# Salmon and Trout stuff



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Hey everyone,

Well I am getting the bug to build again with all the incredible work that has been posted lately.......... Great stuff! 

Here are some that I completed this week. They are all of wood construction on this first batch and made from African Mahogany. Man what a nice wood to work with. Very little sealing needed and no blow-out along with tight grain. This batch was on the bandsaw and hand shaped on a bench mounted sander. Mahogany makes very fine dust. Make sure you always use a dust mask! 











The forgotten "Flatfish and Kwikfish"

These style baits have incredible action used mostly in trout and salmon fishing. They will catch any type of fish if just put into the water. They do not run deep. This style of bait needs no additional lip added for the swimming action. They have a very tight / walking action that drive the salmonoid spieces "mad".

This is a variation of the bait with a wider back and tapered tail. It has a squiddy look to it also. The line tie wire passes through to the treble hook wire. Should hold a big king I hope!
































This next one is a special one. It ended up as a mistake. I cut the curve too flat on the profile. I could not get it to run right. As a last ditch effort I ripped the pass-thru wire out and went nut on the sanding but a lighter gage wire in it and then epoxy coated it. I took it out the next day and gave it a cast. I just about fell over. It was just raw wood with a sealer coat of clear on it. I knew I would mess it up if put another coat of clear on it. I painted it and used automotive finish on to clear it. I am going to do a video of this lure swimming and attach it to here. It has the most unpredictable action I have ever seen without blowing out! You will be stunded at its action. I have tried to make two more of them and failed. I think it is just lightning trapped in a bottle for this one lure only.

























The "J " plugs...................


The basic design and action of a j-plug is that it is a lathe turned bait with a tapered profile. The standard design uses a slip chain that passes thru the body and allows the bait to slide up the line without working against the hooks in the fishes mouth. I didn't want to mess with that so I ran the line wire thru the bait and just anchored it. I hand shaped these without turning them on the lathe. I also added a crook to the tail and swooped the front part of the lip. It gave the bait a little more walking action. The bait will also dive to 8 feet. They are made for downrigger fishing.


----------



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Here is another in the same style

























This next one is scaled down and modified version. It has a tighter action and flatter sides.

























































I found they are all very difficult to spin on the drying wheel. The epoxy wants to build-up on the outside tip of the lure. I changed to a clamping system and they now spin like dolphins jumping out the water. It has really making a difference on the this next batch. I will post them in a couple of days. This next batch was turned on the lathe. I also picked up some flashaboo for some squid flies and tails.


More to come............

John


----------



## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

Awesome stuff john. Very nice.


----------



## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

Heeeeeeeccccckkkkkkk YEaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful work!!!

Gotta love the classics and it sounds like you turned the "mistake" into a "hunter of all hunters!"

Great to hear you are getting back into it, it has been a while, and correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you teach Vince everything he knows?

Here is a lazy ike clone I made a while back(mahogony also, but probably not African). The action is incredible (remember back when you were in 4th grade and used to do the "bendy pencil trick" -that's what it looks like from above). It is a fish catcher but I am hesitant to use it bc the other one I made the front got chipped from bumbing bottom too much.


----------



## theyounggun (Mar 28, 2010)

those are some really nice looking baits TIGGER & JT. I can't wait to see what you haul in on those TIGGER!


----------



## luredaddy (May 25, 2004)

Nice work as always John!!!! I will be running the bait you made for me two years ago, when I go to Canada for two weeks in mid 
September. After the last trip, it has been under lock and key!!!!:B
John


----------



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Well I am working this out as I go....................

I was in the Carolina's a couple of weeks ago and visied some of the local bait shops. I love to look at the tackle they have in certain area's. The larger marlin stuff caught my eye. I was looking at the big squid lures they troll and thought I could make a little version of those. 


First of all you need to make a blank for the nose of the fly. I took some wood and set it up in the lathe and turned some nose cones to make my mold.






















Next I found a small box to pour my silicone in. I used the plastic cover off a lure I purchased. I mixed some RTV silicone and set the nose cones in the mold.























While that was drying I started to make my back sections of the fly's.

A year ago I saw this mold at the craft store and bought it. I always have extra epoxy after coating the lures so I bought the mold to make blanks for eyes instead of throwing the extra expoxy away. I thought that this will work great for these.












I took a drill and drilled some holes thru the dome. One in the center to let the line pass thru later. The other holes to mount the flash into. Next I made a little wire pull loop to help insert the flashaboo into the dome.


----------



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Next.......... I got out the skirt material and made up some patterns. I cut the skirt material into about 8 inch pieces. I put one end of the cut off into the wire loop and pulled it thru.






















I kept pulling the material untill all the holes were filled. Except the center hole. Next I mixed up some 5 minute epoxy and glued all the threads together and pulled the hairs about 1/2 out to get the epoxy into the holes. The epoxy sets up fast!











I thought it would be cool have some eyes. I had some stick on ones and figured why not stick them on the tab while the epoxy is still tacky. 












Well in the time it took to mess around with this my silicone was hard enough to pull the nose plugs out.












I mixed up some lure top coat epoxy .......... Envirotex and added some glitter I got at the hobby store. I poured some into the nose cones. I took my fly blanks and banded up the hair so it wouldn't fall into the epoxy. I inserted them head down into the mold. 
















I matched the nose cone blanks to the mold I bought at the hobby store so they would match in diameter. I had a throw away brush that I swiped the extra epoxy away. I will have to wait till tomorrow to find out what happened. 

Hope for the best.................


----------



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Well the results are in........................... The good , bad , and the ugly!

I went down into the shop before heading to work. I decided to try to pull one out of the mold. I was suprised how hard it was to remove. I had to work a bit and it came out a little tacky. I figured that with only 6 hours in the mold. I was a little bummed that I had put too much glitter in the epoxy clouding over the eyes. 















I hung it up and went to work. I figured that the other two would be good and hard when I returned. I tried to remove the other with no results. The silicone started to tear. I ended up cutting them out destroying the mold. Last night before I poured the epoxy in the heads I microwaved the mold to a point I could not hold it. My brilliant thinking was it would cure in super fast time. I also noticed that the silicone was still a bit soft and not set 100 percent. I think the bonded like the movie "The Fly".  I learned a lesson on that one. I made a new mold tonight.

I ended up taking the other two and carving the silicone off the epoxy head and sanding them with 220 grit. I painted and clear coated after the fact. I guess in a good way I salvaged them and learned a lesson. This next pour I will try some clear casting resin I have had a while............ time to try it out.


Here are the other two.

























To finish them off I drilled the center hole thru the cone for the 80 lb test. I will tie two single octopus hooks like a worm harness at the end with a swivel at the other. I will post some pics of that when I tie them.


----------



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

James that is a really neat lure. Man you really got a fast start............ 4th grade! You are an old timer!

Vince showed me alot getting started. He is the most passionate luremaker I know. If there was a "Hall Of Fame" for luremaking he would get my vote! 

Luredaddy I am glad that lure is working for you. I just haven't had the Musky bug lately............. I am heading in a new direction. 

With the new addition to the family this year I just don't have the time.


----------



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Well I got the next batch of the J-plugs done. I will wait till I run them out of the boat before making any adjustments. These were spun on the lathe. I forgot how fast it was to make a lure on the lathe. You can sand the bait before you take it off.

These first two I used cedar for the bodies. It is a more lively in the water. I knew I would be adding tails to these so I figured it would help kept the action crisp. This first one I did sanded two sides flat on the sander to get a good side profile paint. I love how the tail swims along. It has a tighter wobble and should run nice off a downrigger.

























This one is a little bigger and has a great action. When casting it all I could see was the tail whipping around. I hope it will attack some curious King Salmon.























These last three are like a "mini J plug" These are out of mahogany and have a hot-n-tot action. I would be curious if a walleye would hit this in the fall. I think a steelhead would hit the pink one.






































Hopefull I will find some water time for these this fall. I know the Salmon hit J-plugs more later in the year when they approach the river mouths. September maybe............


The salmon flies are moving along great. I hope to have some pics soon. I have done everything wrong at least once. I definetly know "what not to do" with them. 

Note to myself............... Do not put tinsel hair in the microwave!


----------



## st.slippy (Oct 3, 2008)

Man you do amazing work! I was really hoping the squid lures came out clearer, awaiting the second batch. I didn't really get the plugs until I saw the tails. Those look sweet. Seeing all this great stuff and the decreased fish bite have gotten me the bug again


----------



## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Well I finished the second batch of flies. I learned alot of what not to do........... Hear are some helpful things I found out.

- Clear casting resin works better than epoxy for clearness but it takes longer to get completely hard. 

- Just warm the mold slightly to help cure the finished side of the bait.

- It helps to warm the resin just a little before adding the hardner.

- Have everything ready before putting the hardner in the mix. It will start to jell fast. A couple of times I forgot to rubberband the hair and that took time and the stuff got hard.

- You can add color to the resin. They sell that also.

- If you pull the head out of the mold and it is still sticking you can dip the head a couple of days later and it will come out very nice and clear.


Here are some pics of a couple head. The tinsel will make it look like the head has depth. You can but the stick on eyes and apply them while the head hair cement is still tacky.











































After the head are dry you can finish drilling the center hole all the way thru the nose. This will allow the line to pass thru the body. I used 80 lb flurocarbon for my leaders. I tied them like a worm harness but at a bigger scale. I used a single hook on the front. 1/0 to 4/0 hook the back I used 1/0 treble. I added some bead in front of the single hook. This will help clear the head and give a little color of a body.













Run the line from the skirt to the nose.













I put one more bead at the head and then tied my barrel swivel. When the body slides down the hooks with be hidden. I like the back hook to be just inside the tail.













You can fish an attractor of some sort. This will get the fishes attention and then the fish will see the trailer fly and think it is a fish falling back from the bait school.











Here a pic of the second batch. I am happy with them. I hope the fish will be.


----------



## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

Very nice dude the J's looks Saaweeet. So when you going to NY? I've gone twice already...I'm dying to squeak in one more trip (or two) a couple wedding have gotten in the way though but will be over after this weekend. 

Tell DJ I said hello.


----------

