# What I've learned so far...



## bolter (Mar 19, 2006)

I don't know if this will help anyone, but if nothing else it gives me a place to log my lessons on my first attempt. 1st of all thanks to goolies and socdad for the advice. I am sure all this has been told before but you know how they say you learn more from your mistakes than what you did right.

1. Drill all your holes *before* you do your final shaping of your lure.

2. Make sure your screw eyes aren't just a hair too long or they could go through the back.. 

3. Make sure you don't undersize your pilot hole. 

4. Watch your lip placement in relation to your eye screw so they don't intersect. 

5. Foiling is not as easy as it sounds.

6. Since this is my first attempt, I'm not doing anything special/fancy. Just using some spray paint to try a few techniques... but, make sure you grab the right color before you recoat...



As I progress, I'll post more of what I learned, although don't expect me to show off this sorry excuse for a first attempt... unless I test it and it catches something without falling apart...

Andy


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## goolies (Jun 28, 2007)

Good luck. If you have any questions just post them here. Someone on here will have an answer.


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## jerkin (Apr 3, 2008)

bolter said:


> I don't know if this will help anyone, but if nothing else it gives me a place to log my lessons on my first attempt. 1st of all thanks to goolies and socdad for the advice. I am sure all this has been told before but you know how they say you learn more from your mistakes than what you did right.
> 
> 1. Drill all your holes *before* you do your final shaping of your lure.


Cut your lip slot before shaping also, same principle, easier to keep square with flat sides.



> 2. Make sure your screw eyes aren't just a hair too long or they could go through the back..


I like my eye screws long so I can get more threads into the meat, put them in at an angle from the head towards the tail.



> 3. Make sure you don't undersize your pilot hole.


Don't oversize them either. Also, mix up a little devcon and push it in the hole with a wire before setting the screws. 



> 4. Watch your lip placement in relation to your eye screw so they don't intersect.


Not a major deal, you can just cut a slot in the lip if need be.



> 5. Foiling is not as easy as it sounds.


If you started out trying to use household aluminum foil then yeah, that can be tricky. Do yourself a favor and pick up a roll of the hvac foil tape at lowes, that stuff has a little stretch to it, much easier to use. BTW, if you think that's a pita, wait until you try through-wire.

There's my 2 cents, worth about what you paid for it, lol. There's no better way to learn than exactly what your doing, read up on it and start building one. Like Goolies said, when you run into something post it here and someone will get you an answer or 3. Nice thing about this board is that you won't get attitude by someone who decides your question has been posted too many times like you will on TU.


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## bolter (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks, people have been a great help so far. I know most of the things I pointed out aren't a big deal, and are easy to correct, most of which I did things you suggested ( like notching the lip because they intersected) but it does make for an AH HA moment when it happens... Good point on angling the eye screws toward the tail will do that when i give my second attempt.


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## eyesman_01 (Jan 4, 2007)

Bolter, there are guys on this site who have mastered the art of making a lure. And then there are those of us who strive to produce a lure as beautiful as the ones made by those mentioned above. My first bait caught my target fish: a walleye. That's what got me hooked. Now a couple years later, I'm still trying to get that perfect bait a walleye just can't refuse, and I'll be trying out a fresh new batch (most never got wet last year) this weekend.

Never be afraid to ask a question. These guys have been more help to me than they can imagine. But you know what? At one time, they were right here where we are, trying to learn. And like in everything else in life, I'm sure they are still learning and striving for perfection also.

Welcome to the addiction. Post a pic of that first masterpiece. There's nothing to be ashamed of here. We all started somewhere.


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