Littlebear

I have been doing business with LC for a lot of years.. they have made mistakes but they have treated me pretty good and I really can't complain I also order a lot from Stamina.. I have found that ordering from their website is a nightmare.. on the other hand.. when I call my orders in and ask if what I want is in stock my orders go fine and I usually get them in 4 days.. they do have a problem with stock.. if they don't have in stock.. I never back order.. just call Jams or someone else.. Littlebear

Yes it is a photo finish.. I just scan in the bait and made it the size I wanted and flip the photo for the second side.. printed it out on a big address lable cut it out and glued it to the primed bait.. painted the top and bottom and gave it a coat of epoxy.. littlebear

I wanted to make a custom size rattle trap type lure for Musky I have no plans for selling this type bait I just wanted it for myself I used Popular wood.. the lure is about 4 1/2 inches long and it has about 1/2 oz of lead in the bait.. How I made this lure rattle is...I took a wire rattle for spinnerbaits and cut off the wire clip.. I then drilled the eye hole the same size as the rattle all the way through the bait..then I pushed it through till it was centered and put a drop of superglue to hold it in place.. I had a push fit.. it was pertty tight... I then painted and photo applied the finish..then a coat of epoxy.. I has good rattle sound..I still got to test it this week end.. but I thought I share the process..

I tried to ad some of my baits to the gallery.. I must have done something wrong.. My bait are the new soft baits called The Scorpion please let me know what I did wrong.. so I won't do it again http://www.kentuckyangling.com/tacklehut/scorpions.html here is a link to what they look like Littlebear

Clemmy, I know that some builders use the .061-3 wire for muskie baits.. I personaly like the ss.051 wire just because it opens up a larger window for other hardware to be used.. clevis,beads,bodies,ect. I do use .061 wire on a few special baits but its a very few..most benders that are set up for .051 wire will handle the .061 wire I use a modifided verison on the Boggs bender and the Hagen bender good luck Littlebear

They are plenty of guys here that have been selling lures longer than I have..although I have been making lures for myself for over 30 years. but I have been in business since 1979 at that time I also was a tool & Die maker for a large company.. the company went out of business in 1986.. I have never punch a clock for someone else since.. business is build on your desire and faith in yourself..business succeeds when you form a plan and you just don't give up..because it will be easier to give up many times.. than it is to carry on..people that make it never give up they only learn from their mistakes and regroup and carry on.. you must win customes by making a good product..by listening to your customers,by having good service,and treating people fair. go slow.. a business is like a child... you feed it,you care for it,you change it to fit a need,you hold it up till it can stand on it own..and you never..never give up.. one poster here said he gave away lures to get them in the hands of people that would help spread the word..there is nothing wrong with that as long as you can stand the cost of giving away lures.. I do give lures away.. but I hand pick those people and I ask them to fill out a test report on my baits so I can get honest feed back.. this way I can try to see what things I need to change..this also lets me know that the testers give them an honest effort.. when I first started selling lures I just gave a bunch away hoping to hear back from the people I gave them to.. this turn out to be a failure.. I did sell a few lures from it..I needed more from the give away than that.. I needed to know.. how did they all work? did they do anything you didn't expect? how did the color hold up? Did you like the hook that came on the bait? anyway now I still give baits away.. I have 20 question test report to fill out on all test baits..this is to make sure I'm making the best baits I can.. I offer special deals to the bait shops that sells my baits to help with new models.. point is we all do things different.. these is no right way or wrong way..you have to see what works best for you ... good luck and never give up! Littlebear

I Like it!! nice job.. let us know when catch something with it.. Littlebear

Good looking baits I like the paint jobs aswell.. top notch! Littlebear

I find that the LC 502 is plenty soft for most jobs..they are some special baits that I add a little softner..but very few this is a soft product without adding any thing.. for Musky trailers I use forumla 500 this is a much tougher and harder plastic but the lures hold up better when used as a trailer.. I very much agree with the last post.. how hard or soft a bait needs to be really depends on its use.. the biggest thing I see novice bait makers do wrong is over heat the plastic.. you can use a little heat stablizer to help in this area.. if your using a hot plate or some type of stove to heat your plastic take the time to see where it needs to be set to get your plastic at the right temp..350 is what I have found does a good job they may be some other people that have good success that can ad their findings good luck Trimmer

Skeeter, Have you every used super glue and Baking soda to add strenth and hardness to a finished shape..you really don't need the baking soda if your not in a hurry and just soak it and let it dry.. warning...when you add the soda you will get a reaction the soda will get very hard and should bond to the wood.. so don't make anything more than a dusting or you will have more sanding to do.. Littlebear BTW I have a few of these baits made from both cedar and balsa.. in the Flatfish and the Lazy Ike..

Clemmy, Thanks for finding the link.. it was some good reading and a lot of answers about color .. The scorpion was a result of a lot of things I felt needed to be designed in to this type of bait.. it does have some of the same action of a bulldawg..But I'm really not trying to copy the Dawg.. The scorpion is about the same weight as a dawg.. but it feels a lot lighter coming through water.. this bait can be handled with a lot lighter tackle.. my internal wire harness is .051 stainless wire..solid..it has a little longer hang time.. I also seen he was using the formula 500 saltwater plastic.. one other thing in the link.. a guy ask about a trailer that was made on a treble.. I am test one now.. it too will be out this year.. thanks again for finding the link littlebear

Guys I think they sell it at Sams club.. also in the pop corn section.. one question for you that have use it..does it effect color very much this stuff has a orange/yellow cast to it.. Littlebear

Big Splash, I guess your right.. I called it a swim bait for lack of a better term.. I haven't taken to many pictures but I'll post one showing the whole bait. this bait was made with a two part rubber mold.. when I started to make this bait I figured it would have to be injected.. but the mold is so big that I just fill the body and apply pressure to the sides and it injects the tail.. I am also going to a little harder plastic something like the formula 500 and maybe even a little harder I'm still testing that.. the eyes are placed in the mold first.. we are also test the durability of the eyes.. no matter what you call it.. it comes through the water causing a wake behind it.. it does have internal lead weights.. they are part of the wire harness and jig hook.. Littlebear

The body of the bait is about 6 inches the body and tail together is about 12 inches.. the first bait has a 6/0 hook at the top fin.. the second bait with the fins has a 8/0 hook on the top fin..I use a 2/0 & 3/0 trebles on the belly wire harness.. this bait is still in development.. the thing that I really like about it is that really doesn't work you to death to use.. sinks slow.. I'm also working on a faster sinking model.. Littlebear

Hi guys, I have been working on a Musky swim bait.. I am not totally happy with my mold but it is getting closer to being a finish product.. I have a few more tweaks but I plan to be making this bait in about a month.. the first bait has no bottom fins and the back bait I have added them I call the bait the BearClaw Scorpion.. It also has a set of belly hooks I didn't have them installed in this picture Littlebear

Great Job, Your teaching skills are showing.. nice job.. I enjoyed the reading.. and pictures.. Littlebear

does anyone have a good method for cutting tube skirts.. I thought I would try my hand at a few while the fishing is still slow.. I have cut some with razor blades.. single edge.. but I'm not happy with them.. I figure someone has a good way to make them look even and straight.. thanks for any help Littlebear

One thing I want to add here if your thinking of cutting the Boggs bender in half.. I have done it..unless you can make a new or add an extention to the bending arm this idea is fruitless..I took a piece of drill rod and tapped it for the cut away section.. this does help on large baits.. this way a 10" inline bucktail will bend the same as a 5" one.. I still use a hand made tail bender for finishing baits that have no split ring on them.. you can do it without one but it keeps the main wire straight and it makes my baits start and run true right out of the package.. Littlebear

Blackjack, I was looking at your bait line.. they are very nice looking..plus you do a great job painting them..I do have a question.. on the baits that you have the line eye out on the lip.. are you casting that lip or buying it, or fabricating it.. they are well done and look cast.. I am working on some test baits that I hope to cast out of resin later on this summer..I really like the style of lip you have used on the baits I have indicated above.. thanks for any help you can give me Littlebear

I do use the Boggs bender.. I also use 3 other benders but this bait was made with the boggs bender along with one other bender I use to bend the tail of the bait so I don't always add a split ring to the treble hook Oh one other thing.. this bait is 8" long and the skirt is black & blue bucktail and flash-a-bou. it has a keel weighted coil and brass hardware good luck with your project Littlebear

Ok.. I understand what you are doing.. what size shaft works the best.. in my head I was thinking something like 1/8 drill rod.. course your using .061.. wire that would be real close to 1/16th.. LOL ...by the time you wrap it.. I say you would be close to needing a (.125 hole or 1/8) sorry for all the questions.. but I do like the idea of making my own hardware for solid one piece baits..most of my hard baits are Musky baits and they do need to be heavy duty.. I'm looking foward to the next steps.. keep up the good work littlebear

Chip, Nice job on the tutorial and I like the way you are going about putting them together.. one question.. you said you are making your own hook and eye hardware.. are you threading the wire and then bending it or are you bending it and then threading it..what die size are you using on .062 wire.. I think the largest wire I carry is .051.. the scew in eyes I'm buying is about .070 thousands.. and they aren't machine threads.. so maybe I jumping the gun here and you are doing them some other way than threading them.. Thanks Littlebear

I don't mean to be a smart %$# here but you said you used acrylic and lacquer on the same lure.. I've never been to successful doing that.. if you start with lacquer you should stay with it ..I'm not much on acrylics they seem to have to many problems.. when I try to layer them.. bumps in your primer are sometimes cause by shaking the paint till it becomes over ingested with air..if you using it through your air brush I would tinker with the air to paint ajusting screw.. and maybe lower the pressure.. It can be a pain..but once you figure it out..it will become clear what works best.. littlebear

hello all, I have been coming to this site for a while but I haven't really introduce myself or my back ground.. so I felt maybe I should.. my real name is Christopher Littlebear Erwin.. I am 54 years old I have been in the marine and auto upholstery business for 26 years.. I was also a tool and die maker from 1971 to 1986.. in 1986 I was working for a company that sold out.. I then guided for musky on Cave Run Lake in Kentucky,I was a bass club pres. for 14 years(National Mines Bassmasters),director of the B.A.S.S Kentucky federation for 4 years, I also own littlebear Lure Company along with KentuckyAngling.Com I have been making lures for about 20 years..and I still learn new things all the time.. this seem to be a good bunch of guys here willing to share info on the things that we all love so much.. Good Fishing Littlebear

add some tire weights to the lead that should harden it up some.. good luck.. littlebear