Bassman82

As an aside i totally went off topic and offered an alternative rather than help with current issues! My appologies! I totally agree with you John, but another thing you could try would be to pass on the eyes, use your conehead and wrap the hook shank with lead/tungsten wire instead if you really need that much weight.

Could always try tying what they call eye flies? Know guys that have used them successfully for perch and other panfish. Materials: Hook: Short shank nymph or egg hook Thread: White, 6/0 Body: White rabbit dubbing Other: One holographic or ,moulded eye One red permanent marker Adhesive of choice Wrap your hook with lead wire, then, start your thread on the hook shank above the point of the hook and wrap an even base of thread to lock down the wire and then wrap your thread back to the tie in point. Form a dubbing loop with your thread and advance it to the eye of the hook. Wax the loop, dub enough of the rabbit so that you can form a nice bushy ball of dubbing on the hook and wrap it forward to the eye. Tie off the loop, do three or four whip finishes, snip off your thread and add a couple coats of head cement. Take your dubbing brush and brush the dubbing down to the underside of the fly, basically creating a part/bare thread on top. Now using a small drop of glue, glue your eye to the top of the hook shank, above all the dubbing you just brushed down. Once the glue has dried, take your red felt pen and get creative. Don't colour all the white but definitely get some red on there, mark up the tips of some of the fur and maybe some of the fur around the eye itself. The whole idea is to make the fly look like a dismembered eyeball from another fish which some fish can't seem to resist as a tasty snack. Especially useful in places where using the eyes of your previously caught fish is a no no. Enjoy, Sean

Calf tail is nice stuff but its alot finer and shorter than bucktail. Where some buck tail fibres can be 4 or 5" long calf tail usually tops out at 1 1/2 or 2" and would take alot more on the hook to look as full as bucktail. Rabbit and marabou are nice alternatives but not as durable and they retain more water, making them heavier. There's lots of synthetic "hairs" out there that work great and have alot more movement than bucktail. Sean

Could even use a medium brown with a touch of red mixed in. Add a bit of black to blend up into the back of the lure. HAve seen crawdad baits painted either in browns or reds and oranges. Are you spraying or brushing? For painting on the shell lines, you could make up a template for either method. If you're handy with a brush though you could always draw the lines on with a soft pencil (4B) then paint them on in black using a long, fine point brush like they use for doing real pin striping on cars. Sean

I've used methyl ethyl keytone to thin out household goop to use as a flexible head cement, especially on pike and bass flies. It also works on thickened uni-lak and u would imagine it should work on any lacquer based cement. Only tricky thing is finding a supply. I was given a very small quantity from someone who worked in a chem. analysts lab. Must also note that stuff is pretty nasty and should be handled with extreme care. Sean

If you were making jointed bodies for muskie baits Mark, would you use stainless steel screw eyes or do you thinnk the nickel plated brass ones in say an inch long and 0.063" diameter wire would be sufficient?

I'm more or less just getting started but I have templates cut out of thin plastic (salad container lids). Trace the design on yoru stock, cut it with a bandsaw then mark your midpoint along the entire sawn edge. Take the distance from the edge to your centre line and use that as a gauge to mark a line around the entire face of your lure (on both sides) that'll give you a guide for rounding off your edges with sandpaper. Sears, Ryobi and alot of the other major tool makers make tabletop/hobby version bandsaws. Usually have abotu a 3.5" to 4" throat on them, all you really need for cutting lure blanks and they usually run between $300 - $500. Just make sure you get a two wheel instead of a three wheel bandsaw, small three wheel bandsaws are hard on blades.

There it is! Its the rotating tail or "TallyWacker Tail " as they're calling it. Thats great Rayburn Guy, thanks alot!

I had a look on their site and the only blades I could find are spinner bait and buzzbait blades. Would you happen to have a drect link to that page? I looked about on the rest of the site but couldn;t seem to find them. Thanks Sean

Ok, here's one for the Muskie and Pike guys. Do any of you have an idea where I could either A ) Find a supplier for the rear blades on these and other baits like them that have the rotating tail? Or B ) suggest a material so I can try and bang out the blades myself? I've got the pipe from our old clothes dryer that I believe is possibly aluminum and thin enough i can cut with tin snips/dremel. Think that would be enough or should i look for some thicker stock? Yours in lure making, Sean

Hey dixiet, thanks for the reply. Sorry it took a while to post back, was a busy week and then my buddy and I were out for our muskie opener weekend. He managed an 18" snake of a muskie on saturday and I picked up my first muskie ever, a 38 incher on sunday! I know its not a huge fish but it was awesome, totally had the adrenaline shakes afterwards! Will give the mississauga chapter some thought, need to see what my time tables look like and how close it is to me. Thanks for the suggestion! Sean

Thanks for the idea man. The way you describe it sounds like the same way they do hook hangers on the Thriller line of baits that Suick produces. Which incidentally is what I got my first muskie on this past weekend!! Was a 38 incher, nothing too huge but lots of fun! Have picked up a couple more ideas for the hangers, will probably put a hole right through the back of the bait just below the intended water line and run a wire harness through it and seal it with epoxy. Should turn out ok i think. Again thanks for the reply and suggestion.

Another one down here in Mississauga, just new to the site and new to lure making. A buddy and i have caught the musky bug and almost lost it again from the cost of the lures alone so i'm on here trying to lessen the blow to our incomes with home made lures!! Sean

Kind of off topic but have you guys got any suggestions on a hook hanger for a large-ish cedar topwater wake bait? It's intended for musky and pike and i'd usually use through wire but its going to be a little tough given the shape of the bait. Sean