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O.051 is what I use most for pike, Lakers, and salmon

I buy little coils of stainless steel orthodontic wire 50g / 1.76oz each. Diameters range from .5mm / 0.0196" or 1/64" .6mm, .7mm, .8mm, .9mm, 1mm / .0393" or 3/64" you can also find 1.5mm / .059 or 1/16" .5mm might be between 30 to 40 feet. For $2.50 CAD all totaled delivered for each one. When using small diameter wire, I had a problem with the holes of a clevis being to large and making the whole clevis sit off-center on a thin diameter wire. To much wobble or never being lined up right to begin with. A clevis with holes just slightly larger then the wire seems best.

Interesting read. Being new to building hard baits I'm curious as to what (experienced) people are doing. When selecting a lure I consider its working depth and the type of action it has, color and pattern are chosen based on water clarity and light penetration. My thinking is that you have to present the lure to the fish where they are (within the range they are willing to chase) and the action should suit their mood. In all of the discussions (above) of color and pattern little was said if the lure was catching fish during prime time when they were feeding heavily or of it was off time when fishing is slower. I think that "mood" is an important factor in choosing which lure to use. People often name lure types per the fish they catch on them (spoons are pike lures and jigs are walleye lures) where they are really associating the action to the (typical) mood of the fish. Pike are aggressive 75% of the time so a fast presentation with a spoon is a good choice, walleyes are subdued 75% of the time so a slow presentation with a jig works well - mind that walleyes will hit a high-speed spoon when they aggressive - no problem! Just saying that it seems that the fishes mood doesn't get considered very often in all this discussion. For the record, simple color schemes (darker back, light sides and lighter belly) have always worked well for me. Florescent blue, orange or chartreuse back for deep water and black, dark grey or olive in shallow water. Typically silver or gold sides. If perch is the predominant forage I will use that pattern but usually it is simple colors. That being said, I am looking forward to learning to paint some of those beautiful sunfish patterns I have been seeing! So, fish or fishermen? ...I let the fish tell me what they want Van

I keep going back to this archived web site from across the pond. They specialize in wooden baits so the patterns that they give can help. http://www.lurebuilding.nl/indexeng.html Click on crankbait, jerkbaits or Surface. Inside that tab are more options. These are proven lures so that should get you started.

That is exactly my train of thought Caught a lot of fish on plain white lures and lots on sealed wood without paint well testing. I actually go for a basic white lure by choice often

I don't know about most guys, but when I used to go to Rollie & Helens (prior to making my own, I don't intend to go there at all anymore now), I skipped the stuff in the packages and tried to stick to stuff that was hanging on a peg by the hook. I tried to pick colors that mimicked forage where I would be fishing, or colors that I knew were good for that water - no matter how attractive some of the other lures may have looked. But, then again, I'm not exactly winning any tournaments either, so take from that what you will. LOL That said, now that I *AM* making baits, I will certainly have my fair share of colors that are designed to "catch fishermen". But hey, if they're confident, they'll throw it more, and will eventually catch fish on it. So there's that.

LOL, this almost reads like an article I read in a fishing magazine in the 70's. I don't think anything has changed, except the color patterns and the names. Soooo, I will toss my 2 cents into the pot. I am a fishing manager at one store for a fairly well known company. I have walls and walls of various lures. Some times the colors are so close to each other that you can't tell them apart without reading the package. It would be one thing if it was one brand trying to copy someone else's color, but often it is the same brand with super minor changes. If you are even slightly color blind, like my past store manager was, you can't tell them apart at all. So, why do we need so many different colors? Well, I don't know, but my life would be easier if it were not like this. I expect that it is to catch the fisherman, and sometimes it works, and sometimes I just have pegs and pegs of lures that don't sell. I have been known to buy the unpopular colors on clearance for myself and I do as well with them as other more popular colors. Does color matter? Of course it does. An internet check can provide information on how far colors penetrate into the water, and I don't care how fish see color because I know they cannot see a color if the light energy cannot penetrate to a specific depth. It just drives me nuts when I see a red color on a lure designed to be fished deep. Red is the first color to be absorbed by the water and it penetrates even less to almost none at all in dirty water. It is popular because it stands out and looks good to Humans. On the other hand, while blue penetrates the deepest, not a lot of natural food is heavy on the color blue (I guess they want to remain hidden - LOL). If you were to see one of my baits, they would be photo transfers for the most part, not because I think they are better but because I stink at painting. Nevertheless, I too have found many of my simplest non-photo baits work better, if I match the colors to the depth and water clarity and time of day. I don't sell baits, I make baits for myself and friends. I can't make enough to make production worth while and that is not why I do it. But, a friend is a noted "Bass Pro" who shall remain un-named do to sponsors. He has used one of my baits and won a couple of tournaments, and I promise that the lure is removed and hidden before anyone can determine that he was not using a sponsor's bait. I don't have a problem with that at all. So, back to the original question, Catching-Fisherman or Fish? Some color combinations have proven track records over history that just work, and often the combinations are not specific patterns but combinations. As previously mentioned, light underbelly, flashy sides, dark back is a winner. The firetiger color has been a proven color. The Coachdog patterns, olive with black spotted frog, orange back with gold sides are all proven colors but have lost favor with a lot of fisherman. It will be interesting to see if the Sexy Shad will join the ranks or will fall off over time. I will vote on this old thread as having mixed feelings. I know that at times color is very important, but paying attention to other details is often far more important. I know that sales are driven by catching Fisherman, not catching fish. Most of the buyers of the mass produced lures buy on looks, not function (even when function is explained). The dedicated fishermen that buy your custom lures are probably more interested in function with color being secondary. Given an option, I sell function with color explained and secondary. I seldom get that option.