[Wayupnorth36]

Has anyone had any problems with poplar lure bodies? So far I have used mostly oak and maple for musky lures, but I have a lot of poplar, aspen and birch saved up to use. But a friend of mine told me that poplar isn't very durable. He has never made baits from it, though. I wouldn't have thought that it would matter too much once you seal it and coat it with a few coats of your favorite topcoat. I've seen a lot of lures in the gallery that have been made out of poplar, has anyone had any durability issues with those lures?

[Swede]

I´ve made lures in both aspen &birch both holds screweyes well and as you say its up to the sealer/basecoat to do the job .

[Vodkaman]

I don't think anyone has ever stated here on TU, that a particular wood was just not suitable for lure building. Balsa needs special attention, but its buoyancy attributes make it worth the effort. Some woods have particularly hard grain, making shaping a little more difficult, but strength wise, after balsa, they are all good.

I did a search on poplar, it came up with 84 posts, so it is obviously a fairly popular choice.

If this statement is not true, I'd like to hear about it too.

[RiverMan]

I have built hundreds of gliders from poplar without a single problem of any kind. Poplar is tough! Keep mind that many top gliders and cranks are built from western red cedar (hughes river for one) which has 1/4 the strength of poplar.

RM

[seeking 54]

I'm experimenting with some Brazilian Cherry. It has a very tight grain is extremely hard and very heavy. It does not required any weight to make it sink. No need to epoxy the screw eyes with this wood if you use .092 screw eyes with 3/32'' bit.

s54

[Vodkaman]

I like to add lots of ballast, to control the results. So only lighter woods for me.

[Wayupnorth36]

Since I haven't got the years of experience that other guys on this site have, I was trying to get at the longevity of poplar lures. Is there any difference in longevity between woods once they are properly sealed and topcoated?

[Vodkaman]

Sealed properly, any wood will last a lifetime.

[rofish]

I have not made many lures from poplar up to now, but I like this wood. It is light and tough. As said above, I cannot imagine a single reason why this particular wood would have durability problems. Just check that the wood is healthy and very dry before starting to shape it.

[Striperknight]

Poplar can be used for certain lures but must be really sealed well.
The wood itself is not really tolerant of water. I like working with it because it turns nice and I can get it at big box stores.