[Luretrekker]

Thanks a lot dieter! No problem with the other bait.
Wow the shape looks very similar to my bananas, except the joint. I have never seen this lure before. I like it.

The positioning of the joint for this kind of bait makes sense. The one that I built some years ago had the joint almost in the middle...but this obviously couldn't work

[diemai]

@ Luretrekker

No , Manu , a centered joint wouldn't work , since the bait would only "fold" in the middle , thus all the "guidance" by the curved body through the water is gone .

That "Flatfish" I couldn't find , also ha a very short tail-section .

greetz , Dieter

[mark poulson]

Dieter,
Did you thru-wire the jointed lure?
I have a jointed flatfish in my garage somewhere. I'll try and find it today.

[Luretrekker]

Marc,
I think the jointed lure on the picture is not a custom built lure...it is from the fleamarket.

Please correct me if I'm wrong dieter.

[diemai]

@ mark poulson

Hi , Mark , Luretrekker is right , this jointed "Banana" I found on a fleamarket a couple of weeks ago .

At first I was hesitating to buy it for 2€ , due to its poor quality , but then I made up my mind to still get it , just to test and learn from it for own lure projects , even priced it down to 1,50€ !

It is of plastic , has very thin and short shanked screw eyes , the belly eye was even mounted absolutely off centered in its indention at the belly , so I glued it into proper place , also applied the eyes .

The tailsection has a center slot through its length , in which a wireform(like a paperclip , obviously) is set in loose , not glued .

This wireform seems to be the only thing reliable on that lure !

I intend to make a larger version of this lure one day , but I am not sure yet about a thru-wired lure .

Luretrekkers "Banana" version , that I sketched previously in here , I will make with an internal harness , since its tail and lip are a bit thin for screweyes probably , also one has to consider the woodgrain to crack up under tension on such a slim , curved lure , throughwire is just essential on that one , I believe !

greetz , Dieter

[rofish]

Diemai & Luretrekker,
I think you may consider yourselves as fully responsible for this thread going on ...
As I said, I am not familiar with such type of lures. But you made me wanting to have some. So this is what I came up with:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas001.jpg
They are made of poplar, which is tough yet light wood. I needed such a wood, because I understood that such lures may be unstable, so I needed to add some weight. They are 101 mm long (4"), and I draw the shape freehand, then I made a template, out of metal sheet, as I do for all my crankbaits. (I do not behave as an engineer, as Diemai does).
I liked the ideea of Luretrekker about the hardware - to cut through the lip (head) part up to a certain point, but then I thought that if I continue with the wire all over the belly, up to the tail, it would be impossible for me to play with the placement of the weight. So I have chosen an intermediate solution for one of the lures. There is a short hole in the head of the lure, in which I glued the twisted wire end of the hardware, which then continues with 3 tow eyes, then goes underneath the lip and ends up in a single wire. There is a groove for the wire, all along it. After glueing the ends of the wire with 5 min epoxy, I used 2 part plumber's epoxy putty to fill in the groove. I have a very good quality putty, which is imported from Germany (brand name is Sun Fix). When using such putty, you have to make sure that the putty is well pressed into place. After cure, it sands nicely, better than epoxy.
To the other lure, I used 3 holes in which I placed 3 twisted wire tow eyes. It was very difficult to drill the holes at a sharp angle without a drill press, one hole was off center, but I managed to enlarge a little bit the hole, and when glueing it I put it in the right position (centered). As the surface of the lip was not smooth after using epoxy, I sanded it, then I used epoxy putty and sanded it again.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas002.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas003.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas004.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas005.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas006.jpg
After sealing the lures, I tested them with the weight hanging from the belly, using electrical insulation tape:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas007.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas008.jpg
In short, I could not use the top tow eye, because the lures would roll, and I was not extremely happy with the action in the case of the 2 other tow eyes (closer to the lip end). The lures would swing from one side to the other, more or less. I thought this way of testing the lures is not the best one, becase the tape and the flat side of the weight are significantly affecting the action. So I glued the weight with superglue:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas009.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas010.jpg
This time the lures behave in a different way, to one of them I could even use the top tow eye, but they still have the swinging action from one side to the other. I think I will test some more locations for the lead (in the second way, using superglue), then I will put the weights in. I am sure that after this, the lures wil behave in a different action. And if I am not satisfied with it, I will try to add a small lip.
But Diemai & Luretrekker also made it possible for me to make this creature:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas011.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas012.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas013.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas014.jpg
And you know what? Out of these 3 lures, this one has the closest action to a usual crankbait.
I think I will call this lure "Pterodactylus D&L", because Diemai and Luretrekker had a more important contribution than myself to the creation of this shape.
Speaking of shapes, it crossed my mind that I may try this:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k5...bananas015.jpg
You could make it slimmer/taller, with/without a head, etc, as you like. I think this shape has the advantade that you can place the weight at the lowest points of the lure. I wonder it this shape has been tried before?
Another idea came to my mind after seeing Luretrekker's "winner" (the lure which produced a nice pike for him). That lure has a scar on the nose, and I think it does not come from a pike, but rather from the encounter with rocks or gravel, or similar. I think I could make a protective cap for the nose, using clear plastic sheet, which you could wrap around the nose using heat. Just an idea.
So Diemai & Luretrekker, this is all your fault

[mark poulson]

rofish,
I thnk you, Dieter, and Luretreker should form your own lure company, Frankenstein Lures.
Each lure could be named for some monster.
The newest design you just posted should be call, "Nessie", for the Loch Ness Monster.
You guys are the best.

[Luretrekker]

rofish,
always nice to see that I'm not the only ill guy that lets himself get influenced of some ideas to experiment with new lures ;-) ;-)
Nice lures you created...and indeed an honour for diemai and me to get mentioned in the name of your pterodaktylus lure :-)

Concerning the action...I would expect you to get a more heavy action with a body that wasn't that thin (horizontally) and therefore more oval in shape. (For the first two lures)

Once I either tried a lure with several lure eyes...it is difficult to built a lure that really works in all three positions.

I never tried the last "nessi" shape. Maybe we should try this one...I could not predict the action :-) who knows...maybe the second bow of the back would compensate some vortex??? I dont know.

@ mark:

Yes Frankenstein-Lures would be great...and indeed the right thing for banana style lures...This reminds me on one of my Frankenstein bananas where I built in light cables and a light source

[rofish]

Mark,
I think that your ideas may struck gold. "Frankenstein Lures" ? Now this may be a brand name that every fisherman would like to try. It is a far more interesting name than Rapala, for instance
Luretrekker,
That's another wonderful lure. I think you had to spend weeks, or even mounths, to build a lure with lights inside. I also had this idea, but I do not know if this is worth the effort. Would be fish crazy about such a lure at night time? I think not.
Thank you for your guidance in building such lures. Certainly, I will not stop testing such new lures for me, in case of a failure.
I have a question for you. I have noticed that to some of your bananas you do not use just a split ring to attach the treble hooks. You also use a swivel, so the distance between the body and the treble hook increases. Do you have a reason for that? I think that you have. By lowering the position of the treble hooks, you also lower the center of gravity, and thus you increase the stability of the lure. Am I right?

[mark poulson]

That has to be the ultimate night fishing lure, a work of both pure science and art. The Nautilus, from 20 Thousand Leagues.
I know it would be deadly in the salt around the kelp at night.
I bet it would also work for largemouth bass, especially the big girls, who hunt and feed at night.
How long did it take you to make it, and is it stable when you fish it?

Originally Posted by Luretrekker

rofish,
always nice to see that I'm not the only ill guy that lets himself get influenced of some ideas to experiment with new lures ;-) ;-)
Nice lures you created...and indeed an honour for diemai and me to get mentioned in the name of your pterodaktylus lure :-)

Concerning the action...I would expect you to get a more heavy action with a body that wasn't that thin (horizontally) and therefore more oval in shape. (For the first two lures)

Once I either tried a lure with several lure eyes...it is difficult to built a lure that really works in all three positions.

I never tried the last "nessi" shape. Maybe we should try this one...I could not predict the action :-) who knows...maybe the second bow of the back would compensate some vortex??? I dont know.

@ mark:

Yes Frankenstein-Lures would be great...and indeed the right thing for banana style lures...This reminds me on one of my Frankenstein bananas where I built in light cables and a light source