[jamie]

well I was done with the first ever swimbait and was e-texing the last coat and then it happened, I dropped it on the sawdust infested floor.I tried to wipe it up, the more I wiped the more my blood pressure went up. So I did what any other lure maker in my shoes would do got made throwed it away and started over. Here is todays start. I still need to sand some more and trim the joints back so they wont rub. This was a dry fit to see if the pins were true. If you look you cansee the beads I was talking about in a past post. I just wish I had some smaller beads so my hinge hole wasnt so big. It was all I had when I was making musky spinners. This bait will be crappie colored when I finish.

[kelly]

I like it. If you dont like the holes. Cover them with a pop can or vent tape or wood. Might be harder but maybe you could still line up the beads if you used a drilled hole instead. I do like the way it looks. fish might think it just a black dot or kill spot.

[jamie]

Believe me I do like the bait . The first one swam great, just wish I had nt dropped it.

[b75nweav]

Been there and done that, more than once!!!

[clemmy]

Looks great!

One thought. If you find you want more "roll" action, on your next one you could put the beads on the inside rather than the outsides. Same effect but would bring the weight of the beads closer to midline, thus reducing the inertia....

Clemmy

[benton B]

Those joints are sharp, I really like the beads. What about beads on top and bottom of the screw eyes, have tried that? Get that bait out of the trash and sand it down to the first coat, then re-apply the e-tex and add some glitter. The fish could care less about a little saw dust mixed with glitter.

[clemmy]

Benton, I'm sure Jamie will correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like the double beads would be uneccessary, as the single bead on the top limits travel one way, and the bottom limits travel in the other....

[Spike-A-Pike]

Jamie - I was looking at it and wondering if either lure bodies or rivets would add the same friction free surface without as much bulk. Regardless of beads, lure bodies, or rivets; none of them will ever wear out. Good luck in keeping this on sawdust free; it's looking great so far.

[Vodkaman]

Jamie, you should retrieve the ruined lure and use it for testing. You get the opportunity to experiment with different weight combinations and locations. Valuable information, normally not available, as such lures take so much effort to build, very few would be willing to committ to that amount of work purely for testing.

[mark poulson]

Jamie,
First, save that "ruined" lure! Too much work to just toss it.
Second, what kind of a paint scheme are you going to use for your crappie?
I just did a black crappie in a new way.
I did the belly and lower body silver, and the mid, upper and back black, and then used drywall mesh to put a scale pattern over the base on the sides with silver. It really makes the lure light up, just like a black crappie in full spawn colors. I did two, one as described, and the second with some irridescent green over the silver scale and black back. Just enough to give it a slightly green cast. Then spray silver Krylon glitter.
It really shines.