolling over problem? I've supplied photos (I hope I did it in the right manner) to show where I am at. You can see the putty on the top where I put the sleeve.