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LaPala

Self Intro - newbie

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Hello Everyone,

Thought I'd introduce myself after lurking here for a week & now finally registered :D

I am from Malaysia & started fumbling my way in making crankbaits a couple of years ago when I couldn't get any Rapala FatRap Shallow Runners #5. So I'll call myself LaPala in "honour" of my "pirate-copy" beginings in crankbait making.

How I wish I discovered this site earlier. From the post here I notice all of you are very friendly & helpful, plus the wealth of information available - this should be the No.1 site on lure making. Should rank first when I Google "Lure making, homemade lures bla.. bla.."; wonder why Google sent me on a wild goose chase b4 I stumble into this site. :huh:

Here's some of my Ugly ducklins (Hope one day I'll be making the swans that you guy produce). Cheers

medium.jpg

Regards

LaPala

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Thanks for the encouragement guys/(gals?). I'm happy I've found you.

Tm Customes:

The fishes I go for are snakeheads, kelisa (arowana) , sebarau, bulan (Pacific tarpon) mainly. I'll compile a pic & post it later. These are the main fishes that go for crankbait anyway.

Art Brush (Shawn):

And yes, the snakehead has vicious teeth, I use Devcon (S-35) & it's held up (with scratches) so far. The bigger species - giant snakehead (Channa micropeltes) can puncture it though :cry: ; but I think the only thing that can stop it is a clear kevlar top coat :rolleyes:. Only heard of Enviro-tex here never seen the product in Malaysia b4; I'll keep an eye out for it.

All the cranks are hand carved from Jelutung (Dyera costulata) - classified as light hardwood but almost as easy to work with as balsa, (air dry density ~464kf/m3); can be sand smooth as glass :D

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Please post some picture asap, we have arowana here in our pet stores the bigger ones 24'' sell for 150- I used to like those fish never bought one though. How big are the ones you catch? If you want to pay for the Enviro-tex or devcon 2 ton epoxy I will pic it up for you next time I am at Walmart. I am pretty sure it can be shipped global priorty for 4.00.

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lol Tm I was thinking the same thing, post pics .... I can look at photos of snakeheads for hours. I painted a few lures done in snakehead patterns. I'll post pics later today.

LaPala,

I've read they hit more on topwater lures in florecent. What paintjobs do they respond best to? Can't wait to see the pics.

Tight lines,

Shawn

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Here are some of the toothy fishes we catch here.

TM: Thanks for offer to get Enviro-tex; any picture of the stuff? I can get Devcon S-35 1/2oz tube for RM6.50 (US1.71) over here; what's the price for Enviro-tex?

ArtBrush: I've just got my digital camera end of last year so I don't have much to post :cry:. But regarding snakeheads, the common type seem to prefer the color pattern that I posted earlier (the "pirate-copy Rapalas"), others include Firetiger, Crawdad & GFR. Even perch, blue chrome... but basically they'll hit anything that moves - top water, shallow, deep. Please show you snakehead pattern lures. I'll be glad to take some more pic of snakeheads when I catch them & send them your way - maybe you can make a real-image lure then.

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LaPala do you eat the snake these fish? How do the arowana fight and do you catch alot of them on topwaters? I dont know how much the Enviro-tex is but I am sure Art Brush does. I will be more than happy to pick it up for you if you like I am always going to the post office sending ebay items so it would'nt be any trouble.

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I think the smallest kit of the Etex is 16 fl oz.

8 fl.oz. resin, 8 fl.oz. hardener.

Also the most expensive buy volume also.

So it is more costly to buy per-package than the devcon, and to ship also.

Devcon is a small unit, packaged.

So with an exchange rate I have no clue what it would cost in his money.

I get the larger bottles so not shure what it runs in the smaller bottles.

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TM Customs: Oops, just noticed the description for Arowana went MIA. The usual catch (the green variety) averages 3ft at 5-6kg, biggest I've seen was close to 5ft at 25kg (dead in a gill net though :cry: ). Tough guy to hook on a crankbait though - their whole jaw structure is so boney, there's not much place for the hook to hold, best hook-up point is actually their tounge. So usually I down-size my cranks so they can take it whole in their mouth :twisted:. They are one of the toughest fighting fish I've encountered, powerful runs, acrobatic and doesn't give-up till they're totally exhausted.

And yes snakeheads take spinnerbaits, in-line, buzz-bait and soft-plastic stuff too - spinnerbaits seem to be the most effective. I myself prefer to use crankbaits whenever I can; only when where they are is so full of snags I can't pull a crankbait through do I use spinnerbaits. But their favourate is real frogs though. You're under-estimating the snakeheads though, the 2kg and above speciment will whack a 2oz spinnerbait without hesitation. Yes, we do eat them and it's considered a delicacy with medicinal properties as well (aids wound healing).

Richoc/Guys: Thanks for checking out the E-tex, the shipping cost might just make it not economical for me to use it :cry: . I've checked out their web-site & they don't have any representative in this part of the world - closest is Australia. I have some friends there and in US; so the next time they fly to Malaysia, maybe I can get them to be my free courier :). Just wanna try it out. Don't think anything can handle a Giant snakehead's teeth though - 4 thick coats of Devcon just barely hold against a 8kg ~3ft monster; that also is a crank made with Cengal wood (damn hard wood which almost doesn't float).

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SpoRoller:

I thought there was an alert put out on the invading snakeheads in US & it is to be eradicated in 2002 (http://biology.usgs.gov/invasive/CaseFiles/SnakeheadFish.htm). They're taking a foothold there? FYI the snakeheads over here are a different species from the Maryland alert but if Channa Micropeltes (Giant snakehead) were to be there, even muskies & pikes will have to give way :(:twisted::huh::)

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Eradicated? More like breeding!...... snipped.

Spo,

Maryland is quite far up north & you have cool winter? Tought the cool would make those snakehead unable to last thru winter; guess they are different from the ones we have in Malayisa.

From what I know about snakeheads, they care for their youngs and built nest, should be easy to get them during spawning times. Just cast frogs, soft-plastic, weddless spoons, spinner-baits into the ball of fries and the mama & papa get pretty p@$$ and will strike anything. After papa & mama is gone the fries are basically helpless & become food for other fishes. You can do your part in culling them :) . They're pretty good fighters too and play dirty - will head for the nearest snag pronto.

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Folks starting getting them while bass fishing this spring, so they must have been spawning. It sounds like they fight like a bowfin, a fish we have here that looks a lot like a snakehead. They love spinnerbaits also!

From what I understand, this particular species comes from China. Probably what helps them withstand the Maryland winters.

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Googled bowfish... something new for me :) .

You're right, I check out info on Northern snakeheads and it's natural range is in China and can be found in latitudes further north than Maryland. Which would mean Maryland could be warm even in winter for these Northern snakehads (Channa Argus). Looks like you guys are stuck with it. What's the general feeling about these fish over there? We love them here. Snakehead fishing is almost like bass in US - almost all of us fish it and it's almost everywhere as well.

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