# first homemade lure



## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

i have been wanting to make my own lures ever since i seen the quality of baits everyone else is making. 
2.5" balsa body with faschange blue as the body color, black back, white belly. it weighs 7.1 grams, circuit-board lip, with a through wire.
let me know what you think....any suggestions are greatly appreciated. thanks, clayton


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## muskyslayer96 (Feb 28, 2009)

Well done....love the blue hue. My first customs were a far cry from that..Nicely done

MS


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## "Big" mark the shark (Jan 21, 2010)

Clayton nice work you going to give that a try at buckeye.If so let us know how you did that color and style of bait should do pretty good there.:good:


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## bowhunter29 (Dec 13, 2008)

Wow, that's a killer bait. Nice job!

jeremy


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## TIGGER (Jan 17, 2006)

Very nice! That is going to catch alot of fish!


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

Nice work. I think it is harder to do those small cranks than the larger musky or walleye baits.


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## buckzye11 (Jul 16, 2009)

1st try...... Wow! Looks like you must have had some good advice on here. My own lures have been in my head for a long time, but i never thought a first try lure could be that good. I swear this winter im trying now, gives us that have been on the sidelines some hope of making some nice baits sooner rather then later.


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

It was a lot easier than I thought. Just look at a rapala or other balsa bait, they ain't 100% symetrical, and they even have flaws in them. My biggest advice is, don't think you have to be so perfect, if it looks good, then it probally is. and about getting a lot of good advice......i just went back to the first page of the tackle making forum and started reading all the tutorials, and looking at all the baits that were being made. Helped a ton!


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## goolies (Jun 28, 2007)

Nice bait! My first sure didn't look that good.


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## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

Great looking bait! You are learning quickly. And yes, if they are "perfect", they arent perfect! Keep up the great work and keep posting pics! Nice blue tint. 

Your last post pretty much sums up how i felt after i first started making baits. While it does take time and being pretty meticulous, it is not really that difficult to make cranks that catch lots of fish.

I suggest experimenting with kill spots next. Some black electrical tape and a hole punch. Then gltiter, then foiling, then..., then...., then........Have fun, glad someone is building, it has been a while for me.


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## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

Reminds me of a little petey.

Btw if you take the tie in eyelet down and tuckit in closer to the lip, you will get more action and it will go a tad deeper (keeping tie in insame place but using bigger lip will give similar effect, assuming you have enough ballast to work with a bigger lip, and of course, it all depends on what type of action you are looking to get). Just saying since you were lloking for tips. That bait right there is my fave style for the local flows. Flat sided shad shaped that dives about 3 feet.


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

JamesT said:


> Reminds me of a little petey.
> 
> Btw if you take the tie in eyelet down and tuck it in closer to the lip, you will get more action and it will go a tad deeper (keeping tie in same place but using bigger lip will give similar effect, assuming you have enough ballast to work with a bigger lip, and of course, it all depends on what type of action you are looking to get). Just saying since you were looking for tips. That bait right there is my fave style for the local flows. Flat sided shad shaped that dives about 3 feet.


 thanks for the tips! seriously, almost all the information i have on building lures has come from the tackle making forum. (and taking apart a rapala ssr-5) as for painting/airbrushing.....youtube is a great place to find tips and tricks. 
the crank i made in the picture has a circuit-board diving lip, i want to experiment around with lexan too. has anyone compared the two before? i know lexan is usually the top choice, but just wanted to try something different. and what type of action would a round bill give as compared to the squre one i have installed?(im looking to stay in that 2-4ft. diving range)thanks, clayton


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## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

The circuit board material is stiffer and thinner than lexan. Perhaps this leads to a more responsive response(tighter wiggle, more pronounced THUMP upon retrieval, etc)?! I dunno but I do notice the thump better on my G-10 lipped cranks. I have only made a few with the micarta G-10 and was pleased with performance. Nice tight wiggle.

tackleunderground.com is another good site. Here's a thread about round vs. square bills. http://www.tackleunderground.com/co...l__+wiggle +wobble__fromsearch__1#entry170637

A round bill would probably lead to a tighter wiggle and probably less wobble. As far as lip shape and what effect it will have on the lure, just think of the reaction the lure will have as the water hits the lip and it starts wiggling. Thats what I do at least when I fine tune lure action by filing lip and it works.

A rounded lip basically takes away lip material down low and on the outside of a "square lip". This should tighten up the wiggle.

You are bringing back memories of when I first started making lures so I decided to dig up one of my first cranks (complete with googly eyes). And a lil petey style flatsided shad with circuit board lip.

Looking forward to seeing more lures.


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

JamesT said:


> Great looking bait! You are learning quickly. And yes, if they are "perfect", they arent perfect! Keep up the great work and keep posting pics! Nice blue tint.
> 
> Your last post pretty much sums up how i felt after i first started making baits. While it does take time and being pretty meticulous, it is not really that difficult to make cranks that catch lots of fish.
> 
> I suggest experimenting with kill spots next. Some black electrical tape and a hole punch. Then gltiter, then foiling, then..., then...., then........Have fun, glad someone is building, it has been a while for me.


Do you put the glitter in the final epoxy coat?


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## peple of the perch (Sep 13, 2004)

Looks great how do they swim?


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## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

There are different ways to do glitter but the most common is probably mixing it in with epoxy then applying on your first clear coat. You may or may not put an additional coat on after that. For the first year or so i made baits used a single clear coat of undilluted devcon 2 ton epoxy. That was fine for bass cranks and i never had any problems. Since then i have switched to envirotex lite (wally world stopped carrying d2t) and now typically use 3 or so coats of dilluted/thinned envirotex. These are typically over foil and i light sand bw coats to get a smooth final finish. 

Not sure if you are using a turner, but if you arent (i didnt for well over a year) that is a nice winter project. Not necessary but it will create a more uniform clear coat. Try to get about 6-8 rpm. I used the motor from a grow light light mover  but others use microwave plate rotater motors or diy from scratch.

Ive also glittered by smearing a super thin layer of epoxy on the back with my finger. Then sprinkle glitter, let "dry/cure", then clear over entire bait. Ill see if i can find that thread. Thanks husky!

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/community/showthread.php?t=151184&highlight=Glitter+back

I mix up my epoxy in the bottom of pop cans(use solvent to wipe off the ink numbers which are sometimes on bottom of can first).

You can also do glitter in multiple layers to get a more "thicker glitter 3d effect".

Or you can clear entire lure then sprinkle glitter on when still wet then clear over that once it dries.

Lastly dont get the cheapo klunky thick square glitter. 

Good luck!


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## claytonhaske (Apr 16, 2010)

Thanks james! I will defeniatley be trying the glitter method next!


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