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mainbutter

My first lure to be completed tomorrow??!

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I decided to go ahead and give a shot at making my first lure be a through-wire swimbait. It seemed to be about the hardest thing that was reasonable to attempt, and would give me a good chance at failing. I wanted to actually learn something, and in something like this I'm betting I will learn the most from my failures. Finding out what doesn't work helps highlight what does!

My woodworking tools were limited to a dremel, a leatherman, and a hand saw.

I cut a block of basswood to my desired dimensions and cut out the cross section of what I wanted with hand tools (a hand saw and my leatherman). I then shaped the curves with my dremel and sandpaper. I cut the lure into 3 pieces, and drilled holes for through-wire construction and weighted the lure to be roughly neutrally buoyant (using some good ol' math calculations) They are now coated in a slightly thinned layer of devcon 2 epoxy. It's too late to do much more but the pieces will dry overnight.

All I need to do now is paint, top coat, and epoxy in my through wire hardware. I'm hoping to paint before work, and do the rest in the evening. Painting should be quick, this lure isn't an exercise in learning to paint, but I'd prefer to have something presentable as a "finished product" to friends and family.

Don't take any that as if I'm saying I feel confident in the lure. If the lure does anything other than explode in a shower of splinters when I first test it, I'll be surprised :yay:

Maybe at the very least if it fails to be a successful swimbait, I can cheat and slap a lip on it to give it some action. I can always take it fishing in canada for pike, canadian pike would hit a beer can with hooks attached if you tried it.

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@ mainbutter

Good luck with it:yay: .........and don't forget to post a picture in the gallery , once you're completely done !

If your first should not work properly for some reason , and you'd need questions answered , you may also post a pic in the forums , as that would be according to the site rules !

greetz , diemai:yay:

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If this is your prototype, assemble it and water test it before you go through the trouble to paint it.

Nothing more heart breaking than a beautiful lure that doesn't work. :cry:

And it's much easier, emotionally, to savage an unpainted lure to do modifications than to tear into an already painted, "pretty" lure. :twisted:

Good luck, and post a picture when you're done. :yay:

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Sorry it took so long to upload, my computer had some issues and took a couple days to fix, but now I'm back up and running and can upload my pictures!

Here's my very first attempt at a wooden lure, and my second attempt at tackle making, the first being some easy-peasy inline spinners.

dscf1372.jpg

It doesn't swim great, but this was more an experiment in using tools than anything else. I think I might cheat a bit and just pop a lip on it to get some wonky action out of a slightly less-than-symmetrical lure with slightly less-than perfect weighting. I'm half excited about wonky abnormal action, I've often wondered how much imperfections might just be able to trigger a fish to strike.

I tried out my airbrush for the first time as well, I picked up a lower end Iwata gravity feed, a compressor, and some createx, and tried my hand at doing a "severely wounded perch". This is pretty much my first time painting since 3rd grade, and my first time using an airbrush. I'm darn happy with how it turned out.

Anyhoo, there's some pretty ugly through wiring, but it more than gets the job done. I wanted to make something tough enough to tangle with a 50'' musky, and I have full confidence in it in regards to holding together.

Oh yeah it's carved out of basswood, entirely with basic hand tools and a dremel.. I decided it was more than worth it to invest in a cheap band saw simply because of all the time I'd save.

The problems I've tracked down already are that I don't like the wide spacing between segments.. I thought I'd try it out to see how it looked and performed with a wider range of flexibility, but my next project will have segments much closer. Again, issues with weighting/symmetry/balance are present, and that will just take a little practice to learn how to do it right.

I hope you guys think it's a decent job for a first-timer :)

Now I just need to figure out this gallery thing..

Edited by mainbutter
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@ paintbutter

So that wide section spacing is an experiment of yours ?

I would not trust these tiny "figure 8" connectors for a musky , as their loops are not closed !

But for someone , that had never earned any experiences in luremaking or even craftwork in general , your result both in painting and carving is not that bad at all:nuhuh: (I never touched an airbrush , and if I would , it surely would not look as good as your first try !) .

But I'd say , that you need to improve your wiring , it has to become neater and more accurate , because otherwise it could affect a proper function of a jointed bait .

Off course as a beginner you can't be that perfect , none of us was:nuhuh: ,...... but the initial step is done , your baits definately will get better and better , one for one:yes::yes::yay:!

Two more hints on a better look :

To hide away the closure coil of the rear hook eye , I extend its bore a bit larger at the rear entry and have the wood blank end cut of a little plane .

Now I put some epoxy glue inside the bore extension and around the closure coil and eye , turn the blank in my hand to have the epoxy set evenly around the coil .

After 24 hrs curing , I 'd carefully work(Dremel , filing, sanding) that "glue plug" to a tapered transition to the lureblank , absolutely flush and smooth , .......after painting it would like the eye runs straight into the body , as the closure coil is covered with glue and the glue has become a part of the tail taper of the lurebody .

The belly hookhanger can be lead trough the inside of the blank , by bending it to a closed "figure 8" , both eyes 90

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I am wondering if that treble on the underside might tangle with the links in the wide spaces during a cast..but I would use that lure if I had made it. Looks real good to me.

.

I have not made a lure yet .I mostly use and lose lots of crankbaits . I may have to try my hand at building baits. Looks like you guys are having too much fun.

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