Lure Making?

[Steve Stinson]

Anybody on here making their own lures? My son and I did this a few years ago, then I moved and didn't have room to set up my wood lathe. So we stalled out for a while.

Now I have an outbuilding completed and also inherited a second old Sears wood lathe. I am figuring out a lot through on-line videos and trial/error, but would be interested in getting together with others who may be traveling this same road.

Thanks - Steve Stinson

[Juan]

That sounds interesting.. I'd love to see some. I haven't tried to make any wooden lures but I used to make all my jig heads and still make most of my soft swimbaits.

[RedHillsTurkeyCalls]

I've had an interest too....now if ya ever progress to wanting to make turkey calls or guitars, hit me up:)

[Steve Stinson]

I will post some pics when I have a chance.

I started out tying flies with my son years ago, then wanted to make something that I could fish with on a regular casting rod. I use Eastern red cedar or poplar mostly to turn on my lathe. Started with round Zara Spook type topwaters and just recently began carving minnow type plugs similar to the old Rapala lures.

I am also moving away from spray paint cans and experimenting with air brush painting. Finding the air brushes to be a little troublesome. Different paints require different thinners, different air pressure, etc.

I need to get with somebody who has been doing it a while to make some jigs so that my lures are very close to the same size. That's the only way I am going to be able to fine-tune the sink rate, action, etc. on the baits. Right now, each bait is a little different than the previous one. Some of them swim pretty good, and some of them become test dummies to practice my ever-lacking airbrush skills.

- Steve Stinson

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[Danibeth]

Steve, I'm not sure about the airbrushing side but the folk at the N. FL Woodturners Club might be able to help out with the consistency

http://www.n-fl-woodturners.org/

I have never been to one of the meetings so I don't know how the meetings are run or if there is the ability to actually turn wood during the meetings. But you might meet someone there who would be happy to help you out of "club time". I know there are a lot of people in my carving club here in Tallahassee that are happy to get together outside of "class" and carve together.

Look forward to seeing some pictures of your work.

Danibeth

[Steve Stinson]

These pics may give you some idea what I am doing (If I can make them insert into the message.

Cedar pieces from the trees in my yard and a poplar limb. Soon to be lures.

cedar blanks

CEDAR BLANKS.jpg (58.75 KiB) Viewed 5282 times

[Steve Stinson]

First Spook Attempt

I use the lathe for round lures like Zara Spooks or Jitterbugs. One of my first attempts was the white spook pictured here. Interestingly enough, this is the lure I have caught the most fish on so far. The trout around Spring Warrior love this ugly thing for some reason. It walks like a normal spook, but has a longer side-to-side action.

First Spook Attempt

My receptionist wanted a FSU colored lure, so first I made the red headed one and wasn't happy with it. Made the larger popper after that.

FSU POPPER 1.jpg (49.58 KiB) Viewed 5281 times

First Spook Attempt

[Steve Stinson]

Sorry about the double pics. Still figuring this out.

[Steve Stinson]

Tried a Musky Jitterbug, then a couple of smaller ones. I am having trouble with these sinking because the lips I ordered were not aluminum and are too heavy.

[Steve Stinson]

I have expanded my efforts to include carved lures that are not perfectly round, similar to a Rapala minnow. They are made from poplar survey stakes. First cut out with a band saw, then carved by hand, then sanded.

[Steve Stinson]

This minnow bait is my best one so far. You can tell I went from a spray paint can to an air brush. This lure was painted white, then a light coat of metal flake green, then a light coat of metal flake gold. After that the head was painted red and a coat of spar varnish was applied. The stripes were made by spraying opaque black through the teeth of a comb.

[Salty Gator]

Those look great

[Cranfield]

It seems to me that you do not need much "help", they look very impressive.

I tried tying flies many moons ago, but even the little nymphs turned into giant dusters before I had finished.
Fingers like bananas doesn't help.

[Steve Stinson]

I appreciate the compliments. The most recent ones are a lot better than the older versions.
What I need help with now is consistency. Since I am starting with limbs from the trees around my house, there is no telling the age, moisture content, etc of any of my raw wood. Also, each lure turns out a slightly different size so it's hard to know how much tail weight to put in them.

I will keep posting pics of my experiments and progress. My idea in posting this was to see if anybody else was doing something similar so we could get together, swap tips and fish homemade baits.

- Steve Stinson

[RedHillsTurkeyCalls]

If your interested...pm me an address and I'll send ya ERC from Kentucky, old growth dry and ready to use. I got plenty of it.

Trade for 1 finished lure

4x4x1 blocks, or I got 2' stuff I haven't cut. (posted a pic on my FB site, can't get an image link to work)